Half of our Fast Track companies burst onto the scene during the last decade. Here's how they made it to where they are—and their strategies to stay on the move.
Builders are watching the smartphone industry's progress closely, and some have taken action.
As with any marketing strategy, there's a right way and a wrong way to approach presales.
Thanks to the effort of one Massachusetts builder/developer, however, a grass-roots effort to help severely injured veterans from Iraq is gaining momentum.
The NAHB's most recent Multifamily Market Index (MMI), a quarterly gauge of multifamily market activity and builder confidence, shows that condos are indeed hot.
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CYCLISTS, ESPECIALLY THOSE who compete in the Tour de France, learn early to pace themselves. Go too slow, and they'll lack the velocity to make it up a steep slope. Go too fast, and they'll lose control on a hairpin turn. The best have both the speed they need to win short sprints and the stamina t...
As the crow flies, The Sycamores is no more than five miles from the Pacific Ocean, but its design and architecture is reflective of Southern Spain.
Former Catholic churches could be used for condos in urban areas, and suburban churches could be converted into single-family homes.
Aarecent project the company did for an Atlanta artist and his family showed the veteran production builder a few new tricks.
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The Urban Institute, in tandem with the Brookings Institution, recently released a report on the HOPE VI program. The Bush administration still wants to cut the program, which seeks to reconstruct severely distressed public housing projects. The report writers say that more detailed research is need...
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IF YOU'VE PUT OFF CREATING A COMPANY WEB site because of cost, here is some good news: Schaumburg, Ill.–based YourWebPro Inc. now offers small builders and contractors Web sites that include all the bells and whistles of a full-fledged site without the high price tag.
THE NAHB SIGNED AN AGREEMENT with its counterpart in Mexico to build stronger ties between the two countries' housing industries. The agreement, which stems from the “Partnership for Prosperity” alliance established by President Bush and Mexican President Vincente Fox in February 2001, will lead to ...
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A national survey by the Mortgage Bankers Association earlier this year found that more than half of Americans planning to buy a house want more information about the process. The survey also said that 95 percent of respondents thought it was important to have access to information that was easy to ...
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In Vermont, due to a combination of zoning changes, below-market–rate sales of land by municipalities, and other factors, this year's housing permits have shot up 40 percent more than last year, to 1,048 in the first four months alone. But that's not the impressive part. Get this: The average cost o...
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More builders are having holes precut by distributors, saving money -- and headaches-- in the process.
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Builders in San Diego are upset about a new fee imposed by the region's Rural Fire Protection District to pay for fire protection in a 720-square-mile area in eastern San Diego County. The tax requires new homeowners to pay $150 to $450 based on the square footage of their house. The new fee comes i...
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California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger wants to sell off about $50 million worth of what he says are surplus assets owned by the state to help close the state's $15 billion budget problem. The properties on his fire sale list include a golf course purchased in 1955 in Oakland that was never developed...
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The Deerfield Beach, Fla.–based company O.ZoneLite says it has produced what possibly could be the world's first light bulb that kills airborne bacteria, germs, smoke, mildew, odors, mold, and fungi. The bulb, coated with titanium dioxide, oxidizes air that passes through it to kill microbes. The 23...
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Competition in the Philadelphia market is starting to heat up. Orleans Homebuilders, the No. 2 builder in the market in 2003, announced plans to acquire Realen Homes, which has operations in Philadelphia and Chicago. The move should expand Orleans' business in Pennsylvania and gives the East Coast b...
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Residential developers are turning to vacant commercial sites due to the lack of developable land and anti-sprawl efforts. Local governments would rather see the tax revenues and jobs generated by commercial projects, but many are willing to rezone commercial sites for housing in order to preserve o...
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Home builders with sales agents who speak Spanish will have a distinct advantage in the coming years as the Hispanic home buying market continues to expand. A study released in May by Texas A&M University's Real Estate Center reported that 48 percent of Hispanics who do not own a home are likely to ...
In November 2002, voters passed Proposition 46, a $2.1 billion statewide housing bond designed to fund affordable rental housing, emergency shelters, and homeless facilities, and to provide down payment assistance to first-time home buyers.
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A Phoenix outsourcer takes a rough conceptual from the architect, develops a final 3-D color rendering for a planning board presentation, and prints marketing materials -- for less.
These affordable networked lighting products that can run on both powerline and radio frequency (RF) systems.
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- Honeywell Power Products gaining popularity due to increased interest in home security.
- Best Software now offers Timberline Office Desktop as part of Timberline Office 2004.
- The Consumer Electronics Association launches campaign to promote multiroom audio.
Letting salespeople and field supers access back-office company data wirelessly in the field helps reduce inefficient paperwork and drive time.
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AS THE MILLENNIUM DAWNED, THE Braden Fellman Group, developer and builder of Greenwood Lofts in Atlanta, was poised to take advantage of a number of hot-button trends: infill construction, loft living, and for-sale rather than for-rent apartments. The company had almost 20 years of experience in ren...
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AT FIRST GLANCE THE SALES FIGURES for Park Place III in Frederick, Md., seem good, but they're downright fantastic once you hear the back story. The first units in this third of five condominium buildings planned at Worman's Mill, a 307-acre, master planned community in the far suburbs of Washington...
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GIVEN ZIANI'S DESIRABLE NEWPORT Coast, Calif., location, it's tempting to figure that all 168 attached units sold in just 13 months because of where they are rather than what they had to offer. But their appeal went beyond location.
WHY IT WORKED: Builder Miller and Smith has lots of experience with the affluent move-down, empty-nester, so it knew what bells and whistles to throw at this project, including expansive glass, decks, and patios on the lake-facing rear elevation, Nantucket-style shingles, and a host of top-notch int...
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WHY IT WORKED: Value is the main draw at Forest Park. The homes, which range in price from $235,900 to $378,900, are downright affordable for tony Naples, Fla. Throw in more than 100 acres of forest, a 20-acre lake, and an award-winning community clubhouse, and you've got the ingredients for success...
WHY IT WORKED: Location, price, and better-than-average interior appointments all contributed to Cedar Rose's success, but it's the high level of exterior architecture that really pulled in the buyers. Charming Craftsman-, Spanish-, and Prairie-style elevations feature numerous details that give the...
Critics often don't see that, despite bringing significant change to the social and economic fabric of the community, the process of gentrification will result in positive, tangible benefits.
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A soft touch not only serves Vergnolle's reputation well but also helps him breeze through the permitting and zoning process.
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It's clear from their stories that success at building homes, like success in racing, depends on team work.
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The top 10 builders in the top 50 markets across the country.
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Last year was a good year for builders in the country's top 50 metropolitan areas.As they did in 2000, builders in these markets took home more than half the total number of single-family permits issued, accounting for 634,899 such permits in 2001, or 52 percent of the total 1,221,200 permits issued...