Listen to Utah’s Arrow 103.5 This Weekend to hear our new Salt City Home Designs advertisments. Jeremy (the owner) will be speaking on the ad….

Let us know if you hear it, and what you think.

I found a great article (on MSN real-estate, entitled “10 Tips for adding value”) the article talks about 10 things you should look for when remodeling a home. The very first item talks about having a good strategy in place before you begin in order to get good results. This is a topic that we have discussed before in a number of blog entries. Part of having a good strategy is having a good, solid set of plans. If you want your contractor to give you a solid bid….he needs a set of solid plans.

“Many people want to build it cheap and fast,”……. “They want an estimate before they even have a plan.” A solid strategy will ensure that the homeowner and the builder are on the same page, saving both parties time and money.” (Quote directly from article)

The article goes on to list a number of other good ideas (I think it would help anyone looking to remodel to take just a few minutes and read this article).

MSN Article – 10 Tips For Adding Value

I came across this realy good article on MSN.COM (in the realestate section).

Here is how it starts out; “The term “flipper” became a dirty word in the real-estate business just before the bubble burst. Now the federal government is turning to these quick-turnaround investors to pump some new life into the deflated housing market.”

Check out the entire article for more information!

MSN.com Article on Flipping Homes

In keeping up with the never-ending search for sustainable “green” building products I have been looking into the Rammed Earth method of building construction. This method has been gaining popularity in the South Western United States. Using it involves the process of combining moist (filtered) soil and a combination of sand, gravel, and clay. The mixture is rammed together in layers (as shown here in this diagram) I found this diagram on iagram.com

This style of construction has been around for thousands of years (sections of the Great Wall of China were built using this construction method). Check out this You Tube video and let me know what you think…..

I just got back from a successful business trip to St.George, Utah. Even though the economy has been down the past few years, lots of great things are starting to happen. The new airport is scheduled to open sometime next year….(I went to the sight personally to check on the progress). Home sales are still low…HOWEVER they are up from last year.

Salt City Homes has done work in Southern Utah in the past….both remodel work as well as new home plans. We are very excited about the prospects of opening a second office in St.George, Utah.

We have been working out the details for some time now and are partnering with a number of firms (both design, and engineering) to get the ball rolling. We will be servicing Southern Utah, Southern Nevada as well as parts of Arizona. We hope to target Las Vegas, Mesquite, St.George, Cedar City, and the surrounding areas.

Keep an eye out for our new Southwestern style homes coming soon to the website!!

As the New Year progresses and we see January quickly coming to a close, I am happy to say that we are already seeing new clients come through the door. We are finishing up a nice little remodel, and have another one starting today. We also have a new client meeting this afternoon.

Still working on the systems upgrade….keep your fingers crossed!!

We will be performing a systems update here at Salt City….A much needed upgrade to our computers. Please be patient with us as things may slow down a little for the next few days.

We are excited about the upgrades and hope they go better than the phone system upgrade (what a disaster that was).

Happy new year everyone! As we say goodbye to 2009 I just want to reflect for a moment on what an amazing rollercoaster of a year it has been. We doubled our workload from 2008 (and this is very exciting)….And we had the opportunity to work with a number of new clients and contractors. I just want to say thank you to all the families we were able to work with and create exciting new plans for.

We upgraded our phones (what a disaster that has been)….We are working on a major overhaul with the website (thanks to our wonderful webmaster)…and we are about to upgrade our computer systems (keep your fingers crossed). All in all and despite the negative press, we have been blessed this year and hope to make 2010 even better.

This Christmas, I gave a present to myself – an updated website! Along with adding this shiny new blog, I updated all the floor plans with detailed descriptions. I restructured the pricing so every house plan includes a full lot-specific engineering packet. I think it will really help buyers when they can see the total costs up front.

I also added a fun new line of Detached Garages. One of my favorites is the D-1050. This is so much more than a garage! I love the extra space for a home office or a cozy mother-in-law apartment.

I’m looking forward to having this blog. I really enjoy writing, and this will be a lot of fun. Please check back for more updates soon!