It's somewhat ironic that in the three months of this blog's life so far, we've looked at ways to do all sorts of things using online tools and resources... but we've yet to talk about different ways to use the internet to find a new home, which is our bread and butter!

Mostly, the reasoning for this is that we want New Home News to truly be a resource for prospective home buyers and sellers, and not just to be viewed as a publicity engine for our Ottawa new home search engine New Home Association.ca (it isn't.) 

But since we are experts when it comes to leveraging the web in your home search, we would be remiss if we ignored the topic altogether. And so, here are the top 3 resources we've come across online to help those of you in the Ottawa area find your dream home. 

1) NewHomeReviews.com

While the design of this site is a little mid-nineties and some of the content has not been updated in a few years, there is still some value to be had for Ottawans in search of a new home by visiting this site. Namely, NHR boasts a pretty comprehensive directory of Ottawa builders, including a phone number, physical address, web site and brief bio for each one. 

The directory is really the only valuable resource on the site, unfortunately; a gaggle of other half-implemented ideas like a homes services directory, discussion forum and articles database are either out of date or just plain non-working. Nonetheless, aside from this blog's own exhaustive list of Ottawa builders, the NHR directory is one of the best ones online. 

2) New Homes And Condos Online

The online complement to the popular Traders Corp (publishers of Auto Trader, etc.) publication New Homes and Condos, this site offers a way to search for new homes by region, type of home and price. The site serves all of Ontario, including Ottawa and he selection and variety of model homes for Ottawa is pretty good, but not great: an open search for all models pulls in about 60 results.

The presentation and functionality on this site are really clean and easy. The only potential downside of the New Homes and Condos service is the way it displays results: Basically, you are presented with a list of models from different builders that match your search query, but instead of providing more in-depth information about each one when you click on it, all of these results actually redirect to the specific builder's own website, where you will have to start from scratch, find the model and proceed from there. 

3) New Home Association.ca

What, did you think we were going to leave our own service out? Well, if we didn't believe that NHA was truly useful to potential new home buyers in Ottawa, we wouldn't waste our time going to work every morning, so it stands to reason that we would include it here!

When you visit our site, you're presented with a splash page that invites you to choose a region. Currently, we serve Ottawa and Gatineau, but an upcoming expansion will involve all of Ontario. In any case, once you've chosen Ottawa, you'll come to the home page where with one click, you can search for your dream home by price, region, type of home, builder or specific development, very similar to the options offered by New Homes and Condos (see above.)

Where we feel we offer additional value is in two areas: selection and convenience. Firstly, an open search of all our models returns literally over a thousand results (compared to 60 on NHaC.) That's what we call variety. 

Secondly, all your searches and comparisons can be done right on NHA.ca, because we have uploaded all the information you could ever want about each and every model onto our own database. No need to leave and visit builder websites here there and everywhere. That's what we call convenience.

We're working on all sorts of added features as well, such as builder profile pages, a home service directory, and much more. Of course, you just need to stay tuned to this blg to hear all about the new functionalities as they're rolled out.

Well, what is your unbiased opinion, valued reader? How does our service stack up against the competition's? We'd love to hear what you think in the comments. 

We're working hard to make NHA.ca the number one destination for new home searches in Ottawa, and eventually all of Ontario and beyond. We hope you like the fruits of our labour so far!

  

When you're on the hunt for your dream home, sometimes those old rose-coloured glasses can cloud your vision and make it difficult to see straight. But we should never forget that a home is a huge investment, and whether you're buying a new home or a resold one, there are certain things you need to consider before you fall in love with a property. 

Here are the best 7 tidbits of advice we could come up with for finding a dream home that doesn't disappoint. As always, let us know what you think of them and if you'd add any others in the comments!

1) Always Do Your Research

Whether you do it online, in newspapers or in person by visiting homes or model homes (with a realtor or without), it always pays to do your homework. This may seem like obvious advice, but all too often home buyers get so caught up in the excitement of purchasing a new home that they may skimp on some of the hard work. Don't be one of those.

2) You Can Pick Your Nose...

