Besides innovative architecture and floor plans, what new products are now being added to new homes that weren't available just ten or twenty years ago? In flipping through the pages of a recent building trade magazine, I began to study some of the newer products that may have helped define the phrase "necessity is the mother of invention". Some of these product boast verbiage, such as "lifetime warranties", "no maintenance", and "guaranteed to save you money", which are terms new home builders salivate over, since it's the manufacturer who backs up its product. And what easier time would there be to install products such as these than when your home is under construction?

Here are just a few to get your head spinning:

• Home entertainment systems - prewired, zoned, and ready for the "surround sound" experience, with controls for the stereo system in each room, and "networked" cable TV.
• "Smart" houses - with intergrated wiring (this explanation takes an entire column!)
• Vinyl Window frames- more insulating properties, less leakage, and more noise abatement, with a smooth glide.
• Never tarnish hardware - imagine brass door handles, bathroom and kitchen fixtures with lifetime, never-turn-brown guarantees.
• Dual paned patio doors with blinds on the inside: no more rattling blinds, bent blades or ugly dust!
• Vinyl Fencing - Permanent, never need painting, non-termite wielding innovations from the world of plastics.
• Lightweight concrete tile roofs -- light enough and in styles to grace even the most traditional of homes, with a lifetime warranty.
• Low "E" squared glass - you can now have permanent "sunglasses" for your home, saving you on energy costs, and cabinet and carpet fading.
• No-leak skylights - easy for builders to install, these add drama, natural light, and a view of the heavens. (Get some remote control retractable blinds on them to boot!)
• Vinyl wood planking for floors- looks like wood, wears like iron, and can be even be used in kitchens, bathrooms and kid's rooms.
• Acrylic "glass block" - lightweight, prefabricated glass-look squares that can be installed almost anywhere to provide both privacy and natural light.
• Fiber-cement siding and decking- offers durability, weather resistance, and a lifetime warranty.

The list can go on and on. Good old American ingenuity and the pursuit of the almighty dollar produces better and better new home products every day. From squeak-resistant floors to never-need painting surfaces, product designers and inventive geniuses are hard at work to provide the latest for your new home, or to romance you into remodeling your current one.

Not all production or new home builders will offer products such as these in their standard options lists, but there's no reason you shouldn't ask about them or read up on which ones may be products that can make you life a whole lot less complicated.

Check your Internet search engines for building products, and your computer will literally go "tilt"!

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Published: June 2, 1999

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A veteran of the real estate and homebuilding industries since 1986, Dena Kouremetis first joined Realty Times as a new homes writer in 1998. Since then, she has authored four books, written consumer columns on new homes issues for websites and newspapers all across the country, contributed to builder trade magazines, appeared as a guest expert on several radio shows and even created a ten-chapter podcast for LendingTree.com’s homebuilder website, iNest.com, now available on iTunes, entitled Uncharted Waters; Navigating the Purchase of a New Production Home. Kouremetis recently joined her local Folsom, CA Coldwell Banker office as a broker associate while continuing to write for the real estate industry. For the past three years, she has been training real estate agents for both the resale and new homes industries, putting her experience, research expertise and gift of expression to work to help others entering the business.