| August 17, 2009 |
By Joe Robson
NAHB Chairman and
Jerry Howard
NAHB President and CEO |
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Urging Congress to focus on reviving housing,
NAHB held an important teleconference this week as part of a major new grassoots campaign effort.
 The Aug. 13 teleconference featured builders from two hard-hit markets (Nevada and Arizona) as well as NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe. The builders – Randy Agron of AF Sterling Homes in Tucson, Bill Hoover of Pageantry Homes in Las Vegas and Mike Galatio of Desert Wind Homes in Las Vegas – discussed housing conditions within their states and pushed for Congress to take bold and decisive action to spur a housing and economic recovery. The event specifically highlighted NAHB's advocacy priorities within the Revive Housing - Restore America campaign, including: 1) the need to extend and enhance the first-time home buyer tax credit program; 2) the necessity of correcting the faulty appraisal process and improving housing credit conditions; and 3) the need to support Net Operating Loss (NOL) relief legislation in the House and Senate. Members of the media were given the opportunity to ask questions at the end of the call. Complete coverage of the event will be provided in the Aug. 17 edition of Nation's Building News Online. Also, readers of this report can access a full replay of the teleconference. Just dial 1-877-344-7529 and when prompted for the account number, enter 433160 followed by the # sign. Contact: Paul Lopez, x8409.
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Tell your customers how they can help revive housing
 by urging Congress to extend and enhance the first-time home buyer tax credit. It's easy – just point them to NAHB's new CONSUMER Web page for our Revive Housing - Restore America campaign. This page, located at www.ReviveHousingNow.com, tells consumers how to contact their federal lawmakers and what to say when they do. Meanwhile, NAHB members also have their own resources page for the campaign, including materials to help you advocate for all four points of our agenda (tax credit extension and improvement, action to resolve the AD&C credit crunch and appraisal problems, and extension of NOL carryback provisions). Our grassroots campaign can be much more powerful with the assistance of consumers, so please do what you can to promote ReviveHousingNow.com to everyone who walks through your door! Contact: Brooke Fishel, x8061.
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The keynote speaker for IBS Opening Ceremonies will be...
 famous humor columnist Dave Barry! The Pulitzer Prize-winning author has appeared on Late Night with David Letterman and other shows, and he's certain to amuse the crowd with his special take on the universe of home building; don't get him started on low-flush toilets! While he first gained prominence working for the Miami Herald, this syndicated columnist's work has since been featured in more than 500 newspapers across the U.S. and abroad, and he's written more than 30 books so far. If you could use a good laugh (and who couldn't these days?), be sure to turn out for the 2010 International Builders' Show Grand Opening Ceremonies at 9:00 AM on Tuesday, January 19 at the Las Vegas Convention Center, Hall S3. All show attendees are welcome.
BUT DON'T FORGET – You need to register for the IBS and housing this month in order to take advantage of the very best hotel deals that are being offered. Rooms at all of the Las Vegas hotels in the NAHB convention block are available from $32 - $199 per night – an incredible price range compared to previous years. But NAHB members need to sign up for their housing SOON in order to get the best discounts, because those rates are only guaranteed for attendees who register for the IBS during August. Go to www.BuildersShow.com for all the details and to register!
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Clearly, the AD&C credit crunch is out of control
 when one of the most famous and revered show homes in the country has trouble getting the necessary financing to be completed. And sure enough, that's exactly what is happening with regard to The New American Home 2010, that model of innovation in energy and resource efficiency that has now become a high profile case study of restrictive lending practices by a banking industry that is choking off the supply of credit for residential construction. Las Vegas builder Domanico Custom Homes is contending with a lending environment in which even the best projects are having difficulty obtaining the necessary financing, and as a result, it has not been able to find a bank that will finance the final draw needed to complete the ultimate show home. This is in spite of the fact that, given the massive media coverage that The New American Home draws for its cutting edge design and state-of-the-art "green-built" systems and appliances every year, the builder does not anticipate having any trouble selling it whatsoever.
