The Grove…..Oklahoma City & Edmond

With the approach of spring being just around the corner and people starting to come out and look at our new homes, I thought it would be time to give an update about what’s going on in The Grove.

Deer Creek Schools newest elementary is off to a great start. Dirt work looks to be finished before the spring rains arrive and we’re starting to see the structure being built. Let me also preface that having a school located within The Grove community is fantastic, especially for the homeowners here in The Grove. Keep in mind that home values tend to appreciate considerably more than other neighborhoods that don’t have one. So if your ready to see the new school being built then now is the time to start coming by and see the progress.

The new school will be a state of the art education facility within easy walking distance from The Grove neighborhood homes. Enjoy walking your kids to school knowing that this elementary was designed with child supervision and safety in mind. Educators will supervise each of the four wings of the school from the centralized media center located in the heart of the school. Safety was also addressed by constructing the cafeteria according to government safe room standards.

The Grove will soon feature a one of a kind resort style community pool and clubhouse, complete with playground and splash park for your children. The splash park will feature a beach entry style children’s pool with numerous fountains and spray toys. The resort style adult pool will feature a shallow water tanning ledge, beach front entry, and beautifully landscaped deck area perfect for catching rays. A sand volleyball court will also be part of the aquatic park to complete the experience.

The Grove Fitness Center will adjoin the aquatic park. Only Grove homeowners will be allowed access to this private facility. The fitness center will include top of the line weight training and cardio equipment, stretching areas and flat screen TV’s.

For those wondering ……… the pool and fitness center will begin construction during the 3rd quarter of 2008. This is not going to be a project thats put on the back burner like it is in other communities. That’s why The Grove will soon be Oklahoma City’s premier community to live, learn, and play.

The Grove will feature several separate lakes throughout the community. As the community continues to grow a walking and jogging trail system will begin to tie the community together. The trails are designed to lead from the playgrounds and ballfields to the lakes and aquatic center.

The playground will be designed by Burke Premier Playground Environments. Burke really has some cool playground equipment that the children are sure to love. Heck…..I think I could have fun playing on it. It will have slides, swings, rock climbing boulders, and several tree house forts. Sounds like a perfect place to bring the family out and enjoy. There will be park benches and picnic tables to rest and relax at while the kids play.

Everyone here at brass brick homes is excited to be building and participating in this one of a kind master planned community here in northwest Oklahoma City. If you need more information about The Grove and brass brick homes, please give us a call 405.412.8565 or just come by and visit.

Ahhhhhhhh….springtime, it’s finally here.

brass brick homes…..custom builds for you

This is always a good question to ask yourself when your in the market for a new home. Should I custom build a new home or should I find one that’s already built???? Well not only can we custom build you a home in one of our outstanding communities but we can build on your land in the Oklahoma City area as well.

At brass brick homes, we believe that a personalized, custom home has no customization cap. There is never a charge for creativity and our architectural team will draw your home design until you are satisfied. We believe that customization is something that requires the creativity of both YOU the homebuyer and US the homebuilder, so we welcome the opportunity to help you create your very own, truly custom brass brick home.

You can choose from one of our floorplans and make changes specific for your needs, or bring us your own plans. Heck, we have people bringing us their own personal DOODLES….that’s what I call them anyway…..and we can usually create a plan from their idea. Here’s the best part though……it doesn’t cost you a thing. Usually it costs about 50 cents a square foot to draw and then more money to make changes. Pretty neat…huh?

Let’s say that you’ve already gone through the creative process. You got to pick out all of your tile, paint colors from our design studio now and it’s time to start construction of your new home. Usually as a consumer you rarely have the opportunity to watch as the products you purchase are being created. AHHHHHHHH….but this time you get to watch it being created right before your very eyes. To see your new home being started from scratch….. from nothing but dirt to a home that you personally designed.

But wait….here’s the best thing of all……the day you get moved in and finally put your feet up and have a chance to relax…..you will look around the room…..and I promise…..it will be one of those moments that you wish you could have everyday.

Oklahoma Housing Market Remains Strong

The national news regarding the housing market is clouding the good news for Oklahomans. It’s easy for us in the home building industry here in Oklahoma to study the numbers and know the facts, but the average homeowner or future homeowner still gets the majority of their housing news from the national media.

