Builder Confidence on Rise in January
For Residential Pros
“The National Association of Home Builders is reporting that builder confidence in the market for newly built, single-family continued to climb for a fourth consecutive month in January, rising four points to 25 on the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI), released Wednesday, January 18. This is the highest level the index has attained since June of 2007.”

The Lean Designer: The best way to prepare for a plan review
Housing Zone
“As many of you know by now Professional Builder is holding three days of plan reviews by some of the top designers and architects in the country during the International Builders Show. I am honored to be part of that group and very much look forward to the event. Here are some juicy insider tips to help you take advantage of the opportunity…”

Seven Steps to Choosing the Perfect Circular Saw
Fine Homebuilding
“We recently reviewed 14 sidewinder circular saws and found seven features that separate the good from the not-so-good. Let’s take a closer look.”

I Still Have Hope
QR Market Memo
“Fortunately for me, I have found a way through this. I guess tough times can either make or break anybody. So far, I am determined to do whatever I have to do. The real strength that I needed throughout these years of business survival had to come from within. Even now as economic news worsens and we face a very long journey before us, inner motivation is an absolute. Without it we have no hope. There it is. No matter what else drops away, I still have hope. As long as hope remains I can keep going.”

Stronger Lure for Prospective Home Buyers
Wall Street Journal
“Home prices and mortgage rates have fallen so far that the monthly cost of owning a home is more affordable than at any point in the past 15 years and is less expensive than renting in a growing number of cities.”

Giving thanks is not just for Thanksgiving!
Housing Zone
“That fact that you are still in the game is really amazing. We conduct business completely different than what we did in 2005, we take nothing for granted, and we have learned new skills and attitudes that will be the platform for our future success when our market returns to 2001 levels.”

EcoHome has a wonderfully informative article that runs us through the potential pitfalls. Let’s take a look, shall we? We recommend checking out the article for the full look.

• It is important to watch your calculations. Check and then re-check again. Don’t just use the default calcs. As the old saying says, “Measure twice, cut once.”
• Don’t forget the air! Air flow and air filters both play a big part in certification.
• You’ve got to make sure duct leakage is at 6 percent or less for LEED for Homes, so make sure to watch this portion of the building process carefully.
• The simplest thing might be the best thing you can do to achieve LEED certification: communicate. Don’t assume that the left hand knows what the right is doing. The more you communicate with your team, and carefully document everyone’s efforts, the less chance there will be of something slipping through the cracks.

9 tricks for creating a super model
HousingZone.com
“Believe it or not, if you look closely, you’ll see that some of the world’s most enduring super models have a few things in common with successful model homes.”

Summering in Style in Scandinavia
Wall Street Journal
“From the spectacular setting of Max Hansson’s seaside estate to secluded clearings in the middle of the forest, Gotland has become a prime destination for Sweden’s high-end second-home buyers and builders, who want to personalize their vacation settings.”

The New Customer Isn’t Different
Qualified Remodeler
“Everywhere you turn these days there is advice about how to handle the new (post-recession) customer. Be on your toes, on your knees, between your ears. But are they—the same folks you did business with before the recession—really that different? I wish the proponents of this new, improved customer handling would explain how and, more importantly, why these same people are somehow different now.”

But what if you have no idea who they are? It’s important to watch trends closely, but sometimes it seems like people don’t even know what they want. We found an article on BUILDER that goes into a little more detail about this. They quote an expert, Brent Harrington, as saying “There is no ‘today’s consumer.’ They are incredibly diverse.”

How true! BUILDER points out that the United States continue to grow in population, so there will be more young families needing homes. At the same time, people continue to live longer, necessitating universal designs for aging in place. Let’s not forget, too, that households without children continue to rise.

What do those people want? How do you figure out who your customers are? Is it location (e.g. a new downtown condo tower might appear more to young singles than those with kids)? Do you do market research to figure out what you need to do? Or do you just focus on good design and trust that your customers, whoever they may be, will love it? Let us know in the comments!

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 says, and helps ensure clients are comparing apples to apples when shopping around. That might sound like a bad thing — enabling shopping around — but really, you’re doing yourself a favor by being clear about your service offering and making sure no questions go unanswered. Ricchi writes:

Like any endeavor, the success of a construction project depends on a clear goal and a well-defined path to reach that goal. If your plan is inadequate, your project will be disorganized, take longer to complete, and end up costing more money. But a clear and detailed game plan, called a scope of work, can prevent these problems and help to keep your project on track.

A scope of work refers to documents that describe the project objective and specify the activities and materials that are needed to complete that objective. If you are bidding a small project (replacing a broken water heater, for example), the scope of work may be simply a one-page written document. Larger projects will require a larger and longer scope of work. If plans or drawings are necessary, they too become part of the scope.

More details and a simple but helpful example can be found in Ricchi’s original article on FineHomebuilding.com.

• Focus on marketing. Getting the word out can differentiate you from your competition. This might mean anything from renting billboard space to targeted mailings to allowing a recent customer to open their home for a private event to showcase your company’s work.
• Take a look at your website. To tie in the the point above, marketing is important, especially e-marketing. More and more people research and get most of their information online. Make sure your website is up to snuff. Don’t have one? It’s time to look into that. We offered some more tips here.
• Think about social media. This is yet another important part of marketing! Does your company have a Facebook page or Twitter account? How about a Flickr page full of project photos?
• Learn a new skill, or brush up on one. Is there some sort of technical or business skill that you wish you knew? Now is the time.
• Go green. It’s here, it’s happening. How can you build green?
• Attempt to have fun. It’s easier said than done of course, especially in this economy, but what a great thing builders and remodelers can do: create and transform houses and buildings, build houses, apartments, buildings etc. From us to you, thanks for all your work!

• Amazing builder videos
• DeWalt-16 Nail Gun by David Wiggins
• Q&A with green builder Matt Risinger of Risinger Homes
• Case study: LEED silver-certified home in Oregon
• Remaking the American housing model