Paul Deffenbaugh

I began my career in construction at 10 years-old by getting trapped in an excavated basement on a new home site. Since then, I’ve become a bit savvier about construction – which means I can usually find my way out of a hole.

In the mid 80s, I did historic restoration work as a carpenter in Fredericksburg, Virginia. To this day, I enjoy going back there to visit some of the work I did. During that time, I spent an entire summer rebuilding windows in a hotel built in 1825. There’s nothing like old dirt.

I’ve also built custom homes and done some light commercial work, but in the early 90s I got the opportunity to combine two of my passions – residential construction and writing. Since then, I’ve held a series of editorial positions at residential trade publications and now get to direct the editorial vision for the Reed Residential Group, which comprises Professional Builder, Professional Remodeler, Custom Builder, Housing Giants, and the HousingZone.com network of websites.

From this position, I get a great birds-eye view of residential construction and want to share some of what I see in this blog.

User Stats

Recent Posts - 0
Avg Posts Per Week - 1
Posts Written - 51

Recent Posts

Add Value through Quality Management

The August editorial in Professional Builder is about the changing nature of value engineering and cost control. I argue that the only way for builders to enact real change and add value (or reduce cost) is through defined quality management practices. Check it out here.

Interesting perspective on the same topic from Fletcher Groves at SAI Consulting. Check out his blog here. For you philosophy buffs, note how Fletcher flexes that Kantian Dialetics muscle.

Supply Chain in Turmoil

In the August issue of Professional Builder, I wrote an article about the supply chain and what's going on. It was relatively short, but addressed a few issues that are significant in our industry. In the end, I claimed that the opportunity to improve the supply chain and gain efficiencies in cost and scheduling rested primarily with home builders. (Remodelers and the supply chain are a whole 'nother issue, kids.)

Here's a link to the story. Check it out, then sound off. Comment there or here. Doesn't matter. I'm curious what people think.

Consumer Confidence Necessary

We've done a bunch of surveying recently for both PB and PR. The upshot is that residential contractors desperately want consumer confidence to rise. Without it, the housing market won't recover. Sounds simple, I know, but everything else -- inventory rates, cancellation rates, absorbtion rates, mortgage rates -- all are just precursors to driving consumer confidence.

Taylor Morrison, Scottsdale-based home builder, has tried to jump start that confidence by addressing the concerns homebuyers have with falling home values. Called the Taylor Morrison Total Assurance plan, it promises a refund of the buyer's downpayment -- up to 10 percent of the original price -- if the home drops in value in five years. So, for buyers worried about investing in a home now, that means they have some assurance that five years from now -- even if the home is worth less -- they have som...Read More

Rymer in Russia: Production Values

Professional Builder columnist, John Rymer, is spending June doing sales training for a home builder in Moscow. He will be posting regular updates and observations on this blog.

New Homes in Moscow are typically delivered as “partially finished.” This equates to a home in drywall stage in US. The tradition of not delivering a home totally complete goes back to the Soviet days when public housing was brought to the market in a similar fashion. A cottage industry has of “home finishers” is now part of the Russian homebuilding landscape. “Finishers” are typically one or two man companies and will often live in the home – for months at a time – while they install everything from plumbing and lighting fixtures to flooring to cabinets. It is not unusual for the work done by finishers to reach $150 per sq. ft. on mid-to-hi...Read More

Rymer in Russia: Financing

Professional Builder columnist, John Rymer, is spending June doing sales training for a home builder in Moscow. He will be posting regular updates and observations on this blog.

The financing of homes in Russia has no national agencies, such as FNMA or FHA. Builders and developers must negotiate with banks on an ad hock basis to bring financing to their customers and rates float according to the market. The result is that interest rates on home loans have soared since last fall as banks believed that home loans deserved a far greater risk premium. Those able to get a loan ( a minimum of 25% down payment, and more typically a 50% down payment) now find they have interest rates in the low teens! In addition, banks were known to cut off credit to customers whose homes were already under construction and had executed mortgage agreements. As a positive note, because ...Read More

Blogs	Recent Posts	Total Posts
House Beat	0	51

Search Powered By