-
DESPITE HAVING A WIDE variety of upgrade options during the home buying process, the typical consumer gets shut out of the HVAC system decision. “Buyers have been choosing appliances and faucets for years but never get the option to choose the HVAC,” says Mike Barnes, sales and distribution manager...
THE CARPENTERS TRAINING CENTER FOR NORTHERN California is piloting a nine-week boot camp–style pre-apprenticeship training program to give workers the skills to succeed on the jobsite.
-
A shortage of skilled construction workers is causing delays in completion and delivery of new homes in the Tucson, Ariz., area, according to the Southern Arizona HBA. The group says demand for new homes is outpacing supply—primarily because of a lack of skilled workers.
-
ON MARCO ISLAND, AN AFFLUENT island community on the west coast of Florida, Ed Ehlen, the owner of a flooring company, wanted a lawn next to his $4 million home that would require very little maintenance. So he put down artificial turf, like the material used in sports arenas. But city officials...
-
Beazer Homes and M/I Homes joined forces to buy 584 acres near Orlando (Fla.) International Airport for about $25 million. The plan is for the companies to move forward on the Wetherbee project as a 50-50 partnership to own, develop, and build a 1,600-home community of single-family homes and...
WHEN A CINCINNATI NONPROFIT CALLED the Work Resource Center (WRC) set out last year to create a building material recycling center, it did its homework. Now, after less than a year in business, it is about to pay off the initial $500,000 investment and go into the black. The building materials...
-
A broad coalition of business groups in Pennsylvania is fighting proposed legislation that would raise the state's realty transfer tax 50 percent to pay for mass transit projects. The Pennsylvania Builders Association says the tax is unfair because new-home buyers are not organized to fight the...
-
A full 71 percent of baby boomers surveyed by the AARP say they would like to remain in their current home. This poses a serious challenge for builders, who see the boomers as a primary market. The good news for builders is that the survey respondents said they would move to a “final” home if it...
-
A landfill owner has earned high environ-market for asphalt “tear off” shingles. These shingles are rarely recycled because they contain many contaminants. But Dale Behnen of Peerless Landfill, near Valley Park, Mo., has found a mix that works for highway road material and should cost less than...
-
Only eight companies made Forbes magazine's 2005 list of “Supercharged Companies,” and two of them are home builders—Los Angeles-based KB Home and Philadelphia-based Toll Brothers. The designation was given to companies on the Forbes Platinum 400 or America's Best Big Companies that were expected...
-
In an attempt to help sort out some of the confusion about predatory lending laws, the federal Office of the Comptroller of the Currency recently issued a rule defining the types of state laws that apply to national banks that included a strong anti-predatory lending standard. The new rule preempts...
-
New Jersey's Supreme Court ruled that a municipality may issue a code violation even if the builder no longer owns the property and a certificate of occupancy (CO) has been issued.
As Habitat sought to transition from a passionate movement dominated by one man to a large, complex organization with far-flung commitments, it was becoming increasingly evident that Millard Fuller's days with Habitat were numbered.
-
When it's a targeted message to a narrow group of prospective buyers or a specific offer for a slow-moving community, Hoke says the best use of marketing dollars is direct marketing, including broadcast e-mails, direct mail, and invitation-only events.
-
By tweaking costs and staffing levels, builders can add revenue to the bottom line, keep growing with the same amount of people, and, in some cases, put experienced building industry people in more productive jobs.
-
Two-thirds of small business respondents cited health-care costs as a critical problem.
-
Smart builders these days are offering prepackaged options that are easier for buyers to select and easier for staff to manage.
-
This special field report, "CSI: Cost Saving Initiatives," combs through six aspects of business operations-- products, benefits, construction, technology, marketing, and design -- to make an arresting case for strategies that can help both large and small builders get their operating costs down.
Given Trump's high-rise track record and his reputation for urban glitz and glam, the design surprise with The Residences at Trump National Golf Club and the still-on-the-boards condo building is that they are so restrained.
-
In flush times, design often drove what was built, and until recently, many builders sought to blur the line between production and custom homes.
-
Fewer callbacks, streamlined inspections, happier consumers, and (gasp!) even lower insurance premiums have resulted from the focus on quality.
-
IN RECENT YEARS, A WIDE range of new flashing materials has entered the home building market. The NAHB Research Center and Williams Building Diagnostics, on behalf of the national Partnership for Advancing Technology in Housing (PATH), is surveying these innovative new products and describing the...
-
- The House introduces four bills toimprove OSHA's enforcement of rules that govern small business owners.
- The nation's home builders endorse bipartisan legislation allowing affordable health coverage for up to two million uninsured working families.
- The NAHB launches a major advertising...
Today, manufacturers spend millions in fluid mechanics research, use sophisticated software, and employ doctoral candidates to design toilets that use less water to remove more solid waste without clogging.
-
Though economic growth is expected to slow slightly, job growth and only modest interest rate hikes will lead to continued declines in delinquencies.
-
COMSTOCK HOMEBUILDING TOOK COMPETITION in the Washington, D.C. market to a new level on Dec. 14, 2004, with its initial public offering (IPO). By all accounts, Comstock's IPO—the first by a builder since WCI Communities' in March 2002—has been a success. The offer generated more than $70 million in...
-
WCI Communities is growing its high-rise business up the East Coast with the February acquisition of Renaissance Housing Corp., a luxury builder and high-rise developer headquartered in Reston, Va. Renaissance averages more than 100 closings a year, at an average sales price of more than $1...