Now is a great time to look at buying a new home. The past couple years we have adapted to say the least and being at home took on a whole new meaning. You may have learned some things during this time like maybe your home is just not big enough, or you need an office space, or maybe you are tired of renting. Whatever, the reason may be this could be the perfect time to lock in pricing, low interest rates and limited existing homes. Take a look at the latest collaboration and get some of these questions answered by Lindsey Svir with Valley Mortgage and Jessica Metcalf from Thomsen Homes. These two will discuss some of the big questions you may have on the financing side of building a new home and the process to get started.
Top 4 Reasons to Buy a New Construction Home
Are you in the market for a new home? Are your offers on existing homes being outbid? Has the shopping process become overwhelming? In many areas, buyers are finding that they are in a bidding war against multiple other buyers. Many homebuyers are having to settle for a home that is not exactly what they are looking for and doesn’t exactly meet their family’s needs. But why settle? Why not build a brand new home that can be personalized to meet your family’s unique needs? Here are the top 4 reasons to buy new!
Floor Plan Options
At Thomsen Homes, we know that no two families are alike. Our sales and design team are prepared to work with you to design and build a customized home. In fact, we have already thought of several unique layouts that can be specifically personalized for you. Use our new customized layout tool to plan and envision your new Thomsen Home! Interactive Floorplan – Thomsen Homes 2180 Bi-Level
Ready to Move In, No Fuss
Often when making an offer on an older home, there are many renovations that need to be completed. The kitchens and baths need updating. Sometimes the windows need to be replaced. And let’s not even talk about what might be in the carpet (Toenails…Ew!) Renovations aren’t always easy and may end up costing much more in the long run. During the renovation process it is possible a remodeler will discover that they must bring the house up to code, especially concerning plumbing and electrical systems. Hidden costs can add up quickly. When buying a new Thomsen Home, these worries and additional costs are eliminated.
Our Experts are There to Help
When purchasing a new home, you will work with our designers and drafters to make your new home uniquely yours. The benefit of purchasing a new home is that your finishes will be up to date and will match your own personal taste. The Thomsen Homes Design Studio is equipped to offer you all the latest trends in cabinets, countertops and flooring. Do you need some extra assistance in selecting the touches that will make your new house a home? Our design team can help you step-by-step through the entire process. Do you have a unique look in mind? We can help you bring your vision to life. Whether you’re a looking for a traditional bi-level or an ultra modern two story, Thomsen Homes can build the exact home you’ve been looking for.
Get in Before the New Year
We have homes available now and ready to call yours! There are a variety of different floor plans, price points, styles and areas to move to. We have homes in Horace, South Fargo, West Fargo and Grand Forks. Start making family memories and get into the home you have been waiting for!
2021 Inc. 5000 Fastest Growing Company In America
These past few years have been nothing short of a whirlwind. Between a global pandemic, political transitions, a crazy housing market, low interest rates and so much more we can chalk up 2020/ 2021 as one that will go in the books! Despite the challenges there are so many glimmers of positive outcomes that we can take away from this past year. Over the years we have the pleasure of being able to watch families, couples, individuals build the homes they have always wanted. This year however, feels extra special. We are so grateful to be apart of such a momentous part of our clients lives. In a time where home has also converted into school, work, the gym among other things home has never taken on so many different roles. And if we learned anything from this past year it’s that home has been the anchor in all this madness and continues to be.
Inc. 5000 List 2021
Thomsen Homes made this year’s Inc. 5000 list 2021! We are very humbled by this achievement and recognize that this could not be possible without our amazing subs/ vendors, business partners and most importantly the families we build homes for. This year has certainly posed it’s challenges, although there are silver linings we are truly blessed by the growth and determination of the communities we serve as we navigate through each year.
This is the 4th year that Thomsen Homes has been ranked on the Inc. 5000 list.
Love Where You Live In Horace, ND- Welcome to Maple Lake Estates
If small town living is the lifestyle you desire, then Maple Lake Estates our newest development situated just minutes from the outskirts of Horace, ND. Just a quick trip and you are in the F-M area. There are a variety of lots surrounding a serene pond, wide open spaces and affordable to make this your new home.
Nearby parks and easy access to everything Horace has to offer, including the new middle school and high school amenities just to the north. Big Erv’s a Horace hometown favorite has something for everyone when it comes to eats. Small town celebrations like Bean Days with a parade in the heart of down town followed by entertainment and music.
If you are thinking of building this is a great area to be and get that close knit community vibe.
Schedule a tour with one of our new home consultants and tour one of our model homes to get a feel of the layout and space of our variety of floor plans.
DIY Master Bedroom Board & Batten: A Guest Blog from Reagan Lange
One of the fun things about working with different families when they build with Thomsen Homes is the different DIY projects they do after they build their home with us. It is so great to see the personal touches that they add to the home and Reagan and her husband Jacob have been so gracious to share their Thomsen Homes journey as well as dive into a DIY project in their master bedroom. Sit back and become inspired as Reagan shares her tips on creating a faux board and batten accent wall in their Thomsen Home. Follow Reagan on her instagram @reaganlange.
