Mark Johnson Custom Homes Blog

New Hanover County, NC new home builder Mark Johnson Custom Homes is excited to share that you can now find us on Facebook! Become a Facebook Fan of Mark Johnson Custom Homes and have all of the latest information, videos and photos at your fingertips. Click here for our Fan Page and if you are not yet on Facebook, sign up to create your own profile.

Remember you can also follow us on Twitter for up-to-the-minute updates!

St. James Plantation, NC custom home builder Mark Johnson Custom Homes would like to share a recent article from EzineArticles.com with tips on choosing a General Contractor. Mark Johnson Custom Homes is a family owned small business, licensed unlimited builder that focuses on new residential custom home construction. We have excelled in custom home building, multi-family construction, concrete construction, LEED for Homes Platinum, energy efficient/sustainable remodels and renovations.  

Below is an excerpt and to read the complete article, click here!

“One of worst mistakes that homeowners could make in their home building or home remodeling projects is to choose and hire general contractors based on how low they offered their bids for a particular project. Hiring a contractor or a home builder with the lowest bid does not guarantee that you will get a high level of quality, an efficient construction schedule, good materials and even security. 

Although cost-effectiveness is an important aspect in any home remodeling project and would be an important and vital factor in the selection process for general contractors, it is not your only or sole basis for selection. There are other considerations to make that involve checking out the company and getting guarantees of their work. This should be your basic process whether you plan to build or renovate a home in Boston, Massachusetts or anywhere else around the nation.”

Brunswick County, NC new home builder Mark Johnson Custom Homes would like to share informative information on having a “Green” kitchen. The U.S. Green Building Council’s Green Home Guide answered the questions below regarding why you should consider a “Green” kitchen for your home. To read the complete article, click here! 

• What’s the most important environmental problem with a conventional kitchen remodel?
• What environmental problems are associated with using a conventional kitchen?
• What are the health benefits of the green remodeling process and of using a green kitchen?
• Is there scientific evidence for these health benefits?
• How does the green approach affect maintenance and operating costs?
• What are some of your favorite innovations or design ideas for a green kitchen?

Jacksonville, NC new home builder Mark Johnson Custom Homes has had experience building Green homes in North Carolina. Our Energy Star home in Wilmington, NC received the highest LEED for Homes certification from the U.S. Green Building Council earlier this year. But it seems the Energy Star Program, which is overseen by the Environmental Protection Agency, has received criticism lately for not keeping up with the latest in energy efficiency improvements. According to a Custom Home Online article by Stephani L. Miller, the EPA has promised to strengthen its program to maintain its benchmarking role. Below is an excerpt and to read the complete article, click here!

 “EPA will implement several enhancements to the Energy Star products program that ultimately will benefit consumers, including:

• Setting specifications that will ensure consistent application of the Energy Star logo to identify the top 25 percent most-efficient products within a category.
• Expanding product coverage to include new consumer product categories that have high energy-saving potential.
• Increasing verification of compliance with program requirements and improving efforts to identify and address product performance issues. All products will be required to submit product performance testing results to EPA from an accredited laboratory before a product can be qualified under Energy Star.
• Implementing measures that will ensure Energy Star performance specifications are tightened as necessary so that the program consistently represents top-performing products and doesn’t fall behind performance improvements in the marketplace.
• Developing an Energy Super Star program as a higher performance tier within the Energy Star program to help consumers more easily identify the top-performing products within a category. The Super Star tier will comprise approximately 5 percent of products within a category and will include advanced technologies and products that have a longer payback period than those qualified under the main Energy Star program.”

The House passed the unemployment extension bill that contains the homebuyer tax credit extension/expansion and NOL carryback this afternoon. The final tally was 403 to 12. There was a very strong bipartisan showing.

Once signed into law the bill will:

• Extend the $8,000 credit for first-time home buyers for sales contracts entered into by April 30, 2010 and closed by June 30.
• Expand to include a new $6,500 credit for owners of existing homes who are purchasing a new principal residence.
• Increase income eligibility limits to claim the full credit amount to $125,000 for single taxpayers and $225,000 for married taxpayers filing a joint return.

The bill now goes to the White House.  It is not known yet when the bill will be sent over to the President or when it will be signed, other than it is expected to occur quickly. Stay tuned for the latest update from the WCFHBA. In the meantime, more information is available here. 

Net Operating Losses and Small Home Building Companies

There is some confusion about who can use the NOL carryback. Some smaller volume members view this as a provision that only benefits “the big guys.” It is not just corporations who can use the carryback provision, but also our smaller builders who are pass-through entities. Below is information that describes how smaller builders can use NOLs just like corporations can. Ultimately, they may need to discuss their unique situations with a qualified tax professional.  

• Pass-thru entities (e.g. partnerships, LLCs, S corps, etc — basically everything but sole props and C Corps) do not claim NOLs, and thus do not have a need for a carryback.
• In fact, according to the IRS SOI data, 50 percent more loss deductions are claimed on individual tax forms (due to sole props and pass-through entities) than are claimed on corporate tax forms.
• Corporations are more likely to have losses because of their nature. But smaller builders who are C Corps or are pass-through entities will benefit.
• However, NOLs are like other deductions (and revenue for that matter) in that they are passed-through to the owners/partners. The carryback rules are applicable at the individual level.
• Small home builders will benefit from an expanded NOL carryback period.
• IRS Publication 536 explains the rule for using the present law carryback on individual tax forms, including loss deductions that are due to pass-through variables from partnerships and S Corps.
• There are certain other rules that complicate things at the individual level (most notably the passive loss rules), but there can still be a benefit.
• It is true that most small builders do not have “losses” like the big national builders. They will simply slow down and have profits go to zero.

