Popular Trends to add value to your Home

Archicentre, advises that covered outdoor living areas are popular.
1 Families love the outdoor/indoor connection for entertainment living. A deck or garden conservatory adds great value to a home as everyone likes more living areas. An addition of an Outdoor room is one of the best ways to add value.
2 A dedicated Study Nook is very popular, even something as simple as a kitchen bench extension. A Home Office is a highly valued priority. In the USA, the work from home trend applies to nearly 25% of workers. Some value the Home Office, at close to 15% of the extra value for a home.
3 A peaceful home is also in demand. The best idea for this is double glazing, which can transform a noisy home into a peaceful haven. Given that many workers are now working shift work and need peace in order to, sleep during the day.
4 While, the open planning trend has been popular, currently people are asking for several living areas, so the parents can enjoy some peaceful separation from the children.
5 Intelligent storage is popular, like the attic room storage or under the stairs. Other storage areas include racks in the garage, walk in robes, handy roll out deep drawers, a linen press, a garden shed and build-ins in the laundry. One idea popular in the USA, is to move the Laundry from internal part of the home into a basement or garage.
6 Energy efficiency measures are also popular, given the rising cost of Utilities. Ideas like internal and external blinds, heavy curtains, ceiling fans, Northern windows, natural gas heating, energy efficient appliances, insulated windows and doors.

Australian Inflector window panels

Window Type Solar Heat Gain/Blocked With In’Flector
Single Pane 13% 77%
Double pane 28% 80%
Low E 38% 83%
In’Flector alone 73%
Window Type % UV Blocked With In’Flector
Single Pane 12% 78%
Double pane 20% 82%
Low E 35% 85%
In’Flector alone 74%
As part of our commitment to ongoing R & D we have been doing additional research and testing to the highest standards. Part of this testing involved using EDTM testing equipment, which is highly regarded equipment endorsed for use by industry rating companies like the National Fenestration Rating Council. The results were very impressive and even better than we had anticipated. Using the EDTM Solar Transmission and BTU Meter we compared single pane, double pane, and low E windows with In’Flector Window Insulators and then the windows with In’Flector Window Insulators. We then conducted similar test for UV rays which cause so much damage to curtain, carpet, and furniture. Look at these amazing results above:

Product application styles and features
Roller blinds -Reduces your heating and cooling energy costs
Vertical blinds -Reversible
Sliding panels -Daytime privacy
Skylight panels -Lightweight
Insulator panels -Virtually Maintenance free
-Beneficial for both Summer and Winter
Reference www.inflector.com.au

Carbon tax effects the cost of new homes!

The Herald-Sun commmentator, Terry McCrann, notes the Carbon tax will effect a wider range of goods and services than the Goods and Services Tax. Given it includes products like fresh food, education, books, medical expenses, charities all were exempted from the GST tax. The Carbon tax also starts high at $23 a tonne and then grows at a compounding pace of eight percent a year. The effect of this new tax McCrann argues, is very like raising the GST tax from 10% to 15% over time. The Housing Industry Association, argues this will raise the cost of new house and land packages by $6,000. I maintain the diesel section of the tax will have a larger disproportional effect on the subdivision and developmental cost of land. I suggest the real cost of new home and land packages may be even higher!

More Help for First Home buyers

Announced with the last state budget, the Stamp Duty rebate, is being progressively rolled out, initially as a 20 percent reduction, with a further 10 percent to be knocked off in January 2013 and 2014 respectively and then a final 10 percent reduction in September 2014, bringing the total rebate to 50 percent of the stamp duty, usually paid by first home buyers. It applies to homes that cost or are built for $600,000 or less.

The Stamp Duty rebate, which must be applied for after settlement, complements the existing first home owner grants. Under this scheme, buyers are eligible for a First Home Buyers grant of $7,000 when purchasing a home up to the value of $750,000. If the home is newly built and its price does not exceed $600,000, there is an additional bonus of $13,000.

Buyers in a regional area, in addition to the previous two figures, will get another bonus of $6,500, if the price or construction does not exceed $600,000.

State government figures show that more than 28,000 people claimed the first home owner’s grant for an established or new home in the last financial year alone.

Earlier this month, a spokeswoman for Treasurer Kim Wells, told The Sunday Age, that the Stamp Duty cuts had assisted more Victorians to buy their first home, with government figures showing” 1,428 buyers had collectively saved more than $3.96 million in stamp duty under the program so far.”

However, Greville Pabst, chief executive of the WBP Property Group, a prominent Valuers group, says the Stamp Duty concessions so far appear to have had ”little impact” on the number of first home owners entering the market.

Melbourne as an easyhomerenovating capital

The recent State government studies researching new transport upgrades highlight the opportunity in Melbourne. Sir Rod Eddington, Infrastucture Australia, is suggesting an underground east-west link tollway road tunnel. This would link the Western ring road to the Eastern freeway, its long over due. The Westgate bridge which has become completely overloaded and clogged, it needs an alternative route.
Melbourne, is forecast to need atleast 600,000 new homes over the next twenty years, so lets consider the transport needs, before the roads become gridlocked. A new outer Western ring, to swing from Beveridge to Melton down to Werribee is mooted. This would support the growth of Lockerbie, Tarneit, Wyndham vale, Melton, Werribee South, Point Cook and West Wyndham vale.
The prospect of fifteen new trains stations, including at Donnybrook, Beveridge, Wyndham Vale, Tarneit, Truganina, Toolern, Rockbank, Clyde and Sunbury North.
Not all these projects will proceed smoothly, but atleast some great plans are being laid, for the expected massive growth of Melbourne to the north at Donnybrook, west at Melton and south-west at Wyndham vale. The projects to proceed will need considerable Federal funding.