Earth Day Edition: Custom Modular Homes Were Green Before Green Was A Thing

In recognition of Earth Day we thought it would be great to talk about some of the ways custom modular homes have been eco-friendly or “green” long before green building was a thing.  Homebuilding has come a long way in offering a variety of eco-friendly materials to choose from for new custom homes.  But, it’s really the building techniques, particularly custom modular processes that can add to the overall environmental friendliness of your home.  Even though you may not see it, what goes on between the walls and under the floors BEFORE your home is set onsite can make a big difference in how “green” it is built.  Here are some of the ways that custom modular homebuilding is environmental friendly.

Recycled before it leaves the factory.

Did you know that most of the leftover materials at one of our manufacturers, Apex Homes, are reused and recycled into something else for use in building the homes?  For instance, leftover drywall is sent back to the manufacturer and is recycled into more drywall.  Even things like windows, doors, and vinyl siding are all reused or recycled.  Wood scraps are ground up and used to heat the plant during the winter and any products that come in damaged are repurposed for shipping of the homes.  Just to put it in perspective, most homes under construction (as in on-site builds) produce about a dumpster each day of trash that goes to a local landfill.  With a custom modular home, the factory produces only two dumpsters per month and they build 1.5 homes per day!

We like to start with energy efficiency. 

Modular homes are green right from the start, and ensuring your custom modular home and any options you choose achieve the highest levels of energy efficiency start at the factory.  The energy used in homes often comes from the burning of fossil fuels at power plants, which contributes to smog, acid rain, and risks of global climate change. So, the less energy used, the less air pollution generated. The easy way to make sure a new modular home is energy efficient is to look for the blue ENERGY STAR mark.  ENERGY STAR qualified homes are independently verified to meet strict guidelines for energy efficiency set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. These homes save money on utility bills, provide a more comfortable living environment with better indoor air quality, and help protect the environment.

ENERGY STAR isn’t just a buzzword.

The custom modular homes built by Apex Homes routinely meet or exceed ENERGY STAR® guidelines. They start in a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility, and can be produced much “tighter” than those built on-site. In fact, our homes routinely operate at least 15 percent more efficiently than a standard home. You’ll also find that your home will be comfortable year-round, thanks to our high standards for building homes that are beautiful, strong and durable. Apex Homes uses a variety of building products and processes that earn the ENERGY STAR® label.

What’s the benefit to you, the homeowner?

Green is much more than just reducing a home’s environmental footprint. You will also realize many direct benefits by owning a green home. Here are some of the primary benefits that you can experience by integrating green features into your new custom modular home compared with a conventional home:

• Increased comfort — Green homes have relatively even temperatures throughout the home, with fewer drafts and better humidity control.
• Lower operating costs — Homeowners receive less expensive utility bills because of energy and water efficiency measures
• Improved environmental quality — Green defines details that control moisture, requires materials that contain fewer chemicals, and defines air exchange/filtration systems that can contribute to a healthier indoor environment.
• Enhanced durability and less maintenance — Green homes incorporate building materials and construction details that strive to increase the useful life of the individual components and the whole house. Longer-lasting not only requires fewer resources for replacement but also reduces maintenance and repair costs.

Using eco-friendly, or green products to build your new custom modular home doesn’t have to bust your budget before you even break ground.  By choosing to build a custom modular home with RBA Homes you are automatically reaping the benefits of a green building process starting right at the beginning from our factory. For more information on building a custom home, or a list of the energy efficient products and materials we utilize in every home, contact us today.

Five Tips For Building Your New Custom Home Now

It is clear that homebuyers today still love their homes at our beautiful New Jersey shore area.  For those of us that live here year-round, we wouldn’t be anywhere else in the world!  So what exactly is it that draws people to the shore areas like Monmouth and Ocean Counties?  Here are five tips for building your new custom home now.

1)            Our beaches are among the most beautiful in the country.  With amenities to please just about everyone, there are a variety of beach, waterfront, or inland properties available to suit your needs.  Many homebuyers choose to purchase a property with a home in need of demolition.  This allows a blank slate with which to build their new custom home.  There’s a “Renaissance” happening at the New Jersey shore, so don’t wait too long to find your new property and start building. 

2)            Communities in Monmouth and Ocean Counties are close to everything!  There are plenty of shopping, dining, and entertainment venues close by, so there is never a dull moment.  With this in mind, we recommend you enlist the help of a local realtor to help you find the perfect place to build your new custom home.  They are knowledgeable about properties on the market, housing values, school systems, or anything you may need to know about where to build your new custom home.

