Wondering where to start when purchasing a new home? Following are some resources and ideas to help you get up to speed quickly.

The Steps:
1) Choosing a Neighborhood
2) Choosing a Builder
3) How design influences Price
4) How to pay for your New Home

We at Horizon Communities hope that this information will help you make your decision and build your dream in one of our neighborhoods. To further your search there are web links listed at the bottom of each topic. Good luck and have fun.

How to choose a NEIGHBORhood.
Remember the real estate mantra "Location, Location, Location." If you have ever shopped for used housing what is the first question? It is "Where do you want to live?" or "What part of town are you thinking about?" Once you've decided that, you then start looking for houses you like.
WHY should new housing be any different? The biggest thing that will affect the continued value of your home is where it's located. It is proven all the time. Two identical homes built in two different neighborhoods, yet one is worth 20 to 30% more. Ask yourself why.

Check out the following questions:
1. Are there protective covenants to ensure everyone's property is maintained?
2. If you have or will have kids, what is the quality of the school district?
3. Do you have quick and easy access to main roads?
4. Are they planning adequately for the future?
5. Do the other homeowners in the area look like they take pride in where they live?
6. Are there nice amenities like parks and tree lined streets that will enhance the future value of your home?
7. Is the adjoining land already master-planned with the City of Pueblo so you know what the future development will be and that there will be adequate infrastructure?
8. Does the neighborhood promote privacy?
9. When you walk down the streets does it feel safe and somewhere you want to live?

OK. So it is obvious by now that this is what we sell — Neighborhoods. We leave housing to others. We know what we're doing, and have been doing it a long time. SouthPointe is the sum of all we have learned building in our home town of Pueblo (great neighborhoods like El Camino, CreekSide, Apollo Landings, WestRidge, some parts of Regency, and other Southern Colorado communities.

http://www.pueblo60.k12.co.us/ -- School District 60 homepage
http://www.pueblo.us/ -- City of Pueblo homepage

How to choose a builder
SouthPointe, unlike some other neighborhoods, allows all licensed contractors the opportunity to build in the area. What this means for you is the ability to choose the builder for the house you want, in the neighborhood you want. Life is good.

But choosing that builder can be stressful. You should choose your builder as you would a babysitter, because they will be in charge of taking hundreds of people and thousands of parts and putting them together outside in all types of weather and it's one of the most important parts of your life. And at some point something will go wrong, guaranteed. So you want somebody who is able to fix it and build your dream while they are at it. So check references, and do your research. Here is a list of items you should consider:

Do you feel it's someone you can trust? - If you don't trust them you won't have confidence when negotiating a problem, and won't feel satisfied with any solution... even if it is in your favor.

How many homes have they built? -- What is their experience...Will they be there to fix a problem later...Have they established a reputation...

How manyhomes do they build a year? -- Are they full-time professionals or is this a hobby...Will they be there to fix a problem later...Do they have to worry about maintaining a good reputation...

Do they belong to the local Home Builders Association? -- Are they professional and do they care about their industry and what they do...

Has the Regional Building Department or Better Business Bureau gotten many complaints? -- Quality...

Do their homes from 5 years ago still look new? -- Quality...

Will they provide references for you to call? -- Quality...

What do previous customers say about them? -- If you can't even find or talk with other buyers watch out...

What are the warranties for workmanship, systems (like heating & A/C), and structural components of the home? -- Quality and future risk...

Here is a neat trick. Have you seen a house in a newer neighborhood (less then 10 years) that you love the look of and want to know the builder? Go to the Pueblo County Assessors website. Search for records by address and then enter the address. For the property you will see a sales history and in that you should find a record of the sale from the builder to the first owner. (Note: it might not be the first sale listed because land sales and subdivisions are also recorded. Also note some people have the financial ability to buy the lot directly, and then contract out to a builder so there will be no record of a builder.) Or you could find out the old fashioned way and ask the owner, or call the Regional Building Department and ask who pulled the permit.

Even if the builder you find no longer builds that exact model, chances are you will like their newer stuff just as well or better. After all, builders typically only change plans to fix previous problems or address new trends homeowners want.
http://www.homebuilderspueblo.org -- Pueblo Association of Home Builders
http://www.nahb.org -- National Association of Home Builders
http://assessor.co.pueblo.co.us/ -- Pueblo County Assessors
http://www.prbd.com/ -- Pueblo Regional Building Department
http://www.homebuilder.com/advice/default.aspx?poe=homebuilder -- More Advice

How Design Influences Price
The type of construction, Custom or Production, will influence price the final price of the home.

Custom building is designing and building your house from scratch, buying a plan out of a plan book, or significantly modifying one of the builder's own plans. This will always cost more because building a house for the first or only time is never as efficient as the second time. Using a car analogy, building the concept car is always way more expensive then building the production line car.

Production construction is selecting a plan the builder already has and making only minor modifications to it. This will always be cheaper because the builder has found all the inefficiencies of design on previous houses (the concept car) and value engineered the plan to the point where every design feature is considered a benefit and not an accidental waste of space and money.

Within each type of construction, Architectural layout and Quality of Finish materials influence price.

Lets start with Quality of Finish. When it comes right down to it, there are only three types of space in a home: Kitchen space, Bath space and open/living space (bedrooms, living rooms, etc.). Why should you split it into three parts? -- Because beauty, usability and cost are very different between these areas of the home.

