TAX ABATEMENT UPDATE

Residential Tax Abatement Application Approved

Over the holiday weekend I received a letter in the mail from the City of Cincinnati notifying me that my application for the City of Cincinnati 10-Year Residential Tax Abatement for New Construction was approved and that I will be receiving a follow-up letter describing the specific terms of the abatement once the necessary valuations for the abatement are determined. Below is an image of the letter from the city.

PLEASANT RIDGE MAP

Business District Map Update

I mentioned in a previous blog post about how one of my primary contributions as a member of the Pleasant Ridge Development Corporation has been developing a map of the Neighborhood Business District. Today I completed a final draft version of this map, and below is an image of the finished product.

OFFICE SPACE

Home Office Design

A few days ago I came across a blog article titled '35 Beautiful Home Office by Architects', that I found to be quite interesting. As is the case with a lot of architectural design publications, many of the spaces highlighted are impractical and not very user friendly, but it did get me thinking about my home office area and how I utilize it on a daily basis. Below is an image of my current office arrangement, which features a desk with my computer, another desk that I use for paperwork, and a keyboard that I have been learning to play the piano on recently. One thing that is a little different about the work space is that instead of using a desk chair, I sit on an exercise ball to help reduce back strain, and overall, I have found it a great place to learn and produce.

THANKSGIVING

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hope everyone reading this has a safe and happy Holiday!

-Mike

TALK VS ACTION

What Millennials Say vs. What They Do and Buy

I am a big believer that actions speak louder than words, so when I came across this article posted to Builder Online's website, titled 'ACTION VS. TALK: Attitudes, preferences, and values of Millennials may say one thing; what young adults do, and what they buy, may be another', it peaked my interest. One exert that I felt related especially well to what the Starter Home 2.0 Project aims to achieve is this:

We say the “rule” is that inexpensively-priced new homes simply can not be produced in an era where land costs, local fees and regulations, labor expense, shipping, and even some materials prices are spiraling.But some builders figure that out, and offer homes priced to sell to that quintessential entry-level buyer—the one who wants out of multifamily rental’s vicious circle of skyrocketing monthly lease payments, escalating renewals, and a grim outlook when it comes to saving a bit of money; the one who needs a mortgage loan; the one whose realized Dream pays forward into motivated contribution to community, to society, and to culture. 

As a Millennial myself, and observer of the actions of many of my Millennial friends and family members, I recognize the true demand for home ownership among my generation, so the challenge is really just a matter of activating the supply.

FENCED IN

Fence Gap Turned Fence Gate

Last month when I had my privacy fence installed along the back of my property line, I left a gap at my neighbors' request so they could build a gate for access to the parking lot behind our yards that empties out onto Montgomery road and the heart of the neighborhood business district. Over the weekend, that gate was constructed to close off the gap and below are a few pictures of the finished product.

PARKING IN THE RIDGE

Business District Map Update

One of my side projects as a member of the Pleasant Ridge Development Corporation (PRDC) is working to develop a map of the neighborhood business district that can be used for marketing and way finding. I took an initial pass at a first draft of the map last month, which I have since presented to the PRDC and PRCC (Pleasant Ridge Community Council) for review and feedback, and the primary request I received was to incorporate public parking locations into the map. This past week I have been going through the base map and adding in all of the parking lots, and below is an in-progress screenshot taken from Revit, which I am using to generate an underlay that will be taken into Adobe Illustrator to finalize the graphics and text. The location of the Starter Home 2.0 project is marked with a yellow dot for reference.

NEW LISTING

Parkview Rehab for Sale

This past week, the house being rehabbed two doors down from the Starter Home 2.0 Pleasant Ridge project went on the market (here is the listing), so if anyone is looking for a home in a welcoming, walkable neighborhood, it might be worth checking out. I'm interested to see what the house sells for, because unlike the comparable sales used in my latest appraisal for refinancing, this one will actually be somewhat reflective of the Starter Home 2.0's true market value.

THE NEXT HOT NEIGHBORHOOD

Cincinnati Magazine Feature on Pleasant Ridge

As I started the process of looking to purchase a lot for the original Starter Home 2.0 project in late 2012, Pleasant Ridge caught my eye as one of the Cincinnati neighborhoods with really strong real estate fundamentals, that for whatever reason, seemed to be somewhat under the radar when compared to its contemporaries like Oakley, Columbia Tusculum, East Walnut Hills, and Northside. Well it appears now with the opening of Overlook Lodge and places such as Nine Giant Brewery, Casa Figueroa, Molly Malones, Grand Central Deli, and Share Cheese Bar all in for permits and under construction, the media is starting to take notice of Pleasant Ridge as a neighborhood on the rise. Exhibit A being this new Cincinnati Magazine feature on The Ridge.

