Popular House Trends for Baby Boomers

Here at the Hodorowski Group, we are noticing a rising trend in the types of houses and communities we are building that are more geared toward Baby Boomers, or, those born between the years of 1946-1964. Many of these Boomers are looking for convenient independent housing and are not at all ready to move into a retirement home. We wanted to share with you some of our senior-friendly house designs and a brand new community we recently finished building that are more popular with the Baby Boomers.

Homes with first floor Master Bedrooms: According to National Association of Home Builders, "more than 40% of new homes have Master Suites downstairs, a 15% increase over a decade ago. Boomers not wishing to go up and down stairs... helped fuel this trend. The bedrooms also are also larger, with more spacious walk-in closets and bathrooms that have a separate tub and shower and dual sinks."  (NAHB) We offer a number if different house designs with a first floor Master Suite. Some of our more recently built houses that follow this trend is the 'Ashley', 'Biltmore' and 'McKinley.' Other designs include the 'Brighton', 'Taylor', 'Buchanan' and the 'Tyler' designs.

The 'Ashley' design

Downsizing to a one story design: Another trend we are seeing with Baby Boomers is downsizing to a smaller one-story or ranch house. "A smaller home sometimes means less maintenance, less work and less worry." says a recent article from U.S.News, "... and a lot of them, suffering from bad ankles, bad knees and bad hips, are opting for one-story housing." In the past year we have built a number of different ranches in several different communities including The Preserves, Sandy Rock Estates and Traver's Meadow. The more popular one story house designs we've built are the Stanton, Aqueduct, and Cleverdale. Other ranch designs include the Camden, Cleveland, Franklin Pierce, and Covington.

The 'Aqueduct' design

The 'Stanton' design

This ranch is custom designed model

Age restricted apartment living:  Then there are the Baby Boomers that take downsizing to another level and move to an age restricted community or senior apartment living.  These Boomers are looking for the quality of independent living but with the convenience of not needing to maintain a house or property. The Hodorowski Group recently finished building a 110 unit senior apartment building called Glenwyck Manor, in Glenville, New York with amenities included like a fitness center, indoor pool, community center, and spa. There are about 80 units available to rent still in either a one or two-bedroom option. For more information on Glenwyck Manor, visit www.MeadowsAtGlenwyck.com. If Glenville isn't the area for you, we are also starting phase I of construction of a similar community in Wilton, New York.

View of Living Room at Glenwyck Manor, senior apartment living.

View of an Entry, Kitchen, Dining & Living Room, Glenwyck Manor apartment

View of hallway into Dining area from Master Bedroom, Glenwyck Manor apartment

In-law apartments: One final trend we are seeing in the houses we build, is the rising popularity of in-law apartments attached to the main house of a home. We offer several options for those looking to build a brand new home, with the convenience of having Mom and Dad next door. You can read more about the In-Law options we have, and see some of the designed we've built here.

This 'Helmond' has a custom built in-law apartment attached.

We'd love to know, if you are a Baby Boomer, what something that look for in a home or community?

Hodorowski Homes is the Capital Region’s premier home builder building single family homes in Schenectady, NY and its surrounding areas. Please visit www.hodorowskihomes.com for more information.

DIY Father's Day Gift Ideas

Father's Day is this weekend, and there are so many ways that you can celebrate the father in your life. We've put together a short list of gift ideas that will hopefully inspire you to give the perfect gift to Dad. 

Fun coupons for home- If the dad in your life is the kind of guy who loves receiving acts of service, then coupons for fun activities or chores at home are perfect for him. These coupons are a ridiculously easy gift because they are already pre-made, or you can create your own. All you need to do is click on the downloadable PDF, print, cut, and put them together in a nice envelope.

Home made photo frame- A great activity to do with the kids for a Father's Day gift idea is a DIY cut out frame, like this one. It's the perfect way to capture memories and share how much you care for Dad.

For the sporty Dad-  A sweet sentimental gift idea for Dad is to get a box of golf balls and write "I love you Dad" on them with permanent marker. Golf not your dad's thing? You could do this same idea with any sport ball like a basketball, soccer ball, baseball, or football.

Give Dad your time- With the busyness of day to day life, sometimes the most precious gift we can give our father is our time. A great way to show Dad how much you care, is to set aside a day to spend some quality time with him. This could be anything from planning a hike, a day at the golf course, or even a drive to spend the afternoon at the lake.

To all the dads out there, we wish you a wonderful Father's Day!

Hodorowski Homes is the Capital Region’s premier home builder building single family homes in Schenectady, NY and its surrounding areas. Please visit www.hodorowskihomes.com for more information.

Prepping Your Home for Summer Vacation

Can you believe that June is already here? With the warmer weather and long summer days quickly approaching, you are probably organizing or maybe you’ve already organized your summer vacation. Most vacations come with a long list of things you propose to do while you are vacationing, but it’s important not to forget this crucial list of things to do before you leave. Whether you are planning on lying by the pool or exploring a foreign country, make sure you properly prepare your home before you leave so you can relax and get the most out of your vacation while you are away.

* Lock all your doors and windows, unplug your electric garage door opener, and manually lock it. Alert your some security company of when you will be away.

* Give a close friend, family member or neighbor a key to your home and have them periodically check your house while you are away. Ask them to bring in any unexpected packages, or notices that came while you are away. Tell your neighbors that you will be out of town so that they can be on the lookout of any suspicious activity while you are gone.

* Make sure your gutters are clear from debris in case it rains while you are gone. Flush all your toilets and leave the lids open while you are gone. Empty all the garbage cans- kitchen, bathrooms, and bedrooms) so you don’t come home to a stinky house. Also, run the dishwasher, empty it and leave it open so it doesn’t become stale or musty. Also, you will feel better coming home to clean dishes.

* Put your lights on timers, and set them to come on and turn off at specific times while you are away. Make sure you test them a few days before you leave. Pause any routine delivery or pickups like your mail, groceries and trash. Another item to temporarily pause while you are away is your lawn sprinkler system should there be a possible drought.

* Leave on the air conditioning, but turn the temperature up to around 78. This will prevent any mold or mildew from forming that could be pricy to repair.

If you would like more information on what you can do to prepare your home for summer vacation while you are away, check out these helpful links from the DIY Network and HGTV. 

Hodorowski Homes is the Capital Region’s premier home builder building single family homes in Schenectady, NY and its surrounding areas. Please visit www.hodorowskihomes.com for more information.