Table of Contents

FEATURES

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  The Long and Winding Road

  NO BUILDER OR DEVELOPER needs to be reminded that plan approval and land entitlement get longer, thornier, and more expensive every day.

   
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  Antebellum Beauty

  IT'S EASY TO COME UP WITH A LIKELY story behind this stately home in Richmond Hill, Ga. The mature oaks, aged brick, graceful white columns, and plantation location bring to mind images straight out of Gone With the Wind. Surely, this must be some antebellum mansion that's been passed down from one...

   
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  Above The Store

  FOR YEARS, NOBODY PAID MUCH attention to the aging Sears store that anchored a hill in Tenleytown, a Northwest Washington neighborhood just south of the Maryland-District line. When the concrete, curvilinear, Deco-inspired store opened in 1941 it made quite a splash, especially the two ramps that...

   
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  Toe To Toe

  NOW FOR WHAT MAY BE the toughest part of your fight in a downward market: Knocking out other small builders on your home turf.

   
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  Up Against The Heavy-Weights

  REMEMBER THE STORY of David and Goliath? Based on all the standard external measurements—size, track record, market position, etc.—Goliath should have cleaned David's clock.

   
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  Shadow Boxing

  FUNNY HOW SECOND-hand doesn't seem so bad when times get tight.

   
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  It's Time To Get In Fighting Form

  THE MARK OF A TRUE contender is how he or she performs under duress.

   

EDITOR'S NOTE

• Peer Review

  With economic conditions for the housing industry looking grimmer and grimmer, the competition is upping the ante in a big way: The resale market is slashing prices; big builders are giving away cash, cars, and fully equipped home theater rooms; and local builders are trying every trick in the book...

   

HOUSE BLEND

• Site-Seeing

  WINDOW MANUFACTURER Pella has unveiled a new Web site that the company says is designed to help builders, contractors, and other trade professionals increase their profit potential. In addition to the typical product information, the site offers design and installation resources as well as...

   

• Minority Report

  Blacks and hispanics get more high-interest subprime mortgages than do whites, even when the borrowers have the same risk factors, says a new report by the Center for Responsible Lending, a nonprofit research and policy organization based in Durham, N.C.

   

• Wish Upon a Star

  Orlando, Fla.–area builders and developers are hoping that Walt Disney World frees more of its local real estate empire for residential development.

   

• Top-Notch Training

  Each year,

   

• House Blend: August 2006

  - A study commissioned by the Sacramento-based California Building Industry Association estimates that red tape and regulations hurt California's economy in 2005. - Bayport, Minn.–based Andersen Corp. announces purchase of Silver Line Building Products, a manufacturer of vinyl windows and patio...

   
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  Dominion's Downward Spiral

  The year is barely half over, but already it's clear that Dominion Homes won't look back on 2006 fondly.

   

INSIDE STORY

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  Hurry Home

  ON A THURSDAY AFTERNOON IN JUNE at the Raleigh, N.C., site of Habitat for Humanity's first national Home Builders Blitz, the guys from Toll Brothers were in trouble with the event's organizers—again. “We're in trouble all the time [on this project],” says Lee Aversano, senior construction manager...

   

TOP SHELF

• Top Shelf: August 2006

  This month's top shelf products include the Evolution Pro Series garbage disposals, the new Frameguard Coating for protecting all manners of framing lumber, and the Stand-Up-Guy, a freestanding clamp that holds solid-core doors, windows, and other items on the jobsite.

   

MARKET SMARTS

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  Game On

  FORGET ABOUT THE FALLOUT FROM THE NHL'S SEASON-LONG players' lockout last year. Hockey is alive and well in, of all places, Jacksonville, Fla., where a court specially designed for the sport's roller (instead of skate) version is attracting attention among existing and prospective residents of St...

   
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  Close Shave

  NO ONE SHOULD SHAVE (OR PUT ON MAKEUP OR EAT BREAKFAST) on their drive to work, but if you lived in Fall Creek, a 2,100-unit golf course community east of Houston, chances are you'd only be half done before you pulled into the parking lot at work.

   
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  Mad Dash

  UNDER NORMAL CIRCUMSTANCES, THE SIGHT OF 50 PEOPLE running around in bright orange shirts might cause alarm in some neighborhoods. But on a bright Sunday morning in April, it instead inspired a two-way awareness between residents and businesses of San Diego's revitalized North Park and prospective...