Some of the facts for Oklahomans to understand is that the average sales price for an existing homes rose in 2007 by 4.24%, compared to 2006. That’s a pretty modest gain folks and prices still remain strong moving into 2008. It’s important that we keep in mind that Oklahoma is Oil & Gas country, and I’m not seeing any signs of the energy sector taking a downturn any time soon. Yes, it would be nice if gas prices were less, but please understand that our state’s economy is directly tied to the energy sector.

Last year was also the seventh year in a row that the statewide average home sale price increased. Since 2000, home values in Oklahoma have increased 4.88 percent a year on average, and last year was the third highest year for home sales in Oklahoma on record.

Our company, brass brick homes, grew about 30% in 2007 when compared to 2006. Our projections for 2008 as far as growth is concerned will rival last years growth. We are confident that the economic factors that we base our projections on will remain strong here in Oklahoma.

If your an out of state buyer considering on relocating here. You’ll be happy to know that our market is one of the most affordable in the country and most importantly……stable.

Deer Creek New Homes

You know, one of the cool things about life is always having the chance to make a change in your life. One of the more life changing experiences is moving into a new home. Being the community manager in The Grove, I get to hear all of the various reasons for buying a new home, but one thing is for certain…………it will kick start your life and begin a new chapter for you to write.

Writing this blog is also a new experience for me, and being a good writer hasn’t always been a strong suit of mine……but it’s kinda fun trying something new.

I’d planned to share more pictures with you but I’m having technical difficulties getting my pics downsized and not distorted, so if anyone knows the solution to this simple problem…………then give me a shout.

Seeing how that’s case……here’s a link to the virtual tour of our model home here in The Grove. Karen Blevins, with Churchhill Brown does all of our virtual tours for us. Karen and her team are fantastic, so if your looking to put your home on the market anytime soon, I encourage you to give her a call. She would be happy to give you a free market analysis and get you heading in the right direction……OHHHHH…… sorry about that, here’s the link.

I really get some exciting feedback from our visitors about the model home, so I would like to send some kudos to the brass brick homes design team for there efforts. It takes a lot of planning and forward thinking to provide you the many options to custom build your new home. I invite you to stop by our website and pay them a visit.

We look forward to having you visit The Grove and the future site of the New Deer Creek Elementary.

See you soon.

Oklahoma City New Homes

One of Oklahoma City’s newest master-planned communities is really starting to come to life. The Grove, located between May and Portland avenues and between 178th, or Edmond Road, and 192nd, or Danforth Road. The Grove is actually in Oklahoma City but has an Edmond address and is also part of the Deer Creek School District. For those of you that live out of town and are looking to move to the Oklahoma City area, I’ll break it down for you. All of your utilities are provided by Oklahoma City and that’s a monthly savings compared to Edmond and other surrounding areas, and having an Edmond address has always been a pretty cool thing, but the best part of all………is the award winning Deer Creek Schools.

Caliber Development is the master developer of The Grove and they actually donated 13 acres of it’s 640 acres to Deer Creek Schools for it’s newest elementary school. The total cost of the new elementary will be about $8 million. Groundbreaking was on January 23rd and a lot of progress has already been made, I will keep you posted on this project in the future.

The final touches are also being put on the gigantic resort-style aquatic complex. Preliminary drawings show the pool will spread in multiple directions with different levels, fountains, spray and splash grounds. The Grove also will have a large community center with a catering-style kitchen, community meeting space and a fitness center. Jogging trails, lakes, playgrounds and greenbelts promise to make The Grove an outstanding place to live and raise a family.

brass brick homes, the exclusive builder in phase 1, has 17 homes available for you to choose from in varying stages of construction. We also have some custom homes in progress at this time. If you’ve never been inside of a brass brick home, I encourage you to take a look. I promise you won’t find another builder around that offers as many different decor styles from the 150’s to 200’s as we do. So please, come by and tour our new homes. You can choose the home you like, or pick the floor plan you like most and we’ll custom build a home especially for you.

Remember the porch light is always on and we look forward to welcoming you to the brass brick family.

