Home Buliding and Interior Design

I have a friend who is a builder and would like to use me for his mortgage broker. I have no problem finding banks who will do financing for owner occupied builder programs, but nothing for spec homes. A lot of the banks offer spec programs on the retail side, but I’m having trouble finding it wholesale. Thanks!
I do know what a spec home is
My rep at Indymac said that they only do owner occupied construction, but maybe there is another dept she’s unfamiliarr with? I’ll ask her again. Thanks!

I have a KB home that was built in San Antonio, TX in 2007. Does anyone know what kind of grass they put in around the homes? It’s a regular subdivision, not a fancy expensive one. I think it’s either Bermuda or St Augustine. The contractor told us, but i don’t recall which. He said that they USED to use one, and the company had switched to the other type of grass now.

I don’t know about other countries, but speaking of American homes. Why don’t homes have urinals & all public restrooms for men do?

I know the standard toilet is functional to both sexes, but it seems all public restrooms provide both a toilet & a urinal for men, so why not in homes?

I would rather have one in my home beside the toilet. That way I don’t have to clean up the spray & from what I’ve been told, that can’t be controlled by men most of the time for physical reasons down there. And I don’t have a problem w/ a guy leaving the seat up. I can put it down as easily as he can put it up. But just thinking if I had to stand to pee & that luxury is accommodated in public, why wouldn’t it be at home too? I think that is kind of unfair to guys, plus it would solve so much & makes more sense. Why don’t builders add a urinal in home bathrooms right beside the regular toilet? Stores would benefit too because they could sell the little deodorizer thingy’s that look like the ones you toss in a toilet tank. Is there some law or health reason they aren’t provided in homes as well? How could one acquire a home urinal? Are they about the same price as a toilet? Could the plumbing be connected to existing plumbing?

What are your thoughts on all this, please? Thank you.
I thought it was sometimes uncomfortable for guys to pee while sitting.

quazak ~ Well, I never sit on a public toilet. I will either squat & hover even if my legs fall asleep or line the toilet w/ toilet paper all around it in triple or more layers. But I’ve done that at friends houses too. lol If a public restroom is clean, I will still do the above. At a friends/relative’s house, I guess I base that on how I know them & how clean things appear as to if I will sit on it. Wow, good question. That is making me wonder if I am being unclean on sitting on theirs not only because of them, but towards them although I consider myself a very clean person.
conscien… ~ No one said anything about girls using the urinals, don’t know where you got that, but the rest made sense.
Ivan D, Anthony F, RevRusty ~ Thank you all for the explanations & information. Food for thought!
outbackn… ~ I don’t care about females using the urinal! I care about one being installed alongside a standard toilet in any home ~ for men. Well, guess again because men are the home builders, renovators & designers/construction ppl. Sure, a few women do it too I suppose, but generally that’s a man’s area (thank gosh! I wouldn’t want that job! lol Plus I rely on a man’s opinion on that stuff because they know!) Lol, you really look at a toilet for beauty? Well that’s fine, but I’m not looking for a pretty urinal, I’m wondering why they aren’t installed in homes alongside a toilet. A urinal would be no more fun to clean than a toilet. It’s just a job that has to be done, that’s it, nothing complicated.
Yes, I have been in a men’s toilet & yes they smell bad, but so do women’s. In fact, I have actually abandoned women’s rooms for the mens because women can be nasty too. Maybe nastier than men from what I have seen!

I want to be able to build custom homes is a degree in Construction Management what I need to look into?

My husband and I are thinking about purchasing and it is finally dawning on us that it might be a good idea to look at new homes as well because of the $10,000 CA tax credit. I know a lot of home builders are giving incentives right now. Does anyone know what KB is offering? I was trying to avoid calling because I didn’t feel like getting a sales pitch. Thanks!

Homes are getting a bit tougher to sell here in Canada now, seems like people are getting a bit picky in their purchases so sales are slowing due to unrealistic demands from builders on price consessions. So I’m seeking to go and build in other areas. With the weather about to turn colder with the coming of winter, I am looking to the warmer climates of the South, particularly the booming retirement communities like Cape Coral or Port Charlotte as retirees alway love Florida and I think that these areas could be a great boom to my business. But I don’t know what the current housing conditions are like down there right now so I’m asking those who know:

What is the housing market like in the Cape Coral / Port Charlotte areas (or other areas of South Florida). I only have information from about 3 years ago (sales brochures) and from them I am just itching to rush down there and start developing! It looks like a Gold Rush of wealth in that area. Are things still supper-hot in these communities?

I heard from one fellow that things have begun to slow down a bit, that the sales market is still healthy and growing but that it takes a bit more effort and he expects sales to be back to record highs in just a few months. If sales have slowed, then how many weeks do you think it will be before they are back to full throttle? Will it be before Christmas?
I have to line up a lot of credit for land purchases. How are the lenders down there with providing credit to builders? Things are getting a bit tighter here in Canada and I don’t see why I’m being squeezed so much, so I want to go to U.S. lenders instead. I remember talking to a finance expert 3 year ago in Cape Coral and from what he told me, even a pet dog could get a $2 million line of credit.

@morrison homes /cypress, texas

This Is J. S. Construction in Richmond Hill, Ga. We are looking to help rebuild homes destroyed by disasters. We currently work in Richmond Hill, Savannah, and Effingham Co… We have been building homes for seven years now including Framing, Renovations, Vinyl Siding, Interior Trim, Custom Decks, and Hardi Plank Siding. We are currently looking to evolve our business and if you know any contractors their names and numbers would be greatly appreciated. Thank You.

The story detailed how more people are buying these houses as second homes and vacation homes, they’re around 600 sq ft, the profiled one of the builders, the houses sell for about $150,000, usually one open room, integrate cabinets and storage capacity, customers seemed to be environementally focused. I ran across the story at wok one day and need it now for a reference and having the hardest time locating it, any help would be appreciated.
I’ve spent time searching for the story with no luck, I’ve convinced myself that it was a made up story or I was dreaming about it. But seriously, it’s out there somewhere, does Yahoo archive stories, news, etc??

Even though you have to also buy land to put the modular on. Is it usually the same as a regular home or somewhat less expensive?

Is the markup good? At the end of the day, is it really worth it with all the time and energy put into it?

I’m starting a business in real estate photography for a school business competition. I was thinking about taking high quality pictures of homes on sale by owners, and creating photo books and brochures for them to show potential customers. In addition, maybe a little sale by owner consulting, cuz I have experience with it, my dad’s a luxury home builder.

If I were to spend an hour photographing the home, one hour fixing up the photos, and one hour creating a really nice photobook, how much would you be willing to pay?

How much do you think I should charge?
By the way, I’m talking about a high quality camera. Not a 10,000 camera “to begin with”, but a Nikon D80, or D90. In addition, the paper to print this will be stock photo paper, extremely high quality, and I will provide a DVD of all the pictures.
Thats a good idea, I could contract with Realtors, but how much would they be willing to pay? Plus the realtors would then charge their clients more money than they paid me, so wouldn’t it be better to go directly to the consumer. Plus there are tons of sell-by-owner homes out there.