Buy more leisure time with your new home

Empty-nesters aren't the only ones who have better things to do than cut grass, shovel snow and clean out gutters.

More and more people of all ages are looking for relief from those everyday outdoor chores.

Young people want to spend their time building their careers and then enjoying leisure pursuits. Young families usually have a multitude of school and sports activities to attend to when the parents aren't at work. And empty-nesters are tired of spending their weekends pushing a mower, washing windows or painting the house. They want to travel and otherwise enjoy the fruits of their many years of labor.

That's why many believe low-maintenance houses and communities are sure to experience a surge in popularity when the market rebounds.

And if you decide to shop around for such a community or home, you will find that there are lots of options available because some of the most creative minds in the business have been pondering how best to attract buyers who want this low-maintenance lifestyle.

Most people who want a low-maintenance home will be drawn to a community where the mundane outdoor chores are handled by an association. Depending upon the community, you can live in a condominium, a townhouse or a single-family home and still get these services.

Some of these communities offer additional amenities, like clubhouses and recreational facilities, while others do not. Young people, both singles and couples, are often on limited budgets, so they are more likely to choose a community that provides outdoor maintenance, but little or no additional amenities.

Kirk Homes has two townhouse communities - Apple Creek Estates in Woodstock and Rockwell Place in Lakemoor - that are attracting young people because of their low prices and their rural locations near the very popular Chain O' Lakes.

"In past years, most townhomes were found in urbanized areas, but current trends show that many people are seeking townhomes in rural settings where a more tranquil way of life is possible," said Janey Amidei, vice president of sales and marketing for Kirk Homes.

"Many buyers want the no-exterior-maintenance lifestyle in a country setting where they are close to their favorite recreational areas. Another advantage is that townhouses are typically more affordable than-single family homes, and Kirk Homes offers attractive financing programs for first-time and other buyers," she continued.

Both communities offer bicycle paths and parks but no clubhouse or pool or other such amenity. Townhouses at Apple Creek Estates start in the high $160,000s and those at Rockwell Place start in the high $150,000s.

Busy two-career families with children in after-school sports and other programs are also gravitating toward low-maintenance communities.

At West Point Gardens in Elgin, these families can opt for a single-family home with a small, low maintenance yard or a townhouse with total freedom from outdoor maintenance.

"West Point Gardens is a traditional neighborhood design community that offers both townhomes and single-family homes that emphasize indoor/outdoor living because we think that time spent outdoors should be mostly devoted to family fun in the garden or socializing with friends and neighbors on the room-sized front porches," said Pat Curran, president of West Point Builders. "The yards are large enough for enjoyment, yet are easy to care for."

The private, enclosed backyard gardens are an award-winning innovation. They include complete sodding and are landscaped with privacy fencing and a concrete patio. Buyers can choose from a number of theme gardens or can choose various elements and create a customized garden by working with the West Point landscaper.

Instead of large, time-consuming private yards, the community features a 12-acre park with ball fields, playgrounds and a gazebo for common enjoyment.

Innovative site plans are definitely the wave of the future with low maintenance communities.

Jamie Wilcox, president of Wilcox Development, is also making use of smaller yards and unique site plans in his communities, which include Fox Run in Plainfield, Villas at the Sonatas in Woodstock and Timbers Edge Villas in Joliet.

"We try to give as much value as possible to our buyers, so we try to use our land efficiently," Wilcox said.

They have designed their townhouses in a pinwheel design so that no one has a back yard.

"Imagine a square and there is a front door at every corner," Wilcox said. "Every owner has a private patio space near their front door and space set aside for them to garden if they wish."

The lawn areas are maintained by an association and amenities like a community center, pool, walking paths and picnic shelter take the place of a private backyard, Wilcox said.

"Our communities are appealing to empty-nesters moving out of larger homes, single women and young professionals - all of whom don't want to be bothered by yard work," he explained.

Wilcox and other builders are turning to new building materials to make sure that the homes they are building also need as little maintenance as possible.

"We are using CertainTeed siding made of fiber cement instead of wood or vinyl," he said. "It has a 50-year warranty and a 25-year color guarantee, and it is insect, rot and impact resistant."

Wilcox said CertainTeed, an engineered product that looks like wood and is installed in a similar manner, is more attractive than vinyl because it isn't shiny or wavy and does not dent.

Wilcox Development is also using decorative shutters made of a dense foam composite that is pre-finished in the factory, architectural shingles with a 30-year guarantee, vinyl windows that require no painting and aluminum soffits that don't rot.

"All of our townhouses are maintenance-free because we don't want our associations to incur large costs down the road," Wilcox explained.

Even free-standing, single-family homes can now be built to require less maintenance and less on-site vigilance by the owners.

Empeco Custom Builders of Vernon Hills has been installing computer-operated lighting and home automation systems in their clients' high-end homes for more than a decade and recently these systems have come down so much in price that they are affordable to many more people, said Curtis Perlman, vice president of Empeco.

"Smart homes, as they are called, allow our clients to go on the Internet from anywhere in the world and turn up their heat, turn on their lights, open the front door for a delivery and so forth," Perlman explained.

"They can keep a virtual eye on their property at all times with the video packages and the system can even let you know if there is a leak somewhere so that you can call someone to get it handled before there is major damage," he said.

The system can also text message your phone when your security system at home is turned off so that you know exactly when your children arrive home from school, Perlman said.

"This has gone beyond the 'wow' factor recently, and has become very popular because the price has come down so much. We can now equip a 5000-square-foot home with the complete system for between $10,000 and $15,000, which is about a quarter of what it used to cost."

And the systems are now completely wireless so older homes can be retrofitted through the light switches and with the addition of new thermostats, making it possible for existing homes to be more low maintenance and low hassle than anyone ever imagined.