Always look for the cheapest house in the best neighborhood, because homes can be improved, but neighbours can't! When you buy for the area first, you are more likely to get the utmost bang for your buck in the long haul. This doesn't mean you should buy a house you hate in a burrough you love, but it's something to keep in mind nonetheless. 

4) Location, Location, Location

Like neighbours, a house's address is pretty fixed, too. You can change pretty much everything about your home after you buy it, in fact... except where it is located. Buying a home you love in an area that is inconvenient, dangerous or less than ideal is a short-sighted plan. Find a region you love first, then look for a home within it.

5) Compromise is Key

The sooner you come to terms with the fact that the perfect home does not exist, the easier this will be for everyone. Unless you're commissioning a custom home to be built on land of your choosing, there will always be a few things you don't like about every property you visit. Give and take a little, and aim to find the home that satisfies most of your needs and wants, not all.

6) Don't Fall In Love, If You Can Help It

No, I'm not talking about Cupid's Arrow, and Yes, this is easier said than done, but it is always best to stay as emotionally detached as possible when looking for and bidding on a home. This is, after all, a business, and there is no room in the deal room for emotion. 

If you do lose what you thought was your dream home when a deal falls through, don't fret, another one that's even better for you will come along soon!

7) Beware The Handy-man's Special

It might be refreshing to walk into a home that has been gutted and redone from top to bottom, but always remember to look closely at renovations to make sure they don't exhibit any signs of unprofessionalism. 

As we mentioned in our post about home inspections, professional inspectors are always wary of such renos, saying that they nearly always have code errors and other problems that could cause headaches down the road. Look out for crooked walls, oddly wired appliances and anything else that just doesn't seem right. Better to turn your back now on a house that looks great, but really isn't, than to look the other way and have issues down the road.

Here at NewHomeAssociation.ca, we strive to make it as easy as possible for prospective homeowners in Ottawa (and soon across Ontario) to find the homes they are looking for. 

One of the comments we consistently get about house-shopping online, however (be it for re-sale houses on a site like MLS or new homes on one like NHA.ca) is that it is difficult to really experience the atmosphere of a home from just a few still photos.

And that's where our exciting new partnership with 3Vista comes in.

3Vista is an innovative company that provides a way to showcase 3D renderings and videos of homes that may not even be built yet, based on the builder's plans. You can see some examples of their demos on their site, like this one. Starting next month, every NHA listing will include a virtual walkthrough that allows you to explore each model of home as though you were walking through it yourself!

 

Our company President Genevieve Tremblay announced this new strategic partnership last week and we're really excited to roll out even more functionality for our users. 

"We are delighted to join forces with a company like 3Vista, who share the same values and philosophies as we do," says Tremblay. "Buying a new home is a very important decision and the tools we now provide helps make the purchasing process a more enjoyable one."

We hope that you'll find the new features a useful addition to our arsenal of tools for finding your dream home. As always, we'd love to hear your feedback in the comments. Happy house-hunting!

When you have a service that aims to fill a void and truly help consumers (like we at NewHomeAssociation.ca do, I hope), any opportunity to expand your audience is an exciting one. So it should come as no surprise that we have been chomping at the bit to announce a new partnership we've forged with Ottawa Region Media Group and their print publication insert called Capital Region New Homes.

Ottawa Region Media Group is a network of popular community newspapers here in Ottawa, including the Kanata Kourier-Standard, Nepean This Week, the Ottawa South Weekender, plus eleven others. Capital Region New Homes is a publication highlighting new homes and developments in Ottawa that is included in all those publications regularly. 

So ORMG had a publication reaching over 200,000 doorsteps each edition, but before now didn't have a meaningful way for readers to search for homes online. 

And we obviously specialized in making that kind of search painless, but, before now, didn't have the means to reach so many people through the print medium. 

It was a successful partnership waiting to happen, and ORMG General Manager John Willems agrees. 

"We both immediately recognized the value the other brought for new home buyers and for builders," says Willems. "We're feeding off each other's expertise and experience to deliver the most comprehensive consumer resource in the region."

