The Chris List

Heavy winds and storm surge are always a concern when we step into hurricane season, and this year promises to be particularly busy. Off the south Louisiana coast, Hurricane Alex whipped up winds and made big waves, as a weak storm that made landfall nearly 500 miles away.

There are many things we can do to make existing homes less vulnerable to the wrath of a hurricane. But before you look a retrofitting the home you’ve lived in for years, or make a decision to buy an existing home, don’t count out having a new, Energy Star Certified home built to your specifications by the Chris Ledet team.

Energy savings over the life of your home can make the cost not only reasonable, but in many ways even more affordable.

The Home Energy Rebate Option (HERO) New Homes Program. It provides cold, hard cash of $2,000 to you when we build you a new energy efficient home that achieves a Home Energy Rating System (HERS) score of 70.

But that’s not all.

When one of our homes achieves a 50% energy savings for heating and cooling over the 2004 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC 2004) the rebate jumps to a whopping $3,000. That’s the equivalent of some really nice perks for your home or a net savings of the total project cost.

Plus there is the matter of energy savings throughout the year.

And the real value is in the lifelong savings of your new home built with the very latest in technology, planning and design.

If you’re ready to learn more, and explore the possibilities, give us a call at 985-448-2221. We’re in the business of meeting your new home needs, and are the place to come for answers to any questions you might have.

Welcome to June and to the official start of summer in Louisiana. With the heat comes our retreat indoors to the comfort of our homes. But as thermostats come down, worries about utility costs goes up. Unless of course you are one of the 28 home owners who have one of our Energy Star Certified Homes.

Don’t have a Chris Ledet Energy Star Certified Home yet?  Maybe now is the time.

You’ve heard us talk about the Home Energy Rebate Option (HERO) New Homes Program. It provides cold, hard cash of $2,000 to you when we build you a new energy efficient home that achieves a Home Energy Rating System (HERS) score of 70.
Ready to push the energy efficiency envelope?

When one of our homes achieves a 50% energy savings for heating and cooling over the 2004 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC 2004) plus some other stuff we can explain to you in person the rebate jumps to a whopping $3,000. That’s the equivalent of some really nice perks for your home or a net savings of the total project cost.

More than just a check.  A system of lifelong savings.

While the money is nice, the real value is in the lifelong savings of your new home built with the very latest in technology, planning and design.

Ready to learn more?

Give us a call at 985-448-2221

See the label on the left? Look familiar? Of course it does. It’s the sticker we see on the windows of all of those shiny new cars at the local dealer. And who in a world of ever-rising energy costs would ever consider buying a car without carefully considering these ratings? After all, that car will be part of your life for a fairly long time. The cost of operating it over time is every bit as important as the cost of buying it.

Hmmm … So let’s think about this … If you’re making an important purchase that you’ll keep for a long time, and how much it costs to operate is as important as the purchase cost, then knowing the efficiency rating is probably a very good thing. Right?

You bet it is.

So if we are clear on the importance of a good efficiency rating for a $20,000 or $30,000 car, then how about an efficiency rating for a home costing $150,000 or $200,000 or more

Well, at Chris Ledet Homes we’ve got a rating you are absolutely going to love.

It’s called a HERS rating, or Home Energy Rating Score. It tells you what you can expect to pay for energy over the life of your home. In the case of your home, lower is better.

Here’s how it works.

A home that uses zero energy would receive a HERS rating of zero. Nice but not realistic. Homes need heat, cool air and other things that consume electricity, gas or oil.

Most modern homes built to current code requirements are likely to be in the 100 HERS range. For your typical 3 bedroom, two bath, 1,900 square foot home, that means energy costs of about $1,000 per year based on current rates.

But here is where this HERS thing gets interesting.

Chris Ledet is the top builder of homes that are Energy Star Certified. This means that a Chris Ledet home has a HERS rating of 80 or less.

So the actual energy costs of a Chris Ledet home would be more like $700, or a savings of $300 per year.

If you save that $300 every year during the life of a typical 30 year mortgage, you would have $11,000 in the bank once you were done.

Now that’s savings!

And it’s not counting what the savings would be worth if that $300 were invested each year. It’s one of the reasons why bankers are eager to work with families building their own homes, even if it’s their very first.

The documented energy efficiency of a Chris Ledet home is one of the keys to putting keys for a brand-new home built just for you in your hands.

Click here to learn more about the HERS rating or click here to see Chris Ledet Homes ratings or just call us at 985-448-4421.

One of the faces behind the phenomenal energy efficiency of Chris Ledet Homes is Paul LaGrange, an energy consultant with over 20 years of experience.

