It’s Earth Day, and it’s never been a better time to start looking for ways to go green while saving yourself some green. At Lamar Smith Signature Homes, our homes include energy efficiencies that promise to cut your energy consumption and save you money. Our homes are better for the environment and better for you!

Among the Energy Efficiencies incorporated into a Lamar Smith Signature Home are:

– ENERGY STAR certified new homes are designed and built to standards well above most other homes on the market today, delivering energy efficiency savings of up to 30 percent when compared to typical new homes. An ENERGY STAR home has undergone inspections, testing, and verification to meet strict requirements set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

– At Lamar Smith Signature Homes, we only use Low-E windows which are made with a special coating to reflect radiant infrared energy. Infrared heat radiating from the sun during the summer is reflected away, keeping it cooler inside, while radiant heat originating from indoors in winter is reflected back inside.

Throughout our models you’ll find the best house logo displayed. We encourage you to stop by one of models in any of our communities throughout the area and look for the BEST house logo with the highlighted E. Each time you see this logo you’ll know these are features that represent an Energy Efficient feature.

Regardless of how young or old you happen to be or whether you consider yourself a novice or pro, today is the perfect day to get out on the course, play a round or two and take your best swing! And Lamar Smith Signature Homes has the perfect community for golf lovers called Lost Plantation.

Located in Rincon, Ga., just minutes from Savannah, Lost Plantation is truly a masterpiece community with its mature 18-hole golf course, clubhouse and grill, two lighted tennis courts, two swimming pools, cabana, sidewalks, fishing pond, and pocket parks with playgrounds throughout. This intertwined community is a return to what communities used to be. Your neighbors are a mixture of young couples, families with children, and empty-nesters enjoying active lifestyles and beautiful outdoor settings.

Lost Plantation offers a little of everything, including the exceptional Effingham County Public School System. The mature golf course offers a scenic backdrop to the many fairway homes, and, if you do not play golf, you do not pay anything for enjoying the setting that a golf course provides. You only pay if you play.

Visit the HOA website for more information:  www.LostPlantation.com

Each exclusively selected homebuilder at Lost Plantation creates a unique neighborhood within a specific price niche and style of 3 to 5 bedroom homes. No matter what taste, price point, or preference a homeowner might have, Lost Plantation probably has the perfect home or home site.

We have further reduced the prices of ALL of the Move-In Ready homes in Rice Creek, located in Port Wentworth, GA on Highway 21 just west of Rice Hope.

The Retreat at Rice Creek exudes a sense of place. It brings back memories of close-knit neighborhoods, community parks, and inviting homes – all serving as gathering spots for neighbors and friends. Rice Creek’s clubhouse hosts events and gatherings and includes a resort-style pool and kiddie pool, a playground surrounded by plenty of green space, a jogging/walking trail, and scenic lagoons. It is located in Port Wentworth, GA, on Highway 21 just west of Rice Hope.

Custom touches and classic style describe the homes in The Retreat at Rice Creek. Whether you favor smaller spaces or need lots of room for a growing family, the charming designs in our Plan Library offer home plans designed for affordability with style. From abundant storage to flexible spaces, the path to better home design leads you to Lamar Smith Signature Homes in Rice Creek.

If location in real estate is everything, Rice Creek has it all! Just 20 minutes from either the Historic Downtown Savannah or the popular shopping venues on Southside Savannah; or 15 minutes from the Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport; or 10 minutes from Gulfstream; or a leisurely 30-minute drive to Hilton Head Island and a quick 50 minutes from Georgia Southern University. Within 2 hours, you can be in Charleston, SC, or Jacksonville, FL

Contact Cole Saturday at Lamar Smith Signature Homes today for more information.

Budgeting for your first home purchase
You’ve probably used a mortgage calculator to get an idea of the price range in which you should be looking. While that might give you a very rough idea of the homes you should consider, it shouldn’t be the only budgeting you do.

In addition to your down payment, there are other expenses to consider, both at closing and after your moving truck pulls up, including:

– The upfront cost of a home inspection ($300 to $400).
– Closing costs, including appraisal, loan, title and lender fees. The average closing cost on a $200,000 mortgage is $3,754, according to Bankrate’s annual survey of closing costs.
– Monthly homeowners-association fees.
– Moving costs.
– Maintenance costs; credit counselors suggest putting aside 1% of your home’s value annually to make needed repairs.
– Higher utility costs.

The bigger gas, electric or water bills that come with a home often take new homeowners by surprise. Call your local utility company before you buy to get an idea of what the average bill is in your area.

Credit counselors also suggest that before you purchase, you practice making mortgage payments, transferring the difference between your current rent and the expected mortgage bill into savings.

