Although E.S. Johnson Builders has acquired a great reputation over our twenty years, many don’t know that many of our award winning homes are built outside of our Communities. E.S. Johnson Builders has been built around building great homes for great families where they want to live.
Building on your own lot takes an experienced builder. In communities the building lot has been pre approved, septic permit, land engineering complete and utilities are in. What are the pitfalls your lot may pose?
Points to consider when selecting a Build on your lot Builder.
- Choose a builder with the experience of building on a customer’s land. Inside master planned communities the building process is easier because all the infrastructure is in place. Building on your own lot requires a builder that can navigate his way around the many pitfalls that can happen in the upfront due-diligence.
- Choose a builder that can provide you the plan you want, not the one he thinks you should have. Plans can be derived three ways: stock or “portfolio” plan, modify a portfolio plan, or create a custom plan that has what you desire specific to that lot and meets your budget. A good builder should be able to do all three for you.
- Choose a builder that can stand by the service of the home. Has he been building in your area for a long time? Does he have the reputation of taking care of his customers after the sale?
- Choose a builder that is large enough to have great buying power so you receive the best prices for all building goods.
Living where you want, on land you may have dreamed about for years, has become an essential part of the American dream. In a culture that values individuality and self-expression, more people are opting to buy their land first, and then building a custom or semi-custom home.
By hiring a builder with a strong build on your lot program, homebuyers can save money as well as the hassle of hiring their own architect and general contractor. Build on your lot builders will assist you with site evaluations, floorplans, permits, coordination, construction, and in some cases, even financing.
Are you ready for the next step?
For a free lot evaluation, call Eric Johnson at E.S. Johnson Builders and he can show you the roadmap to your home building journey.
Every once and a while we get asked to do a home that is a departure from what we do everyday. Although everyone of our houses are one of a kind, we recently were asked to build a home with all stained trim, special floors, stone walls in unique places, and special details at every turn. This changed the scale of the project, color palette and product details that we typically use.
Here are some pictures from this very special home in Springfield. Although only approximately only 3200 sq ft this empty nester home gives the owner everything they wanted. Its design and details were to create a feeling of being on permanent vacation. It is very reminiscent of homes in the NC highlands.
E.S. Johnson Builders is proud to announce a new speculative luxury custom home to be built on the shores of Lake Norman in Huntersville and Cornelius, NC.
Designed by Frank Betz
This Frank Betz designed home will be listed by Debbie Williams of Allen Tate Realtors for $1,299,000. This waterfront lot is located in one of Lake Norman’s long standing great neighborhoods, Lookout Point. This lot exists for this rare new construction opportunity because a house fire took this home a few years ago. The result is a large lot that is perfectly flat with a view that goes for miles and a dock. The trees you see on the lot will all remain.
Heavily wooded lot already cleared with no more trees coming down
Miles of view. North west facing.
The home is to have all that you would expect from an E.S. Johnson Builders Luxury Home. Exquisite moldings, white painted cabinets, wide plank hardwood floors, polished nickel fixtures, glass door knobs, great outdoor space and well thought out design.
The home is scheduled to have the same outside colors scheme as the home below. However, we are eager to have you select all the custom colors yourself with the help of our in house design staff.
If interested, please don’t hesitate to call us at 704-987-7950 or contact Debbie Williams with Allen Tate at 704-574-3680.
Thanks for reading…..
Wanting to build a custom home on your own “Field of Dreams?” Great! You are one step closer to building your dream home. Call E.S. Johnson and have Eric Johnson come out to your lot and he can give you a creative and financial evaluation of your project. Get his over twenty years of experience to help you find the perfect floor plan that takes advantage of your lot and to help you avoid any pitfalls that it may provide.
Need to Buy a lot? E.S. Johnson Builders has many partnerships with the realtor community and we can help you find the realtor that specializes in the area you desire. Call us today and we can help you get there.
Here are some of the key points when selecting a builder for on your lot.
- As a true custom builder, building on Lake Norman and the Charlotte area since 1989, experience is the driving force to a well executed plan for your lot. There are over 12 jurisdictions that now oversee the land and permits in the Charlotte area. You need a seasoned vet that knows how to navigate each individual jurisdictions nuances.
- Value driven. Does the builder have your best interests at heart when speaking to you?
Here are some examples of homes we have built outside of our communities.
