Builders Told to Ramp Up Sales Efforts in Slow Market

In the current buyer’s market, home builders are paying the price for the buying frenzy they helped create at the height of the recent boom, according to Tom Stephani, an infill builder in Crystal Lake, Ill., but there are still many buyers out there for companies that know how to ramp up their sales and marketing.

“We out-produced the market by playing a game of musical chairs, raising prices and adding more chairs.” said Stephani, who moderated an NAHB “Back to Basics” teleconference last week. But “when people found a chair they liked, they didn’t play anymore, there were too many chairs and too few people and the frenzy ends.”

(At no charge, NAHB members can access the audio conference, "Ramp Up Your Sales and Marketing in a Changing Market," by clicking here.) ...

Read the Special IBS Preview Issue of Nation's Building News

Read the Jan. 8 edition of Nation’s Building News, the special preview issue of the 2007 International Builders’ Show in Orlando from Feb. 7-10, and use it as a reference until you get to the show.

The preview issue contains information about more than 40 new products and technologies that you can see and sample, as well as classes and events that you can attend.

Plus, find photos and floor plans of The New American Home and The Renewed American Home, a remodeled showcase house, in preparation for your visit.

To read the special International Builders' Show issue of Nation's Building News, click here.

Extensive reports from IBS will appear following the show, beginning with the Feb. 19 edition.

Visit the Builders' Show Web Site for More Information

For more information about the 2007 International Builders' Show, and to register, visit www.BuildersShow.com. Discounted online registration ends Thursday, Jan. 25.

Court Case Seen as Opportunity to Halt Regulatory Onrush

Builders see a recent decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to hear NAHB v. Defenders of Wildlife as an opportunity to halt a march of excessive regulation that is a fast-growing threat to housing affordability around the nation.

As reported in NBN last week, the court has agreed to review a lower court ruling that would add new requirements for states that want to administer Clean Water Act permitting programs — and result in additional expenses that would be passed on to home buyers. The court will hear oral arguments in April. ...