 7 Litchfield Drive Savannah, GA 31419

Saturday March 9 10am – 6pm
Sunday March 10 1pm – 5pm

All are invited to our Grand Opening Celebration at Teal Lake to see our brand new model home! The Savannah is our premier “Mini Mansion” with a master suite that boasts almost 1000 square feet of luxurious space all to itself! This home features a double staircase complete with gorgeous wrought-iron spindles, A large, open kitchen with Corian and granite countertops, and the latest in color and design.

This event will feature food, drink, attractions and family fun, including a bicycle giveaway, remote controlled boat races, canoe and paddle boat rides, face painting and so much more!

Home Tours with
SPECIAL DISCOUNTS AND INCENTIVES
for Grand Opening Weekend ONLY!

Directions to Teal Lake – 7 Litchfield Drive, Savannah GA 31419

From I-95, take Exit 94 (GA-204). Turn east (towards Savannah) onto GA-204E and continue to 1st light (0.2 mile) and turn right onto Gateway Blvd South. Go about 300 ft. and turn left onto Canebrake Rd. Follow Canebrake Rd. 0.8 mile and turn right onto Chief of Love Rd. Continue 0.6 mile and turn into Teal Lake on Litchfield Dr.

From Savannah, take Abercorn Expressway to Hwy 17 and turn south. Follow Hwy 17 a little more than a mile to Canebrake Road. Turn right and then immediately left onto Chief of Love Road. Follow 0.6 mile to Teal Lake and turn onto Litchfield Drive.

We’ll See You There!

We are hosting a Realtor Appreciation Event at Teal Lake
on Thursday, March 7th, from 6-8 pm
7 Litchfield Drive Savannah, GA 31419

JOIN US FOR:

We have recently reduced the prices of ALL of the Move-In Ready homes in Rice Creek, located in Port Wentworth, GA on Highway 21 just west of Rice Hope.

The Retreat at Rice Creek exudes a sense of place. It brings back memories of close-knit neighborhoods, community parks, and inviting homes – all serving as gathering spots for neighbors and friends. Rice Creek’s clubhouse hosts events and gatherings and includes a resort-style pool and kiddie pool, a playground surrounded by plenty of green space, a jogging/walking trail, and scenic lagoons. It is located in Port Wentworth, GA, on Highway 21 just west of Rice Hope.

Custom touches and classic style describe the homes in The Retreat at Rice Creek. Whether you favor smaller spaces or need lots of room for a growing family, the charming designs in our Plan Library offer home plans designed for affordability with style. From abundant storage to flexible spaces, the path to better home design leads you to Lamar Smith Signature Homes in Rice Creek.

If location in real estate is everything, Rice Creek has it all! Just 20 minutes from either the Historic Downtown Savannah or the popular shopping venues on Southside Savannah; or 15 minutes from the Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport; or 10 minutes from Gulfstream; or a leisurely 30-minute drive to Hilton Head Island and a quick 50 minutes from Georgia Southern University. Within 2 hours, you can be in Charleston, SC, or Jacksonville, FL

Contact Cole Saturday at Lamar Smith Signature Homes today for more information.

But before you sit down with your accountant, it’s important for you to know that merely owning a home could mean you qualify for tax breaks. In most cases, you need to itemize your taxes in order to take advantage of these deductions.

Here are a few of the tax breaks you’ll want to investigate:

Mortgage interest paid at settlement

Take a look at your closing statement; one item that’s generally listed there is home mortgage interest. On a mortgage of up to $1 million, you can deduct the interest that you pay at settlement if you itemize your deductions on Schedule A (Form 1040). This amount should be included in the mortgage interest statement provided by your lender.

Points

Did you pay points in order to obtain your home mortgage? These fees are included on the income tax deductions list and can be deducted as long as they are associated with the purchase of a home. 

Property taxes

As long as they are based on the assessed value of the real property, you can deduct your state and local property taxes. However, if your money is being held in escrow for the purpose of paying property taxes, you cannot claim this deduction until the money is actually taken out of escrow and paid. If you do this, check your Form 1098 for the amount you may deduct. Be aware that if you receive a partial refund of your property tax, the amount of the deduction you can claim will be reduced.

Selling costs

If you sold a home in the past year, you may be able to reduce your income tax by the amount of your selling costs. These costs can include things such as repairs, title insurance, advertising expenses and broker’s fees. The IRS only allows the deduction of repair costs associated with selling if the repairs were made within 90 days of the sale. It’s also crucial that the repairs were made with the intent of improving your home’s marketability. Selling costs are deducted from your gain on the sale.