Take the Kitchen. Functionally, there is very little difference between the kitchen in a $100,000 home and a $300,000 home. Both probably only have one sink, one refrigerator, one stove & microwave, and cabinets. But oh yes, while the size of the kitchen might vary a little (usually no more then 50 square feet), the cost of the appliances and cabinets selected can vary 10 times as much. So what you end up with is a very small part of the home on a square foot basis, with a great amount of influence over the price of the home. Cabinets can range from $2,000 to $20,000 in the blink of an eye. Those are some nice looking cabinets but you could also buy a car with them, are they worth it? In some houses yes, in some houses no.

Baths work the same way except they can multiply from 1 to 2 to 3 or more. Just check a builder options list for a powder room and divide it by the square feet it takes up (taking notethat there is no shower in there). The quality and quantity of fixtures selected for each bath in the house can greatly influence the price.

What's left after the Kitchen and Bath? A lot of open/living space laid out to provide private areas and communal areas for your family. Places that will be used for memories of Christmas and games and laughter... but till you move in they only hold empty air. This open/living space is much less expensive to build then Kitchens and Baths because the only finishes that will significantly add to the cost are light fixtures, flooring and custom painting. Items that also influence Kitchen and Bath design.

So why go through all this detail? Because, when you are comparing homes, you need to be careful when using average square-foot numbers. Make sure you are comparing quality and workmanship, fixtures, appliances, lights, flooring and finishes of similar value and style.
The other interesting thing to note about average square foot prices is that holding the kitchen and baths constant, your average price per square foot should go down as the house gets bigger, because you are creating more open/living space which costs less money to build. This will then reverse again as you upgrade the quality of furnishings and finishes in the home.

Architecture also influences price. Among conventional house plans, a 1-story ranch home on an unfinished basement is the most expensive type of home you can buy. Wow. Why is that? Because the cost of your floor includes all that cement and digging for the basement (and foundations are a significant expense). It also includes the rough in plumbing, and cement floor as well. In a crawler, the foundation wall is a third as high so the foundation costs that much less. With slab on grade construction, it lowers the cost again. And this whole time the size and dimensions of the house remain unchanged.

Want to lower the costs even more? Build a two story house. This lowers the cost of construction in two ways. First it typically shrinks the size of the first floor because you are taking a third or more of the square footage and putting it on the second floor. This means the foundation is smaller, regardless what type, and costs less. Second, your roof, which is sized the same as your foundation is now smaller and you save money . Other intangible architectural benefits that are money savers include the ability to have 2 story open spaces and create more separation between private and communal areas meaning someone never has to walk by or through your bedroom to get to the bathroom.

Other types of houses try to mimic the cost savings of two story houses but change up the design. Bi-levels and Tri-levels are the most common. The savings compared to a ranch style, is to shrink the square foot area of the 1st floor causing savings in foundation and roofing costs. Essentially you are building a 2-story home but end up with 3 or 4 levels distinct levels instead of 2.
http://www.jlconline.com -- Journal of Light Construction
http://www.pathnet.org/ -- New technology and uses in construction
http://www.toolbase.org -- Technology and construction site
http://www.ePlans.com -- Online house plans
http://www.homeplans.com -- Online house plans
http://tms.ecol.net/realestate/gloss_hs.htm -- Shows different architecture styles

How to Pay for your New Home
There are so many options today to pay for a home that it's best to get a mortgage specialist's help early in the process. If you can afford the rent on a decent 2 or 3 bedroom apartment then you can afford a home. There are even interest only loans available and no down payment loans available. Just always remember, the less personal money you invest, the more you will pay in interest and fees. We would recommend you use someone locally but it depends on how comfortable you already are with mortgages and options. The less help you need, both in information and financially, the less important it is to work with someone locally.

Mortgage lenders base decisions on several factors but the most important are your 7 year credit report and credit score. A FICO score is a common way to measure what they perceive as the risk of you not paying them back. If you feel you want to clean up your credit you might want to choose a mortgage specialist first to help make sure you do the right thing. For instance, canceling old credit cards and keeping new ones can actually hurt your score. Also just canceling cards without paying attention to what your ratio of money owed vs. credit available could end up hurting your score. Making large purchases, or applying for new credit lines right before or during the home buying process can hurt your score. The list goes on, just remember get a mortgage specialist involved early so you don't end up making a mistake. Remember, they are paid when they lend you money not deny you money, so they will be eager to help.

When selecting mortgages, if you are really looking for the best rate available for your situation, you need to think hard about how long you expect to live there before you move or refinance. One of Alan Greenspan's more controversial comments about the mortgage market is that too many people leave money on the table by choosing fixed-rate mortgages instead of better matching their mortgage to the number of years they expect to live in the home. The national average for a mortgage is 7 years. If you really think you will move or upgrade in 7 years you could get a 7 year Adjustable Rate Mortgage. If you know you will be there close to 15 years you could get a 30 year mortgage with a 15 year Balloon. Or if you are positive you are there for 30 years you could get a 30 year fixed rate mortgage which is what you hear about the most. All these terms are easily researchable on the Internet. Just remember, if you decide to not use a fixed rate mortgage, it's like playing the Price is Right -- if you are right about how long you live there then you save money, if you are wrong, depending by how much, you might end up paying even more then what the fixed rate would cost.

Finally, remember when you get ready to purchase a home, a couple of the fun things about buying a new home are decorating and landscaping. Are you keeping enough money in reserve to have fun with these things? If you aren't, you might consider having them included in the price of the home and get the benefit of instant low interest financing. At a national level, some builders are even providing entertainment systems and plasma TVs as part of the home and financed by your mortgage.

http://www.freddiemac.com/creditsmart/home.html -- Very informative and will teach you all you need to know. Pay special attention to Modules 6, 7, 8, & 11 at a minimum.