What are the benefits of a HomeSmart Home?
Want a home that’s warm, dry, keeps your family healthy, has great resale value and costs less to run?
When it’s put like this, most people would be interested, yet when it comes to home purchase, most of us focus on the cosmetic: size and number of rooms, modern kitchens and bathrooms, fashionable fittings. Beacon believes we need to start thinking long term when we’re buying our homes and value the benefits of buying a home that will perform well in the years to come.
Running costs
Many people considering the purchase of a new home focus largely on its upfront cost. They forget that years of utility bills lie ahead. A HomeSmart Home will ensure affordability over time.
A house that is energy and water efficient can make significant savings on your bills which can be used to off-set some of the mortgage costs. Results from the Waitakere NOW Home® are a good indicator, using 33% less electricity than comparable households, and 40% less water than the average in surrounding Waitakere City. The tenants saved 45% over the electricity bills of their previous home in the first year they were there – they certainly noticed the effects on their bills.
Your health
The link between cold damp homes and respiratory illnesses is becoming increasingly clear. A healthy indoor environment is warm, not dropping to unhealthy minimum temperatures, and heated by fires or heathers that don’t emit either particulates or gases. Getting rid of moisture is also a factor of indoor health, preventing damp getting in, and ventilating to get rid of moisture inside. Another little considered aspect of indoor environment is the potential health effects of the materials used in construction. Using approved certified products will avoid breathing indoor pollutants such as VOCs, formaldehyde, and benzene.
A HomeSmart Home will bring healthier living, fewer days off school and work, and lower medical bills.
Good family life
One of the striking results of the experience of our tenants in the Waitakere NOW Home® was just how much their family life improved with living in a good home. They began socialising more often, feeling that the house was more comfortable and inviting to bring friends over. The two children were more confident and the family happier as a whole.
The investment
HomeSmart Homes are likely to perform better in the property market. Buyers are increasingly appreciating the added benefits they offer, and the introduction of residential rating schemes will provide proof of performance.
HomeSmart Homes are a safer investment as they are adapted to future climate and energy changes. With a Government focus on building performance and sustainability, the Building Code is increasingly regulating for sustainable and resource efficient building. A HomeSmart Home with all its energy and water saving features protects homeowners against the higher costs of renovating them later to meet future standards of stricter Building Codes or the demands of “greener” buyers.
Environmentally friendly
For the environmentally aware, the HomeSmart Home comforts come free of guilt. They have a low footprint, taking from the environment only what is necessary and what is safe without damaging clean green New Zealand.
If you’re looking to buy a home, make a change for the better.