   

THE NUMBERS

• A Growing Problem

  NEW HOMES FOR SALE HIT ANOTHER all-time high in May, reaching 555,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. That figure isn't creating panic, though; less than a quarter of those homes were complete, and thanks to the still-solid sales pace, it represents only a 5.5-month supply nationwide.

   

PRODUCTS

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  You Know the Drill

  THE U.S. TOOL INDUSTRY SELLS more cordless drills/drivers per year than any other power tool. An extremely useful and versatile product, the cordless driver is likely the most popular piece on the job-site as well. Not content to leave well enough alone, manufacturers have found ways to create...

   
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  Roll On

  DOLLAR FOR DOLLAR, PAINT PROBABLY offers the best value in a house.

   

DIGITAL HOME

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  Niles' River of Sound

  MOVE-UP BUILDERS LOOKING TO ADD profits to their projects may find that the new IntelliControl Integrated Control Solutions (ICS) system from Niles Audio is the differentiator they've been waiting for.

   

• Digital Home: August 2006

  - New Leviton program provides home builders with product brochures, merchandising displays, easels, and wall talkers for showrooms and model homes. - New study by technology research group In-Stat finds that few consumers know about Microsoft's Media Center PC.

   
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  Digital Community

  MOST OF THE COMMUNITY INTRANETS that builders have rolled out do a good job of letting homeowners form clubs or sign up for a golf game online, but very few manage security rights well, and even fewer integrate with a homeowner's consumer electronics and home automation system.

   

TECH TOOLS

• Helping Hand

  AS THERE ARE ONLY A HANDFUL OF TECHNOLOGY consultants in the industry, BuildLinks, maker of the Web-based BuildLinks project management software, has created a Professional Services Group to help builders more effectively deploy BuildLinks and manage their operations. Here are five services the...

   

• Netting Sales Leads

  BEHOMEWISE, BEST KNOWN FOR ITS LEAD-GENERATION software that helps builders qualify and rate Internet sales leads, hired Dorrie Ehlers earlier this year to work with builders to develop online sales departments and train online sales counselors (OSCs).

   

• Tech Tools: August 2006

  - Sage Software and Innovaya release a new product to lets builders run an estimate from a 3-D AutoCAD file. - BellSouth and The Weather Channel now offer a new service that provides alerts and warnings of severe weather.

   

NATIONAL BEAT

• Green Standard

  IN 2005, THE NAHB PUBLISHED the Model Green Home Building Guidelines to move green building further into the mainstream and to provide a practical baseline for resource-efficient, cost-effective home building.

   

• Money Mysteries

  THE U.S. ECONOMY IS IN THE MIDST OF A major transition, and the housing sector is key to the outcome.

   

• Making Connections

  AS PRESIDENT OF THE NAHB, I AM ALWAYS pleased to let members know about the products and professional services that we provide. Our mission is to serve the home building industry, and the career center and conferences mentioned below are proof positive that we are fulfilling that mission.

   

• NAHB Briefs: August 2006

  - Today's newly built homes are substantially larger and packed with more amenities than 30 years ago, according to annual data released by the U.S. Census Bureau. - Recent NAHB study provides in-depth analysis of the nationwide use of the mortgage interest and real estate deductions. - The...

   

HOTSELLERS

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  Hot Sellers: Urban Oasis

  WHY IT WORKED: Buyers love the parklike setting, the distinctive architecture, and the fact that this 26-acre neighborhood is just four miles from downtown Atlanta.

   
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  Hot Sellers: Mountain Views

  WHY IT WORKED: Great floor plans in a planned community with wonderful mountain and valley views.

   
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  Hot Sellers: Livin' Large

  WHY IT WORKED: The combination of lush, semirural surroundings and lavishly appointed homes is hard to beat. Calabria is especially popular with move-up and move-down empty-nesters.

   

OTHER ARTICLES

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  Pasadena, Calif.

  Well known for its “little old lady” and the tournament of Roses parade, Pasadena, Calif., is less renowned for its nevertheless stunning array of Arts and Crafts architecture and classic bungalows. Around the turn of the 20th century, many of the rich and famous from the East and the Midwest...

   
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  Universal Access

  IMAGINE HOW MUCH easier it would be for a parent with a toddler and an infant to get from the garage or driveway into their new house without having to navigate even one step up to the door, or to haul a load of laundry or groceries, with one kid in tow and another one on hip, through slightly...