Changing approach
Festival of Homes extends into a stretched-out summer selling season
The annual Festival of Homes, which continues FridaySunday on the south side of the metro area, is the same in the era of the coronavirus, but the pandemic has had its effects on some home shoppers' timing and preferences.
“With schools de laying their openings, it has some homeowners jumping at the last-minute opportunities to find a new home before students go back to school, which has extended our summer selling season,”
said Lindsay Haltom, of Homes By Taber, which h a s t h r e e n e i g h b o r - hood model homes i n the festival. “It also has homeowners looking at their space differently than they did before, now needing space to homeschool or work full time.”
“Festival visitors have also expressed the desire to get into a new home by the holidays, and they are usi ng t heir once- earmarked vacation savings towards a new home.”
The Festival of Homes, in its final weekend, has 36 new houses open free to the public from 1 to 7 p. m. Friday- Sunday in the Norman, Moore, s o ut h Okl a homa Ci t y a nd Newcastle a r e a s . The Builders Association o f S o u t h C e n t r a l Oklahoma, BASCO, was the organizer.
Because of the coron a v i r u s , m a s k s a r e encouraged on the tour and will be provided at the Festival Show Home, built by Cougar Homes at 2212 Kimball Drive in Norman's St. James Park addition, just south of E S t a t e Hi g h way 9 a n d 24th Avenue SE.
T h e F e s t i v a l S h o w Home, 2,130 square feet in a modern-traditional style “with city loft influences,” had good traffic last weekend, said Laura Horn, co-owner of Cougar Homes with her husband, Jon, and their daughter, Savannah Horn.
The e vent i s n' t j ust for people on the verge of making a purchase, she said. “Many are i n the process of building and looking for ideas to i ncorporate i nto t heir plans or material choices. Some were j ust l ooking for ideas and to see what's new. And a few were homebuyers out shopping,” she said.
In all, the festival features 36 homes ranging in size from about 1,650 s q u a r e f e e t t o l u x u r y homes over 3,800 square feet, and ranging in price from about $230,000 to $750,000.
Some proceeds from the sale of the Festival Show Home are donated to community endeavors such as the BASCO student chapter at the University of Oklahoma and t o scholarships at Mid-America Vo-Tech a n d M o o r e N o r m a n Technology Center for students i nterested i n careers in the construction industry.
F e s t i v a l o f H o m e s Tour Books, with details on the homes, photos, a map and directions, are available at 7- Eleven. For more i nformation, g o t o w w w . B A S C O - F e s t i v a l . c o m . O r call Stephen Koranda, BASCO's executive officer, at 360–4161, or email eo@basco-ok.com.