Last March, Simmons Homes and a small combination of national home builders help the New Orleans residents rebuild their homes after Hurricane Katrina. Two years before that, Simmons Homes participated with ABC’s "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" show to build a new home for a Dewey, Oklahoma family.
Now the leading Tulsa area home builder, Simmons Homes, is teaming up with ABC’s "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" once more for a third project, but this time, it’s to help a family in their own backyard. You can learn more and get involved at www.extremesimmons.com
"Our employees’ hearts and lives have been touched through our participation with Extreme Makeover and the families we’ve been fortunate enough to help," said Greg Simmons, founder of Owasso-based Simmons Homes. "To be a part of the same spirit of generosity in our own community brings our amazing Extreme Team experience full circle."
The Tulsa "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" family’s name has not yet been released, to insure the family will enjoy the surprise, and the final project details will be announced the week of Jan. 15. The Simmons Homes team will work on the Extreme Makeover home for nearly one week.
"You can be confident that the Tulsans receiving this home are truly deserving of our help," said Simmons. "We’re looking forward to building a team of local volunteers to really make a difference in this family’s lives."
Simmons Homes needs skilled/licensed craftsmen to volunteer for onsite shifts; to make a well deserved family’ dreams come true. Volunteers from the home building industry are needed with skills including electricians, painters, framers, plumbers and drywallers. "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" volunteers will be responsible for all transportation, lodging and food. In addition, Simmons Homes encourages other Tulsa community organizations to get involved by allowing employees to participate and/or donate tools and supplies. Visit www.extremesimmons.com to volunteer for ABC’s "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" in Tulsa. ||
What is the smartest purchase you will ever make? Well, buying a home of course. One reason is that owning a home has multiple positive tax benefits. Once you become a homeowner you qualify for three important sources of tax savings:
1. Deductions for mortgage interest. 2. Deductions for real estate taxes. 3. Capital gain exclusion for the sale of a home.
The deductions of real estate taxes decrease the annual cost of owning a home by dropping the home owner's tax responsibility each year. If you own a home with $10,000 yearly mortgage interest costs and you fall in the 25 percent tax bracket, you qualify for up to $2,500 in tax savings each year. Not to mention that in most state the taxes paid on your home are deductible.
Not only will you save overall on taxes by purchasing a home, you will receive a tax benefit when you sale a home.
"Under present law, sellers of a principal residence can exclude from taxation profits from the sale of a home, up to $500,000 for married taxpayers and $250,000 for single taxpayers. With capital gain tax rates expected to increase from 15 to 20 percent in coming years, these tax savings can be substantial." , according to the According to National Association of Home Builders.
The NAHB economists estimate that a married couple with an annual income of $80,000 and a mortgage rate of $250,000, will save on taxes from the mortgage interest and real estate tax deductions more than $11,000 in the first five years of owning a home. If the couple owns the home for twelve years, the savings will grow to $25,000. In collusion if you combined the capital gains exclusion and the total tax savings for the entire period of owning the home the savings will surpass $52,000.
With the home buyer tax credits available with up to $8,000 for first-time home buyer and $6,500 for repeat home buyers, buying a home today is a rewarding financial decision. Find out more at http://www.federalhousingtaxcredit.com/.
Oklahoma is more than "OK" in our eyes! Tulsa is a city that boasts affordable new home prices, low interest rates, and a great tax rebate for first-time home buyers, also provides affordable new homes for sale within a city with a growing economy. With a double-digit job growth, it is no surprise that Tulsa real estate market conditions of 2009 were ranked among the healthiest housing markets and an appearance of recovery before many other real estate markets. Below is a list of just some of the great news that came out about Tulsa's growing economy and the real estate market in 2009.
Tulsa was ranked best Cost of Living and ranked 2ed for best Quality of Life by Business Facilities magazine's metro report; "Tulsa World"
Tulsa, Oklahoma was named as one of the Growing Cities with a median home price of $135,000. CNN Money; "Where the Growth Is - and Isn't"
Tulsa ranked 11th among the nation's top performers in a recently released home pricing forecast that indicated Tulsa real estate market will be among the top 13 performers in the nation this year. Tulsa World; "Tulsa Housing Market Predicted to Fare Well"
Tulsa ranked 7th strongest Metro Economics with home prices growing 2.5% in the second quarter compared to the same period a year before. BusinessWeek; "Forty Strongest US Metro Economies"
Oklahoma Ranks #1 in cost of living and 3ed highest in overall economy. Oklahoma is also the #23 in overall for doing business. CNBC; "Americas Top States For Business"
In this Meet the Experts video interview, Greg Simmons talks with Sam Rader from Coldwell Banker Select about the financing options for today's buyers.
