New Homes
New Homes
Spring Parade offers wealth of new homes
The first week of the Spring Parade of Homes is in the books and it looks like we're in for another great event. The weather has been consistent and, if the first week was any indication, crowds will continue to grow as the Parade progresses.
Each year, we print a primer for Parade attendees; just a couple of tips to maximize your enjoyment. The Manitoba Home Builders' Association offers the following tips for a successful Parade:
-- Wear comfortable slip-on shoes: There are 103 fantastic new homes available to visit. Although you likely won't get to all of them, you will find yourself trying to get to as many as possible. Many of the subdivisions have multiple homes being shown and so you will probably park in one location and walk to all of the homes in that neighbourhood.
Upon entering each new home, you must take off your street shoes in order to tour. Given that some subdivisions have more than 10 homes open for viewing and you don't want to miss a thing, that's a lot of bending and lacing. Therefore, be sure to wear a comfortable walking shoe that easily slips on and off.
-- Map a strategy: If you have a particular destination, make sure you look for additional homes along the way. Many subdivisions are close to each other and it's easy to get to a number in one tour.
-- Don't forget the one-offs: Although there is tremendous variety in those subdivisions that have multiple homes, make sure you visit those areas with a single listing. There are entire new neighbourhoods to discover and builders with unique designs. That hidden gem might just be your next new home.
-- Talk to the agents: The sales agents know their show homes. Ask them about any unique features, energy savings, specific materials and what makes this particular home special. These individuals are a wealth of knowledge and, if they don't have the answer, they will find out and get back to you in short order.
-- Have fun: The Parade of Homes is an enjoyable three weeks where you can see the latest and greatest in new homes. You can go as fast or slow as you want, taking in the big picture or concentrating on a minute detail.
It's all about what interests you.
Enjoy the 2012 Spring Parade of Homes.
Mike Moore is president of the Manitoba Home Builders' Association.
New Homes
Starting over on a floater
For more than 20 years, former Winnipegger Doug McClelland and Irish native Anthony Tucker lived on a floating home in Coal Harbour, B.C.
For them, it was the ultimate West Coast lifestyle, surrounded by water and boats, parks and mountains, yet intimate and friendly. "It's like living in a small town, just down the shore from the big city," says McClelland.
Then it all went sideways -- literally. On Christmas Day in 2008, while McClelland and Tucker were away on vacation, a blizzard in Vancouver dumped so much snow on the roof of the home it became unstable and tipped over onto a neighbouring sailboat.
A restoration firm their insurance company hired managed to rescue their computers and photo albums from the top floor, but the house and most of the contents were destroyed.
Last fall, a sleek new home built to replace it finally arrived in Coal Harbour. Constructed on land in a Richmond marina, it was lifted by an enormous boat hoist, lowered into the Fraser River and then towed by tugboat to Coal Harbour. The entire process has been filmed for the British documentary television series Monster Moves.
The first floating home built under the city's new design guidelines for marine and floating homes, "it has cost a fortune and taken forever," says McClelland. "Our architect, Russ Chernoff, got us through this."
Chernoff, a principal of Chernoff Thompson Architects who once lived on a boat, has designed numerous floating homes and has spoken on the topic internationally. The silver lining was that they were able to redesign and improve the house, says McClelland.
"We got to build in all those things that you accumulate in the back of your mind over 20 years living someplace."
The decks are more sculpted, the exterior is more elaborate, and there's an extra bathroom and a separate office. Instead of a ladder to the roof, there is now an indoor stairway. The gleaming new kitchen has white granite countertops, a counter-depth Blomberg fridge and Adel Ikea cabinets in a Shaker style to match the doors throughout the house.
All the furniture is new, from Dekora. As before, there are two bedrooms and a bathroom upstairs, with the kitchen, living and dining room downstairs. However, the kitchen is now on an inside wall, so the exterior walls can all be glass.
Decks on all three levels (off the living room, the master bedroom and on the roof) along with copious windows and skylights expand the 1,157-square-foot living space both visually and physically, as well as connecting it to its environment. Deck railings are glass, although the bottom deck is open to the water. Chernoff discovered decks less than two feet above the next surface down, in this case the water, do not need railings.
Other aspects of the design guidelines and building code were more challenging -- and expensive. Apart from size, height and stability considerations, they covered design details like the exterior colour, materials and nautical elements. Vinyl siding, although lightweight and water-resistant, is not a natural material, so the home is clad in cedar and aluminum, which resembles the corrugated steel used in boat sheds.
