OAKLEY WALK-UP

First SH2.0 Oakley Animation

It's been a while since I've uploaded any videos to the Starter Home 2.0 YouTube Channel, but with the Oakley Revit model now developed to the point where I can start creating walkthroughs, my plan is to start posting new video tours in and around the house over the course of the next few weeks. The first of these videos is posted below and can also be found here.  

MILLENNIAL MARKET WATCH

30-30 Analysis

Earlier this week, I came across an article on Builder Online, called 'Then and Now' that took a look at some interesting U.S. Census Tract Data, which compares and contrasts the lifestyles of 30-year-olds in 1975 vs 30-year-olds in 2015. My 30-year-old self found this analysis to be quite interesting and relevant to the type of product I am trying to provide with the Starter Home 2.0 project, so I thought I would highlight 5 key takeaways from that synopsis and info-graphic posted below (click on the image to enlarge).

1. Spouses: In 1975, 89% of 30-year-olds were married, but in 2015, that number drops to 57%.
2. Children: 76% of 30-year-olds in 1975 were parents to at least one child, however that percentage falls to just 47% for this age group in 2015.
3. Living on Their Own: I take this as not living with mom and dad, but might be mistaken. Either way, this number, which was at 90% in 1975 has dipped to 70% in 2015.
4. The New Norms: In 1975, 71% of 30-year-olds had married, had a child, were not enrolled in school, and lived on their own. In 2015, just 32% of 30-year-olds have these characteristics.
5. Homeowners: Taking into account the new norms statistic above, it is not surprising no learn that homeownership for 30-year-olds has dropped from 56% in 1975 to 33% in 2015. 

It is important to note that Census Data doesn't directly address the largely different financial, technological, and social circumstances facing today's young adults, which certainly impact these numbers to an extent. That said, a couple questions worth asking for Millennial home builders like myself: (1.) Are their values all that different than they were in 1975? (2.) Do they believe in and prefer anything fundamentally different when it comes down to safety, trust, shelter, livability, etc.? I agree with the author of this article, who suggests probably not, but cautions that we don't know for sure, yet and may only know the answer to that in five years--as college debt loads begin to lighten and biological clocks kick into high-gear, triggering families.

GETTING DETAILED

Construction Detailing 101

One of the drawing disciplines many young architects and aspiring architects consistently struggle with is that of construction detailing. This was (and still is to a certain extent) a challenge for me, because the only way to truly understand how a building goes together, is to see how a building goes together. Fortunately, my academic and professional career has provided me opportunities to spend more time on construction sites than most by way of co-op site visits, volunteer work with Habitat for Humanity, and a construction management stint with Cincinnati Housing Partners prior to my current position with SHP Leading Design. That said, it wasn't until observing and documenting the construction of the Starter Home 2.0 Pleasant Ridge project on a daily basis, that I started to really feel like I gained a solid grasp on how homes are constructed, which has made the construction detailing on the SH2.0 Oakley house a much more intuitive and effective process than the first time around. Below are a few examples of construction details I am currently working through on the Oakley project in hopes of giving those unfamiliar with this aspect of the architectural profession, some insight into this process.

Foundation Details: The foundation details describe how the footings, foundation walls, and slabs interact with one another as well as the surrounding soils and fill materials. These details also show how concrete elements are reinforced, waterproofed and insulated. The detail below shows a typical basement footing condition.

Mid-Wall Details: The mid-wall details provide the contractor with the specifics for how to arrange the the framing of the walls and floors at key intersections, and how to sheath, clad, insulate and finish these elements on the exterior and interior. The following mid-wall detail shows the way in which the ends of the second floor framing interact with the wall framing above and below the joists and rim board.

Roof Details: The roof details illustrate the various conditions where walls meet the roof line and break down the roof assembly into their specific components. In the case of the SH2.0 Oakely house, the roof assembly consists of a pre-manufactured roof truss infilled with blown-in fiberglass insulation, OSB roof sheathing, synthetic roof underlayment material, and dimensional asphalt shingles. 

REFI RETRY

SH2.0 Pleasant Ridge Re-Appraisal

The terms of the original construction financing for the Starter Home 2.0 Pleasant Ridge project were pretty typical for a new single family home loan with an interest only construction loan rolling over to a 30-year adjustable rate mortgage (where the interest on the loan adjusts on an annual basis to reflect market conditions). Unfortunately, in today's market where interest rates are at historic lows, the ARM is not the best long-term loan option as the only place for those rates to go over time is up. Anticipating this would be the case, I started the process of converting the 30-year ARM to a 30-year fixed rate loan with my lender at Guardian Savings Bank shortly after construction was completed. While this type of refinancing is pretty simple and straightforward, it does require an appraisal of the property to determine if the loan-to-value ratio is above or below 80%, which determines whether or not a borrower will need to purchase Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI) on top of the debt service, to ensure the bank will be able to recover all monies owed in the event of a default. Having had a pre-construction appraisal completed with a value that was well above the 80% LTV required to avoid PMI, I anticipated the post-construction appraisal I scheduled in October 2015 would come back with the same value. However, as I wrote about in a previous blog post, that was not the case due primarily to bad comps. Confident this appraisal was not a true reflection of the actual value of the home, I made the decision to hold off on converting the loan until I could get the property re-appraised at a value that would exceed the 80% LTV requirements and PMI would not be required.

Fortunately, with the emerging home buying market in Pleasant Ridge, I didn't have to wait very long to get a new set of comparable sales that better represented the true value of the SH2.0 Pleasant Ridge house, which could be used in the re-appraisal I had completed in May. Learning from my failures in the last appraisal, I made a point this time around to do a better job of providing the appraiser with additional up-front information to give a more complete picture of the project and surrounding neighborhood. This included supplying a list of recommended comps (2 of which ended up being used in the final report), plans of the house along with a list of material selections, and a guided house tour in which I pointed out the many unique features of the home. In the end, these efforts paid off as the appraisal came back with a value that was equal to the original pre-construction appraisal and met the 80% LTV requirements for avoiding PMI. As an added bonus, the interest rates on a 30-year fixed mortgage actually went down from where they were at in October, so the previously failed conversion ended up working out to my advantage in that regard. 
My loan closing took place this past Monday and below are some images from the appraisal report that show the comps that were used in establishing the current home value.