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Another Custom Home in McLean Virginia is almost completed.

Another real new custom home beauty designed and built by our award winning team

McLean Custom Home Designed & Built by PAramount Construction

Homebuyers want the benefits of more energy efficient new houses, but, are they willing to pay for these features?

Well, according to a recently conducted member survey of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) – Homeowners are not willing to pay that much for these features.

Only 57% of buyers were willing to pay more for “green
features” – 2% more, at most!

This is just more evidence that cost/benefit is a key factor in most buyers decision to GO GREEN.

Features that improve water efficiency were preferred more by home buyers in the west, while interest in using recycled materials is relatively higher in the Northeast, and rather low in the South.

Although only 11% of builders nationwide reported clients requesting environmentally friendly features, energy efficiency is still the primary motivation in the green building movement.
The NAHB said “In all, survey findings indicate that, as Congress continues to debate how to encourage more energy-efficient construction via new legislation, it must keep affordabilty in mind and look for ways to incentivize changes, not only to newly built homes but to the overall housing stock.”

Let me know how how important energy efficient and green features are in your new home plans. Send me an email at rob@paramountconstruction.net.

Also, you can send your questions to: MondayMorningQuestions@nahb.com.

Across the board (with the exeption of of a few vendors like appliances ) our vendors are reporting that their labor and material costs are relatively low. The pricing we have been getting for direct costs of new custom homes & large additions to homes in the Washington DC area have remained low for a few years now. However, we are noticing vendors getting slightly busier than they’ve been in the last year or two.

Here’s one of our excellent vendors, Glen Embry, of Metcalf HVAC, explaining what he thinks of the current market:

Paramount Construction nominated for another MNCBIA Custom builder award.
Here’s a look at the inside and an interview of the homeowner.
The judges from MNCBIA loved the home too. They almost wouldn’t
leave. Click Here & take a look at this home we designed and built.
This is a great example of why owners come to us for design
and construction. Anyone can design a “plain-old-box” of a house.
Lots of builder around town basically design and sell the exact same plan.
You can actually get the plan at your local Giant or Safeway while you’re
standing in the checkout line.
We’ve discovered that the Washington D.C. area has many owners
with more discerning tastes and sense of design. Our plans are
designed differently.

These are not “cookie cutter” homes. Take a look here

Yet, as great as the design is, our pricing very reasonable.
When we present a home price the price is all inclusive.
Many other builders start at $85 per square foot over the phone.
The problem is that by the time they add permits, excavation, engineering,
dumpsters, driveways, upgrade the vinyl floor to wood, upgrade the vinyl
siding to hardiplank their over $200 per square foot. Plus it takes these guys
months of your time until you finally extract all the information out of ’em.

Let me know what you’ve found in the market place as you talk with
building companies out there. I’d like to hear from you.

Here’s Paramounts World-Class architect, on-site, live and off the cuff:

Elizabeth Razzi, a writer for the Washington Post Real Estate section, wrote on October 19, 2008:

“There will be some attractive federal tax credits …. you can research them at www.Energystar.gov  ”

Here is a partial list from her article:

1. for qualifying exterior doors, storm doors, metal roofs, insulation the tax credit will be 10% of the cost, up to a $500 credit
2. Windows, skylights, storm windows will qualify for 10% of the cost, with a credit capped at $200
3. Central AC and heat pumps will qualify for $300 credits
4. Top efficiency furnaces or boilers that go beyond the government’s Energy Star standard will qualify for a $150 tax credit. Some super efficient tankless or electric heat pump water heaters will qualify for a $300 credit
5. for solar water heaters (except those used for swimming pools) homeowners can get a tax credit covering 30% of the cost, up to $2000

Leave me a comment and let me know what you think.