HOUSE PLAN
LISTING OF THE WEEK
With apartment High ceilings The Listing of the Week is a large house with a 1,200-square-foot garage apartment, 3,200-square-foot barn and saltwater pool located on 5 acres in Yukon.
Ten-foot ceilings give an airy, spacious feel to the Cibola, a midsize family home with a sunny Southwestern flavor.
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REAL ESTATE
Kenneth Harney
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THE OKLAHOMAN | NEWSOK.COM
SATURDAY, JANUARY 15, 2011
HOMEBUILDER ADJUSTS BUSINESS AS ECONOMY, MARKETS EBB, FLOW BY RICHARD MIZE Real Estate Editor richardmize@opubco.com
Dan Meinders and his High Chaparral Development were on a roll. Take Sierra Station, south of Memorial Road just west of Interstate 35 in Oklahoma City. The cozy, heavily wooded, 20acre addition steadily advanced from the time Meinders launched it in 1994 through a second phase that started in 2000-01, and includes at least one home approaching 10,000 square feet. Covenants requiring indoor sprinkler systems helped make the exclusive, gated neighborhood even more attractive to upscale builders and buyers. Consider Whisper Glen, west of Douglas Boulevard just north of Waterloo Road in Logan County. Meinders bought the rural project, caught up in the 1980s oil bust, in 1992, building the first 13 homes, then concentrating on developing out the rest of the multiphase, horse-friendly neighborhood. Houses range from 1,400 square feet to 2,000-plus square feet. Take Sweetwater Springs, east of Douglas Boulevard, just south of Charter Oak Road in Logan County. The neighborhood, as carefully carved out of the Cross Timbers as the others, shares another trait with them, as well: country living, close enough to town — whether that means Guthrie, Edmond or Oklahoma City — for residents to have life both ways. Meinders started developing it in 2003. Take Charter Oak Hills, east of Douglas Boulevard on Charter Oak Road. Another rural neighborhood, with homes from 1,200 square feet to 1,700 square feet, within reach of the less-than-upscale homebuyer, started about the same time as Sweetwater Springs. Then there was Cedar Lake Estates, east of Broadway, north of Waterloo Road, which Meinders’ High Chaparral Development also started in the middle of the last decade. It, too, started during the national housing boom and took off fast with a half-dozen different builders. Almost all of the lots in the first phase sold immediately, said Phyllis Meinders, a Realtor who
Expense for loans to rise If you want a loan this year, you’re going to have to pay more — thousands of dollars more in some cases — even if you’ve got stellar credit scores and bundles of cash. PAGE 5F
IN BRIEF
SHEDDING LIGHT ON BULBS
Dan and Phylllis Meinders sit at the entrance to Cedar Lake Estates, northeast of Waterloo Road and Broadway in Logan County. Dan Meinders’ High Chaparral Development developed the neighborhood, one of several Meinders has in the area. Phyllis Meinders’ Filly’s Real Estate Co. markets them. PHOTO BY PAUL HELLSTERN, THE OKLAHOMAN
This home is at 755 Stone Bridge in the Cedar Lake Estates addition developed by High Chaparral Development Co. PHOTO BY PAUL HELLSTERN, THE OKLAHOMAN
markets her husband’s developments through her Filly’s Real Estate Co. The homes in the addition are desirable, said Ryan Hukill, a Realtor with Paradigm AdvantEdge Real Estate. The neighborhood offers “the ambience of country liv-
ing, with city convenience in executive-level homes, acreage in Edmond schools and, being only 3½ miles off of Interstate 35, residents can get anywhere in the city quickly,” Hukill said. But now, of those six original builders, Meinders said just one,
Scott Parsons, remains working in Cedar Lake Estates. And of the other five, just two, Ken Stier and C.L. Smith, are still in the homebuilding business. The slump bumped the others out of the SEE BUILDER, PAGE 2F
First-time buyers need not settle for starter home A naval officer in her late 30s had an exciting international career before recently deciding to settle down and buy her first house. As a novice buyer, she kept her expectations low. But she was astonished at how far her money would stretch. Instead of the small, two-bedroom house she thought she could afford, she was surprised to learn that her salary let her buy a spacious four-bedroom place loaded with features such as a handsome fieldstone fireplace, a gourmet kitchen and a two-car garage. The naval officer’s experience is not uncommon, said Sid Davis, a seasoned real estate broker and author of “A Survival Guide for Buying a Home.” Of course, not all 20- or 30-somethings who are intent on homeownership can reach the big house goal post when they buy. Those carrying heavy debt