Sponsored by the National Council of the Housing Industry and Builder Magazine, this project is one of NAHB's most visible endeavors tied to the International Builders' Show every year. Now we're calling attention to the fact that, "Instead of being a showcase for innovative new products and green building technologies, The New American Home 2010 has become a showcase of excessively restrictive lending practices and failed regulatory oversight," as NAHB Chairman Joe Robson put it in a recent press release. And we are pointing to this project as an example of why bank regulators and the banking industry must end the stanglehold on acquisition, development and construction (AD&C) financing that has emerged as a major impediment to the housing recovery. Read more in our press release, or contact Blake Smith, x8583. More on The New American Home is also available at: www.tnah.com.
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Finish up your professional designation requirements now
and take advantage of a great new discount that's being offered by NAHB. If you are thinking about finishing up your CAASH, MIRM, CMP or Master CSP designation, take those courses that you still need this fall. Then, submit your graduation application before June 30, 2010, and you as an NAHB member will be eligible for a 35% reduction in your graduation/ application fee. For example, CAASH designation applicants will pay $95, while MIRM applicants will pay $65, CMP applicants will pay just $25 and Master CSPs will pay $65. You can check out the large selection of National Sales and Marketing Council courses and designations here, and see the required 50+ Housing courses here. Find a course near you at www.nahb.org/Courses. Your local HBA may offer these courses during September, October and November of this year – contact them for more info. Also contact: Melissa Rubin, x8175.
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4,000 Certified Green Professionals and counting...
 That's right, the number of home builders, remodelers and other members of the real estate and construction industry who hold the CGP educational designation has now topped the 4,000 mark. Meanwhile, more than 350 homes have been certified and more than 4,500 are now in the certification pipeline under the National Green Building Certification Program administered by the NAHB Research Center. This surge of support for the initiative is an indication that when the housing market returns to strength, green and energy-efficient new homes and remodeling projects will certainly command a growing market share. Meanwhile, NAHB is creating advanced training for CGPs that will result in a new designation for building practitioners: the Master Green Builder Remodeler. We expect to have this program up and running early next year. For more information, visit the NAHBGreen Web site, read our press release, or contact Calli Schmidt, x8132.
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Learn something new at these upcoming web/audio seminars:
 Aug. 20, 2:00-3:00 p.m. – Multifamily Design Trends: Innovative Strategies to Success
This webinar will feature nationally recognized architects and designers discussing ways to design energy-efficient, cost-effective and value-added spaces as part of affordable, market-rate and for-sale communities. Note: this webinar is FREE to NAHB Multifamily members. Read more here, register online, or contact Sheronda Carr at x8168.
 Sept. 17, 2:00-3:00 p.m. – Beyond the Best-Case Scenario:
Positioning Your Company to Take Advantage of the Downturn. This audio seminar will provide participants with instruction on mapping out your business strategy, evaluating local markets, managing your cash and credit, seeking out opportunities in the current market and developing the right sales scripts. Note: there is a $39 fee per phone site for NAHB members ($59 for non-members). Read more here. Contact: Tamsin Ayre, x8673.
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NAHB to shut down operations August 23-28...
As a cost savings effort, NAHB will be closed for business for eight days in 2009. Under the plan, NAHB will shut down its operations for the final week of August (August 24 through 28) and the three days prior to the Thanksgiving holiday (November 23, 24 and 25). In addition, all staff compensation will be cut by a commensurate amount. NAHB President Jerry Howard reported to the NAHB Board of Directors in May that, “This shut down plan, along with other cost-cutting measures that have already been adopted, is being implemented to help the association save millions of dollars.”
During this shut down, your NAHB staff contacts will not be in the office or generally available via phone or e-mail. Staff will answer any messages received during the closure when they return to the Office and normal business operations are resumed.
Should you have a question or concern during this time period, please leave a message with the NAHB Service Center at 800-368-5242, x0 or info@nahb.org. Again, responses to any waiting e-mails will not take place until NAHB returns to normal business operations.
Your flexibility and patience is appreciated during this challenging time.
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