“I have to comment on everyone’s integrity. Everyone has been of the highest caliber and truly made us feel like they care about us as people, our satisfaction and that we are getting a home, not just a house. I rate every aspect of this process, every member of this team and every subcontractor, an A plus!” Bonnie Holstein
shared from NHBA.org A newly published study from NAHB’s Economics and Housing Policy Group looks at how operating costs vary depending on the age of the home, using data that has recently become available from the American Housing Survey (funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau). Basic findings include operating costs (fuels, other utilities, maintenance, property taxes and insurance) that average $6,900 a year, $3.77 per square foot, and 4.24 percent of the home’s value. However, some of these numbers vary significantly depending on how old the home is. For example, operating costs as a fraction of value decline regularly as the structure becomes newer, from nearly 5 percent of the home’s value for structures built before 1960 to just under 3 percent for homes built after 2008. The implication of the difference in operating costs is that buyers can purchase a higher-priced home and achieve the same annual operating costs if the home is newer. The article provides an example that takes mortgage payments and income tax savings for a typical buyer of a $200,000 new home into account. The example shows that, if annual costs during the first year of ownership are the constraint, this buyer can afford to pay $37,655—or 23 percent—more for a new house than for one built before 1960. The difference is a little more than enough to cover the price of an extra full bathroom. For more information, including an explanation of the details underlying the calculations, see the complete study, available online.
Buying a new home or remodeling your existing house is not a decision many families take lightly. Not only is buying a home a significant financial expenditure, your home has strong emotional ties as well. For many families, homeownership is the most valued long-term investment they’ll ever make, and it builds a sense of pride, accomplishment and stability. So it’s not a job you want to entrust to someone who may not have the training or experience to do the job right. One way you can achieve confidence in your selection of a builder or remodeler is if they have earned a professional designation from the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). NAHB offers comprehensive training programs to builders, remodelers and other industry specialists that lead to professional credentials in specific topic areas. The professional designations in NAHB’s program are aimed at helping home builders and remodelers improve their skills, advance their careers and to recognize industry expertise and commitment to professional growth for the home building industry. Some of the professional designations builders and remodelers can earn include: Certified Aging-in-Place Specialist (CAPS) Certified Graduate Builder (CGB) Graduate Master Builder (GMB) Certified Graduate Remodeler (CGR) Graduate Master Remodeler (GMR) Certified Green Professional™ (CGP) Master Certified Green Professional (Master CGP) Earning an NAHB professional designation is a challenging and enriching process. Designation students learn the latest technology, building methods and business practices through a series of relevant courses taught by expert instructors. In addition to the required courses, they stay current by investing in continuing education to keep abreast of the latest building techniques and emerging industry trends, and to maintain their active designations. For example, choosing a professional who has earned the Certified Aging-in-Place Specialist (CAPS) designation ensures that your remodeler will know how to address common age-related barriers. They will modify your home so that you, or an elderly resident of your home, will be safe and comfortable by widening doors to accommodate wheelchairs or other mobility aids, installing shower bars to improve safety, and making other modifications. Builders or remodelers who have earned designations will also perform the work to the latest safety standards. If you live in a house built before 1978, federal law requires that contractors performing renovation, repair and painting projects that disturb lead-based paint in homes must be certified and follow specific work practices to prevent lead contamination. Home buyers and owners can be confident that a credentialed professional has superior training, practical experience and in-depth knowledge. Designation-earners are qualified specialists who are ready to meet your specific needs, have passed rigorous coursework and are committed to being among the best in the business. Each year, hundreds of builders and remodelers from around the country make the effort to earn professional credentials. To find out more about what builders and remodelers who have earned designations can do to help you achieve your housing goals, go to nahb.org/forconsumers and select Work with a Certified Professional. Sean Sullivan is an Accredited Master Builder and past president of the Asheville HBA. He is currently the Region X VP of the NCHBA. His firm, Living Stone Construction, is a first-tier builder of fine custom homes in Western North Carolina, and recently won “Best in Black Mountain in Custom Homes 2011” by the US Commerce Association. Source – www.NAHB.org
LSC has been a major part in my tenure as a Certified Lighting Consultant/Administrative Assistant for as a major collaborative partner, Lux Lighting & Design.
