Advantages of Owning a Miller's Hill Home
Living in the Elegance of an Old Home.
The homes on Miller's Hill evoke a time when elegent design and fine detail were halmarks. To ensure a large degree of faithfulness to that era, all the renovation work done on Miller's Hill homes will be approved by the Roanoke City Archtectural Review Board and the Virginia Department of Historic Resources. This helps ensure you will be surrounded by those features of old homes you love:
- Large windows
- Spacious rooms
- Airy sleeping porches
- Detailed woodwork
- Neighbor-friendly front porches
- Beautiful heart pine and white oak floors, original to the home
Enjoying traditional neighborhood design
Visualize yourself taking a leisurely walk down the block on a pleasant summer's evening...You might be on the way to a local restaurant, going to a church meeting, or just out for a stroll. You wave to neighbors sitting on their front porches, perhaps stopping by to chat. Or imagine sitting on your own front porch, watching your children play with the neighbor's children: They have drawn a hopscotch on the sidewalk, just as children did one hundred years ago...At Miller's Hill you will be embraced by the life in the neighborhood in a way that many modern neighborhoods cannot offer!
The Reassurance of a Complete, Quality Renovation
Sometimes when you purchase an old home, you can only guess at what is behind the walls. Old knob and tube wiring? Rotten timbers? Frayed wires? No insulation? Leaky plumbing? Not with a Miller’s Hill home! Not only have Miller’s Hill homes been completely rehabilitated, they are rehabilitated with sustainable and premium building features.
In a typical Miller’s Hill home you can expect:
Energy Star Certification, sustained by features such as:
- HVAC System SEER 14
- Spray foam insulation, which can reduce heat and cooling costs as much as 50%
- R-16 insulated walls, R-38 insulated attic
- High performance windows
- Exterior security light with motion sensor and timer
- Lighting fixtures using compact fluorescent bulbs
- Dual flush toilets, low flow plumbing
- High efficiency electric water heater
- Energy Star rated appliances
- Hot water recirculation system (allowing immediate flow of hot water with no delay.)
- Low VOC paints
- Responsible site management preventing erosion and storm water run-off
- Microwave ovens with exhausts
- Gas top range and convection oven
- Pre-wiring for ADT security systems
- Underground utilities from house to power poles
Availability of VHDA Loans at Below-Market Interest Rates
As part of the Miller’s Hill project, an amount of money has been made available for below-market rate mortgage loans to qualified buyers of Miller’s Hill homes. To see if such funds are still available and to determine current interest rates and qualifications, please contact Dru Sexton at First Priority Mortgage; 3801 Electric Roanoke, SW, Roanoke, VA 24018; 540-989-0980.)
Reduced Property Taxes for 15 Years
The Roanoke Redevelopment and Housing Authority is taking the steps necessary so Miller’s Hill homeowners will qualify for sizeable relief from real estate taxes for 15 years after completion of the home. The relief takes the form of an exemption, which is “ a fixed amount equal to the difference in the appraised value immediately before commencement of substantial rehabilitation and the appraised value immediately after completion of substantial rehabilitation...” What that means is, for any given year in the 15 year tax relief period, a Miller’s Hill homeowner would pay taxes on the assessed value of his/her home (which may vary) minus the exemption amount (which will always be the same). As an example, the exemption on a home which was appraised at $80,000 before renovation and then $300,000 immediately after renovation would be $220,000. Most likely the assessment on the home would not change in the first year, so the homeowner would pay taxes on only $80,000 of the home’s value. Let’s assume that after a year, the home was assessed at $320,000. In that case, the homeowners would pay taxes on $320,000 minus $220,000, or $100,000. Since most of the Miller’s Hill homes had initial values around $80,000 and most of them will sell for between $300,000 and $400,000 when finished, you can see that the tax savings will be immense for those who buy them!
(For more information on tax abatements, look under “Rehabilitation Tax Credits” at www.roanokeva.gov.)
Living Close to Downtown Roanoke
At Miller's Hill many downtown attractions are just a short walk away, such as:
- YMCA - 4 minutes
- Muncipal Building/Courthouse - 7 minutes
- Local park - 10 minutes
- City Market - 10 minutes
The community also offers a variety of churches.
Being Part of a Rebirth
In buying a Miller's Hill home, you will be part of the rebirth of a neighborhood! Roanoke's Old Southwest neighborhood has been on the upswing over the last twenty years. However, much of that has occurred to the south of Elm Avenue. Now, the Miller's Hill development is stongly reinforcing a revival that has begun to the north of Elm Avenue and south of Campbell Avenue.
Boyd Photography
