ANNOUNCEMENT! Charlotte's Growth Is Moving North and So Have We

Home builder Julie LaTerra Homes, expands business north to Huntersville

Known for our woman-focused fresh approach to custom home building, Julie LaTerra Homes opened its Lake Norman New Home Design Center to better align ourselves with Charlotte’s growth.

“Charlotte's growth is moving north and so have we! We see our move to Huntersville as being beneficial to our company as a whole,” said Julie LaTerra. “Our biggest new home markets are located near metro areas where there is an abundance of readily affordable land and the Lake Norman/Statesville area will provide significant growth for our company in the years to come.”

As Charlotte’s premier custom home builder, Julie LaTerra Homes currently builds on your lot and in communities as well.

“The new Julie LaTerra Homes Lake Norman Design Center allows for easy access from I-77, only 14 miles from downtown Charlotte, and 29 miles from Statesville, and remains a key strategy in our company’s plans for future growth,” Julie said.

The move comes on the heels of our successful 2007 launch in the Charlotte market. We've seen the Charlotte real estate market embrace our Made from Scratch™ philosophy of providing custom homes affordably. In June, Julie LaTerra Homes will unveil our newest small home designs, Julie’s Jewel Box Collection; along with The Recipe Builder, an interactive custom home design experience.

“Our move north positions us in an area of growth that aligns with the demographics of our buyers. We are already starting to see the fruit of that effort.”

Julie LaTerra Homes offers exceptional personalized service and a streamlined building process that enables our buyers to build their dream home in 100 days or less. Julie LaTerra Homes Made from Scratch™ approach to custom homebuilding has gained great popularity with buyers and Realtors in the Carolinas.

Julie LaTerra, CEO, Wife, Mother, Designer and experienced Homebuilder, is a Connecticut native with over twenty-five years of homebuilding experience. As a woman-focused custom homebuilder, our inspired creative designs will grow with any life stage. Julie LaTerra Homes, as a woman owned business, has a “Build On Your Lot” program letting you decide where you want to live.

Directions: From I-77 North, take Exit 23 Gilead Rd. At the end of the exit, turn left onto Gilead Rd. At the next traffic light, turn left onto Reese Boulevard. Follow 3/10th of a mile and bear right. Take an immediate left in The Park’s ‘Kemp Building’, Suite 110, on the first floor for your convenience.

Julie LaTerra Homes Design Center Hours
Monday thru Friday 9:00 am to 6:00 pm
Saturday 10:00 am to 1:00 pm
Sundays by appointment

For more information, visit http://www.julielaterrahomes.com/ or call 704.875.3980

Secret Home Ingredients for a Better Living Home

Many prospective home buyers are looking for innovative new home ideas for their families. Our ‘Secret Home Ingredients’ make a noticeable difference in the way your home ‘lives’.

At Julie LaTerra Homes, it’s not one magical ingredient that separates us from other builders, but several. It doesn’t matter whether you’re building your first home or last home, before you make an investment of your time, energy, and money, make sure your new home includes some of these Secret Home Ingredients for a recipe for success.

Lower Your Blood Pressure – When a man comes home from work, his blood pressure drop, yet when a woman comes home, she is coming home to her second job…and her blood pressure goes UP… several points! At Julie LaTerra Homes we eliminate stress by designing a rear foyer entry – no dirty laundry for everyone to see!

The Importance of Natural Light – Did you know natural light reduces blood pressure, improves our ability to absorb calcium, reduces cholesterol, reduces headaches, makes us less irritable, and better able to concentrate? Julie LaTerra Homes places natural light in kitchens and in the MBR bath.

We Provide for Those with Pets – Clean pets mean clean homes, and who wants to mess up the bathtub when we can provide a pet zone feature in your new home? Shower your pets with care with our Pet Shower and Pet Zones.

Have You Ever Enjoyed an Oversized Shower at a Luxury Resort? - Now you can have that same relaxing experience in a 5-foot shower with twin seats, plus integral soap shelves. Imagine relaxing beneath two showerheads and choose full or massage body spray patterns.

