How Do I start a New Home Search ?

May 18th, 2012

Are you thinking of moving to a new home in the Roanoke area ?  Have you been trying to figure yout  how to even start looking?  Well,  the first thing you should do is ask yourself some questions to narrow down your search.  After all, the first decision you need to make is Location, Location, Location.  Afterall, that is the key in real estate?

Hopefully, by now you have it narrowed down to what state, and city you want your new home to be in, and it is near Roanoke, Virginia.  But that still leaves a big area for you to search.  How do we narrow down your search ?  First, think about these things, and organize them in their order of importance to you.

• Do I want to be close to work ?
• Do I need to be close to my children’s school?
• What hospitals and doctors  are nearby?
• What about parks, restaurants, and shopping?
• Is it close to my worship center?
• Do I want to be near family and friends who live there?

Once you have considered these items, and put them in order of most to least important, it is time to start our search.  Here’s what you do.  Let’s say the most important thing on your list  is being close to your children’s school; we will start looking at communities near the school, and see what they have to offer.  For example,  Our Devoncroft, Hampshire, and Groves communities are near Cave Spring Elementary, and Hidden Valley Middle and High Schools.  At Boone Graham Thomas we plan our communities so they will be in centralized locations near things we know will be important to you.  

There are many decisions to be made along the way to choosing your new home, butt the first step is location.  No matter what location you decide on in Roanoke, Salem, or Blacksburg, I am sure there is a Boone Graham Thomas community that will meet your needs.  Let us show you some communities in your chosen “location” today, and give us a chance to show you what Boone Graham Thomas is all about. 

Tags: Blacksburg New Home Construction, Boone Graham Thomas, Looking for a New Home in Roanoke VA, New Construction Roanoke, Roanoke New Homes, Salem New Home Construction
Posted in Blacksburg New Construction, Custom Home Design, Industry News, No Maintenance Living, Roanoke New Construction, Salem New Construction | No Comments »

Customization without compromise

April 10th, 2012

A life well-lived is a life fully lived….

This is the philosophy that has served Lois Farmer well at every stage of her life. It is a philosophy that  helped her after her husband’s death, as she moved from the farm where she lived for decades to a new home in Roanoke’s Coach Homes Of Southwood community.

This was hardly her first new construction home – she and her husband had built two. But this was the first time she had approached homebuilding without her husband’s support. Add to that some special needs and requirements imposed by her health, and it would have been easy for Lois to abandon her independence.  However, that
is not Lois Farmer’s style, and never has been. She was determined that her new home be a step forward, not a retreat.

Achieving that goal involved adjusting the home’s design to accommodate oxygen delivery to various rooms, and an automatic generator in the event of a power outage; both designed to be unobtrusive and essentially invisible, yet completely effective. Add an elevator, and Lois is able to live on multiple floors comfortably.

 “At each step in the design and building of my home, the Boone Homes team (now Boone Graham Thomas) made it clear to me that what was being built would be my home,” Lois  says, “one that’s customized to my new  lifestyle.”

Customized – without compromise: The Boone team (BGT) made Lois comfortable during the building process as well. Lois says “The building site was immaculate every single day,” she recalls. “I could come by at any time to see how the work was progressing, and I always knew that the site would be presentable. BGT was always there to answer my questions; they were always helpful, and always supportive.”

Her home includes a suite for her assistant, as well as a spacious basement designed and furnished for her grandchildren’s use, features that wouldn’t have been possible in a single-story home, much less a retirement facility. Her new home has allowed Lois to not only stay in the area, but to do so independently, without altering or disrupting her life and the enthusiasm and activity she brings to it.

“This feels like my home because it is my home, perfectly designed, customized and built to enable me to continue to live my life own my own terms,” Lois says. “I wouldn’t have it any other way – and BGT saw to it that I didn’t have too.”

Original Story by Keith Ferrell & Tim Garrison

Tags: Boone Graham Thomas, Coach Homes of Southwood, Custom Home Design, New Construction Roanoke Va, New Home Roanoke Va, No Maintenance Living Roanoke VA
Posted in Custom Home Design, No Maintenance Living, Roanoke New Construction | 1 Comment »

Selling the Roanoke Region

October 3rd, 2011

Selling the Roanoke Region

Beth Doughty, Executive Director of the Roanoke Regional Partnership, addressed RVAR’s September 14th Membership Meeting. Beth offered the following facts and statistics, all selling points for the Roanoke Region:

- Cost of doing business 15% lower than national averages (source) - Cost of living 5% lower than national average - Ranked in Top 15 Most Affordable Places for Doing Business (source ) - Virginia’s most diverse economy (source ) - Within a day’s drive of 2/3 of US population - More than 600 miles of trails and 22 miles of greenways - Smith Mountain Lake is Virginia’s largest lake - 120 miles of the Appalachian Trail winds through the Roanoke Region - Carvins Cove Nature Reserve is the 2nd largest municipal park in the US - Mountain bike trails ranked in Top 5 (Resort Sports Network TV)For more selling points, check out the Partnership’s website: Roanoke.org

Tags: Boone Graham Thomas, New Home Roanoke Va
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Fewer Homes For Sale, Inventories Fall Sharply

August 4th, 2011

High inventories of homes for sale have plagued many markets, but in a recent analysis of metro areas, inventories were found to be shrinking sharply during the second quarter, The Wall Street Journal reports.

About 2.34 million homes were listed for sale on the multiple-listing service by the end of June, the lowest level for that time of year since at least 2007, according to Realtor.com. What’s more, some inventory levels even reached their lowest levels since the housing crisis began five years ago, which has prompted some markets to even say their facing a shortage of homes on the market.

While a drop in inventories can often signal more demand — and ultimately a boost to home prices — some analysts aren’t so sure this signals a complete turnaround for the real estate market quite yet.

“While sales are picking up in some cities, analysts say the sharp decline in inventory also reflects the slow pace at which banks are processing foreclosures,” The Wall Street Journal reports. (The number of homes in foreclosure — a backlog of 2.1 million — is near a high.) Also, some sellers are taking their homes off the market due to low offers and waiting until they put it back on the market.

In its analysis, The Wall Street Journal found that of the 28 major metro areas evaluated inventory levels had dropped in all 28 — except for three. What’s more, they found that inventories had dropped by double digits in 16 of those markets during the second quarter when compared to a year ago. For example, inventories dropped in Miami by 43 percent from a year ago; 30 percent in Washington, D.C.; and more than 20 percent in cities like Charlotte, N.C., Seattle, and San Francisco.

“We’re in a shortage situation,” Brett Barry, a real estate professional in Phoenix, told The Wall Street Journal. Phoenix has a four-month supply of homes listed for sale at its current pace. “It’s a very artificial, ‘Twilight Zone’ kind of feeling, because we know there’s a lot of homes out there.”

Source: “Home Listings Fall But Woes Persist,” The Wall Street Journal (Aug. 3, 2011)

Tags: Boone Graham Thomas, New Home Roanoke Va, Salem New Home Construction
Posted in Blacksburg New Construction, Roanoke New Construction, Salem New Construction | 5 Comments »

Welcome!

July 6th, 2011

Welcome to our brand new website. Our goal is that this website provides you with a better feel for our company and our homes. We are here to answer questions at any time. Please feel free to call at anytime. Please browse your hearts away – We’d love to hear your thoughts!

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