Category Archives: Real Estate

The evidence is beginning to mount that the housing market has stabilized and is improving. While 2011 was the worst year for new single-family construction since World War II, a ray of sunshine erupted in the last quarter that is … Continue reading →

The Federal Housing Administration could run out of money over the next year and require a $700 million cash infusion from the Treasury Department to stay afloat, according to the Obama administration’s budget request sent Monday to Congress. But Obama … Continue reading →

Although new-home building isn’t likely to go gangbusters in the next 12 months, the worst seems to be over, according to the Home Building Outlook, a new quarterly report from Hanley Wood Market Intelligence (HWMI)—a division of Builder’s parent company Hanley Wood, … Continue reading →

The tips came flying so fast Wednesday morning at the first sales and marketing session of the International Builders’ Show that it was hard to know if there were indeed 115 of them as the brochure promised. Most likely there … Continue reading →

A new survey of sales managers for home builders finds a serious disconnect between how they think their sales teams are performing and the actual results those sellers are producing. Shore Consulting, a sales and marketing consulting firm based in … Continue reading →

You should always deliver on your customers’ expectations, but you can achieve even greater success if you exceed those expectations. Stay in touch before, during and after a job and inform customers about deliverable dates and any delays. These actions … Continue reading →

While national home prices and sales may not recover to their historical levels until 2013 at the earliest, some local housing markets always outperform others in any given year. In this second annual report (see last year’s report: Top 10 Markets to Watch … Continue reading →

Lumpy mailings are marketing materials that are a different shape than a flat letter–such as a small product sample or a ball with your logo on it–and are sent in the mail. A bulky envelope will make the recipient curious … Continue reading →

Contrary to popular opinion, most purchasing is not based on the lowest price. Service is a key component in many buying decisions and can take many forms: shorter turnaround in shipping, a customer-friendly website, dealing with problems quickly, admitting, correcting, … Continue reading →