New Release of Homes at Cobblestone

It seems like common sense that a PA homebuilder who boasts a 95% customer referral rating isn’t in business to disappoint customers. However, lately, that’s exactly what we’ve been doing – but maybe not in the way you think.

In Cobblestone, the only new home community located just 8 miles from downtown Pittsburgh, we have dealt with a number of disappointed homebuyers who missed out on an opportunity to purchase a home in this ultra popular community. So, we are thrilled to announce that we have just released our Phase 4 home sites. In fact, there has probably never been a better time to purchase in this community – with low interest rates, energy efficient new home designs and your dream backyard waiting, what’s holding you back?

To truly appreciate why we have been maintaining a wait list for these home sites, you need to experience Cobblestone for yourself. The neighborhood is really a community within a community. Despite its super convenient location just outside of downtown Pittsburgh, the neighborhood boasts a tranquil wooded setting and amenities to go with it. A clubhouse, community pool…even walking trails for the kiddos to walk to school are just some of what make this neighborhood so special. Read More

A stunning Pittsburgh sunset.

If you were to take the entire United States and chop it into individual real estate markets, you would end up with 499 different areas.  Each individual market has different economic drivers, unemployment rates, and of course, geographic desirability.

Given the different factors, it is logical that while the average home price across the nation has dropped since the peak of the market, how much (if anything) each market has dropped varies widely.  A recent Forbes article, America’s Recession Resistant Cities for Real Estate, used data from each of these individual markets to analyze the top 25 most recession-proof real estate markets.

Two of S&A Homes’ main markets, Pittsburgh, PA and State College, PA ended up on the top 25 list.   Forbes analyzed the markets that have experienced continual price increases since the beginning of 2011 to come up with the list.  And while that is a relatively small time frame, we believe the trends captured in the article are indicative of long-term pricing trends that we have observed for a number of years.

Unlike many American towns with industrial and manufacturing roots that have failed to adapt to the changing economic times, Pittsburgh has succeeded in revamping its image to attract a diverse range of companies and industries to keep the economy churning.  The city has invested an incredible amount of effort into revitalizing the downtown areas and a number of neighborhoods around it.  The result is an affordable city with a healthy economy and plenty to keep residents busy and happy, including beautiful Pittsburgh new homes.

State College, PA, on the other hand, is on the list for different reasons.  The Read More

It is always a sad day to say goodbye to a popular model home. This Wednesday, August 17, we will officially turn over our Brynwood model home, The Winchester, to a new family who can enjoy living in the home as much as we enjoying selling out of it!

For several years, we have sold the Brynwood, Trotter Farm & Ferne Hollow communities from this popular model and have enjoyed our presence in the neighborhood for all this time. And even though someone else can now call the Winchester Model home well…home, we will continue to sell all three communities of PA new homes from our Information Center located on Science Park Road, in State College, PA.

We should warn you, however, that only a few home sites remain in the current phase at Brynwood, which continues to be one of S&A Homes’ most popular communities. The wooded community is located directly across from Gray’s Woods Elementary School and is part of the Gray’s Woods master-planned development that includes numerous amenities like walking trails, sidewalks, ball fields, and playgrounds. Combine that with a convenient location just 1.5 miles from the Gray’s Woods Geisinger Medical Center and an affordable price point from the $210’s and it’s hard to find fault with Brynwood. Read More

“From the very beginning of our home search we were very impressed with S&A Homes. The quality of construction, energy efficiency, and curb appeal of the various home designs made us choose S&A above all the other builders we researched. We have been in our lovely new home for one year and are very pleased with all aspects of our home.”

Dean & Sandy – Pittsburgh

“We never thought about buying a house until we met with Monica from S&A Homes, who walked us through the whole process. We could not be happier with our decision.”

Allison & Brad – Pittsburgh

A few months back, we blogged about the grand opening of our net-zero energy lab home in Cobblestone Estates, located in Ohio Township, PA just outside of Pittsburgh. And although we were excited to have built the northeast’s very first net-zero energy home, only time would reveal some of the lessons learned and how we can apply those lessons when building Pennsylvania green homes.

Last week, Professional Builder Magazine profiled the lab home and outlined some of the key ingredients that go into maximizing energy efficiency without making such technologies out of reach for potential home buyers. After all, the goal of the lab home is to assess energy efficiencies and learn how to make such homes mainstream and affordable for all people in the future.

For those of you who take interest in knowing how Pennsylvania energy efficient homes of the future will be built, you will take great pleasure in this article, as it provides a great deal of detail regarding the construction process of a home that creates as much energy as it consumes. Read More