We have worked on smaller ‘modest’ projects, to large-scale near “mansions”. The “thing” that sets LSC apart from many other builders I have encountered in my career is the meticulous and spectacular craftsmanship that is maintained throughout each and every project. Working closely with the LSC team, Owner Sean Sullivan and his team of professionals and incredibly knowledgeable Project Managers, that see the projects from start to finish, maintaining the excellent and almost seemingly proprietary craftsmanship, no matter the square footage of the project or the budget.
Data from the 2009 American Housing Survey (AHS) offer proof. The AHS classifies new construction as homes no more than four years old. For example, for routine maintenance expenses, 26% of all homeowners spent $100 or more a month on various upkeep costs. However, only 11% of owners of newly constructed homes spent this amount. In fact, 73% of new homeowners spent less than $25 a month on routine maintenance costs. Similar findings are available for energy expenses. On a median per square foot basis, homeowners spent 78 cents per square foot per year on electricity. Owners of new homes spent 65 cents per square foot per year. For homes with piped gas, homeowners spent on average 53 cents per square foot per year. Owners of new homes spent 38 cents per square foot per year. These data highlight that a new home offers savings over the life of ownership due to reduced operating costs. This is one of the many reasons that the current system of appraisals needs updating to reflect the flow of benefits that come from features in a new home.
We are so appreciative that Living Stone reached out to your clients and friends to offer restoration services to our WNC communities impacted by Hurricane Helene.
We wanted to take this opportunity to let you know how grateful we are that we chose Living Stone to help us restore our Black Mountain townhome. We couldn’t be happier with the process and progress thus far, from our initial meeting with Mike to see what repairs were needed… to our call with Justin for an estimate of the work… to our conversation with Alfred to review the comprehensive estimate… to our initial meeting with Chuck and everything he has done since to move things along flawlessly with our restoration… to our beautiful fireplace surround and mantle that Michael Blackstone built.
We feel blessed that Chuck was assigned as our project manager, as we have had a great collaboration with him. His demeanor is personable, but straight forward. He is extremely accessible, either onsite or via text/phone to provide scheduling updates, answer our questions, offer suggestions, provide feedback on design selections, and discuss next steps. He made a great suggestion to reclaim the unused space under our stairs as storage space. Chuck is also very proactive, quietly working behind the scenes to make things happen seamlessly. He is committed to providing us with a high-quality restoration project while keeping our budget in mind.
We already knew that Living Stone has an excellent reputation as a builder, but we are equally impressed by how much you give back to the community. That’s a large part of the reason we selected you to help us with our restoration. You have definitely exceeded our expectations thus far, and we know we will be very happy with our home once the restoration is complete. Although there is still work to do, we wanted to give you some preliminary feedback on how pleased we are to be working with Chuck and the entire Living Stone team.
We are delighted to call ourselves Living Stone customers!
We are thrilled with our green built home designed and built especially for us by Living Stone Construction. The care they took in choosing materials and using sustainable building practices are allowing us to enjoy excellent air quality inside our home while we realize amazing savings on our energy bills.
Living Stone Construction, and ID.ology Interior Design, were a pleasure to work with throughout all facets of our project. They were integral during our design stage and handled our fast-track schedule like true professionals. It is so rare to work with people who don’t make excuses or point fingers – Living Stone Construction and ID.ology are comprised of those rare people.
This house is absolutely amazing. It is everything I ever wanted in a home. I have not found one flaw in my house built by Living Stone; everything is done to perfection. Everything.
With Sean and Laura’s design-and-build business model, we knew exactly what was going on. It was helpful as far as keeping us on point for the amount we’d budgeted for each part of the house. It was very transparent and reasonable to me, more so than with other builders. We knew what we were getting.
To do a project this size over that amount of time and when you come to the end of it, you’re still friends – that says a lot about the builder. It says that they delivered what you expected.
Sean doesn’t want you to move in unless everything is absolutely perfect,” she said. “He just has to have everything perfect. And I like everything perfect as well. We were a match made in heaven.