3)            Timing is everything, and if you are looking to move in and enjoy your new home for Summer 2016, now is the time to start looking for land.  Once you secure the property you are going to build on, the next step is to find your custom homebuilder.  Designing the home, applying for permits, and securing your financing all take time, so starting the process now will ensure your home will be completed with plenty of time to spare.

4)            Many families choose to build their second home at the Jersey Shore and come down every weekend to soak up the sun and spend quality time with their families away from the office.   Others make a permanent move and live here year-round.  Whichever you decide, Monmouth or Ocean counties will make the perfect location for your new home. 

5)            There are plenty of properties to build a new home located along the waterfront areas.  Building a home on the river or oceanfront will provide a whole different experience than a home built inland.  Be sure when you select your waterfront property that you can secure the proper grants and permits for things you may want to build like docks, bulkheads and retaining walls.  Your realtor, engineer or builder can help coordinate the necessary paperwork involved with waterfront amenities, but make sure you research this before you purchase your property.

If you love the Jersey Shore and are thinking of building a custom home in one of our fabulous shore towns, there’s no better time than now to get started!  RBA Homes specializes in custom modular homes in like Spring Lake, Sea Girt, Rumson, Fair Haven and Colts Neck, and most recently in many neighborhoods in Toms River and the Barrier Island that were hard hit by superstorm Sandy, contact us today to find out how we can make your new custom home dreams come true!

Why You Need to Attend A Homebuilding Seminar

Anyone who is on the market to build a new custom home is probably scouring the Internet for advice, information, plans and reputable building companies.  Searching online is a great way to gather some preliminary information for builders in your area and ideas for your new home.  Statistics show that 89% of Internet users who are making a purchase, (whether it’s a floral arrangement, car, or home), search online before making their purchase.  But when it comes to choosing the right builder for your custom home it pays to go beyond the search results from the World Wide Web and get up close and personal with the building company you may do business with. This is exactly why you need to attend a homebuilding seminar!

Two Hours Invested And A Lifetime of Loving Your Home

Many building companies offer homebuilding seminars in their local area to help homeowners who have questions about building a home.  Because these events are conveniently located it’s a great idea to secure your seat and attend.  The opportunity to meet the builder, ask questions and view available home plans can give you a leg-up on the details you need to know before building.  It’s also a great way to get to know the team you will be working with over the next several months of construction.  Overall, the investment of a morning to do some in-person research on the company you may hire, is a minimal amount of time as compared to the size of the purchase, (and probably less than what you would spend sorting through search results on the Internet)!

Get Some Ideas On The Type Of Home You Want

With sample plans and plenty of photos of homes previously built available to view, the homebuilding seminar you attend will most likely help you narrow down the type of home and features you need in your home. You’ll get a great understanding of what they can offer and the materials your builder will use to build your home.

Advantages of Construction Methods Explained

There are many ways to build a home, from traditional stick built methods to custom modular construction.  Depending on the builder hosting the seminar, you will be able to find out what the advantages are of their construction methods and ask questions about costs, financing, and other topics of interest.  If you are thinking about raising your current home this is a perfect opportunity to find out why rebuilding a new home might be more advantageous in the long run.

There May Be Incentives For Those Who Attend

Many builders will offer some sort of incentive to anyone who attends their seminar and later signs a contract to build a new home.  This can mean an upgraded appliance package or something else, depending on the builder’s incentive. The only way to know for sure is to sign up and go!

Don’t rely entirely on online reviews and Internet search results when trying to find the right builder for your new custom home. RBA Homes is a custom homebuilder with extensive experience in Monmouth and Ocean Counties.  Our next homebuilding seminar is being offered on March 28^th from 10am to 12pm.  Ready. Set. Build! Homebuilding 101:  A Seminar for Buyers Looking to Build will explore the advantages of modular construction and discuss the benefits of new construction versus raising your existing home, among other topics.  It’s easy to register, just give us a call at 732-747-3800, click here for registration or contact us through our website at http://RBAhomes.com.

Four Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Raise Your Home at the Jersey Shore

Homeowners all along the New Jersey shore are now raising their homes in an effort to comply with the current FEMA guidelines and recommendations. With so many variables involved in lifting an existing home, the real total cost of lifting could be much greater than the cost in the original proposal. 

