Professional Builder (1993) articles from August 2008

Professional Builder (1993) archives from August 2008

Courting Recovery.
August 1, 2008... By Bill Lurz, Senior Editor Toll Brothers' innovative courtyard model home in the Vista del Verde planned community gives Southern California move-ups a reason to re-enter the market. Sales backlogs are a rare commodity in many markets...

An Attitude of Gratitude.(Survey)
August 1, 2008... By Felicia Oliver, Senior Editor The reward for investing in your employees in good times is folks who are willing to go to the mat for you when times get tough. Meet the companies we named the best places to work and learn how yours...

Show Me the Market Share!
August 1, 2008... By Paul Cardis, CEO, Avid Ratings The old measures of success must be adjusted for a shifting economy. Celebrate the gains, or you'll do more harm than good. Every business aspires to yearly revenue increases, but home builders who are...

Look What Just Surfaced.(Brief article)
August 1, 2008... Staff A Radiant Finish Staff Mineral Ochre, Mineral Sepia and Mineral Jet (shown) are three of six new colors in Formica's Mineral Series with Radiance Finish countertops. These surfaces feature what the company calls a...

Total Quality Revisited.
August 1, 2008... Paul Deffenbaugh, Editorial Director Recently, the editorial staff has been having quite a discussion about the role of total quality management in home building companies. Some contend home builders are fad followers and TQM is a...

Your Business During the Downtown.
August 1, 2008... By Rodney Hall, The Talon Group Training, sharing and communicating make the list of what you're doing to make the most of a bad market, an informal survey reveals. Ongoing training, development, flexible use of great talent and...

Going Once, Going Twice.
August 1, 2008... By Felicia Oliver, Senior Editor Builders turn to auctions to clear inventory, net quick cash and garner publicity. Wish you could see your overstocked home inventory disappear as fast as the whack of a hammer on an auction block?...

Corner-Lot Creativity.
August 1, 2008... By Susan Bady, Senior Editor, Design Architect Donald Powers of Donald Powers Architects in Providence, R.I., met a threefold challenge of a narrow, deep, corner lot with a design that maximizes curb appeal and floor-plan functionality. ...

Think about it.
August 1, 2008... Staff 947 Pulte Homes has moved forward into the third phase of its Sun City Shadow Hills project, an active-adult community. There are plans to add 947 homes, a new clubhouse and an 18-hole golf course. When the phase is completed,...

All Walled In.(Brief article)
August 1, 2008... Staff Sealed and Delivered Staff No one - your customers included - likes to spend hours scrubbing crayon off the wall after junior gets a hold of the Crayola box. Valspar's ZAP Interior/Exterior latex-based primer is a low-VOC,...

Retool Your Sales Presentation.
August 1, 2008... By John Rymer, New Home Knowledge The sales methods you've been using are likely outdated. It's time to shake things up. How good are your sales presentations? Are you regularly performing role plays at sales meetings? Do you feel good...

How to Sell Service.(Editorial)
August 1, 2008... By Jan Mitchell, Contributing Editor Learn to turn the perks and services you offer from price tags to benefits in your home buyers' eyes. When Jason Swaner began selling condos at Texas & Pacific Lofts, an urban reuse project in a...

How to Make the Most of the Web.(Editorial)
August 1, 2008... By Mark Jarasek, Senior Editor, E-Media Not all too long ago one of the only ways business professionals could get information specific to their industry was through the print media - trade publications containing industry-focused articles...

Resources at Your Fingertips.(Editorial)
August 1, 2008... By Mark Jarasek, Senior Editor, E-Media If you've been reading articles on HousingZone.com or any of our publication's sites - ProBuilder.com , CustomBuilderOnline.com , HousingGiants.com or ProRemodeler.com - you might have noticed a...

Poised for Recovery.(SUPPLEMENT: GIANTS)(Editorial)
August 11, 2008... By Bill Lurz, Senior Editor David Drees, 48, remembers the housing crashes of 1982 and 1992 well enough to know the current maelstrom will not last forever, and that chances to expand will arise from this bloodletting just as from the...

Control Your Costs.(SUPPLEMENT: GIANTS)(Editorial)
August 11, 2008... By Craig Guillot, Contributing Editor CRITICAL MANAGEMENT SERIES PART 3 This three-part series details the critical data and reports upper management, sales managers and production managers should watch to run a successful company. ...

Rising Demand, Shrinking Supply A Precursor to A National Recovery.(SUPPLEMENT: GIANTS)
August 11, 2008... By John Burns and Chris Porter, John Burns Real Estate Consulting Learn what to look for in local stats on listings and sales volumes statistics. Then consider the right risks. For those of you who are still struggling to repay your...

News & Moves.(SUPPLEMENT: GIANTS)
August 11, 2008... By Jennifer Powell, Staff Writer Fannie and Freddie will Survive Crisis While the degree to which the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae ) and Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. (Freddie Mac ) should be backed by the...

We'll Miss You, Dave.(SUPPLEMENT: GIANTS)(Editorial)(In memoriam)
August 11, 2008... By Bill Lurz, Senior Editor Bill Lurz writes about the passing of David Kimball Hill, chairman of Kimball Hill Homes, philanthropist and friend. The Entire Housing Industry was saddened to learn of the passing of David Kimball Hill,...

The Talent Opportunity.(SUPPLEMENT: GIANTS)(Editorial)
August 25, 2008... By Bill Lurz, Senior Editor Great leaders are looking for good positions, and the market has revealed weaknesses on your team. Make the connection. Even as most builders desperately fight to survive the current housing crash, some are...

News & Moves.(SUPPLEMENT: GIANTS)(Lenox has named David Pirkle)(WCI Communities Files For Bankruptcy)(Technical Olympic USA Files For Bankruptcy)
August 25, 2008... By Jennifer Powell, Staff Writer Clock Is Ticking on Tax Credit Opportunity The most intriguing provision in the massive Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, just signed into law by President Bush, is the $7,500 tax credit for...

Time to Reinvent Your Sales Process.(SUPPLEMENT: GIANTS)(Viewpoint essay)
August 25, 2008... By Rick Heaston, R.A. Heaston and Co. Rick continues his discussion about the critical path to buying by examining your customers' sales perspective. With a new critical path for buying, it only stands to reason that we need a new...

This is a good thing.(SUPPLEMENT: GIANTS)(home buyers will use tax credit )(Editorial)
August 25, 2008... By Bill Lurz, Senior Editor There are stipulations, but the tax credit portion of the recent housing act will help stabilize our market. NAHB economists believe more than 2 million home buyers will use the $7,500 tax credit included in...

The Case to Accommodate the Latino Market.(SUPPLEMENT: GIANTS)(Hispanic American market)
August 25, 2008... By Henry Cisneros, CityView Latinos value homeownership, and their population is only going up. Have you positioned your company to use this opportunity? The current housing market has prompted U.S. home builders across the nation to...