PB January 2005

Stories of unhappy new home buyers seem all too common today. Whether it be problems with the building experience altogether, part of the process in building their home, or in the final product, too often it seems nothing can transform - or quiet — an angry home owner back to the excited home buyer he or she once was.

The end of World War II marked a watershed, not only in global geopolitical relationships, but in the development of the American community as well. For over a decade and a half this nation had struggled with an unprecedented economic melt-down followed by a battle for survival of the free world as we knew it.

The opening of Petco Park, San Diego's new downtown baseball park, was more accessible to San Diego's North County residents, thanks in part to five home builder/developers. From April 5 through October 1, Bosa Development, Barratt American, Brookfield Homes, D.R. Horton-Continental Series, and Shea Homes were part of a public-private partnership called The Coaster Home Run.

Tico Taco is a porcelain tile with the HI-TECH Gres characteristics of unglazed, multiple-loaded porcelain with rectified and polished options. This tile can be used for both residential and commercial environments. Tico Taco offers a shimmering stone look that's complete with a variety of colors, sizes, mosaics and decorative pieces.

www.trusjoist.com Parallam PSL (parallel strand lumber) headers, beams and columns are engineered to support heavier loads than comparably sized, conventional glulam or sawn lumber products. Strong and dimensionally stable, Parallam is an ideal choice for load-bearing beams. Builders can use a smaller beam, yet achieve a longer span than with sawn lumber.

Several e-mails lately have sought suggestions on ways to retain employees. Perhaps the best way to address this is to first determine what motivates people to make changes in the first place. After 20+ years in the search business, we have seen or heard most of them. While our findings are not scientific, they are time tested.

Each of the case studies in this article tells us something we can build upon in creating future master-planned communities, particularly in what we have learned in the last 10 years since Celebration. The four cornerstones of planning must be: Let's look at each point. Too few developers consider the long-range effect development has on the local area, whereas the local public officials and po...

In 2005, downtown infill housing is hot while cul-de-sacs are not, as traffic congestion has clogged suburbs nationwide, according to Emerging Trends In Real Estate 2005, a report jointly published by PriceWaterhouseCoopers and the Urban Land Institute (www.uli.org). New York City, Southern California, Southern Florida and Washington D.

Scotchgard Protector is now offered on American Standard's Cadet Round and Cadet Oval countertop sinks, which helps to make the surfaces easier to keep clean. With Scotchgard Protector, it is easy to wipe away toothpaste, lotions, makeup and other grime from the sink. And, the unique finish allows water to bead up and run off into the drain instead of collecting in the sink.

A sad story about how a builder goes to the trouble to find a great piece of land, build a good house, do all of the hard stuff well, then blows it over four or five details