NBN Online for the week of October 16, 2006

Builders Work With Lenders to Heat Up Sales in Chilly Markets

Entering the fall months, home builders from around the country are reporting success in boosting sales in a cooling marketplace by partnering with lenders to provide financial incentives for their buyers, according to information published in NAHB’s Back to Basics toolkit.

Introduced last month, the online kit is designed to provide association members with materials that will help them respond to the new challenges of today’s slower environment for home sales.

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Lumber Prices Provided by Random Lengths

FEMA Gives Systems Builders Chance to Help Rebuild Gulf Coast

The Federal Emergency Management Administration is preparing to parcel out money from a $400 million federal grant to encourage hurricane-damaged states to submit housing designs and products that are more cost-effective, comfortable and durable than the travel trailers and manufactured homes now supplied by the agency.

The grants present a huge opportunity for NAHB members, said David Endy of Stratford Homes, a Wisconsin-based modular building company. Endy is chairman of the NAHB Building Systems Councils, which includes leaders in the modular, panelized, concrete and log home building industries. “$400 million is a lot of money, and a lot of homes,” he said.

Play Builders' Free Online Pro Football Game. Don't Miss Out.

Don't miss another weekend of NFL games — and your chance to win prizes from HGTVPro. Sign up and play in the Builders Football League (BFL) on HTGVpro.com — the free, online pro football "pick 'em" contest with a special league for NAHB members.

Playing is free, fun and easy ― and participants have a chance to win weekly prizes or the grand prize — a Panasonic 61-inch high definition TV — at the end of the season.

Share Nation's Building News With Your Staff. It's Free.

Make your business click. Subscribe your employees and trade partners to Nation's Building News — the free, online e-newspaper of NAHB.

Each issue is filled with valuable news and information on every aspect of the home building industry — business and builders tips; the latest materials prices and mortgage interest rates; new technologies; cutting-edge design; state and federal regulations and how they affect the industy; and more. Information your entire company needs to stay ahead of your competitors.