Since closing on our 2180 bi-level Thomsen Home in August 2018, we (mainly I, Reagan) have enjoyed decorating every room in the house! Home design has become a huge hobby of mine and I love getting inspiration from people I follow on Instagram. Some of my favorites include @studiomcgee, @hartman_haus, @frengpartyof6 (fellow Thomsen Homes homeowner!), and @jaci.daily just to name a few. When we first moved in, I found myself playing it safe design-wise. It took me a while to settle into a specific design style I enjoy for my home because I wanted it to fully emulate what I enjoy. Up until 2020, we had not made any major design changes to our home because I wanted to really think about it and make all the right choices. Building with Thomsen Homes allowed us to have a great foundation for any interior design choices we made moving forward. I love the light wood floors we chose as well as the white walls throughout our home (Sherwin Williams Snowbound). These light and airy elements allowed me to think freely on my interior design aesthetic and fully research what I found to love for our home.
The “Master” Plan
Last spring we were at home quite a bit due to the pandemic. My husband Jacob and I decided to make a dramatic change to our master bedroom by building our own faux board and batten accent wall. I am so happy with how it turned out! The color we chose was Sherwin Williams Iron Ore in a matte finish. This color is not quite black, but is a wonderful compromise between black and deep charcoal. Since the master bedroom in the 2180 floor plan is right off the main floor, I knew I wanted to do something “moody” to our room since our door is open most of the time. In fact, I feel like this dark paint color made our bedroom feel bigger than it was originally, believe it or not! The board and batten brings a huge wow factor that this room did not have before!
Faux Board and Batten
Here are some extra details about our faux board and batten wall: We chose to use primed wood boards from Menards in a 2.5″ x 8′ size. We liked the primed option because it provided a smoother appearance. In total, we applied seven vertical boards because that’s the spacing that seemed the most natural on our particular wall. We also decided to “frame out” the entire wall using boards that lined the ceiling as well as the floor. We ended up taking out the existing baseboard on this one wall and replaced them with the new boards to make a cohesive appearance. This gives the project a finished look in my opinion. We applied the boards with liquid nails and also nailed the boards to the wall. They are absolutely not coming off any time soon! To further make the look appear “professional” and finished, we added wood filler to any nail holes and caulked all the edges. This made a huge difference in the final look! Also, our existing outlet covers were white, so we opted to swap them out to a black option so they blend into the wall seamlessly.
Tips along the way
Some lessons learned from doing this project on our own include: paint AFTER the boards are on the wall! For some reason we thought it would be better to paint the entire wall first, then paint each individual board with a sprayer. This was so time consuming and in the end we wished we had painted everything as our final step, not the first. Another lesson learned was that we wish we would have invested into a nail gun. We used our handheld drill for everything and using a nail gun would have been so less tedious. Additionally, I found that it was helpful for my visual mind to put together a mood board in Photoshop to see how I wanted the end result to look, including the bedding, lighting, and decor items I planned to buy. Sometimes it’s hard to envision all my ideas together, so putting this mood board together really helped!
As first time homeowners, we enjoyed tackling this project that we are so proud of. We conquered this project at our daughter’s nap time over the course of a few days and it was so worth it in the end. The before and after photos speak for themselves! If you are looking at making a change to a room in your home, paint makes a simple but HUGE impact. Give a dark, bold color a try…you might be surprised!
A Holiday Take from the Sorby Home
We have a special blog post from the Sorby family along with some holiday inspiration to get you in the festive mood! They had built their 2180 bi-level home in 2018. This DYI couple has an eye for design and a love for everything home.
Holiday Home Inspired
The days have gotten shorter and the air has turned crisp…it is finally the holiday season and we could not be more excited!
We closed on our Thomsen in December 2018, so this time of year always feels extra special to us. Not only are we reminded that we’ve spent another 365 days in a house we’ve made a home and truly come to love, but also that subtle changes to your space, like pulling out and putting up different décor, can make your heart feel really, really happy…and, honestly, who doesn’t love that (especially this year)?!
When it comes to holidays, much like the other decorating we do in our home, we choose to approach things with a ‘cozy + slightly minimalist’ mindset. To us, less is often more, although we very much appreciate folks who can pull off very full ensembles (with two large fur monsters running around, our home feels ‘full’ in other ways!). We tend to stick with mostly neutral-colored items that have different textures. This allows us to easily add pops of color without feeling like we’re overpowering one space or having items clash.
Easy Pantry Organization Tips
It is the area of the home that can be forgotten but is a space we frequent daily; can you guess what it is? It is the pantry! The space within the home where we store everything from canned goods, crockpots, cereal and basically anything you could think of. Now this could be a space that could drive you nuts, but you just do not have the time, or energy or creativeness to make this space a little more pretty!
We asked organizing guru Maria of The Baer Minimalist for some advice she has on keeping this space organized and styled!
Tips
Discard Expired Goods and all Packaging – It’s amazing how many items are hidden inside the pantry that expired one, two, sometimes eight years ago. Toss anything expired and consider donating items to a local food pantry that won’t be consumed in time. From there, pull all beverages from their cardboard containers, toss the bulk packaging that eats up valuable space and give those shelves a good wipe down.
