Professional Builder (1993) articles from March 2006

Professional Builder (1993) archives from March 2006

How to outsmart, not outspend, your competition.
March 1, 2006... By Felicia Oliver, Senior Editor Small budget builders can survive and thrive in the ad game. The D.R. Hortons, Centexes and Toll Brothers of the builder universe have advertising budgets several times the total revenue of many small...

Retention Tune-Up.
March 1, 2006... By Bob Piper, The Talon Group Tips for keeping employees happy and loyal. These days, there are many more job opportunities in home building than quality candidates. The best ones are being courted and wooed on an almost daily basis....

The Touchpoint Trap.
March 1, 2006... By Scott Sedam, TrueNorth Development Beware of smiling faces. Right before Christmas, my wife Jana had surgery. The hospital called a few days prior to the surgery to get her details, thus shortening the admissions process. At the...

NAR Affordability Index Raises Questions.(National Association of Realtors)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2006... By Bob Sperber, Senior Editor Experts consider housing affordability a primary driver of housing demand. If a buyer's income rises and mortgage rates and/or house prices decline, chances are homes are going to sell like hotcakes...right?...

Ideal Homes Spins Gold from Local MLS Data.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2006... By Bob Sperber, Senior Editor Builders can obtain demographics and other economic data from various government and private sources. However, some builders have their own ideas for getting a better read of their marketplace. In...

Pardee Rolls Out Hybrid SUVs.(Pardee Homes)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2006... By Bob Sperber, Senior Editor Pardee Homes gets a lot of mileage marketing its environmental and energy conservation image to home buyers in Southern California and Nevada. Now, the company will get even better mileage as it replaces...

Hostile Customers.
March 1, 2006... By Paul Cardis, NRS Corp. Why they don't have to ruin your day! Customer service is the cornerstone upon which successful businesses are built - including those in the home building industry. Exemplary service, however, isn't always...

Putting Options On the Menu.
March 1, 2006... By Bob Sperber, Senior Editor Home buyers want it their way, but builders need to eat, too. Here's how to serve customers and still get change back from your design studio dollar - with or without a design studio. A man walks into a...

Covering your bases.
March 1, 2006... By Laura Butalla, Senior Editor Can builders pursue recent military base closures and make it worthwhile for everyone involved? In November 2005, the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) commission approved 22 closures, recommended...

Best Laid Plans.
March 1, 2006... By Matthew Power, Senior Contributing Editor As opposing forces battle over New Orleans construction, Mississippi's coastal towns are charging ahead with ambitious plans. But the hard work of building has just begun. To hear architect...

Wrap up: The 2006 International Builders' Show.
March 1, 2006... By Felicia Oliver, Senior Editor Mixed economic forecasts, products aimed at boomers and hurricane construction highlight the annual mecca for housing industry professionals NAHB reported a record breaking 105,000 housing professionals...

Anastasi Development Company.
March 1, 2006... Larry Conley, Director of Purchasing, Anastasi Development Co., Redondo Beach, CA First Company's Wall Mate Condensing Unit Larry Conley www.firstco.com Available in 1.5-ton through 2.5-ton capacities, the Wall Mate HP from...

To Steel or Not to Steel.
March 1, 2006... By Kevin Russelburg, Contributing Editor This month, we tackle the debate of steel framed homes versus wood framed. For many home builders, wood framing is standard protocol when framing a house. It's durable, it's easily available...

Storm-Resistant Roofing.
March 1, 2006... By Asa Foss, PATH Partners Protecting homes from wind and rain. It only takes a moment for a hurricane or tornado to peel the roof off a house. And once the roof is incapacitated, the house is a sitting duck for further damage, if...

IBS Product Review.
March 1, 2006... Staff Bradford Products Staff The Southport from Bradford Products is a stainless steel portable spa. The Southport features 12 hydrotherapy jets, handrails and underwater light. The stainless steel and ceramic tiles are...

Something's in the Air.
March 1, 2006... By Felicia Oliver, Senior Editor Builders with a proactive approach to IAQ can provide healthy and comfortable homes to their buyers at an affordable cost. Much news has been made in recent years of mold and other toxic substances...

Price Negotiation Customers.
March 1, 2006... By John Rymer, New Home Knowledge John Rymer: All customers want a good value when purchasing a home. Yet some customers are overly fixated with negotiating a price. It is not unusual for these customers spend more time working on a...