Spend a Little Less Time Cleaning – Women spend an average of more than 14 hours per week on household chores. A Toe-Kick Dust Pan, installed in the cabinet toe kick in the kitchen- is activated by a toe switch, making sweeping dirt into the dust pan and central vacuum system of the home a breeze!

Where Will My Personal Space be in the Home? - Think soaking tubs, little bump bays for a sitting area to curl up with a book, how about a gift wrap center, a paint area for your daughter, potting area...all these thoughtful touches can be added to your new home.

Let Us Help You Relieve Stress in Your Life in the MBR Bath - You want more storage for king size sheets, towels, etc. You want a walk in shower with no door. It’s easier to clean. Problem is…it’s cold. Solution? Radiant floor heat or a heat lamp.

Charlotte Real Estate Market Changing - TV Coverage

By BOBBY SISK/NewsChannel 36

E-mail Bobby: BSisk@WCNC.com

Click on this link to view video:
http://www.wcnc.com/video/?nvid=324682

CONCORD, N.C. -- There's no question the country is in a major economic slump. But is the Charlotte region the best place to be to weather the storm?

One homebuilder who moved to the area a little more than a year ago says,"Yes." But you have to be willing to change with the customers.

"My father is a homebuilder and I just grew up in the business," said Julie LaTerra, sitting in her Concord design center.

Customers here are surrounded by pink and green, by images of what their new home could look like. The focus is clearly on women.
"We're really unique in that we focus on women as the ones who make the home buying decision," LaTerra said.

The move to the Charlotte region was the first expansion for LaTerra's Connecticut-based company. And it came when the real estate market here was already slowing down. On moving here, LaTerra says the choice was clear.

"Everything pointed to the Charlotte market. And as they say now, Charlotte is the last one out and the first one back in," she said.

LaTerra refers to larger drops in sales and construction in other parts of the country harder hit.
"2009 is going to be challenging year, but it won't be a year where people won't build homes," said LaTerra, who's been in this business more than 30 years.

Her staff, which includes her son Dante, is still seeing a steady stream of customers. But now more than ever, they're making sure every dollar counts.

LaTerra says potential home buyers are doing more research and are more discretionary when it comes to what they need.

"Do they really need that extra 5 feet? And we're finding that today's consumer is saying, 'You know what? I don't. I still want everything in a home, but I really don't need that big marshmallow type of home,'" said LaTerra.

Unlike builders with large master planned communities, right now LaTerra is only building customized homes lot by lot. They range in price from $250,000 to more than $1 million.
The price, though, depends on what the customer needs. Oftentimes, like a house she showed NewsChannel 36 in north Charlotte, the homes are built on land the homeowner already owns.
LaTerra's seen the local housing numbers. In December, residential closings were down more than 42 percent from the same time last year. The average price decreased more than 8 percent. Still, she feels her woman-focused, one house at a time approach is one that can weather the storm.

"It is a made from scratch experience, exactly what they want without just, you know, getting rid of product that I have out on the street and can't sell. That is something that you're seeing right now," said LaTerra.

What else happens during a housing slump? LaTerra says people cocoon. They stay in their homes and spend less money going out. In her design center, that is now being factored into customized floor plans, which focus more on entertaining.

Another sign of the times, the company has added a wealth manager to help clients figure out whether they can afford to build now, or if it's smarter financially to wait.

Julie LaTerra Homes' Employee in the News!

Dante LaTerra (Julie LaTerra Homes 3D New Home Designer) and three of his friends, Yoshi James (photographer), Roella Diesel (Fire School of Ministry Alumni), Sidney Helou (Mosaic Church) collaborated to bring Christmas to a needy family in the Charlotte Area.

Together we can all make a difference and help bring joy to someone this Christmas Season! What little random acts of kindness could you do that would make some one's Christmas brighter? God Bless you, and have a very Merry Christmas!

Check out the Charlotte Observer story...

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/breaking/story/426814.html

Or view more of the heartwarming pictures that Dante took...
http://picasaweb.google.com/LaTerraDante/ChristmasToyGiveaway?feat=directlink