Jerry DeFord 405.412.8565

brass brick homes……the brass? the brick?

 

I thought I would share with you a little bit about the owners of brass brick homes and start giving you an insight as to who we are and why we care so much for our community.

brass brick homes….a custom home building company, was founded on the twin complimentary principles of brass, or style, and brick, or substance.  Brass, or style, is expressed in the design and decorating ideas personified by our President, Ashley Christofferson-Cunningham.  Brick, or substance, is expressed in the years of experience and attention to quality personified by Wiley Cunningham, Owner and General Contractor.  Combined, our Building Team will design, build, decorate and complete your custom home the way you want it – with a maximum of fun and a minimum of frustration.

Wiley and Ashley Cunningham continue to celebrate the ability to remain happily married while working together 24/7 for over 13 years.  If that’s not enough, they have 7 children and at post time now, they are currently in a grief stricken country hoping to bring home a few more kids home to Oklahoma if all goes well…….so let’s keep our fingers crossed on that.

The Cunninghams live in the Deer Creek School District here in Oklahoma, and with that many school aged kids it’s safe to say that Wiley and Ashley are considered significant donors to Deer Creek Schools.  They have aided in the remodeling or building of the following: baseball dug outs, football ticket booth, basketball/wrestling scoreboard, athletic locker/training room, football/baseball offices, brick monument at Deer Creek elementary and numerous other building materials when asked.  Wiley and Ashley don’t believe in just reaping rewards, they strive to make a difference in the community that has given them the opportunity to build homes and support a family.  Every year brass brick homes contributes to the schools giving back what will benefit not only their children, but yours.

As always, I’m happy to share with you the little things that makes brass brick homes special.  We’re not just a building company, we’re a family and a team.

Jerry   405.412.8565

Brass Brick Homes and Me

Let me start out by introducing myself. My name is Jerry DeFord and I’m the community manager for Brass Brick Homes here in The Grove. I’ve always wanted to work with Brass Brick Homes but the timing was always wrong for me to stop what I was doing and go work with them.

Well the time was finally right back in December 2007, and I have to tell you that the moment I walked in the door at Brass Brick Homes, I really felt at home. You know, you just feel it sometimes. The energy was positive and the opportunity was perfect for me. It was exactly what I thought it would be some 2 years ago when I started following their growth and the quality of home they were building throughout the Oklahoma City area.

What I didn’t expect was the opportunity to be the community manager in their newest community, The Grove. The Grove……..Located in the heart of Deer Creek, and is the north metro’s newest master-planned community. It’s the perfect neighborhood for growing families and the future home of Deer Creek’s newest elementary school. Homes in The Grove start at 1400 square feet with prices ranging from the 160s to the 200s in the first phase. Oklahoma City utilities serve this neighborhood and HOA dues are approximately $300 per year.

The Grove covers one complete square mile, from Portland to May and NW 178th (or 2nd St/Edmond Road) to NW 192nd (or Danforth). Surrounded by calming grassy knolls, beautiful ponds, playgrounds, and the resort style pools with exercise facilities will make The Grove a fabulous community to call home.

Brass Brick Homes is the exclusive builder in phase 1 of The Grove and will also be one of the chosen builders in phase 2 which will kick off in a matter of days, so please look forward to our newest model home being completed in the coming months. The Brass Brick design team is putting the final touches on the home and I’m sure it will be a big hit with everyone that stops by to see it, and I promise to keep you posted on the progress.

Make sure you come by and say hello or give me a call if that’s more convenient.

405.412.8565

jerry @ brassbrick.com

Say hello with a smile!

Hello world, and welcome to my blog. I’m very excited to share with you all of the many facets of an industry which I sincerely love. It’s one of those industries that can be very rewarding but I have to be truthful here…..it takes a lot of work, a little imagination, and a dedicated team to build a home for a family to enjoy and feel comfortable in……and most importantly….call home.

I’ll introduce you to the team here at Brass Brick Homes, tell you about industry news, cover some interior design ideas, “with a little help from the experts….of course” and even talk about the weather from time to time.

So please kick back…..relax……and visit when you can, and I’ll do my very best to provide you with insight, ideas, and a meaningful experience.