New Homes
New Homes
Making the most of the Spring Parade of 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 hasn't been doing us any favours but, 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. For the benefit of Parade veteran and rookie attendees, the Manitoba Home Builders Association offers the following tips for a successful Parade:
Wear comy slip-on shoes
There are 122 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 neighbourhoods have multiple homes being shown and so you will probably park in one location and walk to all of the homes. The developers have been doing their best to clear snow in order to maximize good parking. Upon entering each new home, you must take off your street shoes in order to tour. Therefore, be sure to a comfortable walking shoe that easily slips on and off. It will make your visit that much more enjoyable.
Bring your SmartPhone
Remember, this year you get to decide who gets the hardware for favourite home in each category. Inside each show home, there is a QR code chart. Simply click on the QR code and rank that home from one to five stars in each of the four criteria. You can also go to www.paradeofhomes-select.ca if you're taking notes instead. At the conclusion of the Parade, compare your rankings with who won the awards.
Map a strategy
If you have a particular destination site, make sure you look for additional homes along the way to visit. Many of the subdivisions are in close proximity to each other and it's easy to get to a number of them in one tour.
Don't forget the one-offs
Although there is tremendous variety in those subdivisions that have multiple homes, make sure to visit those areas with a single listing. There are entire new neighbourhoods to discover and builders with unique designs.
Talk to the agents
The sales agents know their show homes. Ask them about anything -- 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. It's all about what interests you. Enjoy the 2014 Spring Parade of Homes.
Mike Moore is the president of the Manitoba Home Builders' Association
New Homes
Parade will feature more than 100 new homes
After enduring an extremely long, cold and painful winter, we welcome the 2014 Spring Parade of Homes, which opens at noon today, Saturday, March 1 and runs through Sunday, March 23. The Manitoba Home Builders Association is proud to present 122 new homes on display for everyone to enjoy.
Show home hours are Monday through Thursday from 3 to 8 p.m.,
Saturday and Sunday from noon to 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 home builders 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 31 unique neighbourhoods. Both single family detached homes and condominiums are on display. Quality, choice and affordability are all key components for each new home.
A special feature of this years' Parade is that you get to select the winners. In past years, a panel of five judges visited groups of five homes and rated them on a variety of features. This year, every person who visits every home gets to rank that home on a five point scale in four separate categories.
Simply hold your smartphone over the QR code in each home and give it from one to five stars in each of these categories:
Overall Value and Quality of Home; Functionality, Traffic Flow and Room Proportion; Special Design Features; and Interior Visual Appeal.
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 that you could possibly be looking for is featured at 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 starts with the Spring Parade of Homes.
The Spring Parade of Homes runs from March 1 to 23. If you missed the Parade magazine in your Winnipeg Free Press home delivery, it's available online at www.homebuilders.mb.ca or www.winnipegfreepress.com. These sites will also lead you to the ranking pages for each new home in the event that you didn't have your phone with you while visiting. You can also pick up a copy at any Steinbach Credit Union.
We invite Parade attendees to submit their comments and questions on our Twitter and Facebook pages. Come early and come often to the Spring Parade of Homes.
Mike Moore is president of the Manitoba Homebuilders' Association.
New Homes
Steady budget should help housing industry
Many people complained that the recent federal budget lacked a certain pizzazz and didn't have the excitement and incentives of other budgets. What is it about jobs, infrastructure and deficit reduction that they don't like?
The Canadian Home Builders Association supported the federal budget because it did what it was supposed to do: move Canada ahead.
The New Building Canada Plan will contribute $53 billion in infrastructure funding. Infrastructure needs have been identified as one of Canadians' greatest concerns. This is certainly no different in Winnipeg and throughout Manitoba. Crumbling infrastructure in an old community has long been a local priority.
These federal funds can also assist housing affordability in the municipalities as they should not have to fund infrastructure on the backs of new home buyers now that these federal dollars are available. For too long, new development has borne the brunt of municipal funding shortfalls even though it has more than paid its' fair share of the costs.
The Immigrant Expression of Interest system will allow those foreign trained individuals to move up the immigration queue depending upon the demand for their particular occupation. This will allow immediate attention to skilled labour shortfalls. The Canada Apprentice Loan will allow young Canadians to achieve the training they need domestically.
The Canada Jobs Grant has been the subject of considerable discussion recently with the provinces and the federal government jockeying for a position that may be amenable to all. The program starts on April 1 of this year, and it will be critical to get these dollars in the hands of Canadian workers and businesses that need to train people in skill sets that are currently lacking.
Without proper identification, recruiting and training, the gap between demand and supply will continue to widen and we run the risk of falling further behind. This column will not point fingers and assign any blame; just urge all parties to resolve their differences and get people to work.
Finally, the federal government is calling for a surplus budget by 2015. Cynics question the timing as it is just before the next election. Others applaud the fact that the government may be able to achieve this and challenge all other levels of government to follow suit.
Back to the initial premise: If skilled labour is addressed, if new jobs are created, if the infrastructure problem is being addressed and if the deficit is being eliminated, it seems like we're headed in the right direction. Not flashy, but effective.
Mike Moore is president of the Manitoba Homebuilders' Association.
New Homes
National survey sheds light on home ownership
In 2010, the federal government replaced the long-form census questionnaire with a voluntary household survey called the National Household Survey. It produced some interesting results that can give us some national direction on housing.
To no one's surprise, those in the 15-to-24 age group make up a very small percentage of household headship and home-ownership rates. These rates double and triple respectively for the 25-to-34 age group.
This should give some direction to those building and selling homes, selling furniture and appliances or doing renovations. This 10-year span of the population is making major purchasing decisions on a first-time basis and should be a primary marketing target. Although numbers jump again in the 35-to-44 age group, this is more of a natural progression than a major shift or pattern.
The changes are not nearly as dramatic for the 45-54, 55-64, 65-74 and 75+ age groups. Their numbers remain fairly consistent. Even the empty-nesters and down-sizers are still homeowners, just with different homes.
As we all know, baby-boomers were raised with the philosophy of owning your home as quickly as possible and eliminating their mortgages before the normal amortization period. In 1981, with interest rates in excess of 21 per cent, this way of thinking was understandable. But this sense of repayment urgency dissipated considerably when interest rates fell to single digits, and even more over the past few years with record-low rates.
Those of us who are still stuck in our baby-boomer mentality have a difficult time understanding this philosophy, but we must accept it as Gen X and Gen Y have a different mindset. And since only 0.31 per cent of all mortgages are in arrears by three or more months, maybe it's time to acknowledge that they know what they're doing when it comes to budgeting.
The National Household Survey identified one million housing units, or seven per cent of the total stock, that are in need of major repairs. Homes built before 1920 make up about 17 per cent of the stock, but those built in the 1946-1960 and 1971-1980 periods are the largest groups requiring major renovations.
Given these trends and numbers, it appears that both the new-home and renovation industries will be on solid ground for a number of years.
Mike Moore is president of the Manitoba Homebuilders' Association.