The House

With rising prices for water, electricity and gas, new homeowners are wondering how they are to afford living in their dream home in the future, never mind constructing it from scratch.

Fortunately, modular homes provide the answer for this conundrum. There are already many modular homes suppliers of energy efficient, eco-friendly homes that cut energy bills significantly, in some cases even eliminate bills all together. Such future-proof marvels can easily be found online and there are many award-winning modular homes suppliers, who pride themselves in supplying the best quality materials and components at the lowest possible prices, while at the same time offering their customers a huge amount of choice from hundreds of pre-engineered designs.

Buying a parcel of land is usually the easy part – assembling a team of construction specialists who can build eco-friendly, energy efficient homes – is typically the hard and time-consuming part. With modular homes all of this is taken care of. Although the words “modular homes” conjure up images of pre-fab monstrosities that all look the same, nothing could be further from the truth. Read the rest of this entry »

Finding reasonably priced housing in Vancouver is not just limited to the city’s less fortunate dwellers. With the city awash in a wave of ultra-high home prices, Mayor Gregor Robertson’s latest initiative is to find ways for the middle class to live in one of Canada’s priciest markets.

McGregor developed a task force to investigate opportunities to develop housing that is more affordable for the majority of Vancouver’s residents.

A recent study from a local architecture company indicated that only 191 Vancouver homes had a value of under $500,000, but 40 percent of the city’s dwellings were valued in the $1 million-and-over range. Currently, the benchmark rate for a residence in West Vancouver tops $2 million. The east side is more affordable – for some – with a comparable benchmark of a little more than $863,000.

Although experts from divergent backgrounds have delved into the housing debate, there is no consensus and no clear answer. The city owns many parcels of land that could be used for housing. It could build a number of categories of homes that would be priced at around 20 percent under market value. However, the recipients of such housing are subject to a lot of discussion. Read the rest of this entry »

The growth of the once sleepy little town of Naples, Florida has branded it the reputation of “The Palm Beach of Florida’s West Coast.” It’s known for its luxury and elegance, offering such famous shopping stables that include:

• Fifth Avenue South
• The Village on Venetian Bay
• Third Street South
• Coastland Center
• The Waterside Shops

Naples showcases the finest in just about everything in several cultural categories, including The Philharmonic Center for the Arts, numerous restaurants, museums and art galleries, a litany of world-class golf courses, fresh and salt water sports, boating, tennis, the finest healthcare facilities and, of course, some of the best white sand beaches all of Florida has to offer.

Though Naples real estate prices have softened since the 2008 crisis that has had disastrous effects on the real estate market, prices across the board are very low in general. In 2005, a home in Naples valued at $500,000 was probably valued at $280,000 in 2010. However, in 2012, very positive signs have been gradually peaking through the black clouds looming over the housing market, even from years before 2012. Read the rest of this entry »