The guidelines required portholes, achieved here with conventional round windows, rather than the marine variety. Window placement was affected by what will be next to each side of the home, and a certain percentage of a house must be a fireproof wall, limiting the total amount of glass.
To increase the glass, the Shaker-style front doors were custom-made with special double-glazed windows reinforced with wire mesh at a cost of almost $4,000. Berth sizes have changed, so moorage will increase to almost $2,000 a month to accommodate a minimum four-foot distance between the house and neighbouring boats. The house is earthquake-proof and built with two-by-sixes instead of two-by-fours to accommodate more insulation.
"It's got pros in the long term," says McClelland. "It's a better house; it's more secure; it uses less energy." On the other hand, it is more costly. As a result, he and Tucker have reluctantly decided to sell the home instead of moving in, an outcome McClelland describes as bittersweet.
"It's sort of a dream project to build your own house from scratch and to have built this fabulous house," says McClelland. "We'd still be happily living in our more economical house if the catastrophe hadn't happened, but we always knew at some point we'd have to sell because once you retire, your life changes." Now that Tucker has retired from his job in psychiatric assessment at Children's Hospital, he and McClelland, who works at Marquis Wine Cellars, have more time to travel. "And it's not really good to leave the floating homes alone, as we found out before," says McClelland with a rueful laugh. The loan on the house and higher moorage fees would have stretched them financially, plus friends in real estate advised it's better to sell something new than used. "So then the decision was between live in it for a year and take the pleasure of that or make a better business decision," he says.
"In the end, we did the numbers and said, 'Let's go to Buenos Aires instead.'" They will miss Coal Harbour, which they have seen transformed from a rustic working marina to berth-place for yachts of the rich and famous.
When the area was redeveloped, they convinced city council to ensure Marathon Realty would accommodate the six pre-existing floating homes. "We were two kind of young guys when we started, and our life sort of gentrified over the same period," says McClelland. "We used to have a couple of motorcycles, and now we have a couple of BMWs. We kind of evolved with the neighbourhood." The new house will be right at home.
-- Postmedia News
SIDEBAR
Floating homes have deep history
Floating homes have a long history on the West Coast.
The first ones were log cabins on log floats built in the 1800s.
Locally, most are moored in marinas or on private properties along the Fraser River in Ladner, Richmond, New Westminster and Langley, says Sutton real estate agent Ricki Willing, who specializes in the sale of floating homes.
There are also 19 floating homes in North Vancouver's Mosquito Creek Marina, with plans for 16 more.
The City of Vancouver has just 12 legal floating homes on Granville Island and six in Coal Harbour.
Although floating homes can be moved, they rarely are; unlike houseboats, most do not have motors. Moorage fees in marinas start at about $700 a month, depending on the size of the float and the location; stratatitled water lots start at $250,000.
House sizes range from 400 to 3,000 square feet, with purchase prices from $50,000 to $1 million.
For more information on floating homes, visit floathomesales.com; www.floathomepacific.com; www.floatinghomes.com; www.floatinghomes. org; www.seattlefloatinghomes.org
-- Postmedia News
New Homes
Spring Parade of Homes features 36 builders
The 2012 Spring Parade of Homes officially opens at noon today, Saturday, March 3 and runs through Sunday, March 25. The Manitoba Home Builders' Association is proud to present 103 new homes on display for everyone to enjoy.
Show home hours are: Monday through Thursday from 3-8 p.m., Saturday and Sunday from noon-6 p.m. Show homes are closed on Fridays except by prior appointment.
Sales staff are in each home, ready to explain the unique and special features of that home. Feel free to ask lots of questions about the various builders and suppliers. After all, MHBA new homebuilders pride themselves on building the best new homes in Canada.
Each visitor is sure to come away with new ideas and concepts to incorporate into their new home.
This year, 36 different builders are featuring the finest new homes in 24 separate subdivisions. Both single-family detached homes and condominiums are on display. In addition to Winnipeg, there will be show homes located in eight other cities and towns, thereby expanding and serving a larger audience. Quality, choice and affordability are all key components for each new home.
The Spring Parade of Homes has something for everyone. If you're looking for that first new home, this is your opportunity to see the widest variety at one time. If you're considering selling your existing home for more space, less space, more yard, less yard, newer amenities and a different design, everything you could possibly be looking for is featured at the Spring Parade of Homes.
