| Southwest Florida Builder Creates Own Housing Boom |
| Thanks to a diverse and affordable product line, Neal Communities expects to sell 397 houses this year. |
| Big Can Be Better |
| Mattamy’s Toronto division — Canada’s largest — keeps customers in focus and construction quality high despite the enormity of its operations. |
| Mattamy Sets Tough Standard in Alberta |
| Calgary division grabs AVID Award for top customer experience in province. |
| Mountainview Stays Ahead of Customer Expectations |
| Niagara region design leader wins AVID Award for best customer satisfaction among mid-sized builders. |
| Ontario Cottage Country Builder Ranks Tops in Customer Satisfaction |
| Collingwood’s Sherwood Homes wins AVID Award for best customer experience in Canada. |
| Portrait Receives Georgie Award for Customer Satisfaction |
| Vancouver builder creates customer loyalty by treating buyers like clients. |
| Concert Properties Recognized for Consistent Quality |
| Vancouver-based multifamily builder aims for — and usually achieves — a perfect first impression |
| Steady Improvement Nets AVID Award for Michigan Builder |
| American Village Builder took a 12-year odyssey to the top of AVID’s rankings for builders with fewer than 50 closings a year. |
| Service Excellence Shines in the Desert |
| Desert View Homes puts on the ritz for first-time buyers, whose loyalty and referrals have helped the builder dominate the El Paso market. |
| Sitterle Homes Honored for Superior Customer Experience |
| San Antonio design leader garners 2011 AVID Diamond Award for America’s best home builder customer experience. |
| Signs We're Headed in the Right Direction |
| Car sales are up, apartment vacancies down, and a few builders are doing well. |
| Real Reason Canada Is Booming |
| It's not the policies of a Conservative-led minority government, but the country's long history of conservative banking regulations. |
| A Housing Boom Hiding in the Shadows? |
| Just-released study from NAHB economists — and some recent headlines — point to a big housing recovery. The question is, when (and where) will we see it? |
| Three-Ring Circus Without a Master |
| President Obama's latest plan to rescue the economy is politics, not economics. The Fed doesn't know what to do, and all we see is sound and fury signifying nothing. |
Include Energy in Mortgage Qualification
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| Home buyers could be motivated to purchase higher energy-efficient homes if the mortgage qualifying formula were changed. The mortgage qualification process should factor in energy costs for a home, just as it does for property taxes and insurance. If the U.S. Congress is going to pass a new energy bill, why not include this as a mechanism for increasing the demand for energy-efficient housing? It would create new jobs, save homeowners money, conserve energy, and reduce carbon emissions. [Vlog, HD] |
Bill Lurz has been reporting on every aspect of the home-building industry since 1970. A former editor-in-chief of Canadian Building and senior editor of Professional Builder, Bill is currently editor-in-chief of AvidBuilder.com.
He can be reached at bill.lurz@avidbuilder.com.
