Construction
When It Comes to Crawlspace Ventilation: Do You Vent or Not?
Find out some advantages to opting out of ventilation for a crawlspace and see how to condition it. (Revised 2018)
Italianate Magic
If you sell houses from a furnished model home, you've probably spent countless hours trying to come up with a memory point that will separate yours from all the other model homes shoppers see before they narrow their choices. (Even a great house plan needs that special something to stir recall.) Here's a memory maker that we think is terrific, in a house that's spectacular.
Tucked Away Winner
Creating a special townhouse that fits within a green building environment was MBK Homes' goal in Ladera Ranch, California's Terramor neighborhood. These Briar Rose tuck-under townhouses are new floor plans, created specifically for Terramor. "The product itself is one of the more efficient we have done, from a land planning standpoint," says MBK president Tim Kane.
Success with Semi-Custom
To paraphrase management consultant Chuck Shinn, "There's no such thing as a semi-custom production builder. There are only production builders, custom builders and builders who aren't making any money." Behind that axiom is the assumption that customizing production plans interferes with productivity and, therefore, profits.
Competing Green
Building environmentally sound, sustainable homes was once perceived as a quaint but impractical idea for builders in terms of time and money needed to implement on a large scale. Besides, most homebuyers weren't expressing interest in the concept, so what would be the point? Today, more builders seem to be getting the point.
If You Can't Give Me All 6's
Customer satisfaction surveys are so popular because they provide valuable insights for companies looking for ways to improve customer relations
Arguing with Results
The year 1976 will always be among the most vivid in my memory. It was the year of the American Bicentennial. It was the year a little-known governor from Georgia became the first elected post-Watergate and post-Vietnam president. It was the year of "Rocky," "Roots" and the death of Mao Tse-tung. It was the year I got married.
Interviews: Sales Professionals
Empty nesters are the largest growing segment of the new home buying public. Yet many of these customers have no built-in sense of urgency to buy. How do you move them from "This is something we would like to do someday" to "This is something we would want to do today"? Judy Hamiton: "I get a lot of empty-nester customers who are pretty relaxed and not particularly motivated to do anything.
