Experience has never been more valued than right now, as builders deal with the double whammy of robust competition and weakening sales. In our eighth annual Fast Track list, we examine the secrets of fast-growing builders'success—and what they're doing to keep the pace.
EARLIER THIS YEAR, PARK SQUARE HOMES pulled out of a project in Claremont, Fla., that the Orlando, Fla.–based builder had spent the previous 18 months resolving with local officials and homeowners. Development costs were heading north of $50 million, and local home prices had fallen by 10 percent...
ANY NUMBER OF CLICHÉD SUPERLATIVES COULD be used to describe the Washington development team of Jim Gibson and Sam Dunn: heroes, white knights, last-minute saviors, men among men. The terms would all be appropriate for a duo who recently wrapped up a whopper of a NIMBY saga.
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NOT TOO LONG AGO, A CANCELLATION wasn't really a bad thing. If a buyer bailed and the house came back to the builder, all the sales agent had to do was call the next person on the interest list. And chances are, prices had gone up since the original contract was signed, so the builder probably made...
On June 1, Holiday Builders launched a monthlong sales promotion covering virtually all of its houses, built or presold, in Florida, where buyers who plunked down a deposit received a card entitling them to free gasoline for a year, a $2,000 value. Within the first eight days of the campaign...
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Any number of clichÉd superlatives could be used to describe the Washington development team of Jim Gibson and Sam Dunn: heroes, white knights, last-minute saviors, men among men. The terms would all be appropriate for a duo who recently wrapped up a whopper of a NIMBY saga.
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AS CONGRESSIONAL DEBATE ON immigration reform drags on, states and municipalities from coast to coast are taking matters into their own hands. Dozens of state laws and local ordinances have been passed, many of them targeting business owners who hire undocumented workers.
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THE ON-AGAIN, OFF-AGAIN LUMBER TRADE deal between the United States and Canada may be off again, say Canadian officials and industry executives.
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UNLESS THEY'RE WAY AHEAD of the curve, most builders don't know much about making homes healthier. A new Web site, www.saferbuilding.com, hopes to change that.
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THE KITCHEN IS CONSIDERED THE MOST IMPORTANT room in the house, so it is imperative that it be efficient. The August issue of Consumer Reports identifies the five worst goofs people make when designing kitchens and offers advice on how to fix them.
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RESIDENTIAL CONSTRUCTION in Florida received a temporary reprieve in late July, when Citizens Property Insurance Corp. agreed to continue writing builders risk policies through the end of 2006.
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AT WHAT POINT DOES A COMPETITOR'S ARCHITECTURAL design pass beyond “similar”? An ongoing court dispute between Minneapolis-based Rottlund Co. and Town and Country Homes (which builds in Minnesota and Illinois) could illuminate the tipping point and set a precedent for merchant-built housing.
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- ARMs are now more likely to go to people in the lowest income categories—i.e., those who are least able to afford the investment risk—according to a new study.
- As the real estate market cools, a huge number of new condos could be converted to rental properties over the next 18 months.
- A new...
HOME BUILDERS ARE MAKING SOME HEADWAY in their long fight to prove that impact fees are nothing more than illegal taxes as two recent decisions—one in Mississippi, the other in North Carolina—ruled in favor of the builders.
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TO SUPPORT ITS BURGEONING role as a full-service building product commercialization consulting firm, the NAHB Research Center recently held a groundbreaking ceremony to start construction of a new material and structural systems testing laboratory facility on its Upper Marlboro, Md., campus. With...
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HOUSING AFFORDABILITY CONTINUED TO weaken through the middle of 2006, falling to the lowest level since the late 1980s, and many of the investors/speculators that entered the market in 2004–2005 were canceling sales contracts and reselling units they had closed on earlier. In this environment...
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IT'S NOT AN EXAGGERATION TO SAY THAT HOME builders are extraordinarily generous and caring people. In just the past five years, the housing industry has donated more than $12 million to help people rebuild their homes and their lives following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the Indian Ocean tsunami...
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- The Home Builders Institute, partners with Retention Education to develop an English as a second language learning tool for the residential construction industry.
- The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers agrees to stop enforcing the so-called Philadelphia Ditch Rule.
- The NAHB creates a new...
THE TOWN OF BOULDER, COLO., WAS ESTABLISHED IN 1859 on the site of a supply camp for gold seekers. The developers laid out 4,044 lots at a cost of $1,000 each and, in an early case of discounting, quickly dropped that price to attract more buyers. The town grew steadily through the rest of the 19th...
WHY IT WORKED: In Jacksonville, Fla., most of the luxury condo buildings are located at the beach or miles away along the St. John's River. Deerwood Place Condominiums is the first luxury mid-rise to be built on the Southside, in the heart of the city's newer business and entertainment district.
WHY IT WORKED: These attached villas offer up great architectural design and a location that can't be beat. Covenant Hills is the last—and most prestigious—village to be built in Orange County, Calif.'s ultrasuccessful Ladera Ranch.
Rice Hope fills a niche in Savannah's real estate market, offering affordable, neotraditional-style homes in a mixed-use neighborhood that, at buildout, will boast 4,500 homes plus a 21-acre amenities center.