December 28, 2016

The 2 Most Important Factors When Buying a New Home

The 2 Most Important Factors When Buying a New Home
Our lives are only getting busier and time only seems to speed up, so without sacrificing parts of your life in regards to your career or lifestyle, how do you live the healthiest, happiest life possible?
Choosing where you live is a pivotal part of this. Studies have shown that (largely millennials) are moving back into the urban core for convenience and to protect extra personal time, which is becoming more and more valuable. Being near to shops, restaurants, work and community has an increasing value for this large group that is feeding an “urban renewal.”
The two most important factors when finding a home that protects your time and encourages peace and renewal are:
1. Closeness to Downtown (live + work + play)
2. Proximity to Parks + Greenways

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1. Closeness to Downtown

 There has been a significant trend of people moving from the suburbs back into more populated, urban core neighborhoods. Gizmodo published an article called Millennials Will Live in Cities Unlike Anything We’ve Ever Seen Before in which they said, “Over the last few years, across the country—around the world, too—people of all ages, including millennials, have been moving into cities at an astonishing rate. Now more than half of the world’s population is urban.”
USA Today agrees, and The New York Times says even businesses and large companies are flocking to the urban core.
“Infill buyers are looking to live, work and play within a very close proximity,” says Britnie Keane. “These people are busy. They have found value in community and being active in their work, play and travel. These buyers are willing to live in tighter quarters and share more as long as it means they can be close to what they enjoy.

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The Nashville Trend
The Tennessean makes note of this trend in Nashville as well, stating how the “Ease of living draws homeowners to Nashville’s urban core.”

Kathryn Stevens and Charlie Warner could have purchased a home in the suburbs. Instead, they joined growing numbers of homebuyers of all ages who are returning to the city and buying newly built infill homes in Nashville’s urban core.

“The thing I like best about living in the city is the sense of vibrancy you get. There’s movement all the time,” said Stevens.

Baby boomers and millennials are attracted to city living, said Turner.

“Both generations are enjoying the walkability to restaurants, bars and shows, both enjoy proximity to parks and greenways, and the tight-knit community that is being forged in these communities as they are becoming safer and more community focused,” she said.

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2. Proximity to Parks and Greenways

“We were even more surprised to find evidence that a large proportion of the apparent benefit from high levels of vegetation seems to be connected with improved mental health.” – Peter James,  research associate with Harvard School of Health. “Studies have demonstrated that views of nature may have a direct phycological benefit.”

“From urban neighborhoods and downtown to the suburbs, demand is growing for parkside homes,” said Bill Lewis, Tennessean in a recent Tennessean article Demand Grows for Parkside Homes in Nashville 

“Property around the park has been treated like oceanfront property in Nashville, where values have grown exponentially and retained themselves,” said Britnie Turner, founder and CEO of Aerial Development Group.

“We now have a 26-mile contiguous Nashville greenway, from Percy Priest Dam to downtown across the Shelby Street Bridge to Metro Center and beyond. Living near parks and greenways encourages a healthy, active lifestyle, and more Nashvillians are seeking that lifestyle,” said Deutschmann.

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Tesla Solar Roof

 

Even just beyond choosing a location that brings nature into your daily lifestyle, interior and exterior home design (eco modern trends) are quickly spreading across the country. New companies have been designing and offering tools to help make your home a greener and more nature-friendly place. For example, TESLA has just created a solar roof that derives power from the sun while looking like more traditional roofing materials – say goodbye huge solar panels.

“We are witnessing the convergence of sustainability and current affairs agendas… now the issues that we care about are in the mainstream – strange bedfellows are not only dating, they are cohabiting. However, the delivery of sustainability is not yet in the mainstream. we have only a limited number of poster-child companies.” – Rob Cameron, Chief Executive, SustainAbility

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The Tennessean recently published an article titled “Outdoor Living Has New Homebuyers Looking Up,” in which Bill Lewis says, “Homeowners who spend increasing amounts of time working indoors or in their cars are looking for ways to get outdoors with their families and friends. Builders are responding with new home designs that encourage outdoor living.”
“People have an innate desire to experience nature and enjoy accessing it from inside their home. On every lot, we spotlight the unique views and outdoor accesses, utilizing features such as glass garage
doors, screened-in porches and rooftop decks to promote this experience,” said Britnie Turner Keane, Founder and CEO of Aerial Development Group.

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Bonus:
1. Easily create urban gardens and incorporate indoor plants for a healthier and more peaceful atmosphere.
Urban gardens help create community as well, so if you live in a small neighborhood or cottage community, talk to your neighbors about starting one together!

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2. Use your walls to create images, atmospheres and landscapes that inspire you and ignite your imagination!
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