PB October 2010

Not satisfied with the appraised value of your new homes? Follow these steps for avoiding the dreaded low appraisal

The sheer size and growth of the 55-plus cohort over the past 10 years is altering the builder market. There simply aren’t enough younger buyers to occupy the number of homes that Boomers want to sell.

The NHQ Awards represent the best of the best in quality-driven home building companies, and the 2011 class is no exception. All three winners — Charter Homes & Neighborhoods, Haseko Construction, and Wathen Castanos Hybrid Homes — employ numerous quality management best practices. Here are a few particularly interesting best practices that caught our attention.

What we can learn from Australian construction practices; Using checklists to ensure quality management; Market update - what the bears see

Instead of price chasing the competition, Wathen-Castanos reinvents itself as a high-performance, green builder to grow during the market’s ‘darkest days.’

Haseko Construction, in Honolulu, put its quality management system to the test when it rolled out 22 neo-traditional models as part of its foray into single-family home building

For Lancaster, Pa.-based Charter Homes & Neighborhoods, customer satisfaction is more than great service and warranty — it’s about making the homebuying experience something truly special

Implementing the principles of Lean in home building is no easy task, but the payoffs in waste reduction and cost savings can be substantial. Here's a road map for getting started

Now in year five of the worst housing market downturn since the Great Depression, most builders have tackled monumental challenges just to keep their doors open. Here are key takeaways from three home builders

It’s good to be green, but everything starts with affordability. That’s what home builders have learned about creating marketable products for cost-conscious, savvy buyers. Solar panels and tankless water heaters are attractive options, but achieving green at an affordable price requires getting back to basics: using land economically, reducing waste, making the most of smaller square footage, and keeping operating costs to a minimum.