No more help from dad.

For a lot of students and young adults the last couple of years in college or the time leading up to that first big job, mom or dad help to make ends meet.  There comes a time when there is “no more help from dad.”  Well here we are in the new home construction business.  Help from dad or in this case uncle sam is going to end around the end of the month.  The tax credit for the “move-up/repeat home buyer”  ends for us about the end of February.  This gives us enough time to get a home built and closed by the end of June which is the absolute deadline. (for more info visit www.federalhousingtaxcredit.com)  Which begs the question ”then what?”  

Well for us it will be very much business as usual for the last 16 months or so we have been creating our own incentives to get folks into new homes.  We have had to compete with other builders reducing margins and getting creative with the handling of the existing homes our buyers have to sell.  It doesn’t look like those practices are going to go away.  The government may be closing up their wallet but we aren’t.  The only way this industry is going to get stronger and take our place as the countries leading job producer is to bite the profit bullet and keep subs and vendors working by what ever means we can. 

If you are thinking of a new home, have a home to sell and can’t meet the dead line for the government incentive don’t despair you will still get an incentive from us.  If you are a builder, still in business and are unwilling to create incentives to get people into new homes then get out of the way.  Let us and builders like us lead this industry back to a healthy sustainable production level.  As always check out www.teamconstructioninc.com for “A better way to build.”

Thank you for your comments

Happy New Year, back to normal.

Yes, Happy New Year to all.  I know all of us in the building and new home construction industry are happy to see 2009 come to a close.  Now it’s time to get back to normal.  The questions must be asked; “What is normal in the home building industry?”  If I could answer that question my in box would be full with builders, vendors and subs asking for the answer.  I can tell you what normal won’t be; it won’t be based on what happened in 2009 and it won’t be based on what happened in 2004 or 2005. 

If you are a home buyer you will still find yourself in the driver’s seat so take advantage while you can.  Take advantage of the lower prices we are offering and the tax credits that the government is offering.  By the end of 2010 I believe both of these will be gone, home prices have stabilized and there are signs and parts of the country where they are starting to go up.  As for the tax credits they are set to end at the end of June (visit www.federalhousingtaxcredit.com ) for more info. 

If you are a builder, vendor or sub keep plugging.  We will be right in front of you leading the way into this new year looking for ways to keep our industry moving towards the new “normal.”

I have my eye on a ”Magic 8 Ball”  at an antique shop send me an email toddm@teamconstructioninc.com ask me your questions and I’ll tell you what it says.

Stimulus Shmimulus

The word stimulus will no doubt be ’09 most over used “buzz” word.  When ever I hear the word I am reminded of a scene from the movie “Princess Bride.”  Vecini continues to use the word “inconceivable” when referring to events that have already been conceived and are happening.  After Vecini announces their pursuers approach as ”inconceivable”  Indigo turns to Vecini and says ” I do not think that word means what you think it means.”  The word stimulus clearly means different things to different people and companies.  If one would normally consider a stimulus as a carrot dangled in front of a horse, it now needs to be a steak.  I know steaks aren’t on a horses diet but you get my point.

Okay, stimulus as defined in the Webster’s New world dictionary:1. an incentive 2. an action or agent that causes an activity in an organism , organ etc. 

So what this means to us is that we need to continue to look for the incentive or the reason that would cause activity in the housing industry.   We want to build homes, we want our vendors and subcontractors to have money to go out and take advantage of incentive on things that they need or want.  Then those people will do the same and so on.  Eventually things will get back to normal…it might not be the same “normal” that we knew a few years ago but it will be better than where we are now. 

The incentive that we have decided to implement is definitely a steak, how about nine, ten, eleven even twelve thousand dollars off of the price of the lot.   Depending on your home and the total price that can translates into 4 - 6% of instant equity.  The current economy is making history right now and so are we with these unpresidented savings.  These types of discounts can’t and won’t last forever but I feel they are essential now to pull people across the line. 

So next time you read or someone tells you about their stimulus package tell them what stimulus means to you.  If that company or person is really offering a stimulus it should mean the same thing.

Spring is in the air

Well we have our final four teams set, Tiger has won his first golf event and schools and families are gearing up for spring break.  It is official…Spring is in the air.  Along with these signs of spring we find traffic at our open houses a little more brisk, more people looking to down size, up size, sideways size…they want a new home.   For those looking for a new home…are you looking for a “new” home or a “different” home.  Regardless of which you are no doubt going to get a good deal.