Sean Sullivan and his group are the most professional and pleasant builders I have the had the pleasure of working with. They go to great lengths to determine what their customers want (and their budget requirements). Then they do everything possible to “under sell and over deliver”. Sean is an exceptional builder that delivers an exceptional home.
Over the last 10 years, time has not marked the home – nothing on the inside has needed re-staining, and nothing on the outside has needed re-painting. It’s been very minimal for the yearly things you would think you had to do. We don’t have a list of repair people because we haven’t needed them.
The building supervision was good. The communication was good. We didn’t have any problems with the billing. There really weren’t any surprises. It was really easy, which is almost unheard of in a construction situation.
He does things right for the sake of doing them right and that was the impression we got with every facet of our experience with Living Stone. That made us just be able to trust them and trust their system.
They have a process that is thoroughly thought out, thoroughly vetted and thoroughly effective. The process from start to finish was totally transparent and the bottom line was that it was a fun process and not a stressful process.
I was impressed with the emphasis on high quality construction, energy efficiency and an aging in place concept. If you choose LSC and ID.ology you’ll have the piece of mind that you’ve chosen the best.
Sean and Frank have done excellent work in the community and have a great reputation so there was no where else we would go but to them when it was time to build our new home.
I couldn’t be more pleased. Michael and I feel like we are on vacation, everytime we walk into the kitchen. Frank and all the crew has really made this project go smoothly, and I can’t thank Living Stone enough.
We chose Living Stone because of Sean but we love Living Stone because of their team. Molly, Pam, Frank, Laura and our main man Mike! Mike drives our home’s construction, can answer any question at a level you can understand and is a pleasure to work with. Laura organizes and improves all of our design decisions, gives us inspiration and keeps everything on track. Sean, it is a credit to you that you have surrounded yourself with so many truly good people.
I have to comment on everyone’s integrity. Everyone has been of the highest caliber and truly made us feel like they care about us as people, our satisfaction and that we are getting a home, not just a house. I rate every aspect of this process, every member of this team and every subcontractor, an A plus!
Design+build is an outstanding approach and the implementation of it was just amazing. We had very high expectations based on Sean’s reputation and what we had seen. And they were exceeded.
The process of design+build and creating something that is so energy efficient is a miracle to me. Sean has a way of putting things together so that we get the product that we want and then he puts together the quality product that he knows he can build.
I don’t know why someone would not choose Living Stone to build their home. It is such a polished production that gives you a polished complete finish. You have no doubt that the product you have is the house you dreamed of!
We built this home from a remote location so we had to put a lot of faith in Frank the Superintendent, Sean of Living Stone, and Laura the designer, to make sure they were building this home to our specifications and to meet our needs. Frankly I have to admit I was extremely impressed. I don’t think they missed anything and they exceeded our expectations.
It’s special, it’s wonderful and I keep pinching myself because I cannot believe that this is our home. Living Stone Construction, headed by Sean Sullivan more than met our expectations. They hit a grand slam out of the ball park. This house is amazing!
Design/Build is an outstanding approach and the implementation of it was just amazing. We had very high expectations based on Sean’s reputation and what we had seen…and they were exceeded.
Your integrity, skill, kindness and warmth shows in your words as well as your actions. We are and will forever be grateful to have worked with such an amazing group of people. Being part of the Living Stone family is our blessing. Thank you.
The energy efficiency of the house has made it very comfortable through some very extreme weather and our energy bills have been remarkably low. The energy star rating of the home has really paid off. Truly, I haven’t had energy costs this low in 20 years.
Sean has the rare quality of being able to see the big picture while being engaged in the fine details of his projects combined with the ability to effectively and efficiently communicate both in a way that not only gets the job done but gets it done with a commitment to excellence that has enabled him to be a leader among his building industry peers across North Carolina. I have known Sean for close to 10 years and have a great professional and personal admiration of his work and character.
Sean’s knowledge of building practices and principles, conceptually and practically, really impressed me. I eventually saw his work in person and was blown away by the craftsmanship. He is a TRUE craftsman — no cookie cutter work here. The houses he builds are incredible — the floorplans are well thought out, and the details are really special.
