Oct 6 2008 8:19AM | Permalink | Email this | Comments (0) |
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Last week I attended the NAHB Fall Board of Directors’ meeting in San Diego and it was down right depressing. Congress was in the process of debating on the bailout bill that Secretary Paulson requested. NAHB’s senior officers and senior staff were urging all of us to call our senators and congressmen. There were stories of banks coming to builders asking them for more equity as they reevaluated their loans; some builders haven’t sold a home in six months. There were horror stories about excessive price increases by manufacturers whose raw materials were steel and oil-based products and major cut backs on spending and personnel.

I must admit that it was quite depressing but one great thing happened – My son and daughter-in-law live in the San Diego area and they got us tickets for a rock concert at San Diego State University for Thursday e...Read More

Sep 16 2008 8:56AM | Permalink | Email this | Comments (1) |
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As our industry gets deeper and deeper into the doldrums of this down market many of the builders, manufacturers and others in the distribution channel have reacted in one of two ways. There is a group that just sits around and complains and indulges in self-pity. These are the folks that I personally want to avoid as I don’t need this kind of negative energy. The other group of industry members tries to turn these hard times into something positive – they are participating in educational programs via the web. Yes, they have acknowledged that the market is at an all time low but rather than sit around and complain they are attempting to better themselves and their businesses.

My company, Builder Partnerships, LLC has initiated a series of Webinar educational sessions for builders and other industry members. The sessions deal with design center management, im...Read More

Aug 22 2008 8:23AM | Permalink | Email this | Comments (0) |
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Over the past few weeks I have been talking with a lot of building material manufacturers and have learned that their raw material costs have been rising at an unprecedented rate this year. This is particularly true with those products that utilize petroleum-based raw materials like roofing and vinyl siding and windows. Manufacturers of products that use metals like copper and steel have also experienced very high price increases. Obviously the manufacturers have been forced to raise their prices to home builders across the country.

The builders that I have talked to recently have verified that they are receiving price increases at an alarming rate and are scrambling to cope with this increase in cost. I have also been told that even though some builders have long-term pricing contracts with some manufacturers that there are clauses that void the contract are the manufac...Read More

Aug 11 2008 9:50AM | Permalink | Email this | Comments (0) |
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If you look at my picture you will notice that I have been around the industry for some time and, as a result, I have been heavily involved with the National Association of Home Builders. Recently, I have been somewhat involved in NAHB’s green building initiative and I have identified some key areas in which building material manufacturers can play an essential role in helping builders build green homes efficiently and effectively.

1. Manufacturers can assist builders to obtain code approval and certification from third party verifiers.

2. Provide direction on which products work best in specific climates

3. Be clear on product warranties and any maintenance aspects of your product warranty

4. Become knowledgeable about the NAHB and USGBC g...Read More

Aug 5 2008 8:07AM | Permalink | Email this | Comments (0) |
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Over the past several weeks I have been observing the process of problem resolution between a Builder Partnerships’ builder member and manufacturer associate as I have been copied on all their email correspondence. It seems that the builder has been experiencing quality problems with one of the manufacturer’s products. It seems that this particular product always is delivered to the jobsite with some form of damage to it.

The manufacturer has been very responsive and has communicated well since the inception of this problem. In fact, the senior vice president of sales and marketing has been involved from the beginning as well. He has had his team visit the distributor to determine if there has been some handling and shipping problems. He has also examined the manufacturing process as well as the shipping process to determine if the problem lies in this area....Read More