Okay, you are going to get a good deal lets put that aside and get back to that later.  I have taken two calls this year from individuals looking for  help.  They bought a new home last year, one was a spec home the other was a presold custom home.  In both cases the builder was no longer in business and the home owners were inquiring about where they should go to have warranty work done.  In short they no longer have a warranty, I told both that it was possible the subcontractor that did the original work might come out and take care of things so their name wasn”t viewed in the same light as the out of business builder.  I called our local builders association and fortunately they have received only a half dozen or so of these calls, that says a lot about the quality of builders we have in our area. 

The same holds true for any existing home, you have no warranty.  Many Realtors and real estate companies offer a warranty provided by a local service which is great.  I would look at those warranties like an insurance policy, or a bet with a bookie.  In either case they are betting and hoping that you don’t make a claim or a good bet.  They aren’t concerned with doing business with you in the future, they are more interested in not doing business with you now.  Consequently the service and workmanship that you get from these services might not be at the same level as a subcontractor who specializes in that area.

Now back to the “good deal on that house,” how good is it.  What are your expenses going to be for the next couple of years.  Did you get a good deal because the builder is struggling with the current economy and making bad or short sided decisions that won’t allow him to stay in business.  There are a lot of existing and new spec homes on the market right now that need to sell.  These homes are starting to sell and will continue to sell as well as the new homes that we and other builders are building and will continue to build.  Get all the facts folks, do your homework, talk to references make sure it is a good deal for the right reasons.

Thanks, and if you want to learn more about us go to www.teamconstructioninc.com

Green homes that won’t put you in the Red, or maybe you like red.

My drive into work takes me by a home that has a wind turbine.  I realize that the turbine only needs to turn when producing electricity.  I also understand that if the storage system is full there is no need to produce energy therefore the turbine will not be moving.  My question, however is shouldn’t that turbine move sometime, I mean I have never seen that turbine move, whether in the morning or afternoon.  Let’s assume there is a reason, maybe it is moving during the night or just anytime when I’m not driving by.   Still there is something  fundamentally wrong with that way of thinking.  I know if I was going to ask someone to spend thousands and thousands on a wind turbine that sucker would be spitting out juice 24/7, or at least enough that passers by wouldn’t think I was loony for installing it. 

As a Certified Green Proffesional I think I should be just that…a proffesional.  If someone is willing to pay to ”harness the wind” but they don’t have enough wind to harness,  my proffesional responsibility is to tell them so.  If their desire is to be on the cutting edge of  ”green technology” maybe there is something else we can do.  Here in Northern Indiana we don’t have the same opportunities to use mother natures resources as other parts of the country.  That doesn’t mean that we sit around and wait for technology to catch up, we do what we can right now.  Our responsibility to you is to work with your desires and your budget to come up with the best  “Green” formula for you. 

Don’t be the family with a wind turbine sculpture in the back yard, call your local green professional…ME.  Tell me your goals, heck let’s just talk, how do you feel about the whole green thing.   Do you feel like we really need a whole cable channel devoted to living green, do you think it is similar to paying extra for grocery items that are “organic.”  Are we paying more for things because they are “green?”  yata, yata, yata.

Thanks for your comments and visit our website www.teamconstructioninc.com for a whole lot more info about us.

Running faster than the bear.

A story for you.  Bob and Larry are on a fishing trip deep in the forest.  They have just finished cleaning their fish, it was a great day on the lake and they both sit back, kick off their shoes and are enjoying a beer.  Larry turns to Bob and in a panic tells him he sees a bear coming towards them from the woods.  Larry stands and is ready to run when he notices Bob putting his shoes on.  He asks Bob “what are you doing, putting your shoes on won’t help you out run that bear.”  Bob says to Larry “you’re right, but I don’t need to out run the bear…I just need to out run you.”  

