Mark Johnson Custom Homes Blog

Wilmington, NC custom home builder Mark Johnson Custom Homes would like to introduce our readers to the Spring Lake plan designed by Sullivan Design Company. This is an affordable design to build. Contact Mark directly at 910.409.2421 for community specific pricing on your lot or ours.

A rocking chair front porch is perfect for southern sunsets and adds to the warmth and charm of this 2880sf home. The entry invites you into the comfortable living room with a full wall of windows and a coffered ceiling that compliments the fireplace and bookcases.

The chef’s kitchen is open to the living area and offers an eat-in morning room flooded by natural light. The oversized granite island holds a huge double bowl sink and is lit by hanging pendant lights. The 36″ gas range sets up the space for cooking the perfect meal and will handle entertaining of any scale.

The master suit will easily hold a king sized bed, it’s accompaniments and a sitting area. The master bath has a separate soaking tub and large tiled shower. A linen closet and separate water closet for the toilet complete this luxurious bathroom.

Hardwood floors warm the main living space and keep the open floor plan concept. The main staircase leads to a sitting area and 2 bedrooms that share a full bathroom. There is a second back staircase for access to the bonus room over the garage.

Energy Features include:

• 2×6 exterior wall construction
• R24 blown in fiberglass insulation (Bibs)
• Radiant barrier roof decking to keep attic cooler and reduce demand on HVAC system
• Attic framed knee walls to include air barrier
• Recirculating hot water system with a tankless hot water heater

Wilmington builder Mark Johnson Custom Homes recently completed The Savona Cove Plan by Sater Design Collection. To experience the complete building process from foundation to interior finishes and landscaping, click The Savona Cove Plan – Bald Eagle Lane.

We encourage our readers to view recently uploaded photos of our projects, both past and present, on our Flickr page.

Wilmington, NC home builder Mark Johnson Custom Homes would like to share with our readers an article courtesy of RealtyTimes.com regarding cost-effective projects for your home.

Buyers are hit hard by first impressions, and sellers take advantage of this fact, aiming to amp up their curb appeal.

This is, after all, where they get the most bang for their buck. According to the latest Remodeling Cost vs. Value Report, the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) reports that “nine of the top 10 most cost-effective projects nationally in terms of value recouped are exterior replacement projects.” These exterior projects are outperforming their remodeling counterparts.

Interior projects should not be forgotten, however. These spaces earn returns on costs, as well. Many times interior updates can make you stand out from the competition in your area. It is simply that in today’s economy, “remodeling projects, particularly higher cost upscale projects, have been losing resale value in recent years because of weak economic conditions.” (NAR)

With curb appeal projects, however, a little money can go a long way. Topping the list? Steel entry doors are returning 102.1 percent of their cost upon resale.

What other projects are sellers tackling? While most projects don’t bring the profit returns of steel entry doors, sellers have some other great options for attracting buyers.

• Siding and window replacements – 70 or more percent of costs recouped
• Midrange garage door replacement – 83.9 percent of costs recouped
• Upscale fiber-cement siding replacement – 80 percent of cost recouped
• Wood deck additions – 72.8 percent of costs recouped

“It’s important to remember that the resale value of a particular improvement project depends on several factors,” says National Association of Realtors® President Ron Phipps. “Things such as the home’s overall condition, availability and condition of surrounding properties, location and the regional economic climate contribute to an estimated resale value.”

Yet, says Phipps, “Curb appeal remains king – it’s the first thing potential buyers notice when looking for a home, and it also demonstrates pride of ownership.”

Article Written By: Carla Hill, RealtyTimes.com

Information Courtesy of: Remodeling.hw.net

If you are considering building a new home or purchasing a resale, Wilmington, NC new home builder Mark Johnson Custom Homes has a great deal for you to build a custom home on our lot. A new custom home built on our prestigious lot in Landfall could be yours for $619,000!

 2016 Deer Island Lane: half acre lot backing up to wooded conservancy for privacy, also close to the Arboretum Gate of the Landfall community.

Click to View Larger Image

The Forestdale II Plan: 2500 sf, 20%-30% more efficient than a code-miminum home, brick veneer or painted hardiplank siding, 3 bedrooms and 3 baths downstairs, bonus room over garage, screened porch, 2×6 construction, 10′ ceilings and a lot of storage space.

With all the rain we have had in the past month, Wilmington, NC home builder Mark Johnson Custom Homes would like to share with our readers our method of waterproofing a second story floating deck that has a finished ceiling beneath it. 

 After framing the upper deck subfloor with a slope, we install a rubber membrane on the subfloor that wraps up and over any doorways leading to the second story floating deck.

The rubber membrane is then installed to completely cover the subfloor.

Any penetrations coming through the deck floor (such as handrail posts) need to be wrapped with the membrane.

Next, we install the floating deck system. This involves placing (but not fastening) treated 2×6 boards flat on the membrane. The reason it is called a floating deck is because it isn’t fastened to the framing beneath. We then cut treated 2×4 boards down to basically form a wedge. The purpose of this is to keep the finished decking where you stand flat and level. Remember that the subfloor decking still slopes under the membrane so the water that drips through the deck boards will still run down the membrane and away from the house.