Sean is detailed, honest and conducts himself and his company with character and integrity. Fantastic and loyal employees. I’ve known and worked with Sean for over 7 years, highly recommend.
The Living Stone team are unmatched in what they do. We are so grateful to get to be part of their team and look forward to bigger and better things to come.
We have enjoyed our relationship with Sean and Living Stone Construction thru the years. They have an excellent eye for detail and are enjoyable to work with.
The Living Stone Construction Design/Build team, are the best in the area. I have been in, and around, the building and real estate industry throughout my life and I have never met a builder that has as much integrity, passion for what he does, care for his clients and the motivation to always exceed expectations, drive to continue learning and honing his skills and techniques to offer his clients the best. Anyone who hires Living Stone Construction will not be disappointed and will have the home of their dreams!
I have known Sean for many years and can say with out a doubt he has the highest degree of professionalism, attention to detail and desire to provide a spectacular customer service experience I have ever seen.
Sean has an extremely professional TEAM who supported my clients initially and now throughout the process. He builds trust and it is deserved — Sean has high standards for himself and that is obvious in how he does business.
I have built or renovated 5 homes and completed tens of millions of dollars of commercial construction. Sean is the most professional, knowledgeable, honest, organized residential builders it has been my pleasure to know. He recently completed our custom home in the Settings of Black Mountain and exceeded our expectations in every way. From his staff to his sub contractors, excellence is practiced every day.
From a professional standpoint Sean Sullivan with Living Stone Construction goes above and beyond to make sure his clients as well as the general public and colleagues are as educated as possible with building homes in the mountains.
Simply awesome company !!!! If your looking for the best, you need not look any further. Custom built quality homes and fantastic folks who care about you and your new home! Living Stone Construction you are the BEST!
Sean Sullivan’s team of builders are top notch. They converted a small residential building into a arts n crafts commercial masterpiece.. With over 2,000 sq ft of addition; everything looks as if it’s been here since day one. I highly recommend Sean and his team of experts.
The process of design/build and creating something that is so energy efficient is a miracle to me. Sean has a way of putting things together so that we get the product that we want and then he puts together the quality product that he knows he can build.
Sean is the most organized manager I have encountered. I would match his management skills against any of the Managing Directors of the Fortune 500 Company that I worked with in project management, financial planning, and negotiations. He expects and demands the best from his employees, as do Living Stone’s clients. He is a true leader. Pam Potter
From the beginning, Sean was a great listener, offered ideas and introduced us to his team. We have been extremely happy with everything that has been done so far. We anticipate the building phase with great joy! A top professional for sure.
Having worked together on an award winning home, I found Sean and his team to be attentive to the quality of construction, committed to incorporating sustainable building practices and materials, and thorough in tracking costs. He was very willing to work with my team during the construction process which provided the best level of service to our client. Sean is a builder that I recommend highly.
LSC was a pleasure to work with throughout our remodeling project. Frank worked diligently to meet our deadline for completion of late January, despite snow and ice. Their ability to deliver a quality product in a timely manner while still being able to adapt to unforeseen circumstances was greatly appreciated.
We love our home. In addition to building a quality home, Sean is honest, responsive, a pleasure to work with. He really makes the entire process flow quite comfortably. Living out of state when we had our home built was initially cause for some concern for us. Sean and the superintendent of our project were in constant communication with us, letting us know well in advance when decision points were approaching. And the weekly pictures were wonderful. I wouldn’t have been able to cope without them. Probably the best comment I could make is that if we were to build again, we’d use Sean again in a heartbeat
Sean Sullivan’s skills and experience exemplify superlative leadership in business and construction. His commitment to doing the right thing and being focused on the best interests of his customers is always clear. The consummate professional, Sean’s strong relationships with the many disciplines within the trade establish him as one the best go-to contractors in the business!
Living Stone did a fantastic job on our mountain house. They far exceeded our expectations and always kept us informed throughout the entire job. Their crew are real craftsmen- from carpenters to painters, they were professional in every way. If you want a beautiful and well-done job, these are the guys. We highly recommend them, so if you have bad experiences in the past, call Sean and deal with a real pro
