Professional Builder (1993) articles from October 2007

Professional Builder (1993) archives from October 2007

What Do Active Adults Want?
October 1, 2007... By Susan Bady, Senior Editor, Design Who are active adults? And what are they looking for? Home builders are defining more than one niche as boomers enter the active adult market. 67 The number, in millions, of Americans over the age...

Loyalty Builds Trust.
October 1, 2007... By Paul Cardis, AVID Ratings Co. Home builders have to earn referrals, and being trustworthy is a way to get them. Given the declining number of new home buyers, it is now more important to have loyal customers singing your praises and...

On Reserve.
October 1, 2007... Paul Deffenbaugh, Editorial Director The Federal Reserve Board lowered interest rates this week by half a point and financial markets reacted enthusiastically. I hope this will edge us closer to a complete reversal of fortune. In a...

National Housing Quality Award Winners.
October 1, 2007... Staff Five great companies earn industry's toughest award. The NHQ Awards are sponsored by the NAHB Research Center and Professional Builder . Winners were recognized in a gala award ceremony at the 2007 Professional Builder Benchmark...

Pride of Ownership.(Company overview)
October 1, 2007... By Susan Bady, Senior Editor, Design Employee-owned Pringle Development continues to form powerful customer relationships, reduce cycle times and hone construction quality to a fine edge. Research has shown that employee-owned...

The Mungo Family.
October 1, 2007... By Felicia Oliver, Senior Editor This South Carolina builder has refined its niche and grown without losing sight of its enthusiasm and culture. Mungo Homes has historically led the Columbia, S.C., market, but being the biggest builder...

Tight Control.
October 1, 2007... By Paul Deffenbaugh, Editorial Director Because of devoted employees and tight controls, Barratt American weathers the roughest seas in housing and takes home a National Housing Quality Silver Award. It should tell you a lot about...

Trade Contractors to Model.
October 1, 2007... By Mark Jarasek, Senior Editor, Electronic Media Judges praise Fireside Hearth & Home for consistency, communication and customer care. "I wish I had a team of trade contractors like Fireside." That comment, coming from an NHQ judge...

A Winning Culture.
October 1, 2007... By Bill Lurz, Senior Editor, Business Eleven years after its first NHQ award, Florida-based Mercedes Homes rides strengths in leadership, culture, training and technological innovation to its secure its second. When NHQ judges dug into...

Almost Displaced?
October 1, 2007... By Rodney Hall, The Talon Group If you're about to be unemployed, it pays to consider all your options. The stream of calls we receive from unemployed home building industry workers portend a weak employment market for the foreseeable...

Engerman Companies.
October 1, 2007... John Engerman, President, Lake Geneva, Wis. CertainTeed John Engerman Fiber cement siding by CertainTeed is made with the company's FiberTect Sealing System and comes ready for field-top coating with acrylic latex paint or stains....

Sell Your House and Theirs.
October 1, 2007... By John Rymer, New Home Knowledge The second in a two-part series offering tips on closing a contract with house-to-sell customers. Last month I discussed how to deal with customers who have an existing home to sell and gave you...

ProBuilder Product Report: New Products.(Brief article)
October 1, 2007... By Nick Bajzek MiTek Nick Bajzek A new introduction to MiTek's Stabilizer line is a 16-inch (on center) truss brace designed to support heavier rooftop conditions, such as a hefty snow load. Builders will save time because it...

Fresh Air Design.
October 1, 2007... By Glen Salas, For PATH Partners How builders can improve the indoor air quality of the homes they build New home. Fresh start. Clean living - right? Not necessarily, if you heed the Environmental Protection Agency's warning that the...

Mayberry 2.0.
October 1, 2007... By Felicia Oliver, Senior Editor The Rivendell model at Towne Mill combines a quaint suburban feel with updated, urban features. Picture this: Aunt Bee is sitting on the front porch, listening to hymns on her iPod. She waves to Andy as...

ProBuilder Product Report: Exterior Doors.
October 1, 2007... By Nick Bajzek Marvin Windows and Doors Nick Bajzek For homeowners who want a grand entrance, Marvin Windows and Doors' 2¼-inch French Doors come in 8-foot or 10-foot sizes to accommodate growing ceiling heights. The doors...

