Unless you ve been living under a rock, you ve probably heard how wild Utah s real estate market has been lately. Buyers are fighting for a place to live and sellers are reaping the rewards of the intense demand. However, while houses are being built at a break-neck pace here in Utah, homes are made by those who live in them and the personal touches of the owner.
This year marks 75 years of the Salt Lake Home Builders Association welcoming the Utah community to its Salt Lake Parade of Homes event to see the creative ideas of its builders and gain inspiration for their own homes.
May 27, 2021
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Utah-based builder Concord Homes is ditching traditional lumber and opting for bamboo for new-home construction. The reasoning goes farther than combating rising lumber prices, Concord Homes told KUTV. The builder wanted to use a mix of plywood and bamboo for some time because of its smaller impact on the environment. The material comes from a northern California company Bamcore, which says it s energy-efficient, good for the environment, strong, and durable. Using the new material can save between $5,000 and $10,000 in building costs.
Jaren Davis, executive officer of the Salt Lake Home Builders Association, said he hasn’t heard of other builders using bamboo but said this is one of several ways builders are trying to evolve.
(KUTV) â
In a time of rising costs for housing and materials, one home builder in Utah is turning to a new material you might not think of.
Concord Homes is using bamboo in place of traditional lumber.
Kirk Philo, the company’s president, showed off the material Monday morning at a home site in Draper. It’s made of bamboo and plywood, and Philo said the benefits of using it go beyond finding a cheaper alternative during a nationwide spike in lumber prices.
“It was really the environmental impact was what drove us to this,” said Philo, noting that his company had planned to use bamboo before lumber prices skyrocketed. “We were looking for new ways to build houses to have less of an impact on the environment.”
Contracts terminated unexpectedly for Eagle Mountain home buyers
Multiple people building homes in Eagle Mountain have recently had their contracts terminated.
and last updated 2021-05-11 11:21:24-04
EAGLE MOUNTAIN, Utah â Multiple people buying new homes in Eagle Mountain have recently had their contracts terminated.
Carl Staheli signed with Spring Run Homes LLC in November of 2020, but he received a text from his agent over this past weekend saying the developer backed out of the contract.
âI had no clue that this day was coming,â said Staheli.
This was to be his first time buying a home.
Staheli said he was told the townhouse could be completed as early as August of 2021 or Christmas at the latest.
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LEHI With the price of lumber skyrocketing, real estate experts are warning homebuyers to pay close attention to contracts with builders and understand who is responsible for rising construction costs. Does the builder have the right to cancel? Does the builder have a right to increase the purchase price? Those are things that a buyer should be aware of and understand prior to even going under contract, said Kreg Wagner, legal counsel for the Utah Association of Realtors.
Wagner said sections of contracts that buyers possibly glossed over in the past are suddenly very important because of the intense competition for available housing in the state.