Former San Bernardino Residents Find Buying First Home is A Life Changing Experience; New LivingSmart Home by Pardee Offers Great Energy-Saving Features
The Velasquez family originally thought they could not afford to buy a home until they discovered Pardee Homes' LivingSmart neighborhood at Tournament Hills where they purchased a new, two-story home for less than $1,400 down.

BEAUMONT, CA, December 15, 2011 /24-7PressRelease/ -- The Velasquez family, formerly of San Bernardino, is still pinching themselves in disbelief that they really, truly own their own, brand new home. After a disastrous attempt at purchasing a home with the help of their parents, Robert and Yvette Velasquez were referred to Pardee Homes who was offering a home buying program that put a new home within reach for as little as $999 down at its popular LivingSmart Homes neighborhoods in Beaumont and Lake Elsinore.

"It was our dream to own a home," said Yvette Velasquez. "We saved for two and a one-half years for a down payment and my husband had worked at his job for 31 years, yet we were frustrated that we couldn't buy a home until we discovered the program at Living Smart Homes, where a CHF grant made our dream possible. We were able to buy a beautiful, two-story, Plan 6 home and put less than $1,400 down."

According to Pardee Homes, the low down payment was available with an FHA loan and qualification in the CHF Platinum Program, a grant that gave the buyer all but five percent of the down payment. One example, of a $999 down payment (after CHF grant) or 5% down, was for a single-story LivingSmart home priced at $199,800. Pardee also paid the closing costs for first-time and move-up California homebuyers who qualified for the grant and a FHA mortgage. The down payment was based on an FHA mortgage with an interest rate of 5.25% (6.083% APR) for a 30 year term and a monthly principal and interest payment of $1,075.33 for a new Plan 1 home at LivingSmart Homes.

The Velasquez family, who purchased a four bedroom, three bath home at LivingSmart Homes at Tournament Hills in Beaumont is just one of the many first-time homebuyers who was able to take advantage of the program, and found that they got more than just a new home. "This has been a life changing experience," said Velasquez. "We currently care for our young adult daughter who was diagnosed a few years ago with Lupus and find that our new home is a peaceful retreat that has a positive affect on our entire family. We love the community, and feel very welcome in Beaumont.

Originally, we thought Beaumont was too far, but found that it's on the average only a 20 minute drive to San Bernardino. We are so relaxed in our new home and appreciate all the great energy-saving features. The home is designed to help us save water with a sprinkler system sensor that knows when it rains and sealed windows and an air conditioning timer that help us save energy. It feels like a million dollar home to us."

With a total of eight floor plans to choose from in two distinct master-planned communities, there is certainly something for every type of homebuyer at LivingSmart Homes. One- and two- story floor plans range from three to seven bedrooms, two to four baths with two- and three-bay garages and approximately 1,132 to 3,099 square feet. Ingenious touches such as gourmet kitchens with slab granite and stainless steel appliances are complemented by a host of room options such as media niches, extra bedrooms, fireplaces, garage workshops, master bedroom decks and a four-bay garage in select plans.

Priced from the high $100,000s, the LivingSmart Homes are brimming with a wealth of features and recent updates include the addition of several new standard features such as sleek matching master bath mirrors, contemporary sinks and furniture-style cabinetry. Other features include designer-selected interior light fixtures and architecturally specified recessed lighting, separate interior laundry rooms and spacious master bedroom suites with luxurious bathrooms, private dressing areas and walk-in closets.

To make buying a new home even easier, Pardee offers a variety of optional features including value kitchen packages, home wiring packages, bath fixture bundles and LivingSmart packages.
Standard energy-efficient features include Energy Star rated dishwashers, low-E spectrally selective glass windows, fluorescent lights in select recessed cans, dimmer switches and occupancy sensors, and radiant barrier roof sheathing. Buyers can also add such earth-friendly options as roof-integrated solar electric power systems, high- efficiency air filtration systems, tankless water heaters, WaterSmart controllers for landscape, reverse osmosis water system in the kitchen, central vacuum systems, and more. Energy efficiency in a LivingSmart home exceeds California's Title 24 criteria, already the toughest in the nation.

As the top selling new home community in the Inland Empire last year, LivingSmart Homes received multiple industry and consumer awards, including SoCal Awards Community of the Year and Southern California Consumers Choice Award.

Tournament Hills in Beaumont has a gorgeous private lake and about seven acres of park space, walking trails, picnic areas and a new elementary school. Additionally, the LivingSmart Homes' enclave adjoins the Morongo Golf Club at Tukwet Canyon, home of the Southern California PGA, with two 36-hole championship courses.

Canyon Hills offers homeowners trails, parks, schools, convenient shopping and two residents-only recreation centers with beautiful swimming pools, not to mention its proximity to all the great recreational activities that make Lake Elsinore popular with boat enthusiasts, skydivers, wakeboarders and cyclists.

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