Leaving the Myths of 2005 Behind

What home ownership could not sustain in 2005 - 2007 is the myth that housing is just another financial investment in a commodity that offers a quick, risk-free return, which readily can be converted into cash; and that this commodity investment is best made through the maximum use of other people’s money and none of one’s own.

Real Reasons for Home Ownership Re-Discovered

Join me in considering as the silver lining that can be found in the burst real estate bubble. That silver lining is that the benefits of owning a home are as true today as they ever were--only now the goals of ownership are free of the “make a killing” investment helium that pushed the real estate bubble to unsustainable heights.

As one of humankind’s three basic material necessities, “shelter”, in the form of the American home, was comparatively free of investment hype for the greater part of the 20th century. To be sure, home owners often experienced a degree of home price appreciation, but the appreciation was modest and the notion of real estate being a corner pin for wealth accumulation was secondary to more fundamental, non-monetary considerations. Rates of home price increase generally tracked rates of increase in the replacement cost of new construction, with those increases generally reflecting inflation in the range of 1½ -3% per year.

Land Use and Land Planning

Land use and land planning architectural decisions based on the combined principles of “Less is More” and “Design With Nature”, result in:

• Less disturbance of a site’s pre-building vegetative features by conscious choice, which in turn yields “more” in terms of visual aesthetics, “more” capacity for mature vegetation to process carbon dioxide and release oxygen into the atmosphere, “more” corridors, food sources, protection and shelter for wildlife, “more” biodiversity, more shade and protection from the elements for the homes of community residents and the potential for more property appreciation, which typically is characteristic of properties having more intense and mature landscaping, whether natural or planted.

Design With Nature

That Seawright Homes takes the “Design With Nature” principle to heart can be seen in the environmental conservation and land planning awards and recognition given to our new home communities:

1982: Woods Landing on The Little Magothy, Annapolis, Anne Arundel County, MD
Grand Award, Environmental Landscaping - Metropolitan Washington Landscape Contractors Association

1988: Woodspring at New Market, New Market, Frederick County, MD
Maryland State Office of Planning

1990: Woods Landing on the Little Magothy
White Oak Award - Maryland Department of the Environment recognition for best statewide example of voluntary forest conservation.