WELL PAINTED

Basement Window Well Painted

One of the things that I was never a fan of with the Starter Home 2.0 project was the 'fake stone' pattern on the egress window well that was installed along the back side of the house. I requested when I first saw it that it get painted a solid grey, and though a relatively low priority item in the grand scheme of things, I was happy to see when the painters came by this week for some touch-up work, that they were able to make that revision. Below are some before and after images of the window well.

PRIDE IN YOUR PLACE

CDC Roundtable Review

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to represent the Pleasant Ridge Development Corporation at a Community Development Corporations Association of Greater Cincinnati Roundtable lunch with featured speaker, Molly North of Al Neyer, who discussed the mutual benefits of private-public partnerships between developers and CDC's when it comes to undertaking successful urban development projects. The talk was very interesting and informative with some great takeaways that I think PRDC can use moving forward, but the point that stuck with me was this. When it comes to successful development, it is ultimately all about creating pride in your place. So whether it is a home I am designing and developing, or other initiatives I help take on as a member of the PRDC, I think it is important to ask the question, Is this something I will be proud of? Is this something the community will be proud of? 

STARTER HOME 2.0 SLIDESHOW

Toastmasters Presentation

For the past 4+ years, I have been an active member of the Speak-2-Connect Toastmasters Club based in downtown Cincinnati. It has been a great way to keep my speaking and listening skills sharp for the various presentations I give for my work and organizations I'm involved with. A couple weeks ago, I gave a speech about the story of the Starter Home 2.0 project, and below are the images from that Powerpoint I pulled together.

UP IN THE ATTIC

Blown-in Fiberglass Insulation

This weekend I purchased a 6' ladder at Home Deport for the purpose of cleaning leaves out of the garage gutters, but before getting around to that task, I took the ladder up to the second floor hallway to get my first look at the attic space since it was insulated several months ago. The insulation is blown-in fiberglass, except for the area immediately above the access panel, which has two layers of fiberglass batts covering it up.

ROD & CURTAIN

Shower Rod & Liner Curtain Installed

Today I headed over to Lowe's and purchased a curved, chrome tension shower rod for the hall bath on second floor of the Starter Home 2.0 along with hooks and a liner curtain. The tension rod does not require any screws or hardware to secure it in place, which is nice because I wound up re-positioning the rod several times before getting it in a location I was happy with. The curved rod design matches the forms of the faucet, towel rack, and toilet paper holder, and more importantly, provides additional shoulder room for the shower user when compared to a conventional straight rod. Once the shower rod was up, I installed the hooks and fabric liner curtain to get the shower ready for use.

GOOD MORNINGS

Waking up in the Starter Home 2.0 Pleasant Ridge House

My earliest memory of how I was personally impacted by the architectural design of spaces was as a young child, waking up in the mornings to a dark and gloomy bedroom with only one small north facing window. It was frustrating because my parents' bedroom, sister's bedroom, and even the second floor office had multiple south facing windows that flooded the spaces with the warm morning sunlight (especially on cold November days like today), so I knew what I was missing out on. Because of this, I actually ended up getting my parents to relocate my childhood bedroom to where the office was (despite it being a much smaller room) to rectify the situation. Fast forward 20 years and I made absolutely sure when designing the SH2.0 Pleasant Ridge house, that access to morning light would not be an issue for any of the rooms in the project. Below are some pictures I took this morning around the house that I like to think childhood Michael would be proud of.

CRA TAX ABATEMENT

City of Cincinnati Residential Tax Abatement Application

Earlier this week I submitted all the paper work required to apply for the City of Cincinnati Community Reinvestment Area (CRA) residential tax abatement program for new single-family home construction. Below is a sample page of that application for my project and here is a link to the webpage that describes the program in more detail.

NO CONVERSION

No Loan Conversion, For Now...

With home appraisals being totally dependent on comparable sales in an area, I mentioned in a previous blog post about how I was curious to see what the appraisal for the Starter Home 2.0 Project ends up being when it is being compared to something that doesn't exist, which is new home construction in Pleasant Ridge. Well, unfortunately this anomaly came back to bite me yesterday, when the post-construction appraised value came back almost 20% lower than what the original pre-construction appraised value for the home was, despite being built to the exact standards of what the original plans called for. The loan processor at Guardian Savings Bank was just as shocked by the outcome as I was, saying she had never seen this before. So what caused such a dramatic change in appraised value since the original appraisal in March? And what does that mean for the loan conversion I was prepared to execute?
Here is the way I see things. Pleasant Ridge is widely considered to be one of Cincinnati's next hot neighborhoods and is well on its way with rising home values as an influx of people and businesses have started to relocate to the area in recent years. The problem is that it is a small neighborhood, and the neighborhoods surrounding the Ridge are very dissimilar, which means the pool of comparable sales for appraisal purposes (which must have occurred within six-months of the appraisal) is extremely small, making the appraised value of the Starter Home 2.0 highly susceptible to bad comps, which is what I was the victim of this time around. The good news is that a few months from now, the appraised value could well jump up 20%+ again when better comparable sales become available, like the rehab two doors up the street from my house, which is going on the market soon.
Unfortunately, from a loan conversion standpoint (converting my adjustable-rate mortgage to a fixed-rate), the drop in appraisal puts me below the 80% Loan-to-Value ratio the bank needs to convert the loan without requiring the purchase of mortgage insurance or paying down the difference, which I am not willing to do.
For the time being, my plan is to just ride with my current loan and look at converting it over to a fixed-rate some other time when there are better comparable sales in the neighborhood for an appraisal.