Home office

If you use a portion of your home exclusively for the purpose of an office for your small business, you may be able to claim a deduction on your taxes for costs related to insurance, repairs and depreciation. You may only claim this deduction if the space within your home is used exclusively and regularly as either your principal place of business or a place where you meet and deal with customers or patients. You may also be able to take advantage of this deduction if a portion of your home routinely is used for storing items (product samples, inventory, etc.) used in your business. In tax year 2010 (the most recent year for which figures are available) nearly 3.4 million taxpayers claimed the home office deduction.

Mortgage insurance premiums

You may be able to deduct the premiums paid for private mortgage insurance for your principal residence and for a non-rental second home. The deduction begins to phase out once your adjusted gross income reaches $100,000 ($50,000 for married filing separately). In general, you can deduct the premiums paid for the current tax year only. A qualified tax adviser can provide information about rules for mortgage insurance provided by the Federal Housing Administration, Department of Veterans Affairs and Rural Housing Service.

Construction loan interest

If you take out a construction loan to build a home, you may qualify to deduct the interest. The IRS only allows a deduction for mortgage interest if the loan relates to a “qualified” home, which means it must either be your principal residence or a vacation home that you will use for personal purposes.

Tax codes can be confusing. You may want to consult the IRS website for information concerning deductions and credits. Additionally, consider meeting with a professional to ensure you’re not missing any deductions for which you’re eligible.

Lamar Smith Signature Homes: BEST house Commercial from Lamar Smith Signature Homes on Vimeo.

At Lamar Smith Signature Homes, we’ve created a new standard of excellence in the homebuilding industry. This new standard employs a system of benchmarks and quality features which make our homes second to none! We call it BEST house and it was created exclusively by Lamar Smith Signature Homes.

The word BEST is an acronym that outlines our standard features:

The B in BEST HOUSE represents Building Standards.

Our building standards ensure that your home is far-superior to any other on the market!

Several examples of our many Building Standards include:

– Our homes come standard with 16” stud spacing for all walls, load-bearing and non load-bearing. 16” stud spacing is structurally superior to the 24” spacing used by some builders. This ensures straighter walls and higher quality.

– In the Coastal Empire, we’re no stranger to high winds and hurricanes. In fact, the state building code requires that all homes built here include some kind of “hurricane-proofing”. We employ a system that far exceeds the old standard still used by most area builders. The Quick-Tie Hurricane system secures the roof of your home to the foundation using a intricate system of steel cables and plates. This system is standard in all of our homes.

The E in BEST HOUSE stands for Energy Efficiencies.

Our homes include energy efficiencies that promise to cut your energy consumption and save you money. Our homes are better for the environment and better for you!

Among the Energy Efficiencies incorporated into a Lamar Smith Signature Home are:

– ENERGY STAR certified new homes are designed and built to standards well above most other homes on the market today, delivering energy efficiency savings of up to 30 percent when compared to typical new homes. An ENERGY STAR home has undergone inspections, testing, and verification to meet strict requirements set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

– At Lamar Smith Signature Homes, we only use Low-E windows which are made with a special coating to reflect radiant infrared energy. Infrared heat radiating from the sun during the summer is reflected away, keeping it cooler inside, while radiant heat originating from indoors in winter is reflected back inside.

The S in BEST HOUSE denotes our Selections.

We offer hundreds of selections and options which allow you to personalize your new home. We make your dream home a reality!

The following are two of our Selections Standards:

– During the selection process you are invited to our state-of-the-art design center. Featuring hundreds of hand selected options for you to choose from, our design center allows you to personalize your new home. You can be assured that your home is built exclusively for you.

– Space and comfort in your home are high priorities. Featuring 9’ ceilings on the main floor of all two story homes, as well as open living areas, we have integrated maximum living space and extravagant design. To ensure you find a home that suits your needs, we have developed numerous floor plans. High volume ceilings, rounded corners, and innovative designs set our homes apart from the rest.

The T in BEST HOUSE stands for Total Value.

We include a 10-year warranty, money for closing costs, top-quality construction at a competitive price, and a team of dedicated professionals with decades of experience in the home-building industry.

Some of the Total Value Standards include:

– It’s imperative that you are assured that your home will last and is protected. At Lamar Smith Signature Homes, we include a 10 year warranty giving you peace of mind. This warranty keeps you from paying for costly repairs on appliances, plumbing, and electrical problems. We’re committed through this warranty, to save you time and money.

– We understand just how valuable your time is, that’s why we have integrated both the financial assistance and an agent who will guide you through the home buying process. We will connect you with one of our preferred lenders, who will work with you throughout the process. When using one of our preferred lenders, we will pay $5,000 of your closing cost, saving you more money.

Throughout our models you’ll find the best house logo displayed. Each time you see the logo you’ll know these are features that represent a BEST house quality.