By Paul Davidson, USA TODAY

Finding work may not be quite that simple, but it sure seems that way. While the nation’s job growth has limped along since the economic recovery began two years ago, the Lone Star State is enlarging payrolls in Texas-size fashion.

From June 2009 to June 2011 the state added 262,000 jobs, or half the USA’s 524,000 payroll gains, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Even by a more conservative estimate that omits states with net job losses, Texas’ advances make up 30% of the 1 million additions in the 34 states with net growth.

The state’s payrolls have risen 2.9% since the end of the recession, third behind North Dakota and Alaska and far outpacing the USA’s 0.4% growth, according to the BLS. Also, Texas’ 8.2% unemployment rate is well below the nation’s 9.2%.
“For one large state to grow (jobs) so much faster than the rest of the nation is very unusual,” says Moody’s economist Ed Friedman.
Economists point to an array of factors, including high energy prices that set off an oil-drilling frenzy, rising exports and a conservative banking industry that helped the state sidestep the housing crash.

Read More at: http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/2011-07-25-texas-a-magnet-for-jobs_n.htm

Did you know that the state of the economy can dictate the colors and furnishing styles you see in a new model home? During an economic slowdown, consumers often become more conservative when decorating. For instance, the design trend for the fall is toward simple, modern lines in furniture and less cluttered interiors. However, despite the sluggish economy, color forecasters expect to see the use of brighter paint colors as accents to the always popular neutrals.

The interior designers for Landon Homes have embraced that color style. Landon homes is opening their new Model home in Austin Ridge next month and when you step inside you’ll be greeted by a color palette of bright coral, eggplant and kiwi green on accent walls and inside niches, as well as on fabrics, furniture and bedding. These vibrant colors are showing up on fashion runways and in the pages of home and design magazines, reflecting their emerging popularity. 

Landon ensures that its new model homes reflect emerging style trends because the company realizes that today’s home buyers are more design savvy than ever. They watch HGTV; they pore over Pottery Barn, Crate and Barrel, Restoration Hardware and any other home fashion catalog and interior design magazine they can get their hands on. Retailers such as Target, IKEA, and Pier One have created stylish furniture and home accessory lines that are affordable and attainable for first and second move-up buyers. No matter their income, consumers know good design when they see it and their expectations are high. 

To schedule a tour of our new model home in Austin Ridge, contact Tanya Smith anytime by phone at 214-707-0347 or just click on our LIVE CHAT feature throughout the Landon Homes website, for speedy answers to all of your new home questions.

Everybody talks about the importance of “going green” these days. And homebuilders are no different. A lot of them tout their homes as being green, but are they really? 

Some companies may exaggerate or even mislead consumers when making environmental claims. For example, a foam insulation company had advertised that it did not use CFC’s. However, this claim was irrelevant, since CFC’s were banned in 1978 and are illegal to use anyway! 

It’s important for consumers to do their homework, so they can more accurately evaluate a company’s “green” claims. 

Landon Homes is committed to building energy efficient homes in the north Dallas areas of Frisco and Little Elm which in turn allows us to be conscious of saving the GREEN on our planet.  By using eco-friendly fly ash concrete foundations, each Landon home prevents more than 3 metric tons of carbon dioxide from contributing to global warming. 

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Landon Homes is celebrating the opening of two beautiful model homes in our impressive masterplanned community The Villages at Lakeview.

The Lakeview location now features three beautiful models to view and homes priced from the $160’s to the $350’s. The Villages at Lakeview offer some of the best values in the Frisco Independent School District. Landon Homes buyers can choose from four different sizes of homesites, including our estate homesites as large as 84’ x 120’. Limited selections of premium homesites adjoin the Amy Corps of Engineer property that borders Lake Lewisville.

“The Villages at Lakeview is one of the premier masterplanned communities in the Frisco Independent School District,” says John Landon, president of Landon Homes. “The neighborhood is served by some of Frisco’s newest schools including our onsite Robertson Elementary school”.

The Villages at Lakeview currently has four amenity centers, approximately 150 acres in the community dedicated to parkland and open space and the neighborhood trails are planned to connect to the Town of Little Elm trail system. Homeowners here enjoy direct access to the Dallas North Tollway via Panther Creek Parkway.

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If you’ve been thinking about buying a new home, stop thinking, and start acting.  Right now is a perfect time to buy – with interest rates near record lows and the federal government offering tax credits.  But don’t wait too long! 

The $8,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers, and the $6,500 tax credit for existing home owners are both scheduled to end April 30, 2010.  Although in cases where a binding sales contract is signed by April 30, you can still close on your home by June 30, 2010 to qualify. 

Prospective home buyers typically focus on certain criteria when deciding where to buy including: schools, recreation, shopping, value and quality of life.  Landon Homes, the North Dallas homebuilder, is counting on the fact that their communities, The Villages of Lakeview, Grayhawk Estates and The Villages of Willow Bay, have something for North Dallas area home first-time buyers, as well as empty nesters: good schools, amenity centers, one story and two-story floor plans with great value and an easy commute to key business, shopping and entertainment areas.

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The Grayhawk II

Landon Homes, a North Dallas Home Builder, is closing out one of their North Dallas new home communities. There are only a few opportunities remaining to purchase a new home in the very popular Villages at Willow Bay. 

Willow Bay is located in Frisco, TX, one of the fastest growing cities in the US and is served by the renowned Frisco Independent School District.

The Villages of Willow Bay has the perfect combination of

• Very competitively priced homes starting from the $230’s
• Generously sized homesites
• Superb quality of life
• Highly rated schools (Frisco ISD)
• And a strategic Frisco location with easy access to the Dallas North Tollway, Highway 121, and Central Expressway/US 75.

Located on Eldorado Parkway between Coit and Independence, Villages at Willow Bay is within a quick commute of key business and recreational areas in both Frisco and McKinney. Served by the renowned Frisco Independent School District, Willow Bay features a beautiful pool with multi-level decks and a separate spraypark.

Right now, you can take advantage of close-out prices on three move-in ready homes priced from $288,990 to $339,990.  The Willow Bay II is a 4 bedroom, 3.5 bath 2 story home with 3401 square feet priced at an incredible $288,990.  Or, the Ellie is a 6 Bedroom, 4 bath home with 4592 square feet of living space priced to sell at $339,990.

For more information about these move-in ready homes in Villages of Willow Bay or other new homes in North Dallas, contact Tanya Smith anytime by phone at 214-707-0347 or just click on our LIVE CHAT feature throughout the Landon Homes website for speedy answers to all of your new home questions.