ProBuilder Product Report: Millwork and Molding.
October 1, 2007... By Nick Bajzek Azek Nick Bajzek Trimboard introductions from Azek feature 15 profiles replicating traditional molding styles. According to the company, the demand for low-maintenance exterior building products is increasing the...

Paradise Lost.(Survey)
October 1, 2007... By Scott Sedam, Truenorth Development Don't fall victim to the demise of builder/supplier/trade relationships. I saw some disturbing statistics recently regarding relationships between builders, suppliers and trades. Although they are...

CEO Spotlight: Mick Pattinson: Housing's White Knight.(SUPPLEMENT: GIANTS)
October 1, 2007... By Bill Lurz, Senior Editor, Business Judged by the portfolio of causes he has championed, you might think Barratt American Homes principal and CEO Michael "Mick" Pattinson, 59, has a passion for politics and the law. But it's really...

Brave New World.(SUPPLEMENT: GIANTS)(Editorial)
October 1, 2007... Bill Lurz, Senior Editor, Business As much as I still enjoy reading my local newspaper in print each morning, a few minutes later I'm online, reading e-mails and Web sites such as our own umbrella - www.HousingZone.com - and others giving...

Dressed for Success.(SUPPLEMENT: GIANTS)
October 1, 2007... Sherry Giewald, Contributing Editor Oufitted in myriad ways, builders' design centers capture customers and boost the bottom line. Staged vignettes. High-end retail. An upscale materials library. Whatever path builders take to...

A Better, Faster Housing Giants.(SUPPLEMENT: GIANTS)
October 1, 2007... Staff Next year, you will receive Housing Giants four times as often as you do now. Instead of getting the magazine every other month, we'll send it to you every other week. That will give you more timely news at a time when you need to be...

Livework is the Next Big Thing?(SUPPLEMENT: GIANTS)(Editorial)
October 1, 2007... By Bill Lurz, Senior Editor Looking for the housing product to jump-start your plunge into infill development? Here's one with the power to pry open check books, even in a tough market. If you eavesdrop on the cocktail conversations of...

Bridging the Market.(SUPPLEMENT: GIANTS)
October 1, 2007... By Jody Kahn, Michael P. Kahn and Associates Investors' methodologies for buying into the home building market Home builders are poised to take advantage of soft market conditions to bridge a stronger, more successful company. ...

Insight from the Underdog.(SUPPLEMENT: GIANTS)
October 1, 2007... By John Burns, John Burns Real Estate Consulting A look at the hard-hit Riverside-San Bernardino market in California and why it's struggling the most The Riverside-San Bernardino market is replacing Fort Myers as the poster child for...

Moves.(SUPPLEMENT: GIANTS)(John Laing Homes promotes Tim Jones)(Holiday Builders appoints Richard Fadil as a CFO)(Kimball Hill Homes David K. Hill has relinquished from the CEO title)
October 1, 2007... Staff Michael Sumichrast , former chief economist of the NAHB , died of respiratory failure recently in Potomac, Md., at the age of 86. A Washington Post obituary called Sumichrast one of the most quoted people in the housing industry for...

Raise the Bar.(SUPPLEMENT: GIANTS)
October 1, 2007... Michael Dickens, CEO of BuildIQ Ensure better quality by defining and sharing best practices. Take a minute to ask yourself: "Do I know what my quality standards are? Does my team? Do my trades?" While home sales have been...

Is Your Customer in Your Worldview?(SUPPLEMENT: GIANTS)
October 1, 2007... By Rick Heaston, R.A. Heaston and Co. How you approach home sales - and the perspectives you consider - is part of your sales strategy. I'm going to try to get you to think about your worldview of selling, and you might even change it....

Housing Still Under Pressure.(SUPPLEMENT: GIANTS)
October 1, 2007... Margot Crabtree, Trade Trends Though Wall Street ended solidly in the black for the month of September, builders continued to suffer as weakness in the sector pushed stocks lower, both in the Builders' and Product Manufacturers' indexes....