Thursday, February 7, 2008

And They Said It Couldn't Be Done

Now here is company who goes into a neighborhood and works this way:

During our rehabilitation process we strive to avoid changing the fabric of the existing neighborhood, keeping each home's structure intact and the square footage the same, which helps to avoid unneccesarily raising property taxes of surrounding homes. Our rehabilitation project windows are short, so construction noise and other disturbances are kept to a minimum.


Hmm.

I think I will read some more:
Most of the areas we work in consist of longtime residents committed to their neighborhoods with a wealth of civic pride. Once TeamHomeBuyer.com goes into a neighborhood for a rehabilitation project our home inevitably becomes the nicest one on the block, positively impacting the local quality of life and bringing new families and homeowners into the community. We are usually swamped with referrals from neighbors who know of other homes nearby that they would love to see rehabilitated, and word spreads until we end-up working on multiple homes in the same general area.


And then they go green on us: ..."is committed to eco-friendly rehabilitation of our properties, minimizing the use of resources, reducing harmful effects on the environment, and providing healthier environments for people. We upgrade the infrastructure of the properties we purchase with environmentally friendly materials and energy efficient air, heat and appliances. We apply green building standards developed by the United States Green Building Council to our homes such as changing-out ineffective heating and cooling systems with energy efficient models, and keeping existing shade trees intact, oftentimes performing much-needed pruning and caretaking to improve the health of our properties' landscaping. We buy local, use wood alternative products, and use rapidly renewable flooring materials like bamboo whenever possible."

Interesting, very interesting.

2 comments:

hoopla said...

..."keeping each home's structure intact and the square footage the same"

This makes no sense. Are the houses already large? There is a strong demand for houses >3,500 square feet. Where should those people buy a house that size? Continue to build them on the perimeter? Is the builder attempting to sell houses with 8-foot ceilings in the downstairs?

While keeping neighborhood property taxes low can certainly be a goal, the flip side is that it means demand for these houses is low when it is time to resell them. Do you want to live in a house that doesn't appreciate? It's a tough question and we can't have it both ways (great resale and flat tax value)

Chad said...

Fantastic.

If this was the standard-bearer for development and practices we wouldn't be having any of these infill problems to deal with.

It's all about being responsible with your private property and investment decisions.