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September 24, 2007

Another Great Differentiator

I've been covering this industry long enough that I'm not very often wowed by new products. However, there's one that is so cool that I want to share it with you. I don't think they even have any competition; it's completely unique. And in a market where builders can use all the help they can get in making their products stand out from the competition's, this one offers a really great opportunity to do just that.

The product is called Centerpoint Translucent Systems. (If you want to see a gallery of photos, go to click here For you builders who are interested in prices, contact the company itself through their website.)

It's a combination of a roof and a skylight: a conventionally shaped roof that is made of translucent polycarbonate panels set in an aluminum frame. The company's original product was designed for bump-out areas such as breakfast rooms or tub alcoves in master bathrooms. While it allows loads of sunlight into the space below it, the panels block most of the heat.

It's a green product, too, since it promotes daylighting. When the sun is shining, the system turns into a huge diffuser -- kind of a giant lamp shade for the house. If the weather is cloudy, you still get way more light than you would with a conventional roof. And you don't have to use electric lights in that area.

But maybe the very coolest feature of these systems is that a crew can install one in about 10 minutes. The unit arrives preassembled, and it's lightweight enough that three or four people can lift it into place. Then it's just a matter of tightening the screws into pre-drilled holes. Astonishing! I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it.

The manufacturer estimates that the installation of the Centerpoint system adds about $3.50 per square foot for the entire house to the value of the home. Not bad for 10 minutes of work! (And that doesn't count the time you save by not building a conventional roof over the space.)

More interesting to me, though, is the system's potential as a terrific differentiator. I've seen a lot of model homes over the years, and I can tell you that one with a translucent roof in the breakfast room would be a standout in my mind.

Have you seen any memorable products in any model homes that you remember to this day? What were they? Everyone is looking for that special something to help sell their homes, so pass along ideas that have impressed you.

Posted by Marjie O'Connor, HGTVPro.com Staff at 3:37 PM | Comments (12)

September 12, 2007

Plumbers Clogged up in New Orleans

I came across the following blog today, and I almost stood up and cheered for those attempting to get things changed in Baton Rouge, La. No matter how poorly the post-Katrina emergency was handled by the Feds, the state of Louisiana now seems intent on shooting itself in the foot -- then reloading to fire again. Read this blog and let me know if you can see any justification for refusing to let out-of-state plumbers work on projects in New Orleans. Maybe I'm missing something here, but it makes absolutely no sense to me. It seems like the first priority should be to get people back in their homes -- or in a new home, if necessary. (Please note: The opinions expressed in the blog below are Mr. Liber's -- but they sound about right to me.)

Marjie

Hurricane Katrina Follies in Louisiana: KB Homes Not Laughing
Posted Sep 5th 2007 4:35PM by Sheldon Liber, AIA, at Bloggingstocks.com/

Amazing as it might seem, the State Legislature of Louisiana has seen fit to recreate Yossarian's nightmarish experience in Catch-22 by killing legislation that might have helped house some folks in New Orleans in a more expeditious fashion. You might have read or heard that KB Homes (NYSE: KBH) has been trying to develop various projects in and around New Orleans since soon after Hurricane Katrina departed.

Clearly KB had more than altruistic goals in mind but it was quick to act, seeing the Katrina tragedy as an opportunity to help a community crushed by the lack thereof.

KB Homes CEO Jeff Mezger said in a recent article in Fortune Magazine: "It's taking longer for the city to rebound than we expected," he says. One unusual problem: a severe shortage of plumbers. KB learned after it arrived that state law requires plumbers to complete more than four years of training before obtaining a license, and that Louisiana follows different plumbing codes than most other states. That means KB effectively can't bring plumbers from Houston, where it has an extensive contractor network.

If you know anything about Louisiana's political history, it might not surprise you at all to learn that after KB Homes sponsored a bill in the state legislature to loosen these arcane requirements, the state's Plumbing-Heating-Cooling Contractors Association promptly squashed it dead. Never mind that thousands of locals needed housing, and the workers pouring in to help rebuild the city needed housing. Nope. It was business as usual.

If I were President Bush, being hit with so much flak about the government's ineptitude in helping the city get back on its feet, and I heard about this story, I would have been in Louisiana the next day, having a photo opportunity in front of the State Capitol and making a lot of noise about this short-sighted, bureaucratic nonsense.