THE NATION’S HOUSING
Ellen James Martin SMART MOVES
loads for educational expenses, car loans and credit card debts are obviously limited in their capacity to borrow for a mortgage. But Davis said many young adults with steady jobs who’ve avoided excess debt are now positioned to buy better than a starter home the first time around. Here are a few pointers for first-time purchasers:
Make a mortgage office your first stop Eric Tyson, co-author of “Home Buying for Dummies,” said that the mortgage market has be-
come more stringent in recent years, due to the unusually large volume of mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures. Consequently, all home loan applicants are coming under greater scrutiny, he said. By seeing a mortgage lender early, you can gain pre-approval, which will give you a realistic sense of how much you can afford. A pre-approval letter is also a strong bargaining chip. “That’s because the sellers of the house you want will view you more positively if they know your mortgage financing is for sure,” he said.
Hunt for realistic sellers Although many neighborhoods now have a glut of unsold, high-end homes, not all sellers are equally motivated. Davis said one key to finding a
good deal is to locate a home with owners who are exceptionally eager to sell. One strategy for identifying highly motivated sellers is to examine statistics. Ask your real estate agent to determine the average “days on market” (from list to sale) for properties in the area where you want to live. Then look for homes in that price range that have languished unsold for a longer-than-average period. Before crafting an offer on the home of your choice, Davis suggested you also examine another set of numbers: the average list-to-sale price differential. If you note that most properties have recently fetched 90 percent of their list price, you might consider a first bid at a 10 percent discount off what’s being asked, assuming your research shows this is warranted, he said. “Also, don’t be afraid to
respond to a counter-offer if your first bid is rejected,” Davis said.
Avoid offending the owners’ pride “It’s nearly universal for people to have pride in the place where they live. Criticize the owners and you’ll only shoot yourself in the foot. The odds are they’ll take your comments personally and resist dealing with you at all — no matter the size of your offer,” Davis said. This is not to say that you and your home inspector shouldn’t be forthright in itemizing corrections that are needed to bring the property up to standard, such as repairs to the roof or the replacement of a malfunctioning water heater. But do so in a manner that doesn’t offend the owners. E-mail Ellen James Martin at ellenjames martin@gmail.com. UNIVERSAL UCLICK
Q: We put compact fluorescent floodlights in the recessed fixtures in our kitchen ceiling. We have found they do not last any longer than the old-fashioned incandescent ones. Why is that? A: Compact fluorescent bulbs are sensitive to heat and will burn out faster if they’re in a fixture where air can’t circulate, said Terry McGowan, a lighting consultant and director of engineering and technology for the American Lighting Association. That’s usually not a problem in recessed can lights that are open at the bottom, he said, but some have a glass lens over the opening that can trap heat. It’s also possible that you’re buying lesserquality bulbs. McGowan recommended buying bulbs with an Energy Star label, which ensures they meet certain quality standards. The packaging should have a phone number on it to call if the bulb burns out before it should. Save the packaging and write on it the date you installed the bulb, so you can call to complain if necessary.
CLEANER CLEANING A new line of cleaning products is designed to reduce both waste and shipping costs. JAWS (Just Add Water System) products come in spray bottles designed to be refilled and reused. The refill comes in a small cartridge containing a concentrated cleaner, to which you add tap water. More information about the products is at www.jawsclean.com. MCCLATCHY-TRIBUNE INFORMATION SERVICES
INDEX Handy Permits Stone
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