While it is critical to know what the recommended height is for your home location zone, many homeowners do not realize that the cost of raising your home may not be cost effective, as compared to the custom home you could build instead of raising your existing home.  The truth is, many times the costs quoted by a reputable house raising company many not include critical and necessary repairs once the process has begun.  In addition, your contract with the house raising company may specify that additional costs can be incurred.  What will happen if you begin the process and end up with cost overruns? 

And once the house lift is complete, you still have the same floorplan you had before, now it’s just higher and may be in need of significant repairs inside.  As a custom homebuilder, we believe that rebuilding a new, elevated home with modular construction is more cost effective because not only will your home comply with the newest elevation requirements as set forth by FEMA, you will be able to build the home of your dreams!  Here are four reasons why you shouldn’t raise your home at the Jersey Shore.

Reason #1 - It Won’t Be New!

If you decide to rebuild your home from scratch instead of raising your existing home, everything in your home will be new, from the roof down to the foundation.  All of the electrical, plumbing, windows, doors, sheetrock, finishes and everything in between will be brand new.  Even the layout of your new home can be completely different from your existing home.  Unfortunately, you have been put in a position to make a decision on whether to raise your existing home or build new, so why not make the decision that will give you everything you’ve ever wanted in your home?

Reason #2 - Budgetary Concerns

As we stated above, lifting a home can present some budgetary problems in that you don’t know what the home-lifter will encounter during the process and what the additional costs will be.  Having that in mind, building a new custom modular home will provide for an up-front budget, based on the home and features you will be building and cost over-runs can be alleviated at the time your contract is formulated.

Reason #4 – It Won’t Necessarily Increase The Value of Your Property

Raising your home provides for compliance with the new FEMA elevations standards, but it doesn’t necessarily add value to your existing home.  Building a new home on your existing property can provide for an overall increase in the value of your property.  With all of the brand new systems, appliances and finishes your new home will feature, it will more than likely compare at a higher value than existing homes of similar size and features in your neighborhood. 

Reason #4 – It Won’t Have A Home Warranty

When you build a new home with a custom home builder, you will be the proud owner of a brand new home, but you will also have a new 10 year home owners warranty to go along with all that newness!  This home warranty is a valuable asset that your existing, raised home will not have.  A homeowner’s warranty can provide peace of mind that your home will be covered under a warranty for 10 years.  We recommend you discuss with your builder the specific coverage for your new home, and make sure you receive a copy of your policy at closing.

We think that these four reasons should raise enough questions about whether it is worth raising your existing house as compared to the alternative of rebuilding a new home.  But, if you have any questions or need information on building a custom modular home RBA Homes is here to help.  As one of New Jersey’s premier custom builders, RBA Homes has been helping homeowners in Monmouth and Ocean Counties rebuild their homes after Superstorm Sandy. There is a lot of information available about zones and heights, which can be obtained online for your particular home and location.  http://www.region2coastal.com/bestdata. 

If you have questions about raising versus rebuilding or have a lot to build on, feel free to contactus today at 732-747-3800 or http://RBAhomes.com for more information on how we can help you get back to living your Jersey Shore lifestyle.

Start Your Custom Home Now and Be In Sooner Than You Think!

They say timing is everything.  And when it comes to building a new, custom home there are many details regarding lot selection, design, technique, building products and finishes that need to be determined pretty soon after the decision to build has been made.  One of the things that many people overlook is a realistic timeframe of when they want to be in their new home.  So, if you’ve got the lot and design, you could theoretically start your custom home now and be in while there’s still time to enjoy the warmer weather at the shore!

Because we specialize in building custom homes at the Jersey Shore, RBA Homes is particularly attuned to construction timeframes and schedules.  We offer modular construction, which can provide a much quicker move-in timeframe than most traditional construction methods.

That’s why it’s extremely important to know that if you are ready to build your shore home  – now is the time to get started.  Most builders constructing homes around the Jersey Shore are providing a 12 to 24 month lead time, which is a long time to wait for your family to have fun in the sun!  RBA Homes can provide about a 6-month build out from permit and that includes some exterior amenities like patios and outdoor kitchens as well. As you can see, it’s critical to get started in these early winter months so that you and your family can start enjoying your new home before next winter sets in.

RBA Homes provides homeowners with all the latest in building materials for shore homes, as well as personalized, hands-on service with our team of construction professionals.  If you are ready to start your new home and are looking for information on building a custom home in Monmouth or Ocean counties, click here for examples of some of our work, or contact us today.