Like a Fiddler on the Roof

By Britany D. ~ Ivory Employee

Congratulations, you are an Ivory Homeowner! Whether this event occurred recently or some time ago, I am sure you spent hours and hours searching for the right homebuilder (what good taste you have!). Not to mention the right location, price, home design, paint, counter-tops, appliances, lighting, cabinetry, tile, toilets, showers, faucets, doorknobs, doors, furniture, carpets, windows, curtains, decorations, fireplace, brick, siding, etc, etc. Phew!!!

I think this hefty conquest of yours deserves a night of relaxation and entertainment. Well, we here at Ivory Homes, combined with the generosity of Hale Centre Theatre, are going to award you that opportunity! You now have a chance to win two free tickets to the current theatrical production at Hale Theatre: Fiddler on the Roof. A heart-warming musical about a loving father, Tevye, who is trying to provide for his family and help guide them as they become adults while dealing with persecution and strict Jewish traditions in 1905 Russia.

Do these themes ring true for you? What a parallel as an Ivory Homeowner during this time of your life as you begin a family, raise children, provide for them, pursue a career, watch those children leave the nest, enjoy grandchildren, and deal with persecutions and traditions of your own. The best part about this story, however, is the happy ending – even though that happy ending may not be exactly how Tevye envisioned it. But haven’t you found the best endings are ones you didn’t imagine? Ones in which you have learned to love, accept and enjoy life even more than before? Ones where you enjoy old traditions but also begin new ones? Yes!

In the words of Tevye: “Without our traditions, our lives would be as shaky as a Fiddler on the Roof!”

Do you want two tickets to Fiddler on the Roof for Wednesday, March 24 at 7:30 pm. Just comment on this blog post and tell us about a happy ending in your life that you never envisioned. We'll pick a random winner on March 19th.

Fresh New Ivory Homes Website

Our Ivory Homes website has a new look! What do you think? Now with bigger and brighter pictures, cool virtual tours, live chat with real agents, easy to use Google maps, and more.

We've been listening to what our customers want, so the site is constantly evolving. Same goes for this Ivory Living blog. Some of the best ideas come from real homeowners. We invite you to take part and be a guest blogger. Share with us your favorite recipe, decorating advice, or home maintenance tips. We'd love to hear from you!

Creative Spaces for Crafty Creations

By Jill B. ~ Ivory Homeowner

When we first built our “dream home,” we only had one child, but knew we’d expand our family and live in this house for a long time. We have four bedrooms upstairs, and with two children currently, I have the luxury of my own crafting space in the unused bedroom. However, I know that one day, this will become another child’s room, so I have had to create temporary storage and creative ways to organize my supplies. I suggest finding fun pieces at thrift stores and paint them to match your space. These ladders are a fun way to display my latest scrapbook pages, inspiration I find from magazines, etc. I try to utilize as much vertical space as possible without hanging shelves or other major fixtures in the room. I utilize every inch of the closet. The greatest thing is if it gets a little “unorganized,” I can shut the closet doors and ignore the mess for a bit! Hanging drawers are a great way to utilize closet space – they simply latch on to the closet rod and can be moved from side to side. I also use rolling carts, paper racks and photo storage boxes to give all my supplies a home.

Red Hot Valentines Day

Guys, still trying to find that perfect idea for Valentines? Something that says..."I am committed to you." Well here you go... the five most romantic words ever:

"Honey, let's go house shopping!!"

Ivory Model Homes Open Saturday February, 13th from 10 AM - 7PM

Tax Benefit$ of Owning a Home

By Becky P. ~ Ivory Homeowner

I’m a CPA. I realize that to most people, that means I’m a somewhat nerdy bean-counter. I’m fine with that, because accounting does come in handy sometimes. Whenever my finance-degree-wielding husband has a new investment idea, I’m able to crunch the numbers, look into the tax implications, and help figure out if it’s a good investment. So when we decided to buy our Ivory Home, we not only looked at what our payment would be each month, we also considered the reduction in taxes from paying mortgage interest and property taxes.

People are always talking about “write offs” on your taxes. What does that really mean? Usually, it means that you can subtract certain expenses from your income, which reduces your “taxable income,” and thus the taxes you pay. So how do your mortgage payments fit into this? The IRS gives everyone a “standard deduction,” which is subtracted from your gross income to arrive at your taxable income. For 2009, the standard deduction was $5,700 for single filers, $11,400 for married filing jointly. Your other option is to add up all of your expenses in certain categories, and if they are more than the standard deduction, you get to subtract that amount (your “itemized deductions”) instead of the standard deduction amount. Mortgage interest and property taxes are in the categories of expenses that can go in your itemized deductions. The most common other categories of itemized deductions are state income taxes and charitable contributions. The other categories are less commonly used because they are harder to qualify for (for example, medical expenses over a certain amount and un-reimbursed employee expenses over a certain amount).

That’s the basic idea of the tax benefits you get from owning a home. It does get more complicated if you get into all the details, but hey, they’re taxes, did you expect it to be simple?

When you look at what your home really costs you, you have to take into account the taxes you’re saving. And if you’ve only been in your home a short time like me and get depressed looking at how much of your mortgage payment goes to interest vs. principal, there is a silver lining: all that interest will reduce your federal income tax bill.

Hey Groundhog, We're Ready for Spring!

So, the fat little furry critter saw his shadow today. Well you know what, who cares?! We're ready for Spring!

I'm sure we're not the only ones tired of the dark rustic decor that you see everywhere nowadays. Not everything needs to be brown (and drab)! With Spring right around the corner, we're thinking FRESH! We have lots of new models homes in store and we're splashing fresh new colors all over.

This lovely model home was decorated by our Design Team with most of the inspiration from the Ivory Family themselves! The theme is classic farmhouse style. It was such a hit that it sold right away, but we have more like this in store for 2010. Stay tuned...

Want to Be in an Ivory Homes Commercial?

Send us a photo and briefly tell us why you love your Ivory Home. Email shirlene@ivoryhomes.com by this Tuesday, February 2, 2010.

All applicants who are selected to participate will be compensated.

Kids Room Decorating Ideas

By Faith ~ 13 Year Old Ivory Fan

I love Ivory’s cute and exciting kid’s rooms! Being a kid myself I love getting ideas and thinking “I would love if my room was decorated that way!” They always seem to have fun themes, like Curious George, or flowers or fun prints. I always love looking in Ivory’s model homes and especially at the kids rooms and seeing all the fun ideas and cute designs.