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Back to the Future
The way he sees it, the blueprint for success was simple. "We've gone back in time to the way people used to live," says Greg Whittaker, president of Whittaker Homes. Taking an old idea and bringing it to life for today's home buyer has thrust his firm forward in a way he could never have imagined.
Well-Oiled Efficient Machines
Builders participating in the most recent Harvard Distribution Study significantly downplayed the contribution that improved operating efficiencies have had on their bottom line growth. Yet it's precisely those efficiencies that might end up helping pull them through the current market doldrums.
Supersize It
The sizes of newly constructed homes have grown significantly over the last 30 years. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the number of new homes with 2,400–2,999 square feet has grown 75 percent.
Market Downturn Deepens
In many ways, the current housing market slowdown is similar to what happened between 1990 and 1992, although that one had a national economic recession to deepen it. We've avoided that this time — so far.
Plugging into Energy Efficiency
Energy efficiency. Resource conservation. Green. These are the hot marketing buzzwords in new home construction. What do they mean to the professional remodeler? Potentially, they could mean a new market. You can help make any existing home green, and help your clients come to grips with soaring energy costs.
Establishing a Strategic Plan
If you're like most remodelers, you've been so busy in 2006 you've hardly had time to plan for next year let alone the next three years. The remodeling industry flourished in 2006, and the next three years will bring more growth for the industry, says Gopal Ahluwalia, staff vice president for research at the NAHB.
Fastest-Growing Markets
Harvard University's Joint Center for Housing Studies' Remodeling Futures Program has released its list of the fastest growing remodeling markets based on 2005 permit values. Analysis of 2005 remodeling permit trends shows sizeable growth in permit value for most major metro areas, with many of the fastest-growth areas concentrated along the east coast.
2007 Market Outlook
Experts predict 2007 will be a year marked by transition. "After three or four years of very strong growth, we are entering a transition period for the industry," says Kermit Baker, director of the Remodeling Futures Program at Harvard University's Joint Center for Housing Studies.
A Man's Domain
Tis project was unique in that it involved a bachelor who didn't want to blow out the space with the latest, most efficient gadgets yet sill needed a warm, functional space that blended well with adjacent room in his 1960s ranch home.
Remodeler Product Picks
Four remodelers reveal the products they prefer for their projectcs
Lighten Your Environment
The Future of Green Remodeling
Green remodeling is an ever-changing process with innovations in building science and technology affecting it constantly. To do it successfully, one needs to educate crews, subcontractors and consumers.
Condo Conversion
There's a right way and a wrong way to drive a condo conversion. Just ask Michelle Brown. An experienced Chicago real-estate broker now with Rubloff Residential Properties, she and a colleague snatched up a foreclosure property in 2004 — a 1917-vintage six-flat apartment building — planning to convert it to eight condos.
Shades of Green
Teaming up with the burgeoning number of local, state, and national green building programs, remodelers have an opportunity to spread the word that the rewards of green remodeling can be significant without taking a bite out of the bottom line and while differentiating themselves from competition.
Mr. Optimism
Toll Brothers Chairman Bob Toll talks about the current housing envrionment and how he is positioning Toll Brothers for what he believes will be a re-ignition of the housing boom.

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