Blog Archives




 

  • People: The best investment
    By Bonnie Pickartz - Wednesday December 7, 2011
    We tend to think of business investments as hiring the best person for the job, buying the best equipment, and educating ourselves and staff. We don't think about time spent with clients or people who may become clients as perhaps the most important investment. Without these people, the rest of the investments can't pay off. How often have you been deep into a meeting with a potential client when you find out that they aren't building for one, three, or even five or more years? How often has an email or phone call indicated they were in urgent need of information only to discover that the urgency is based on their own timeline? We are looking for the next project and they are researching their future ... sometimes a distant future...

  • Survey: More bidding, more solo acts, more clients disappear
    By Rob Heselbarth - Friday December 2, 2011
    Preliminary results of our annual Market Trends Survey are coming in and I thought I’d share a few of the more interesting results in advance of the big report that appears in the January/February 2012 issue. We asked a few new questions this year to keep things interesting, and we hope you appreciate the information. More of you than ever are running one-person operations. It’s unfortunate to see, but I wonder how you feel about it. Is it humbling, is it empowering, or both? How will this experience change the way you do business when you’re able to hire people again? What lessons will you learn? Almost 75% of you are bidding on projects. This is interesting information but unfortunately we haven’t asked this question before so...

  • Don’t sit around waiting for the industry to come back
    By Todd Vendituoli - Monday November 21, 2011
    Many builders are slow these days and we all know the story: banks have tight lending policies, the economy, consumer sentiment and a slew of other reasons. But it’s also true that not every market is the same and some of the builders who I speak with are still busy. So what are you doing with your time if you are in the slow category? Are you just waiting and hoping things will come back to where they were or are you doing something to prepare and expand your business? Here are a few ideas of how to fill your time while you’re slow: Social media. You could be expanding your presence through social media outlets such as Twitter, Facebook, and write a blog to inform people about what you do. Yes it takes time and effort but...

  • New transitions rely heavily on clear communication, respect
    By Maureen Alley - Friday November 18, 2011
    I recently switched roles. Previously I was editor for Residential Design + Build magazine. Now I'm community editor for ForResidentialPros.com, RD+B , Qualified Remodeler and Kitchen & Bath Design News magazines. I've been in the new role for a few weeks now, and I'm feeling a bit more settled in. This is a new position to the group, myself and team. We're all learning as we go and so far it's been a relatively smooth transition. I've taken on new positions in the past that turned out to be train wrecks - everyone has a different expectation of your role including yourself. That hasn't been the case with my new role, and I'm thankful. Communication is the key to almost every single aspect to life - including job transitions...

  • Radon and its health risks
    By Stevie Mistele-Wildt - Thursday November 10, 2011
    We are more in tune with consumers asking for energy efficient and green built homes, but how many of us know how to build radon-resistant Homes? It’s not that we want consumers to spend more on their new home construction. And while those costs add up with new technology, building products and constant code changes, isn’t it a good idea to provide good indoor air quality as well? Radon is nothing new. It’s just more prevalent today because new homes are constructed using better building practices, making homes tighter than in the past. Radon is a cancer-causing radioactive gas that is naturally found in ground soils. It rises out of the ground and dissipates in the air. Research has found indoor radon is a health threat in homes...

  • Be your client’s advocate
    By Bonnie Pickartz - Wednesday November 2, 2011
    Can you say, “Would you like fries with that?” If you can't or if you don't think it's necessary to ask your client if there is more that you can do, you're missing an opportunity to expand your offerings. Customer service is the key to meeting the needs of your client. We should always ask about options they may not have considered. You have to admit, it's worked for Mickey D's. Our clients come to us as professionals, experts in our fields, to help them make decisions and better understand how to design and build their homes. They may have done some homework, read books, spent time wandering around the Internet, and even sat down with one or more contractors, suppliers, or salespeople. But if they're spending time with you, they...

  • You know it's true: Design matters
    By Rob Heselbarth - Thursday October 27, 2011
    It doesn’t get much better for architects and designers when a respected organization such as John Burns Real Estate Consulting releases results of a survey that confirm what we all know: Good design sells homes. Mollie Carmichael, principal with JBRC, says in a recent e-newsletter, “Design is a top priority for consumers today. Good design is the balance consumers are looking for in order to motivate them to make a purchase. As shown in the graph [above], ‘home style and design’ ranked second in our survey of 10,000 prospective buyers across the nation – second only to the most important investment rule in real estate: ‘location, location, location.’” Carmichael adds, “We are seeing all sorts of creative design in...

  • Do consumers really know what green means?
    By Todd Vendituoli - Thursday October 20, 2011
    It seems that “green building” is the hot topic these days. Everywhere you look it is touted as the way of the future and everyone is claiming to be a green builder. There is no doubt that we, as builders, need to advance the available technology that exists and design and build better homes. There are many that are doing this but also many that are jumping on the bandwagon because they feel it’s the thing to do. It is my feeling that due to the economics of our times, a new trend will emerge and green building and technologies will play a major role in this movement. Homes will be designed smaller but better suited to the actual needs of the owners — rooms and spaces that are fully utilized with less open and wasted...

  • Residential Design + Build magazine launches new website
    By Maureen Alley - Friday October 14, 2011
    Today is an exciting day for RD+B magazine. We launched our shiny, brand new website: ForResidentialPros.com . This is actually a portal site and houses RD+B and our sister publications, Qualified Remodeler and Kitchen & Bath Design News magazines. There are some cool things on the new site ... well, actually there are a lot of cool things ... but here are just a few to get you started. You can register. By registering you can comment on content. Now if an article piques your interest or makes you think of something, you can add it to the article. It's a great tool to allow our audience to participate in the content - not just consume it. You can like us on Facebook , follow on Twitter , and follow the conversations about...

  • Custom home professionals need education
    By Maureen Alley - Thursday October 6, 2011
    I’ve had many discussions lately that revolve around the same theme: education. All of these conversations started with the other person asking me, “What do our readers need? Are we providing what they need?” My response, “They need education.” I’ve talked with builders and designers who are so busy they are turning people away. Yes, they are out there. And I’ve talked with builders and designers who haven’t worked on a house in two years. So to understand the disparity, I asked a professional who is turning people away: “Why are you so busy and others can barely survive?” His answer was as simple as, “Those who are struggling aren’t changing how they operate. They aren’t taking advantage of...

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