Never Been a Better Time to Buy

The Fed just announced another 3/4% cut to the Central Bank Rate making it now 6 cuts in 6 months. They are doing this to stimulate financial markets but already announcements have been made by commercial banks that their lending rates will fall to just above 5%. This will in-turn mean that you can take advantage of this incredible time as a buyer. Right now, there is oversupply in the housing market which means there are deals to be had. If you couple that with the fact that the lending rate is so low this translates to being able to afford more home for your hard-earned dollar. If you are considering building a home- even better. When you build a home, you should end the process with a certain amount of equity. The economics are simple when you start thinking about leveraging dollars at a reduced amount from the bank, having instant equity and being in a buyer's market. This market should recover and when it does expect rates to go tick back up.

New Housing Trends

I think I have enough information from the builder's conference I attended last week to blog for the next few months. One thing I thought you would find interesting was a session we had from a prominent architect in the Denver area discussing new housing trends. Among some of the things mentioned:
Project rooms-an oversized utility room that serves as an area for more than just the wash to get done. These areas can contain a place to do laundry, lockers for the family, mud sink, desk area and plenty of cabinet space for storage.
Hearth rooms-a smaller room with a fireplace to get away for quiet reading and reflection.
Command centers-a small built-in desk area seperate from the study with space for paying bills, checking emails, dropping-off mail and keys. This space is normally located right next to the kitchen.
Return to main-floor living-having the majority of your home located on the first floor.
No more formal living-considered a wasted space with today's modern families, this trend is continuing and rarely found in new home design anymore.
Wine cabinetry/wine rooms-more and more people are discovering wine and technology has driven the price down on dual temperature controlled wine refrigerators. These refrigerators have caused people to build around them and have cabinetry dedicated to additional bottle-storage. Plus it is a very cool look.
Outdoor living-a growing trend in Texas but nationally as well. This is basically an oversized patio with fireplace, outdoor kitchen, grill, television and sometimes sink. This is a great cost-effective way to extend square footage of living space.

Surviving Tough Times

I just got back from a builder's conference in Las Vegas and the keynote speaker was Al Trellis, noted author and business consultant to homebuilders all across the country. He had so many good tips and advice for us but the overall theme of this conference was surviving tough times.
The first tip he gave to us was to reduce risk. He said you reduce risk by reducing inventory of land and houses, and reduced overhead. Just a tip I had never heard before, but in good times you should carry about 2-1/2 to 3 years of lot inventory, and in tougher times 1-1/2 to 2 years of inventory. The second tip he gave was to increase demand through product improvement and pricing. He stressed doing this by studying the next new trends in product enhancements for the home and making sure that your prices didn't increase even though you were providing a better product. The third tip he gave was to improve effectiveness and productivity in marketing, sales and production. As a company, I know we stress improved production and effectiveness in our weekly strategy meetings. This is key because most importantly we are able to pass this on to our clients in terms of improved pricing. Just today, we were showing a potential client several of our homes and he asked me point blank, how are you guys able to build for these prices? My response to that is I don't know what anyone else is doing, all I know is that the increased efficiency we strive for we pass through so our clients can get the most for their money.