Our successes have allowed us to observe some odd home buying behavior. We have not rested on our laurels, but we have been able to build a few homes over the last couple of years and met some very interesting characters shopping for “Custom Homes.”
In an effort for builders to build value into our homes, get them appraised properly and ultimately get them sold we have seen the quality level of materials and craftsmanship really slide in other builders. As a competitor of many of these people I dont want to speak to the craftsmanship part but to the material component of the new value paradigm.
Custom Homes have always been built by those that could perform changes, expert design analysis, use multitudes of products, use a diverse subcontractor base due to many levels of quality, and implementation with a unique level of customer service. You knew that regardless of who you picked he would listen, have your back, work hard and do everything he could to back of his product however hard it was. We are seeing something far different.
New products come about everyday that will change our industry forever. Some of these have become common place and accepted in almost every custom home because their cost to benefit ratio is so high they become convention. For example, Advantech OSB floor underlayment, looks like waferboard but is not. Advantech outperforms its competitor 20 to 1. Its not even close, but it only costs $825 more. The benefits are moisture resistance, no delamination, no warping, no cupping, no call backs feels better under foot. I can nail hardwoods into this, the other you can’t, but yet in one of my neighborhoods I am seeing where three builders are doing just that. You will splitting, cracking, noisy hardwood floors inside of 9 months in this humid climate
What do we see now? 19/32″ OSB ,,,,, I hear Crickets. This is the stuff that homes one third its price wouldn’t even let it in.
Some other examples: These are things you hire a Custom Builder to present to you and discuss and not just put in the cheapest stuff in the world
Windows – Wood With Aluminum Clad exteriors have now moved to hollow vinyl windows. This was a big blow in quality. Big win in Price though, about half as much and more maintenance free. The problems, look cheaper, not as energy effiicent, etc. My point is that for only $550 a house more you could get a better constructed, longer lasting, better warrantied, easier to operate Pella hollow vinyl window.
Lumber – Custom Builders usually use moderate to good graded lumber material or #1,#2. We use western studs vs, Eastern studs because they have less moisture and less shrinking while you live in your home resulting in nail pops, drywall corner cracks. We selfishly used them so we had a happier customer and less call backs. Price for this $75 a house. They are now using #3 lumber. You will notice this the first frost of the year when you look at someones roof and you can see all the bows in it.
E.S. Johnson Builders is proud to announce the second coastal style home sold in the Peninsula since the summer. This was a custom home that E.S. Johnson Builders designed in house like the Fishers Island plan that also designed.
The Stanford (King Residence)
This home will be located on Harbor Light Drive which is the road that leads to the Peninsula Yacht Club. The homes Gambrel roof style spans the full width of the home. The empty nester home has become the most popular asked for home in recent months. This home will feature White painted cedar shake, bluestone floors on the porches and a large open plan with 10′ and 12′ ceilings on the main floor. The second floor will have seasonal views of the water on Lake Norman.
The Peninsula is residential neighborhood started nearly twenty years and has become the choice for Charlotte Luxury Homes and families that desire Lake Community living. Its private Country Club, The Peninsula Club, is a fantastic waterfront golf course that has water front on eight of its holes. The club also boasts a very active tennis community as well. The club is very active with children as they have year round activities at the pool clubhouse and the summer is full of camps.
Here are some of the other homes we have built in the Peninsula.
The Fishers Island
Nantucket Farmhouse
When selling your new home everybody wants it to sell fast and to get top value. Here are some tips to carefully plan and spruce up your new home so that you make irresistible to the home buyers.
Here Are The Steps:
- Disassociate Yourself With Your Home.
- Say to yourself, “This is not my home; it is a house — a product to be sold much like a box of cereal on the grocery store shelf.
- Make the mental decision to “let go” of your emotions and focus on the fact that soon this house will no longer be yours.
- Picture yourself handing over the keys and envelopes containing appliance warranties to the new owners!
- Say goodbye to every room.
- Don’t look backwards — look toward the future.
- De-Personalize. The home buyer won’t buy it if they can’t put themselves in it. You need to pre pack up all the personal items, photographs, and family heirlooms. You’re going to have to pack eventually anyway. You want buyers to say, “I can see myself living here.”
- De-Clutter the home
People collect an amazing quantity of junk. Consider this: if you haven’t used it in over a year, you probably don’t need it.
- If you don’t need it, why not donate it or throw it away?
