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 - 28

Recent Posts

Hello Management, Your Sales Office Is Calling

I received an anonymous note today from a new-home sales professional who has obviously had enough of some of his company’s management practices. There was a lot of emotion in the letter, which is natural given the tough times we’re facing, but buried beneath that emotion were some specific ideas and advice for management.

Now, I’m not normally one to give credence to an anonymous note (and please don’t send me any more assuming I’ll be your clearing house for grievances against management) but I thought there were some good ideas, so I’ll summarize his points below.

Education – Please allow sales people time off to take classed offered by the NAHB. Up to four days per year helps keep the edge and – this

A Housing Giant Passes

David Hill, one of the leading lights of the home building industry, passed away last Saturday. Dave founded Kimball Hill in 1969 and grew the company to be one of the largest privately held home building companies in the country.

There's little I can say about what a fine man Dave was that hasn't been said elsewhere. Here's a link to the Chicago Tribune obituary. Here. But for a truly wonder testament to him, read Bill Lurz blog entry. Here.

Home Price Drop Is Good for Builders

Today the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index came out and showed a 15.8% decrease in May home prices compared to a year ago. The index is measured across 20 markets and this decline represents the 22nd consecutive month in which there have been declines.

While all of that seems like bad news, I think these are positive things for home builders. First, we know prices have to come down to bring buyers back. They won't go shopping if they think they can get a better deal next month, so let's get this thing bottomed out quick and get those buyers back quick!

Second, the rate of decline has begun to decrease since the steep drops at the beginning of the year. The first sign of a move to a recovery is the nega...Read More

Labor Productivity in Construction

Last week, I attended a 1-day conference by Hyphen Solutions in Irvine, Calif. The focus of the conference was to look at ways builders could improve the efficiencies of their supplier relationships so they can control costs. The typical way builders do this is by asking suppliers to cut costs, but that seems a horribly erratic way of achieving improved efficiency.

Ken Pinto, national purchasing program manager for Standard Pacific, displayed a chart that showed how productivity in construction labor has declined over time, which I've shown here. That, to me, was a real eye opener. While the chart is a little old -- the last year measured was 2004 -- the point is substantial. In comparison to every other sector of the U.S. economy, our little section of the world is becoming less productive. Ha...Read More

Daily Video Updates

We just added a new function to HousingZone.com -- a daily video feed on the home page. Get the latest housing news from around the country through this feed we'll update every weekday morning. Whether it's national economic news reported on Bloomberg or a local report on what's happening in Mobile, Ala., you can track the news you want with these concise nuggets.

Blogs	Recent Posts	Total Posts
House Beat	0	28

Your access to premium content.
USER NAME:
PASSWORD:

• Register • Info • Help

Professional Builder

Search Powered By