FIVE STARS Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Having worked for two national homebuilders before working for CBH Homes, my list of must haves in our first home were long and all equally important. Top of our list were affordability, great location, superior quality, livable floorplan design, and unique exterior and interior style enhancements. In today’s market, it wasn’t hard for us to find a home with one out of our five “must-haves”…the tricky part was finding a homebuilder that saw the importance in providing all five.
Lucky for us, CBH Homes knocked it out of the park and offered all we were looking for in a home. The cherry on top of our delightful, affordable homebuying sundae is the comment we keep hearing over and over. “This is your first home? Wow! It doesn’t look anything like the typical first-time home.”
And that is the key. Buyers in today’s market don’t have to settle for less. Your dream home does exist at a price you can afford. Believe me, I speak whole heartedly from experience. Our first home far surpasses any image or idea of what we thought we could afford to own. All I can recommend is to make a list of what is important to you in a home and go out and search for it. We did and couldn’t be happier!
Michelle Budell
CBH Marketing Manager
posted by Ronda Conger @ 2:00 PM
Love at First Sight Monday, March 3, 2008
No, it is not a man. It is a house! Who knew I would walk in to my future CBH home (when I was not even house-hunting) and instantly know that it must be mine? Maybe I will one day feel this way about a boy.
It has now been just over a year since I met, fell in love with, and purchased (the next day) my CBH home. And I have to say, I still heart it more and more as time goes by.
Since the beginning of our relationship, my Montico 1934 and I have been best of friends. I shower him with gifts like a custom paint job, a patio cover, and surround sound speakers. In return, he is always there for me, whether I am cooking, doing laundry, watching TV, even sleeping. He even lets me have the entire master closet!
At the end of the day, boys may come and go. But I will always have my Montico.
Tara Cheney
Assistant to Ronda Conger
Vice President
Labels: CBH Company Info, Design, Quality
posted by CBH Homes Staff @ 9:36 AM
All Of This For A Handout? Thursday, February 28, 2008
I wanted to create a handout for future homebuyers to help them understand the journey of buying a home. Now most graphic artists would throw in some clip art and call it a shift. Seeing as I work for CBH, I am not your average designer. I do my homework, research my product and in the end, give results. So for this handout it was obvious, I had to buy a house.
Anyone that has ever built a home or even purchased a home knows that it comes with a great deal of emotions ranging from excitement and happiness, down to doubt and worry. Buying a home is the largest expense most of us will ever have, and making that decision should not come lightly. For me, my feelings were all over the board. One would think working for CBH looking at floor plans all day long, would make it easy for me to have my dream house already picked out, but that was not the case. I knew what I wanted, how many rooms I needed, but had not pinpointed a single house in an ideal neighborhood, for the right price that included all the features I wanted. My excitement about getting a new house soon turned into frustration. I had so many great choices and pretty much wanted them all, but my mortgage specialist said I could only have one.
My husband was in love with one particular floor plan called the Rutherford. I still thought the Rutherford was hot too, but there was one little problem that was not going to work for my family. The laundry room was connected to the garage. For most families this is ideal, but anyone who has seen my husband do laundry knows it is something that needs to be kept a family secret, far away from any major entrances. So I did what any smart woman would do, I took the floor plan to our architect and ask him to fix it. And did he ever! My laundry room is now upstairs close to the bedrooms in its' own little private world, just waiting for my husband to take it on. The old laundry room is now a cute little mud area where my kids can take off their shoes and coats. (This change is now how we build the Rutherford, so if you love it thank my husband for his mad folding skills.)
After seeing the new laundry set up, I had no choice but to sign on the dotted line. The new Rutherford was perfect for us. Prefect. So then why did I not feel content? It was not the house keeping me up at night, it was the idea of paying for it. This is when I began to question my decisions. Did we really need that big of a house? Did I want to adjust my budget for my new mortgage? Did I really need that Jacuzzi tub or did I need to put in a water softener? Even though my rational side knew I did the right thing, my cautious side gave me a dose of buyers remorse. Luckily this all passed after a few days. I remember feeling a sense of pride and ownership as my foundation was poured and the framing was beginning. Man I loved it already, even without walls.