Information Courtesy of the Wilmington-Cape Fear Home Builders Association

Paws Place Animal Rescue, a no-kill, non-profit organization in Boiling Springs Lake, NC is having a yard sale to raise funds for their animal rescue efforts. Ocean Isle Beach, NC custom home builder Mark Johnson Custom Homes encourages you to attend on Saturday, November 21st, 2009 from 8:00 am-noon.

You can also donate items for the sale at the shelter, which is open from 9:00 am-noon daily. Tax receipts will be given for donations.

Paws Place is located in Boiling Spring Lakes, 1 mile north of Camp Pretty Pond, at 3701 Boiling Spring Road SE. For more information or directions, contact Paws Place Animal Rescue at 845-7297 or visit their web site at www.pawsplace.org.

St. James Plantation new home builder Mark Johnson Custom Homes is excited to share good news for the construction industry! McGraw-Hill Construction’s 2010 Construction Outlook forecasts an increase in construction starts in 2010, which is expected to climb 11% to $466.2 billion. RealtyTimes.com’s Peter L. Mosca recently reported on the McGraw’s Outlook, a construction and manufacturing executive’s basis for business planning. Below is an excerpt and to read Mosca’s complete article, click here.

“Highlights of the 2010 Construction Outlook include:

• Single family housing for 2010 will advance 32% in dollars, corresponding to a 30% increase in the number of units to 560,000 (McGraw-Hill Construction basis).

• Multifamily housing will improve 16% in dollars and 14% in units, after steep reductions in 2008 and 2009.

• Commercial buildings will drop 4% in dollars, following a steep 43% drop in 2009. The weak employment picture will further depress occupancies, making it even more difficult to justify new construction.

• Institutional buildings will begin to stabilize after losing momentum in 2009. Square footage will retreat another 2% after sliding 23% this year. The dollar amount of construction for this sector will edge up 1%, helped by a growing amount of energy-efficiency upgrades to federal buildings and continued strength for military buildings.

• Manufacturing buildings will drop 14% in dollars and 3% in square feet, hampered by the substantial amount of slack manufacturing capacity. • Public works construction is expected to rise 14%, given more wide-ranging strength across all project types.

• Electric utility construction will slip 3%, continuing to settle back after a record high in 2008.”

Wilmington, NC custom home builder Mark Johnson Custom Homes encourages you to attend the 7^th Annual ChowdaFest at Fat Tony’s Italian Pub. At their historic downtown Wilmington, NC location at 131 N. Front Street, the event will be on November 7^th from 12:00 – 7:00 pm. New England, Manhattan, and Down East varieties of chowder will be served and live bands will begin at noon and play until sundown. Admission is $5.00, includes a cup of chowder and will benefit the Carolina Canines for Service.

Brunswick County custom home builder Mark Johnson Custom Homes relies on Wilmington, NC’s Electronics 2 You for all of their clients’ electronic needs. They integrate state-of-the-art audio, video, communications, automation and lighting equipment into both new and existing homes. Below is an article from their November e-newsletter with valuable tips on energy-efficient LED fixtures. For more information on Electronics 2 You, visit their site, sign up for their newsletter, or call them at 910-397-0953.

Thinking of buying energy-efficient LED (light emitting diode) fixtures for your home? There are a lot of LED lights on the market today, but buyer beware. Good, long-lasting LED lights are also available—and will generally cost more. Here are some things you should check out as you shop:

Where’s the power supply? Most LEDs require low-voltage, so they must have an AC-to-DC adapter, transformer, or power supply to operate them. These can be internal or external to the fixture.

Color Temperature, or Correlated Color Temperature (CCT) refers to the appearance of the light. “Warmer” yellowish light like that from an incandescent bulb is in the 2700 to 3000 Kelvin (K) range, while bluish or cool light like that of some fluorescents is in the 5000K-plus range.

The Color Rendering Index (CRI) is a measure of the ability of a light source to render colors, on a scale of 100—the higher the better. The CRI for many white-light LEDs is between 75 and 85.

How does the manufacturer define lifetime? Lifetime typically refers to the useful time of light output, also referred to as lumen maintenance. For white LEDs, lifetime refers to the time after which 70 percent or more of the useful light remains. 

Does the quoted lifetime include the electronics and other components necessary to drive the LED source?

Does the fixture have any special features for heat sinking or thermal management? Though the light from LEDs itself is not hot, the backs of the fixtures can get very hot.

What warranty is offered? Beware of vague guarantees.

Does installation of LED fixtures include all the necessary components to operate the lights? Many LED fixtures require external components and controls in order to be operated.

St. James Plantation Builder Mark Johnson Custom Homes would like to share with our readers the latest on the New Home Buyer Tax Credit extension. RealtyTimes.com’s Kenneth R. Harney reported this morning on the latest Senate plan which would continue to offer the $8,000 tax credit through November 30, 2009 and create a $6,500 tax credit for previous homeowners of five consecutive years that now would like to purchase another as their main residence. Below is an excerpt and to read the complete article, click here!

“That would still be enough, sponsors of the plan believe, to encourage people now on the sidelines to get into the market for new and existing homes in early 2010 – and thereby help stimulate the economy and create jobs.

The Senate plan would also raise household incomes limits for the credit to $125,000 for single buyers and $250,000 for married couples – far more generous than the current $75,000 and $150,000 maximums.

Extending the $8,000 credit, as it is now, has heavy bipartisan support on the House side as well. But key Democratic leaders there – and at the Obama White House – are concerned about the costs.

The current $8,000 credit costs the Treasury about a billion dollars a month in lost tax revenues, according to Congressional budget estimates. Opening up the program to existing home owners – even in a restricted way – would add to that cost.

On the other hand, limiting any extension to six months would be less expensive than a full-year extension, as advocated by major housing lobbies, including the National Association of Realtors and the National Association of Home Builders.”