Suzzanne Wolfe is another one of our qualified New Home Consultants.  She works in our Valencia Community in the Edmond, North Oklahoma City area but can help you anywhere in the Metro.  Here are a few words from Suzzanne:

I have been in the Home Design Industry in different facets for over 15 years.  I began my career in landscape design.  I worked with home owners as well as landscapers designing outdoor living spaces. I was also a contributing writer for a local monthly magazine giving seasonal planting advice.  My career then moved to interior design and working for a local furniture company.  I loved helping customers as well as builders make furniture selections and custom designing furniture and drapes.  It was during this time that I recognized my interest for New Home Construction.  Landmark Fine Homes was the perfect fit!

Since coming to Landmark I have received extensive training in Energy Efficiency as well as Building Science.  I am very passionate about helping people design their home from the ground up.

Call me today and we can make your Dream of a New Home a Reality!

Mark Osterman is one of our qualified New Home Consultants.  Mark works in the Edmond, North Oklahoma City area but can help you anywhere in the Metro.  Hear a few words from Mark:

I am here to help answer all of your questions about buying or building a New Home.  I have over 6 1/2 years with Landmark Fine Homes, 3 years as a Mortgage Lender and 9 years selling to builders in the New Residential Paint Industry.

At Landmark we make it a priority to educate ourselves in the latest building practices.  I have attended The Green Building Summit, Energy Efficiency continuing Education Conferences as well as in house training from our suppliers and trades about the products we put into our homes.  Having this education has made me knowledgeable in the newest practices and procedures for obtaining maximum energy efficiency and comfort.  Energy Efficiency means not only a more comfortable home but more affordable energy bills.  No one wants to spend all our money paying utilities!

Winning America's Best Builder makes Landmark Fine Homes the easiest choice for buying or building a new home.  Call me to get all your questions answered and feel comfortable about building your dream home!

Are you ready for some FOOTBALL???

It is that time of the year to watch your favorite teams battle it out.  We have some great theatre/bonus rooms that would be perfect to host all those parties.

1.  Decide before what kind of food you are going to have.  It is OK to have everyone bring their favorite snacks.  In fact, it is even more fun because you will get to try a variety of items.

2. You can always create questions that your guest have to answer and give a prize for the person who has the most correct.  Examples are: Which team will score first?  How will they score?  How many times will the camera's show the cheer/pom during the first half?  How many times the second?

3. Be sure and take advantange of the parks at Valencia and Carrington Lakes during half time.  Take out your own ball and have your own game!

What ideas do you have for hosting your own football party?

Let the Olympic Games Begin!

As summer is winding down and the kid’s are getting ready to go back to school why not host your own Olympic Games? It’s a great way to bring home what has been on TV for the last several weeks.

Here are some ideas we had:

• Have your own Opening Ceremony. Get the kids busy making flags, hats and mascots then parade around to display their creations. If you live in Carrington Lakes or Valencia go to the park and show off your creations to the neighbors!
• Here are just a few games we thought of that won’t cost a lot of money: Paper plane folding and throwing, Basket Ball Toss, Obstacle course, Running races of all sorts, or swimming.
• Closing ceremony: Make sure you have awards of some kind to give to all the winners.

Let us know if you try it. We would love to see the pictures of your event!

When the thermostat outside is over 90 degrees, most garden plants, lawns, flowers, and veggies can tend to shut down. What is a homeowner to do? Here are some tips we have found that help make our yards in Carrington Lakes, Valencia, The Ranches, and Belleau Wood look their best!

• Choose Plants Wisely:  Some plants are more heat tolerant than others!
• Water: Resist the urge to over water or soak your plants until they're soggy.  You should only give your lawn and garden a inch at a time.  If it is hot and dry water more often but do not increase the amount.
• Garden Pests- Spider mites are a problem in hot weather.  Make sure you keep the leaves of your plants wet to discourage them!
• Weeds- No matter how hot is gets, weeds are always a problem!  Sorry, you will need to keep weeding your flower beds and lawn.
• Containers- Remember to keep watering them!  You can always move them to shadier locations as the temperature rises.
• Mulch- Add more mulch if needed.  It is a great product to keep the soil cooler and helps to hold the moisture. Choose well composted mulches in hot weather rather than fresh manure or grass clippings.

After you have worked in the yard don't forget to take care of yourself!  Find a swimming pool and relax.  I can tell you our pools at Valencia and Carrington Lakes continue to be a popular place no matter how hot it gets!

Have you ever walked into someone’s home or business and wondered what were they thinking when they decorated their bookshelves?  A well-decorated shelf is like the perfect icing on the perfect cake.  These are some things we like to consider when decorating our bookshelves:

• Set your shelves at different heights so it doesn’t look too uniform.  Remove a shelf entirely if needed.
• Use several pieces of greenery, but be sure not to overuse the greenery (always try and place the greenery on different shelves.  If you have a bookshelf with corresponding sides then try not to use greenery on both shelves that are at the same level or on a shelf that is above or below the shelf that has greenery already.
• Use family pictures in frames.  5X7 and 8X10 work the best.
• Use books.  I love using old looking leather-bound books the best.  I have found these at garage sales and library sales.  It is a good idea to not put them all on one shelf.  Place them in groups of 3-5 in all different varieties.  Stand them on their ends, lay them down etc.
• Use fabric if you can.  Choose one with a complimenting color to your décor and scrunch it up under some books or a picture.  This adds a perfect pop of color.
• Don’t be afraid to lay things on their sides.  You can do this with metal and wooden candle holders, decorative boxes or chests and baskets. This is what we did at one of our model homes in Carrington Lakes.
•  If you want a warm and cozy feeling then use warm tones when choosing your décor.  If you want a clean look, then use the cool tones with straight edges.  Mixing the two can look nice too, but I would be careful when doing so.

There is very little to gain by waiting.  A 5% increase in the cost of your new home and a half-point increase in your mortgage rate will increase your monthly mortgage payment 11.5%.  This will sadly force some to buy less than their family had wanted.

Why wait for a lower rate?  Interest rates are at historic lows.  As a borrower it is important to remember that rates are unpredictable and influended by the global economy.  One major event can cause rates to increase overnight.

There is a lot more to lose than there is to gain!  Mortgage fees are increasing.  Construction costs are escalating every month.  There is that uncertainty and risk with interest rates that no one can predict with certainty.

The longer you wait to purchase a new home, the greater the chance you won't be able to finance what your family expected.

So the question is, "Why are you waiting to buy a new home?"

The best advice we can give when choosing your exterior home surfaces and colors is to step out of the “plain” box and into the “pizzazz” box!  Landmark encourages using various textures on the exterior of your home.  Our favorite products are brick, stone, cedar, siding, iron, copper and stucco.

The following homeowner’s did an excellent job of choosing their homes exterior colors and textures in the Norman and Edmond area.  Who wouldn’t want to live in one of these Landmark Fine Homes!

Our second piece of advice is to drive around and take pictures of what you like.  Look at magazines and websites.  You don’t have to create a masterpiece from scratch when homebuilding.  Pull together the ideas other’s have used and make it your own.  

Most of all, keep it fun when choosing your exterior products!  Don’t stress out.  Building your dream home should be one of the most exciting times in your life!  Landmark Fine Homes has an excellent design team and we love helping make your home have pizzazz!