What does 2012 hold for home building? Best as anyone can guess — more uncertainty. But builders should take heed of Builder Magazine‘s list of 10 business trends to look for in 2012 as they gather themselves and strategize for the year ahead. After all, one shift in strategy could be all it takes to [...]

It’s nice to be able to choose, right? And it’s good to be able to offer your customers choices — except when it isn’t. Psychologists have long noticed that when people have too many choices, they can become figuratively paralyzed. It’s like choosing a sandwich: Sometimes you just want a selection of well thought-out choices laid out [...]

Multigenerational housing is experiencing a comeback as financial woes and unemployment have forced many families to share the same roof. Or, roofs, rather. Accessory dwelling units (ADUs) are popping up across the country. As secondary homes built on residential lots, ADUs are sometimes referred to as backyard cottages, granny flats or mother-in-law apartments. They are [...]

Don’t believe everything you read – the American homeowner still largely prefers the detached single-family home. While several markets across the country like Boston, Portland, Minneapolis and Kansas City have seen a surge in condos, townhouses and apartments, data from the 2010 American Community Survey indicates 79.2 percent of new homes built in the last [...]

With new home construction in flux, now is a great time for builders to focus on doing business smarter. Whether shoring up irresponsible spending, mismanaging project timelines or, as we’ll focus on today, creating inaccurate estimates, there’s much a builder can do to protect the bottom line even while the market is slow. According to [...]

These days, new-home builders face many challenges when balancing lavish home features with competitive sales prices. This practice is called value-engineering, and it requires a firm grasp of trends and marketplace alike. Just because consumers are more cost-conscious — and sizable loans are more difficult to come by — doesn’t mean home buyers have given [...]

Last week, the U.S. Commerce Department reported June marked a five-month high for new-home construction, leading some economists to believe the housing market may be in the beginning stages of a turnaround. About 629,000 new home projects were started in June, which is an increase of 15 percent from May and 17 percent higher than [...]

The Coalition of Sensible Housing Policy recently released a white paper expressing broad concerns about establishing a 10 percent to 20 percent down payment requirement to meet Qualified Residential Mortgage (QRM) standards. As part of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, regulators have explored several ways to prevent homeowners from defaulting on [...]

It’s common knowledge the current housing market works in the buyer’s favor. But that might be painting the picture too broadly. Polyana de Costa of bankrate.com points out five trends to look for during the summer 2011 home-buying season. Some of them might surprise you. Mortgage rates are unlikely to go lower: “Mortgage rates are [...]

Writing for FineHomebuilding.com, blogger and licensed contractor Kia Ricchi shares her thoughts on the importance of creating a sufficiently detailed scope of work for any construction or remodeling project. A well-written scope of work ensures the service provider and the client — and even any specified subcontractors — are all on the same page, she [...]