The picture below is the finished floating deck before paint and handrails are installed.

This view (before paint and handrails) shows the finished ceiling beneath the second story floating deck.

Wilmington, NC new home builder Mark Johnson Custom Homes would like to share with its readers The Cypress Lane house plan, courtesy of Sullivan Design Company.

Enjoy one-story living in this beautiful 3260 sf home. The plan includes 3 bedrooms, 3.5 baths and a private bonus room over the garage, perfect for guests. For more information, including the floor plan, visit the Mark Johnson Custom Homes inventory page.
 
All homes built by MJCH are energy efficient. This plan boasts a significant energy efficiency package which is estimated to be 25% more efficient than a code minimum home. These standard features include radiant barrier roof sheathing, a recirculating tankless water heater, bath fans with humidity sensors, 15 SEER Trane heat pump with programmable thermostat, R-23 blown-in-blanket insulation in 2×6 exterior walls, raised foundation slab construction and air barriers behind knee walls.

Wilmington, NC home builder Mark Johnson Custom Homes would like to share with our readers an interesting article written by Carla Hill with RealtyTimes.com about today’s mortgage rates.

You’ve heard it all across the media. Interest rates are at historic lows. If you are new to the mortgage process, these figures and statements give you little frame of reference. Let’s take a moment to look at where interest rates have been over the last few decades, and what today’s rates really mean for homebuyers. Interest rates are affected by a gamut of factors. According to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, “Lower interest rates make it easier for people to borrow in order to buy cars and homes. Purchases of homes, in turn, increase the demand for other items, such as furniture and appliances, thus providing an additional boost to the economy. Lower interest rates mean that consumers spend less on interest costs, leaving them with more of their income to spend on goods and services.” And this is, after all, what you want people to do in a down economy. You want them to reinvigorate the economy with spending. The Fed continues, “If the rates that consumers and businesses have to pay to borrow rise too rapidly, however, spending may decline, leading to an economic slowdown.” So, it is a intricate dance the powers that be must perform in order to steer the economy the best they can. They, namely the Federal Reserve and Banks, are seeking stable prices, high employment rates, and sustainable growth in the economy. 30 years ago, in 1980, when many first-time home buyers parents were making home purchases, Freddie Mac reports that the 30-year fixed rate mortgage hit a staggering 16.32 percent. Let’s compare that in relation to today’s interest rate, averaging around 4.5 percent.

• In the most basic terms, a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage for $100,000 at 16.32 percent, will cost you around $1,450 a month.
• For the same mortgage at a 4.5 percent rate, you’ll be paying $580 a month.

The difference is astounding, and this is the main reason the media is shouting news about interest rates. If you are in the position to buy, now could very well be the time.

Article Courtesy of RealtyTimes.com.

Wilmington, NC Green builder Mark Johnson Custom Homes understands the importance of recycling and would like to share the following information about recycling paper, courtesy of NCGreenPower.org.

• Every ton of recycled paper saves 17 trees compared to paper made from virgin materials.
• Instead of using a new piece of paper for rough work, turn over a used copy and write on the other side.
• Junk mail is more than an annoyance. It clogs landfills as well as your mailbox, and costs millions of trees and tax dollars every year.
• 5.6 million tons of catalogs and other direct mail advertisements end up in U.S. landfills annually.
• The average U.S. household receives unsolicited junk mail equal to 1.5 trees each year—That’s more than 100 million trees for all households combined.
• 44 percent of junk mail is thrown away unopened, but only half that much junk mail (33 percent) is recycled.
• Americans pay $370 million annually to dispose of junk mail that doesn’t get recycled.
• On average, Americans spend 8 months opening junk mail in the course of their lives.
• Start by registering with the Mail Preference Service of the Direct Marketing Association (DMA). It won’t guarantee you a life free of junk mail, but it can help.
• You can also go to OptOutPreScreen.com, which can enable you to remove your name from lists that mortgage, credit card and insurance companies use to mail you offers and solicitations.
• One option is to use the Stop the Junk Mail Kit developed by the Consumer Research Institute.
• The website JunkBusters.com provides further guidelines for reducing junk mail and other intrusions, from unwanted e-mail (Spam) to telemarketing.
• Pay your bills online! Eliminate your paper trail as well as the energy used to transport paper bills.
• Go digital. If only 10 million people in the US change Mon-Fri newspapers to online, we could save almost 50,000 trees each year!
• Manufacturing products from recycled materials requires substantially less energy and natural resources than products from virgin materials.
• You may think that a lot of paper gets recycled, but according to the National Recycling Coalition, Americans throw away enough office paper each year to build a 13-foot-high wall of paper from New York to Seattle.
• Do your part – recycle!

Wilmington, NC custom home builder Mark Johnson Custom Homes would like to share an informative article from GreenHomeGuide.com that explains things to look for when selecting Green paint. A new coat of paint can make a room feel fresh again, but it often has the opposite effect on the air quality in your home. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), paints, stains, and other architectural coatings produce about 9 percent of the volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions from consumer and commercial products, making them the second-largest source of VOC emissions after after automobiles. For the complete article, click here! 

Courtesy of: GreenHomeGuide.com