Create Zones – Think of your grocery shopping experience and create similar zones that fit your family’s lifestyle, such as breakfast, baking, grab and go snacks, and canned goods. Keep items that your family reaches for daily on the most accessible shelves.
Don’t forget the space available on the inside of your pantry door! Check out the ELFA system from Container Store for a door-mounted unit that will give you a ton of extra storage without taking up much space.
Utilize Baskets + Bins – If you like seeing quantities of ingredients on hand, opt for clear containers or bins to house your pantry staples. If you opt to use plastic canisters to store cereal or snacks, make sure to add an expiration date to the bottom of the container (for pastas, we’ll often cut out the cooking instructions and tape them to the back of the canister too). If your preference is out of sight, out of mind, woven baskets look incredibly streamlined on pantry shelves.
Label, Label, Label – Pantries are also the space in your home that gets replenished most often, so labeling is ultra-important. My favorite markers for labeling are these chalk markers that come in such vibrant colors and work on tons of different surfaces. This also allows you to hold everyone in your house accountable for keeping up a system.
The Baer Minimalist helps busy families create ORGANIZED + STYLIZED spaces throughout Indianapolis, Indiana. To keep up to date with all of the tips, tricks and inspiration doled out, subscribe to their newsletter, The Minimal-List and follow along on social, @thebaerminimalist.
Ideas for pantries when building a new home
When building a new home the pantry can sometimes be a space that can get overlooked. There are so many different options when building that you may not even realize can be nice little add-ons to this space to make your life more organized and less cramped.
Depending on what floor plan you decide on there are different options for pantries, as well as ways to modify what is offered as a pantry within that floor plan. Everything from shelving options like standard wire shelving or custom shelving or even custom cabinetry within your pantry. Think about how you want to utilize this space.
Another unique add on to make things easier is including a small door that you can access from your garage to your pantry in order to quickly load your groceries and boxes through can be a game changer.
Summer Safety: Never Take A Vacation From It
Summer safety is a hot topic, literally and we asked Safe Kids of Grand Forks Coordinator Carma Hanson to share with us some insight on how to enjoy the summer months and keep those kiddos safe.
As the warm days of summer have come to our part of the country, we find kids out of school, families enjoying this season and all of us adjusting to the new routines that Covid-19 has brought to us this year. Routinely, June, July and August are the 100 deadliest days of the year for kids as they are out of school and in a less structured environment. Add to that this year the stresses that have accompanied our global pandemic where parents may be working from home or carrying the weight of job changes or losses. All of these things lead to a set-up for more unintentional childhood injuries. We offer some insight into ways that you can keep your home a safe environment by not taking a vacation from safety.
Because of community pools being more apt to be closed, above ground pools have popped up around homes. While these can offer a cool retreat from hot summer days, they can also present a danger. Below ground pools are required to have 4-sided fencing around them, but smaller above ground ones are not. If you have young children that may toddle off or are curious by nature, know what is in your neighbor’s backyard and assure that kids don’t get out of your sight. Drowning is a silent behavior and you often won’t hear a child struggling in the water. If you have a pool in your yard, but sure to store toys and floaties out of the pool when not in use so kids are not tempted by them. If it is a smaller pool, dump the water and turn the pool upside down so it does not collect water with rainfalls. Keep the ladder stored out of sight and in a shed or garage, away from the pool. Active adult supervision, meaning the adults are watching the kids and not reading a book, cooking on the grill, talking on the phone, taking a nap or a variety of other activities, is important to keep kids safe in a water situation. Never rely on inflatable water wings or water rings to keep your kids afloat. If you have a below ground pool at your home, assure that there are self-latching gates on the fence and if there are doors from the house that exit directly to the pool, equip them with alarms so you will be alerted if someone exists them.
Another danger for children in the summertime is heatstroke from kids being left in cars that heat up quickly or children gaining access to a vehicle whether that be at your family home or a neighbor’s. It doesn’t take a very hot day for this type of tragedy to occur. Temperatures inside vehicles can get to be 40-60 degrees hotter than outside and children’s bodies overheat three to five times fast than an adult. When the vehicle is not in use, lock the car and keep the keys out of reach. Always remember to check the back seat after every ride and set reminders on your phone as babies often fall asleep in the vehicle when the car starts moving. A simple change in routine such as road construction that takes you on a different route to work can quickly lead to a tragic outcome for a young child. If you see a child in a vehicle that is unattended, call 911 immediately so emergency responders can come and get the child removed and provide medical attention if needed.
While the summertime can create great family time and generate fabulous memories, we want to assure that kids are free of the dangers that this season presents. For more information on preventable childhood injuries, visit www.safekidsgf.com or LIKE us on Facebook at Safe Kids Grand Forks. Altru Health System is proud to serve as the lead agency for Safe Kids Grand Forks and you can reach out to us there at safekids@altru.org. Sip your lemonade, relax in the cool waters of a pool and enjoy special times with your family but never, ever take a vacation from summer safety.