This story illustrates our approach to the current housing market.  We don’t need to conquer the housing problem, we just need to out perform our competition.  Team is doing this in several ways, here are a couple of examples.  We are finishing a barrier free model home in Pickwick Park, a villa home community in Goshen, IN.  When we say barrier free we mean you can look through the whole main floor and you won’t find a single step.  If you or your guest use a wheel chair to help you get around you will be able to move uninhibited from the drive to any part of the main floor.  Wide doorways and front control appliances are standard.  The kids are gone, you still have a lot of life ahead of you but you want to be ready for what ever life might send your way.  That’s why we built this home.  We have also started Elkhart Counties first Green Home.  There have been other homes that claim Green features, heck we all build homes with Green features, however this home will be certified Green by a National Green verifier.  A stamp if you will that says this builder claims to have built a Green home and they have.  

These are just a couple of reasons why the bear is having Larry for lunch today.  We do have ”A better way to Build.”  Visit our web site and let me tell you why.  www.teamconstructioninc.com

Letter to the Senator

I have no excuse for waiting so long between entries other than waiting for some exciting information about the new stimulus package.   My patience ran out last week and I had to let someone know.  I sent a letter to our Republican senator with a little encouragement to keep moving forward.  I imagine it is still in his store room of incoming email regarding the stimulus package.   It made me feel better just knowing that I at least expressed myself.  It looks like a compromise might have been made and that the bill might be complete by the end of the week…that’s great, but for who?  As I have listened to some of the media regarding the package it sounds like there wasn’t any clear winner.  When the media says there was no “clear winner” they are referring to Republicans or Democrats because that is what the media does, it breaks the news down to good or bad not good and bad.  Right now here in Elkhart County all you have is bad, according to the media, well that’s just not true. We haven’t lost hope, we are still meeting with people about new homes and in fact we plan on building a  few homes in the next month or so.  We are working hard to meet the needs of our buyers for what they want in a house and what that house needs to cost.  This stimulus package will not fix our collective problems, it is still up to us to take the tools that are in this stimulus package and make them work.  The recovery needs to start somewhere, it might as well start right here in Elkhart County.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to all.  God and accomplished crystal ball readers are the only reliable sources for a prediction on the success of the housing and new construction industry this year.  If 2009 ends up being like 2008 it won’t be for lack of effort.  Every where I look I see incentives to kick this industry in the “rear elevation.”  Interest rates are as low as they have ever been, subcontractors and vendors are offering discounts and local builders are offering many different types of programs to combat the existing home market.  On top of that, the cost of “Building Green” continues to come down which lowers the upfront costs to energy saving designs and construction.   The bottom line is that there has been no better time in the past decade to build a house than right now.  Home values will go up but so will interest rates, those two things are for sure.  Don’t wait, build now, save some money, get a good interest rate and lets get this part of the economy going again.

Seasonal Savings

I hope everyone is enjoying a safe and happy holiday season with friends and family.  In addition to merry making  this season is know for shopping and sales.  Not to be left out, Team Construction is having a sale of their own, “The Crazy Christmas Sale“.  You won’t find Santa there but you will find refreshments and a seasoned Team representative to answer all of you questions and most important to make you a deal that Santa and the elves can’t touch.  Interest rates continue to drop and the housing market continues to put downward pressure on new construction.  Sieze this opportunity to get a new house for a great price, get a free bedroom and bath in the basement and take advantage of some of the lowest mortgage rates in years.

Builder Questions

 

Thinking about having a home built?  Here are some questions you might want to ask the builders.

 

The building site and lending options

Do you have building sites available where you are the exclusive builder?

Can you package your building sites into the construction contract?

What are the financing options available for building a new home?

Do you have preferred lenders and why do you prefer them?

 

The best home design for your needs

Do you have models or existing occupied homes that we could visit?

Will we have an opportunity to alter your standard plans?

Is there a cost to alter a standard plan?

Will we be provided floor plans detailing items as they appear on our construction contract?

 

The selection of items and options for your new home

Do you have a list of standard features and construction specifications for your homes?

Do you have pricing for commonly requested upgrades and options?

How many meetings will we need to attend during the whole process?

What is the average length of time you have been associated with you vendors and subcontractors?

 

The construction process

Do you provide change orders outlining changes made from the construction contract?

Do you charge a flat fee for executing a change order?

Will we know the cost of requested changes before you make the changes?

Will we have unrestricted access to the house during construction?

Will we be able to communicate freely with the project manager during construction?

Do you have an average number of days required to build a home, and will you commit to it?

 

The service and warranty of your new home

Do you have a full time service and warranty manager?

If a need arises 4 years after we have moved in to our house would you want us to call you?