Whatever It Takes

Although the remodeling business hasn’t drastically changed, the landscape has. Because of the economy, homeowners have changed their personal behavior. They are not as likely to purchase new homes because of the decline in resale value of their existing homes. Therefore, most homeowners have decided to upgrade their domicile instead. This has resulted in additional opportunities for companies like ours that focus on exterior home improvements. The government energy tax credit has also stimulated sales.
—Power Home Remodeling Group

The remodeling business has shrunk because of homeowners’ pull back as they wait to see what is in economic store for them. We will slowly crawl out of the economic downturn with a few dips and plateaus along the way.
—Landis Construction Corp.

Q: Some remodelers have thrived and even grown in what has endlessly been called “difficult” economic times. What’s different about these remodelers who have succeeded, apparently against the odds?

Some remodelers have begun to appeal to homeowners’ expectations that something “more” needs to happen when buying home improvements. Consumers are developing a subtle yet deep mistrust of simple fixes, such as installing new siding over old siding, covering up old dirty surfaces without fixing the underlying problem that caused the dirty surface.
—Mosby Building Arts

In our case, we have diversified our product line, realigned job duties to help cut overhead, increased training for our sales staff and increased our Internet marketing activities.
—Statewide Remodeling

I can’t speak for other remodelers, but even though we were hit hard and had to make dramatic cuts, I think there were a few things that worked in our favor. We have an amazing team-oriented culture that was willing to adapt and do more with less. We were willing to use our savings to keep our strong core of employee owners on staff, even though for a time the revenues wouldn’t support it. That decision turned out to be the right thing as that core team was together and ready to make the most of business opportunities once they finally returned. We also diversified, creating some new offerings and expanding on some that were already in place, such as small projects and service work. Another decision that paid off was relentless and very creative marketing. We just kept looking for ways to invest and maximize our presence as the market was shrinking, which not only brought us more business in the moment, but also put us in a strong position when things picked up.
—Harrell Remodeling

Those who succeed are those who are capable of being flexible and adjusting business strategy quickly to move with the market. We can no longer do the things that have always worked for us in the past.
—Dave Fox Design Build Remodelers

The greatest thing about the remodeling industry is that it rewards those who are constantly working at improving. The industry is more about attitude than anything else. If you believe you can and work like you know you can, you will succeed even in tough economic times like these.
—Pacific Coast Home Solutions

A willingness to over deliver on service, installation and overall customer relations is key to success. At the end of the day, regardless of the economic climate, it comes down to happy customers who then become advocates for the brand. In an industry often stained by unethical business practices and disrespect for the homeowner, quality products and remarkable service is what makes successful companies thrive.
—Power Home Remodeling Group

Q: What is the one most significant change in the market and/or how you do business?

Training and performance testing will be significant changes. Education of remodeling consumers and the remodeling workforce will be required for our home improvements to be reliably installed. Home-performance testing and energy audits will become central to our data collection that will guide remodeling and repair design, as well as improve the quality control of home improvements. “Prove it” is quickly becoming the new accountability, whether in energy claims for windows, energy efficiency or moisture management.
—Mosby Building Arts

Unlike all of the recessions I have seen in the past 40 years, where money for improvements may have been costly but still available to those with lower credit scores, today loans are only available to those with good to excellent credit.
—Statewide Remodeling