- Remove all books from bookcases.
- Pack up those knickknacks.
- Clean off everything on kitchen counters.
- Put essential items used daily in a small box that can be stored in a closet when not in use.
- Think of this process as a head-start on the packing you will eventually need to do anyway.
- Rearrange Bedroom Closets and Kitchen Cabinets.
Buyers always open your closets and cabinets. Kicking the ties as they say. If your closets and cabinets are organized they will feel like you took care of the home as well.
- Alphabetize spice jars.
- Neatly stack dishes.
- Turn coffee cup handles facing the same way.
- Hang shirts together, buttoned and facing the same direction.
- Line up shoes.
- Rent a Storage Unit.
Almost every home shows better with less furniture. Remove pieces of furniture that block or hamper paths and walkways and put them in storage. Since your bookcases are now empty, store them. Remove extra leaves from your dining room table to make the room appear larger. Leave just enough furniture in each room to showcase the room’s purpose and plenty of room to move around. You don’t want buyers scratching their heads and saying, ”What is this room used for?”
- Remove/Replace Favorite Items.
If you want to take window coverings, built-in appliances or fixtures with you, remove them now. If the chandelier in the dining room once belonged to your great grandmother, take it down. If a buyer never sees it, she won’t want it. Once you tell a buyer she can’t have an item, she will covet it, and it could blow your deal. Pack those items and replace them, if necessary.
- Fix items needing fixed.
- Replace cracked floor or counter tiles.
- Patch holes in walls.
- Fix leaky faucets.
- Fix doors that don’t close properly and kitchen drawers that jam.
- Consider painting your walls neutral colors, especially if you have grown accustomed to purple or pink walls.
(Don’t give buyers any reason to remember your home as “the house with the orange bathroom.”)
- Replace burned-out light bulbs.
- If you’ve considered replacing a worn bedspread, do so now!
- Clean Your House!
- Wash windows inside and out.
- Rent a pressure washer and spray down sidewalks and exterior.
- Clean out cobwebs.
- Re-caulk tubs, showers and sinks.
- Polish chrome faucets and mirrors.
- Clean out the refrigerator.
- Vacuum daily.
- Wax floors.
- Dust furniture, ceiling fan blades and light fixtures.
- Bleach dingy grout.
- Replace worn rugs.
- Hang up fresh towels.
- Bathroom towels look great fastened with ribbon and bows.
- Clean and air out any musty smelling areas. Odors are a no-no.
- Act Like the buyer and Judge your home.
- Go outside and open your front door. Stand there. Do you want to go inside? Does the house welcome you?
- Linger in the doorway of every single room and imagine how your house will look to a buyer.
- Examine carefully how furniture is arranged and move pieces around until it makes sense.
- Make sure window coverings hang level.
- Tune in to the room’s statement and its emotional pull. Does it have impact and pizzazz?
- Check Curb Appeal.
If a buyer won’t get out of her agent’s car because she doesn’t like the exterior of your home, you’ll never get her inside.
- Keep the sidewalks cleared.
- Mow the lawn.
- Paint faded window trim.
- Plant yellow flowers or group flower pots together. Yellow evokes a buying emotion. Marigolds are inexpensive.
- Trim your bushes.
- Make sure visitors can clearly read your house number.
As our market sees signs of recovery some of the traditional questions of real estate are coming back into the conversation. Great article about buying and shows how Charlotte ranks nationally.
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/buying-home-beats-renting-years/story?id=16908969#.UCPLH6lH2OI
One of E.S. Johnson’s designed portfolio homes, The Fishers Island, is sold in The Peninsula.
This Eastern Coastal home is designed with a relaxed elegance reminiscent of “Old Money” coastal homes on Cape Cod and its surrounding areas. White painted cabinets, Walnut stained floors, tall ceilings, stone fireplaces, marble baths and elegant moldings all help define this home. The customer took our plan and made it fit her and her husband’s lifestyle. Eric, owner and chief artistic soul on the E.S. Johnson Team, redesigned the kitchen and breakfast room to fit existing furniture and the family heirloom rugs they already owned. The Kitchen now is ready to handle the families three daughters and their new grandchildren altogether. It was very important to the lady of the home that she have kitchen and master bath she always wanted so we listened and looked through all her inspiration photos to get the right color palette and features she has been looking forward to having in her first custom built home.
Check back later as we update the progressions of this glorious home.
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