Paul has dedicated his career to teaching builders and homeowners about the importance of energy efficiency and proper installation techniques in south Louisiana’s hot and humid climate.

Paul is a certified RESNET energy rater and a Green Building verifier

“Including energy efficiency in your building plans is one of the best investments you can make in your new home,” Paul says. “We are fully committed to ensuring that those energy efficient features are installed properly so that your home can perform at the highest level possible.”

Paul’s certifications back up the wealth of experience that qualify him as the “last word” verifier for Chris Ledet Homes, making sure they meet the Energy Star standards.

At Chris Ledet Homes, we simply don’t have it in us to build anything that isn’t made to last. And no, we’re not just talking about our custom built homes. We’re also talking about homes for first time homeowners too.
In fact, we’d like to make the case that having a well designed, well-built home is every bit as important for first-time home buyers as it is for our customers who are building their dream home. Here’s why…
The techniques and processes we follow that result in a quality-built home are the same whether the home is 1,200 or 12,000 square feet

Marble is luxurious but with a little cleaver planning, Formica, as well as hundreds of other materials choices, can look fabulous and save the money needed to make a quality first-time home affordable
Banks love a well-built, energy-efficient home and are more willing to lend a bit more to help new home owners get something that will outlast the mortgage by generations if need be
Insurance companies love well built, energy-efficient and strong homes too since a well-built home can withstand life’s, as well as nature’s unexpected challenges better than other homes. And the great thing is that insurance companies often express their affection through better insurance rates and lower premiums – just what the new home owner needs the most
Utilities companies love well-built homes too even though well built homes keep more money in your pocket and less in theirs.

And the list goes on.

So when you are considering that special first home, its important that you know that quality and affordability can live in the same house, even if the home is your first.

The Rock ‘n’ Roll Mardi Gras Marathon of New Orleans starts at the Morial Convention Center along the Mississippi River and takes runners on a full 26.2 mile marathon through New Orleans’ most historic neighborhoods including the French Quarter, Uptown and Mid City,  ending up in beautiful City Park.  (check out the course here) In typical Louisiana style, the entire race is a party with dozens of bands playing all along the route as  thousands of well-wishers cheer the runners on.   At the end of  the marathon, runners and the community at large keep the party going with a high-energy concert and celebration at City Park featuring Louisiana’s own Cowboy Mouth.   Our region will of course be very well represented by Chris Ledet and his lovely wife Lynn, along with Chris’ ever faithful crew of Nancy Bernard and Jennifer Rodrigue. What a team!

Even better: every step that Team Chris Ledet takes is designed to raise money for  Bayou Region Habitat for Humanity, an organization that fulfills the most fundamental desire in us all, to have a place to call home. Sponsorships are available, with every cent raised going directly towards making home ownership a reality for persons in our community.

Ready to help?  Click here or give us a call today at 985-448-2221 to sponsor Team Chris Ledet

Tips for Building and Enjoying Your Home

Think there really is no place like home?  We couldn’t agree more.

Welcome to The Chris List, a place where expert home builder, Green Builder and Energy Star certified builder, Chris Ledet and his team share monthly tips and advice on making home an even better place to be.

This month we take a look at why managing the details of home construction is so important to the long-term enjoyment of your home.

Read on and enjoy…

ew things are as wonderful – or as complex – as your home. From the doorknobs to the ceiling molding to choice of cement for the foundation, a great home is the result of great project management of the many details of home construction.

Lets learn more.

When it comes to new home construction, you have two basic options. One is to have the blueprints drawn, deliver them to the contractor and then wait for move in day. The other, the Chris Ledet Project Management way, is to have a true project partner to work with you, not just for you, to ensure that every part of the process is handled efficiently, affordably and with outstanding results. Home building is a fascinating process with many decisions and considerations along the way. While exciting, it can also be filled with roadblocks that you definitely want to avoid such as cost overruns, time delays, inferior workmanship and more. Our project management services ensure that you gain all of the benefits of participating in your new home construction without any of the worries.

Here’s how it works.

• You participate fully in watching your vision of a home become a reality
• You are introduced to innovations in construction using new-age materials and processes that you’ll never see at the basic home improvement store that add value, safety and enjoyment to your home
• You see a clear paper trail of all expenses, all relationships with subcontractors and all progress, clearly organized and presented in an easy to understand format
• You gain the watchful eye of Chris himself to ensure that you get the best materials, at the best terms, the best craftsmanship, inspected by Chris for quality and completeness to ensure everything is built for a lifetime of enjoyment. It’s as though Chris were building the house for himself.

Bottom line, you get to enjoy the home building process, instead of worrying about it.

Ready to learn more? Give us a call today at 985-448-2111.