Financing is one of the key components in purchasing your new home, here at Simmons, we have made this part of the process easier than ever.
Builder Magazine recently named the top home builders for 2008 based on total closings for the year. Simmons Homes ranked in the top 100 at 98 - moving up the rankings 36 spots. In 2008, Simmons closed 278 homes, 80% of these homes where Energy Star certified!
We are extremely excited to break the top 100 for 2008 and look forward to more positive growth in 2009. The national homebuilding market has been struggling, but the Tulsa Oklahoma market is showing its long term stability and strength.
I have more good news! The new rankings for Building Giants were just released by Professional Builder and Simmons Homes came in at 201. This is up 69 spots from the 270 rank last year.
Other larger builders in Oklahoma, like Ideal Homes and Home Creations also moved up the list this year. While we would all like to attribute this to our solid business plans - I think that it is largely due to our strong and stable market. We all took a big jump while other builders, in less than strong economies, fell backwards.
Here at Simmons Homes, we strive to create a home that meets our customers’ needs and is relevant to the marketplace -but at the end of the day - we can't manipulate the need for housing. This is created by strong job growth and a robust economy. So, while we do pat ourselves on the back a little - we like to give most of the credit to our vibrant city.
GIANT 400 METHODOLOGY The list of the Giant 400 is based on a two-step process. First we identify the 400 largest builders based on the number of housing units closed in the previous year. (For 2008, the last --or 400th-- company listed as a result of this first sorting built 82 homes in 2007.) Then we sort those 400 builders by housing revenues. It is the housing revenue that determines the actual ranking number for those companies. This dual criteria of units and housing revenues, we feel, best defines the Giants of housing. The process does, however, eliminate some builders with revenues greater than the 400th Giant, but with fewer unit closings.
Rickey Hayes founded Retail Attractions in 2007 to provide a suite of services to the retail development world, including cities, developers, retailers, site selectors, economic development trusts and authorities. Communities and their citizens benefit when national retailers and restaurants, quality residential developments, and state of the art health care facilities choose to locate in their city. Developers and retailers benefit from choosing a location in a Retail Attractions client city because the process is smooth and efficient. Sites are pre-screened and quality market data made available.
Before starting Retail Attractions, Rickey served as the Economic Development Director for the City of Owasso, Oklahoma for six years. During that time, the city experienced tremendous growth in both commercial and residential investment. The city's sales tax base more than doubled. New commercial construction during his tenure totaled more than 4.2 million square feet with over a quarter of a billion dollars in total value. Since beginning Retail Attractions, LLC, our partner cities have seen another 1 million square feet of new retail development, along with the corresponding sales tax revenue that comes with new retail sales.
More great news for Tulsa! Forbes.com recently release its list of "Most Livable Cities" and coming in at #5 is our great city!
The article starts off with:
Looking to for a better way of life? Start your search with these places.
I just love all the positive news. We keep showing up on these lists year after year. What things do you think make Tulsa "livable"?
Here are the stats for Tulsa:
Metro Population: 910,000 Income Growth: 4.9% (No. 50 of 379) Cost of Living Index: 90.6 (No. 171 of 379) Culture Index: 72 (No. 105 of 379) Crime per 100,000: 4,462 (No. 250 of 379) Unemployment: 5.6% (No. 21 of 379)
Last March, Simmons Homes and a small combination of national home builders help the New Orleans residents rebuild their homes after Hurricane Katrina. Two years before that, Simmons Homes participated with ABC’s "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" show to build a new home for a Dewey, Oklahoma family.
"Our employees’ hearts and lives have been touched through our participation with Extreme Makeover and the families we’ve been fortunate enough to help," said Greg Simmons, founder of Owasso-based Simmons Homes. "To be a part of the same spirit of generosity in our own community brings our amazing Extreme Team experience full circle."