HOUZZ IT

Houzz.com Professional Profile

One of my favorite ways to generate new home ideas, both large and small, is to browse Houzz.com and create idea books related to a specific topic of interest. Whether it is something as minor as bedroom paint colors, or as major as whole house designs. I find it to be a great source of information and inspiration. 

So what is Houzz, exactly? Wikipedia describes Houzz as a web site and online community about architecture, interior design and decorating, landscape design and home improvement. The Houzz platform and mobile apps feature interior and exterior home photos, articles written by architects, interior designers and home design experts, product recommendations, and a user forum. Houzz integrates everything under one roof (design photos, professional directory, home products, community advice and articles) for home renovation.  

Here is a link to my newly created Houzz.com Professional Profile.

PHOTO UPDATE

Updated Exterior Images

With the lattice work painted and grass really starting to taking root at the Starter Home 2.0 house in Pleasant Ridge, below are a few photos taken over the weekend documenting the most current exterior conditions.

LEARNING FROM INDY

Indianapolis Infill Homes

Yesterday I ran the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon, and one of my objectives for the race (aside from finishing the 26.2 miles in one piece) was to check out some of the new single-family urban infill construction going on in the neighborhoods along the route, which I have read about in articles like this one promoting the Indy Rama Home Show. Surprisingly, I ended up seeing many more of these types of homes running along the course than I originally had anticipated, which I think speaks to the demand for this type of housing that I am trying to deliver to the Cincinnati market with the Starter Home 2.0 Project. I also finished the Marathon in one piece, which was good.

SH2.0 OAKLEY SKETCHES

Starter Home 2.0 Oakley Design Ideas

Yesterday while watching the Bengals-Browns game at my house in Pleasant Ridge, I decided to pull out my tablet and start sketching some of the design ideas I have been thinking about for my next Starter Home 2.0 project in Oakley. With the Oakley lot being several feet narrower lot than the Pleasant Ridge property, there is not enough room to run the driveway along the side of the house to a detached garage in the back like I did with the original Starter Home 2.0 house. Instead, the SH2.0 Oakley (Starter Home 2.0 Oakley) project will need to have the driveway run to an attached single-car garage at the front of the house, which the sketches below explore in plan and 3D.

HOMEWORK

Flexible Workspaces

One of the pleasant suprises about life in the new house so far has been the different working environments I have been able to create for myself to facilitate productivity, whether it is working remotely for my job at SHP, or on one of my various side projects. The ability create an impromptu workstation in the office, kitchen and living area that is customized to function best with the particular task, time, and mood I'm in has been a huge benefit in terms of boosting my overall effectiveness as a producer. Below is an image of how I was working from home while waiting for the repair man on Monday.

PORCH SKIRTING & DOOR CASING

Exterior Lattice & Trim Painting

Sunny skies and temperatures in the mid 70's the past couple days made for exceptional painting weather in Cincinnati, which the painters took advantage of as they returned to the Starter Home 2.0 Project to paint the porch skirt lattice work to match the siding color and to touch-up the exterior door casing trim. A quite nice finishing touch, in my opinion.

CERTIFICATE OF OCCUPANCY

Official Documentation

This past week I received a copy of the Certificate of Occupancy for the Parkview project in the mail, which is one of the documents required to apply for the City of Cincinnati new home construction tax abatement that I am going after. Below is a scan of the official document.

OPEN HOUSE

Bengals Watch Party

On Sunday I held an Open House / Bengals Watch Party at my new home to give my Cousins, Aunts and Uncles a chance to see the completed project after 2+ years of hard work. It also put to the test the home's open plan concept and flexible furniture layout by adjusting to accomodate a group of 13 people gathered around a single TV. It was a perfect fall day, which was great because it allowed me to turn off the furnace and all the lights, and open up the windows to let in the natural light and breezes. It was a lot of fun having everyone over and I look forward to playing host to more house parties in the future. 

SHIFTING GEARS

Starter Home 2.0 Blog Moving Forward

For the past 6-months, the Starter Home 2.0 blog has focused on daily construction and occupancy updates related to my Pleasant Ridge house. However, with many of those activities having wrapped up, my plan is to shift gears a bit with the blog and start integrating more outside material related to the upcoming Oakley project, and future Starter Home 2.0 efforts. That said, I will continue to document worthwhile events related to the original house as well.