If you're thinking of making some changes in your existing home, nowhere else will you see so many new and dynamic building styles and techniques as the Spring Parade of Homes. If you just want to see the best of the best and envision your dream home, this is the place to do it. Your new-home dream starts with the Spring Parade of Homes.
If you missed the Parade magazine in your Winnipeg Free Press home delivery, it is available online at www.winnipegfreepress.com or www.homebuilders.mb.ca
You can also pick up a copy at any Steinbach Credit Union.
Come early and come often to the Spring Parade of Homes.
Mike Moore is president of the Manitoba Home Builders' Association.
New Homes
Spring is parading just around the corner
No, Punxsatawney Phil and Wiarton Willie didn't change their minds about their shadows, nor did a Chinook suddenly sweep across the Prairies, although our weather this winter has been nothing short of remarkable.
This is much bigger news. The Spring Parade of Homes starts on Saturday, March 3 and runs through Sunday, March 25. This annual display of the best new homes of the season is the surest sign that spring is just around the corner.
Tens of thousands of people will descend upon an assortment of neighbourhoods to see what's new this year; to learn about design and materials and to discover their new dream home. All of this begins to happen in just one week.
So, what does this year's Spring Parade of Homes have to offer? For starters, there will be 103 uniquely different new homes on display. That's 103 different designs, styles and tastes being presented.
When one considers that some of the larger Parades in other municipal centres of Canada max out at 30 homes, having 103 available here is truly astounding. Nowhere else in Canada is so much variety and selection on display.
These 103 homes can be found in 23 subdivisions. Therefore, not only can you look for the price and style of your new home, you can also investigate a wide variety of neighbourhoods in which to locate it. There is outstanding selection both within and outside the City of Winnipeg.
The discerning buyer can observe nearby amenities such as schools, shopping centres and recreational facilities, in addition to transportation routes associated with each location.
The Spring Parade of Homes is delighted to present show homes built by 35 distinctly unique builders. Each builder has brought their own special design, style and craft to each home. The best of the best is on display at this year's event.
It's no secret that Manitoba new homes are the best built and most energy efficient in Canada. Having such a vast selection on display makes this the perfect market for local consumers.
Look for the Spring Parade of Homes magazine in the March 3 edition of the Winnipeg Free Press and at any Steinbach Credit Union. After that date, it will also be accessible online at www.winnipegfreepress.com or www.homebuilders.mb.ca.
Don't miss the 2012 Spring Parade of Homes, your first true sign of spring.
Mike Moore is president of the Manitoba Home Builders' Association.
New Homes
Let's all replace NIMBY with harmony
Early in the first act of the musical Avenue Q, the characters sing a song entitled Everyone's a Little Bit Racist that essentially states that no matter how honourable our intentions, we all harbour some form of preconceived prejudice that surfaces from time to time.
Playing on that theme, I would like to alter it a bit and state that I believe that "Everyone's a Little Bit NIMBY." NIMBY, as you know, stands for Not In My Back Yard and comes to the surface every time someone is building something new, changing the existing or considering something that we feel may affect us.
In Winnipeg, we have witnessed numerous examples of this recently with reaction to proposals for municipal golf courses, new housing developments, street expansions, community club restructuring and downtown development. We all want what's best for our city; just as long as it doesn't affect or inconvenience us.
We're elated that Winnipeg is projected to grow by 180,000 people over the next 20 years. The increased tax base, new schools, additional skilled labour and new consumers are all good news. The problem is that we can't agree on where to put all of these people; we just know that we don't want these changes to impact us, our lifestyle or our perceived needs.
We want some people to live downtown but recognize that existing infrastructure cannot accommodate too great an influx. We like the new condos and mixed use housing, but can't agree on the business/housing mix.
We have groups that speak out against urban sprawl but then speak out against converting existing under-utilized tax supported land into housing.
We agree that we have too many community clubs, curling clubs, ice rinks and golf courses, but don't want those we use targeted. Faster, cheaper and greener transportation is good; as long as it's not in our neighbourhood and doesn't inconvenience our drive to our routine stops.
I don't have all the answers. In fact, I admit to being just as NIMBY as the next person. That's why we have professionals and elected officials to look out for the welfare of the city.
With apologies to the Avenue Q lyricists, "Everyone's a little bit NIMBY; it's true. But everyone is just about as NIMBY as you! If we all could just admit that we are NIMBY a little bit, and everyone stopped being so PC; maybe we could live in -- Harmony!"
Mike Moore is president of the Manitoba Home Builders' Association.