Temporarily Permanent.
March 1, 2006... Paul Deffenbaugh, Editorial Director Fifteen years after Hurricane Andrew, the temporary FEMA trailers that were put in place are still being used for housing. No matter how we strive, no matter how much we tear down and replace, no matter...

Quality and Versatility Made Simple.
March 1, 2006... By Laura Butalla, Senior Editor California builder Castle & Cooke believes in providing quality and lasting value with a sense of belonging to its communities. With the coastal counties of California approaching build out, there's...

BASF Demonstration Home does Double Duty.(Builders Association of South Florida)
March 1, 2006... Felicia Oliver, Senior Editor BASF has constructed a new Better Homes, Better Planet: Near Zero Energy home in Paterson, N.J., that not only utilizes energy efficient and sustainable building practices, but also incorporates elements of...

Tech House Meets Green Standards.(Visionary Homes Inc. teams up with Home Builders Association of Sarasota County )
March 1, 2006... By Laura Butalla, Senior Editor Vision Homes, Sarasota, Fla., teamed up with the Home Builders Association of Sarasota County to built its futuristic "Tech House," which has been certified by the Florida Green Building Coalition (FGBC) to...

Illuminating Tips.(right choice of lighting fixtures)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2006... By Staff One of the components often overlooked in a builder's model, yet one that is vital to its success, is pre-planning a lighting design, says Judith Sisler Johnston, president of Sisler Johnston Interior Design in Jacksonville,...

It Takes a Village, Then Another...(Village Homes of Colorado Inc. on its construction)
March 1, 2006... By Bob Sperber, Senior Editor Village Homes of Colorado takes a good move-up plan and makes it better from one community to the next. It's always challenging for a production builder to swap longtime house plans for new, untried ones....

Even-Flow A Big Idea for Smaller Builders.(High-quality custom builders)(Harcrest Homes)
March 1, 2006... By Bill Lurz, Senior Editor, Business Even-flow is a hot management concept among production builders. Big, publicly-held Giant builders are even embracing the idea, despite those behemoths' well-earned notoriety for forcing large numbers...

The Sky is the Limit.(SUPPLEMENT: Custom Builder)
March 1, 2006... By Jennifer Block Martin, Contributing Editor Custom builders weigh in on trends in exterior products, materials, styles and elevations. While regional styles and weather variations may preclude all custom builders from, say, building...

Fresh Perspective.(London Bay Homes)(Scheurer Architects)
March 1, 2006... By Ann Matesi, Contributing Editor Florida classics inspire California architect's courtyard design for Gulf Coast gem. With its flexible floor plan, this home in Naples, Fla. is designed to offer the area's snowbird market something...

Social Connections.(SUPPLEMENT: Custom Builder)
March 1, 2006... By Ann Matesi, Contributing Editor Old World style for the young at heart. With its rustic stucco and stone facade and cozy, al fresco entertaining spaces, this 5,575-square-foot custom home recreates the charm and character of a...

Detail Work.(Le Corbusier offers a positive affirmations towards builders future)
March 1, 2006... By Paul Deffenbaugh, Editorial Director History credits the famous architect Le Corbusier with the phrase "God is in the details." He was offering a more positive affirmation of the old proverb, "The devil is in the details." While I...

The Art of Benchmarking.(custom builders)(Small Builders)
March 1, 2006... By Matthew Power, Senior Contributing Editor Without financial benchmarks, small volume builders repeat the same mistakes on project after project, year after year. Here's a primer on targeting a bigger profit, without selling your custom...

Bruce Olson Construction.(Lutron Electronics Company Inc. on its wireless electric connecters)(FloorScapes L.L.C. on its heated flooring)(Cisco Systems Inc. on its wireless cable gateway )
March 1, 2006... Bruce Olson, President, Tahoe City, Calif. Lutron Lighting Controls www.lutron.com Lutron Electronics Co. offers the HomeWorks Wireless Expansion Package. The package gives installers the ability to quickly and easily add wireless...

Products.(Pilkington PLC on its glass cleaners)(Wasco Inc. on its pyramids design)(Jeld-Wen Inc. on its folding doors )
March 1, 2006... Staff Windows: I Can See Clearly Now Staff Pilkington Activ, a self-cleaning window glass, utilizes nature to keep the windows clean. The PhotoActiv surface is active in loosening dirt. The loose dirt is then washed away in...