The Dallas-area's late loan payment rate remains well below the national average of 7.27 percent, according to First American CoreLogic's report.

LANNIE BOESIGER/Method Homes

A prefab cabin by Method Homes

When Arb and Andrea Rylant of Ovilla in Ellis County wanted a vacation home, they let their son do the building. Mark Rylant and his Method Homes of Seattle built his parents an environmentally friendly and sleekly modern prefab cabin in Washington state's Cascade Mountain range.

Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Assn.

A direct-vent gas fireplace manufactured by Travis Industries is shown in a bathroom.

In the past, new-home buyers usually had two places for a fireplace — the family room or the living room — and two materials: brick or stone. Now, homebuyers are asking for fireplaces in bathrooms, kitchens, bedrooms and patios as well. And they have more choice of materials, modern designs and temperature and remote controls.

MONA REEDER/DMN

Amanda Ferguson demolished her crumbling childhood home to build a house with the latest in green technology.
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