Blogs

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Lean Design

Avoid this costly mistake!

After my January 2013 article in Professional Builder, “3 Ways to Huge Profits Through Lean Design,” was published, I was thrilled to get a...

The Lean Builder

The immigration conundrum

As often happens in my articles and columns in Professional Builder Magazine, I set out to write one article, which quickly morphs into...

The Design Side

More reasons to buy a new home

Michelle Jennings Wiebe is helping to spread the message that new homes are better than resales. Wiebe, president and principal designer of...

Building Operations

Leveraging the smartphone for a safer jobsite

Considering the millions of people wandering around with chins buried in their chests, thumbs ablaze on glass keyboards, few would suggest...

The Lean Builder

Design for failure

When I travel with my wife, or sometimes just run to the grocery, cleaners or hardware store, she frequently has to remind me, “Scott,...

Building Operations

Visualizing your future

This pottery is the future. OK, not the pottery itself. What the pottery represents… is the future. Our future. This ceramic...

Customer Satisfaction

Have you Drunk the Social Media Kool-Aid?

When I was part of a growing home building company we learned to be on guard for the newest “technology” coming down the pike that promised...

Quality Management

The costs of not using quality: Are you willing to pay for quality in your business?

Studies show that across industries Cost of Quality (Failure, Appraisal & Prevention) is: 2.6-4% of sales revenue. In the...

The Design Side

The Renovation Revolution … on TV

Did you know that Bronson Pinchot has a show on the DIY Network? That’s right, folks — Balki renovates houses! It turns out that Pinchot,...

The Design Side

Attainable sustainability in the ‘hood

Green building has touched nearly every new-home price point in urban areas as well as the suburbs. A recent Chicago Sun-Times article...

Building Operations

Gordon Gekko and the information imperative.

Yesterday we revisited the information-gathering tactics of The Master of the Senate - Lyndon B. Johnson. But when it comes to...

Building Operations

What LBJ can teach you about the most valuable commodity.

Early in Lyndon Johnson’s senate career, he lobbied for the title of Senate Majority Whip. The more seasoned senators chuckled. ...

Building Operations

Do you have Cool Hand Luke Syndrome?

Why has high school Spanish failed so many students? Let’s face it - foreign language failure is acceptable in America today. Yes, I...

Customer Satisfaction

Do You Really Want More or Less Realtor-Generated New-Home Sales?

Helping home builders understand the mechanics of outside real estate agent cooperation

Building Operations

What high school theology taught me about Spanish.

I attended a Catholic high school. Nuns. Uniforms. Morning prayers. Mass injected into random school days. And...

Lean Design

Great home plans: check out this 2,500-square-foot head turner

Today we have a ranch (or if you are on the East Coast, a rambler) to review. It is a Lean Design with a ton of amenities, and it is a...

The Design Side

Where do you find inspiration?

I subscribe to the print editions of several publications, including Architectural Digest. Go ahead and call me old school — I know I’m not...

Quality Management

Consumers are Willing to Pay for Quality

A report last year by the NAHB Research Center found that “increasingly, today’s homebuyers want energy-efficient, low-maintenance, well...

Building Operations

Thinking outside the bun (and the punchlist).

Pop quiz! Since we know you didn’t study, we’ll keep it brief. Only two questions, graded on the curve. Ok, ok, ok… Yes. One of...

Building Operations

Why Hispanics on your job don’t speak English… to you.

People like to be recognized for their skills. The holiday season, chock-full of family time, is a great atmosphere for positive...

Customer Satisfaction

Lesson Learned: The Perils of Sales Success aka Luxury Car Alert!

The market bottom is clearly behind us, and this is validated by three very reliable indicators. First, annualized home starts have more...

Building Operations

How stereotypes hinder effective communication… and clean cabinets.

It was the typical Fourth Quarter Push. We all knew the drill. Well, most of us did. It was 2006, back before...

The Design Side

Luxury housing market bounces back

The luxury housing market is back, according to a recent article in the Wall Street Journal. Some of the properties mentioned in the WSJ...

The Design Side

Don’t be afraid to ask

One of the world’s most influential architects, Barry Berkus, passed away at the end of November. While I didn’t know Barry well, I admired...

Quality Management

Design for Six Sigma

The Six Sigma methodology DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control) is used to improve an existing process. Design for Six...

Home Builders Institute's Schools to Skills Grant Application Open Through December

As Mortgage Rates Rise, Buyers Lose Purchasing Power

Renters Are Choosing Single-Family Homes for These Features