How to Walk a Lot

When you first drive up to a potential homesite, there is a mixture of emotions. There can be apprehension and excitement about the possibility of you or your family living there. I wanted to give you a few tips to help you make a good decision:

1. Try to get a topography survey of the lot before hand. This will give you the slope of the lot. Generally you want the flattest lot you can get because it's easier on the pocket book.
2. Try to understand the deed restrictions. This will help you get a feel of what kind of architecture will be in the neighborhood and can impact your resale value.
3. Walk the lot perimeter first. An old land pro taught me that and I still do that to this day. Start on the left-hand side and walk the entire perimeter. It really helps you get a feel for the flow of the lot and it's important to know boundaries.
4. Understand the setbacks. This will help you realize potential home positioning, driveway areas, etc.
5. Look at the trees. People LOVE trees and you need to make sure you have some nice ones if possible. You can always plant them but we plan around them all the time.
6. Envison your front and backyards. You want to make sure that there is ample space for your outdoor enjoyment.
7. Know your comparables. Make sure you have recent sales data to determine if you are getting a good deal.

Tips on Building Custom Cabinets for Your Home

Before we begin building cabinets, we always like to invite our customers to walk through the home with our cabinet maker.  This is usually done when a home is in the frame stage.  We either do this walk at the house physically with plans in hand or at our office with a set of plans spread out on the table.  It's such a great exercise because the architects will normally draw-in what they feel is best, but it may not necessarily work for the client's lifestyle.  Here are some things we look for:

1. Stain vs. paint grade cabinets?
   
2. Type of material of cabinets?
3. Do the appliances drawn by the architect match what the customer wants?
4. Does the cabinet depth and height flow well?
5. What's behind the cabinets?, ie cookie sheet dividers/trash cans/etc.
6. Do all the drawers and doors represent good functionality?
7. Where are your televisions and stereo equipment going to go?
8. Where is the computer tower/printer going to go?

I could go on and on but if you really want to save time and future aggravation, invest the time to do a good walk through and think about some of these things.  A good cabinet maker will inform you about the various options, guide you through the process and give you some good things to think about.  

Making the Most of Your Time

Just a quick thought for the day but if I'm ever going to a business meeting I want to know two things: 1. What is the purpose and 2. How long is it going to take.  The reason is the time value of money.  A powerful exercise for you that I recommend is calculating how much your time is worth per hour and factor that in when you're making decisions on things.  Always be thinking about that. Over time, it will become second nature and you'll invest your time on the things that matter.  Also, try to always set a quick agenda if your calling a meeting, even if it's on the back of a napkin.  The reason is it will keep you on task and will show respect to those you are meeting with.  Lastly, if  you don't already make sure you start your day with a to do list and prioritize those items so that you spend your time effectively each day.  I use an abc ranking system, with a taking the highest priority and c taking the lowest.  That way at a quick glance I look for a's and make sure they're knocked out first.  Best of luck managing your time better and more productive days for your future.