As of the next issue of Capital Region New Homes and the next version of our site rollout, our collective properties will be completely co-branded and integrated.   

OK, But why should you care?

That's the important question. As a consumer, what difference will this partnership make? 

Well, for one, this team-up will give us at NHA the means and opportunity to expand and evolve faster than ever before, which means more features and more areas served sooner than would have been possible otherwise. 

And on that last point, this partnership will also help us to leverage a more powerful combined brand and expand across to province so that prospective home-buyers anywhere in Ontario can enjoy the same convenient searching experience as those in Ottawa now do. 

As well, since NHA is still a fairly young service, linking up with an established media group just gives us one more notch of credibility to convince the few builders who haven't decided to offer their listings with us that they should get on the bus! For you, that means a broader, more complete selection for you to choose from on our site, and that has always been our main goal.

The bottom line is this: the NHA team and the Capital Region New Homes team both share a desire to provide all the unbiased information necessary to prospective buyers so that they can make educated decisions about buying new homes. 

We think that the lack of this information is one of the reasons that many choose to buy resale homes rather than new ones, and that's something we'd like to change. 

In fact, John Willems sums up our sentiments well: 

"I wonder how many more people will consider buying new homes new that there's a centralized location of listings data, working together with a leading print publication," he says. "Because ultimately, our services together just make the whole selection process a lot more convenient."

We hope the answer to his question is "many, many more."

While we here at New Home News do strive to offer news, tips and tricks that all home owners can use on a daily basis, we also like to use this space as a forum to speak to the thousands of Ottawa residents who use our free builder search engine at NewHomeAssociation.ca (or nha.ca for short.)

Many of those very users have asked us if we have an exhaustive directory of all builders in Ottawa. The answer is Yes, and No. No, because the Directory portion of the NHA site is under construction (I'll update this post when the feature goes fully live.) But Yes because we certainly have all of the builders in our database, and can list them for you here. We will also update this post as needed to make sure the list is as complete as possible.

The list is compact, so you can print it off for your reference, or save this page on your browser to come back to. Of course, don't forget that you can search models by price, region and builder on our free site - give it a try. 

List of All Home Builders in Ottawa 

(Alphabetical Order, Links Lead to Stories On This Blog About That Builder)

-A & B Bulat Homes, 613 723 1008

-Ashcroft Homes, 613 226 7266

-Avalon Homes, 613 723-6158

-Braebury Homes, 613 837-0100

-Brian Shane Construction, 613 448 1230

-Brigil Homes, 613 824 4059

-Campanale Construction, 613 730 7000

-Cardel Homes, 613 820 1959

-Charlesfort Homes, 613 567 7800

-Claridge Homes, 613 233 6030

-Corvinelli Homes, 613 447 8078

-Denmoor Development, 613 746 6981

-Dharma Developments, 613 866 0678

-Diamond Developments, 613 824 7200

-Garand Homes, 613 733 0060

-Holitzner Homes, 613 831 3484

-John Gerard Homes, 613 720 0494

-Junicon Homes, 613 737 7377

-Lapointe Developments, 613 443 5263

-Laurent Labrie Development, 819 319 0441

-Lemay Homes, 613 746 6430

-Land Ark Homes, 613 836 9805

-Larco Homes, 613 225 0040

-Mattamy Homes, 613 825 7932

-Minto Homes, 613 230 7051‎

-Muirfield Homes, 613 748 5060

-Longwood Building Corp., 613 746 1300

-Oakwood Builders, 613 236-8001

-Phoenix Homes, 613 723 9227

-Princiotta Homes, 613 821 4205

-Richcraft Homes, 613 739 7111

-SACA Homes, 613 764 0220

-Sienna Properties, 613 836 5529

-Talos Homes, 613 836 5529

-Tamarack Developments, 613 739 2919 

-Tartan Homes, 613 822-1356

-Tomar Homes, 613 836 1179

-Uniform Urban, 613 225 0770

-Urbandale Homes, 613 731 6331

-Valecraft Homes, 613 837 1104

-Woodfield Homes, 613 834 1118

Happy home-hunting!