There is still time to express your outrage if you like: weblegis@legis.state.la.us or eps@legis.state.la.us and websen@legis.state.la.us. To contact governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco:
E-mail the Governor + 866-366-1121, or write Office of the Governor, Attn: Constituent Services, P.O. Box 94004, Baton Rouge, LA 70804-9004.

You can also forward this story to as many people as your time and energy permits.

All the while KB Homes still plugs along, although it has withdrawn from many projects. The stock closed yesterday at $30.77, approaching its 52-week low of $28. When your gut is wrenching (to the degree that this story outrages you) from the pain, you may want to look at KB as a long stretch value play. It pays a nice dividend yield 3.3%, to tide you over during the "storm" and all of its metrics are in the bargain basement.

Sheldon Liber, AIA, is the CEO of a small private investment company and the principal for design and research at an architecture & planning firm.

Posted by Marjie O'Connor, HGTVPro.com Staff at 4:39 PM | Comments (25)

September 10, 2007

Wii Would Like to ... Sell Your House!

Okay, this is way off my usual topic, but I've successfully rationalized a reason for writing about it anyway. I'll get into that later, but I want to get this posted while our resident home-electronics guru Bob Gatton is at the CEDIA convention in Denver. After all, I'm treading on his territory.

Last week I had the chance to play with a Nintendo Wii system for the first time. Now mind you, I am not anyone's idea of a serious gamer. The most extreme game I play is Free Cell. I know, I know. I'm completely out of touch with the 21st century -- not to mention the kids in my life.

However, the Wii may have changed that. I LOVED it! It won't be too long before I've rationalized a good reason for buying one for our empty-nester home. (I am a master rationalizer.) The games we played are fun, not too alien (albeit it's been a long time since I've set foot on a real tennis court) and provide plenty of opportunity for interaction among the players.

That's one of the best parts, I think. Computer games can be quite social (you should see -- or hear -- my daughter and her husband play Tetris), but for the most part, you don't get the same cries of delight or defeat that the Wii inspires. It reminded me of playing board games (does anyone do that anymore?) because everyone was fully involved in the game and the other players -- not just a computer. It could make quality family time easy again.

Okay, here's the rationalization (the first one): The Wii is very popular. Buying new houses is not -- at least right now. With builders coming up with various incentives, such as plasma TVs or granite countertops, to help sell houses, I think a free Wii system would be a terrific bonus. It's a lot cheaper than a plasma TV -- or, for relatively little additional money, you can add a Wii to a TV incentive.

You could set up a Wii in your model home or at an open house; it'd keep the kids busy while the parents can take their time checking out the home. And you can tell them that if they buy the house, they get the Wii, too. (Think of the extra pressure from the kids to get Mom and Dad to close the sale!)

Have any of you had good luck with incentive "gifts" such as this? How do you choose them? Do you have any stories about how well they've worked -- or haven't worked? Let me hear about them -- soon. Once I get my Wii, there's no telling when I'll come up for air.

Posted by Marjie O'Connor, HGTVPro.com Staff at 12:13 PM | Comments (30)

September 4, 2007

An FHA Bail-out?

There's no doubt that the housing market is still lousy, and plenty of people think it's going to get worse before it gets better. The mess is cyclical: There are too many houses for sale; the subprime lending of the past several years has set the stage for a lot of foreclosures; and the foreclosures add to the inventory of houses for sale.

Even before President Bush's talk last week, there has been discussion in Washington about resurrecting (or at least fortifying) the Federal Housing Administration to help out homebuyers who are facing defaulting on their mortgages. I'm not big on government bail-outs; I am big on personal responsibility. However, the idea of helping people refinance loans -- especially people who were victims of predatory lending -- seems like a really good one.

There's the humanitarian issue of course. No one wants to see a family lose their home because of one really bad decision -- or a high-pressure sales job that sucked them into a terrible deal.

But the real winner could be the housing market itself. If those homes stay off the market, they'll a) not add to the current overblown inventory, and b) not contribute to dropping home prices even further by being dumped for whatever the lender can get for them.

This won't be an easy solution or even a widespread one. But it may be the best one, since it'll help at least some homeowners -- but not speculators or reckless buyers.

How much of an impact has the subprime mortgage mess had on you directly? Do you know anyone who's hurting because of an ARM loan that is now unrealistic -- or about to become that way? How much of a factor do you think subprime mortgages really are in this slowdown?

Posted by Marjie O'Connor, HGTVPro.com Staff at 3:18 PM | Comments (28)