Builder Magazine: Model Homes

Companies That Stage and ‘Tend’ Vacant Homes Find New Business in Housing Slump

Mon, 14 Jun 2010 10:55:55 EST

But few banks, despite their high volume of REO properties, seem to avail themselves of these services.

Builders Find "Lost Assets" by Auctioning Model Furniture

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 12:00:42 EST

A Houston-based firm does all the heavy lifting in marketing and executing the resales.

Builder John Wieland Finishes Sales Marathon

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 11:39:37 EST

After sleeping on the floors of his model homes for 52 nights and selling 101 houses, the 72-year-old goes home to his own bed.

New Home Builders Start Up When Market is Down

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 11:35:19 EST

Entrepreneurs are starting up new home building businesses across the country. With low overhead and unencumbered by past debts, the builders say they are nimble enough to survive now and positioned to thrive when the market rebounds.

K. Hovnanian Unveils Energy-Efficient Concept House

Thu, 17 Sep 2009 05:03:14 EST

Tankless water heating, high-performance HVAC add to builder’s existing efficient building standard.

SEC Probes For Fraud Among Home Builders

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 11:31:30 EST

A commissioner, testifying before Congress, indicates that the government is casting its net wider to uncover wrongdoing in the housing and lending sectors.

Model Merchandising On A Budget

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 11:16:02 EST

Four top designers share their strategies for keeping the pizzazz for less cash.

Chick Pick

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 11:15:49 EST

Homes designed for women hit their mark.

Scents in model homes to help put buyers in a good mood

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 11:09:20 EST

The sense of smell has the strongest connection to the emotional part of the brain

Use community events to increase traffic to your sales center

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 11:08:16 EST

Leverage the power of residents, vendors and local businesses to keep costs down

Green Products

Tue, 29 Sep 2009 05:43:16 EST

The right products keep the Builder LivingHome glowing green.

Beazer Homes Shows Off Its Chef’s Dream Kitchen With Help From “Top Chef” Winner

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 12:11:25 EST

In-model cooking demonstrations for Realtors draw big crowds.

Model Home Merchandising for Fictitious Buyers Translates into Real World Sales

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 11:49:27 EST

Model homes designed for fictitious buyers translate into real-world sales.

Put A Shine On Your Sales Center and Models Every Day

Wed, 22 Jul 2009 05:27:29 EST

Put a shine on your sales center and models every day.

Renaissance Homes' Smart Car promotion drove traffic and reduced standing inventory.

Wed, 19 Aug 2009 11:28:39 EST

New marketing and sales techniques with proven results.

Model homes break ins and vandalism

Wed, 19 Aug 2009 11:13:21 EST

MODEL HOMES ARE ESSENTIAL MARKETING tools for many builders. But these homes can also be among the more vulnerable elements on jobsites, which are often susceptible to illegal entry and theft.

Anything Else Is Not Ideal

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 01:35:56 EST

IN 1988, AFTER NEARLY 20 SUCCESSFUL years in real estate and home building, Gene McKown went belly-up, a victim of an economic slide in the Southwest brought on by collapsing oil prices. Two decades later, the 62-year-old McKown—in partnership with co-owners a generation younger—not only has recovered from that setback but also can lay claim to being Oklahoma City's largest and most innovative builder.

Dressing Up

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 01:30:19 EST

How often do buyers enter a splendidly appointed model home and say, “I want that,” but are frustrated because the cost of those furnishings would bust their budgets, or they have no way of purchasing the products? Apparently too often for D.R. Horton, which is why the industry's largest builder is marketing homes in its communities in North and South Carolina with models branded under well-known furniture labels or under familiar names of home-décor retailers whose products are showcased.

Home Theater

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 01:25:46 EST

Most every builder strives to help prospective buyers envision themselves in one of its new homes, to see themselves cooking dinner, creating family memories, or just hangin' out watching TV. But Centex Homes' Los Angeles/Central Coast division gave real life to that vision with a campaign called HomePlay, in which professional actors portray a family living in one of the builder's model homes.

Artist at Work

Fri, 21 Aug 2009 01:16:32 EST

EVEN BEFORE IT PUT A SHOVEL IN THE GROUND AT RAVENNA, a 42-unit “boutique” community of oceanfront homes in San Clemente, Calif., builder John Laing Homes' South Coast division had a pretty good idea of how it would theme the grand opening of the models and first phase of sales. “Our market research during the design phase told us that prospective buyers were very interested in the arts,” says Linda Mamet, vice president of sales and marketing, adding that most of the project's buyers were expected to come from the local area. “We started thinking about how to add that to the experience of visiting the model homes.”