I am not going to feed anybody full of anything here, there is always going to be hick ups when building a house. Whether minor or major, they are there, no matter whom you build with or where you build it. Fortunately for me we had very few problems, which were promptly resolved. Even though most people would call me biased because of where I work, I can honestly say that building our house with CBH was not only a good experience, it was also fun and enjoyable. In the end I got a smoking hot yellow house, which has properly been named Big Bird.
On March 4th, I get the keys to Big Bird. I will be a homeowner for the first time in my life, and I am beside myself with excitement. Like all homeowners I have to be realistic, there will most likely be some adjustments that need to be made once the house settles, but I am cool with that because I have seen the CBH Warranty Department does for their homeowners.
As you can imagine, the research for this handout cost more than making it, but come on I have a Jacuzzi tub to show for it! What I am really getting at is, with any rewarding experience in life there are ups and downs. Building or buying a home is the same way - the end results make the trip well worth it.
Happy Home Ownership To All!
Devri Roubidoux
CBH Homes Graphic Designer
One side note: Confession time. Yes I am still a fabulous, dedicated designer, but I have to admit I was already building my house I decided to do this assignment. However, if I ever feel the need to design a handout about Europe, I am so booking my ticket.
Labels: CBH Company Info, Design, Quality
posted by CBH Homes Staff @ 2:09 PM
Bold, Beautiful, Box? Wednesday, February 6, 2008
I have been very lucky in that during my 14 years of designing homes in the Valley. I have been able to design some very unique and unusual homes. They have ranged from smaller entry level homes to multi-million dollar estates-from the simple to the complex. One thing that I can say with certainty is that you do not have to spend a million dollars to have a cool and unique home. Take a stroll through the North End in Boise or some of the older areas in Nampa and Caldwell. You will find homes are simple, graceful and unique. Strip away the paint and some of the simple details, and they are basic in shape and form, boxes. One of my favorite things that I do when looking for inspiration is to look through the Sears Archives where you will find homes that Sears sold through their catalogue. They are unique-dare I say cute, yet very similar. Small simple details give richness to what would be described as a boxy floor plan and elevation. Material changes, window placement, and most importantly color can change something from simple to BOLD and add uniqueness to something that, on paper, would normally be judged ho-hum.
Homes located in downtown Boise; very simple yet very unique.
The Alturas 1209, designed for our alley load garage home sites, was created with simplicity of shape to make it affordable but at the same time we wanted to create something that was rich, bold and unique
The Alturas 1209 that is being built in these CBH Communities; Peppertree, Devonshire, Bridgeview, and Chesterfield.
On paper it is a simple home, but with a few details and some color selected from our Design Studio (we have over 100 color combination choices; I counted them) we have a home that would stand out in a crowd; different even when built next to one another. They can be as unique as the individuals that choose to live in them. Always look at what you can add to your home no matter how simple, small or large it may be. That is what is really cool about CBH Homes; we let you add you, we want you to.
LIVE (to be bold)
LIVE (for colors)
LIVE (for simple coolness)
Mark Waldorf
CBH Designer
posted by CBH Homes Staff @ 12:35 PM
Big. Cheap. Irresistible. Monday, March 12, 2007
Who knew we would cause such a ruckus with our choice of words for our new home collection - Spartan?
They are big in size and we felt like the price was great and we at CBH fully realize that today's market is all about the price...a deal, a promo. We wanted to come right out and say it loud and clear: we offer a great home at a great (CHEAP!) price. We could have danced around it with marketing buzz words like affordable, value or inexpensive, but those don't have near the impact as "cheap".
So to all those people out there that are offended by our use of "cheap," pay no mind to our choice of words. Instead, come look at our new series and see for yourself. We offer an irresistible, big home at a great price. Or dare I say "cheap," price?
Labels: Design, Promotions, Quality
posted by Ronda Conger @ 11:02 AM
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