Down here at the home office in Boulder, Colorado,
our e-mail box is overflowing with great suggestions from our
readers. Here's a selection of the most recent comments, ideas,
bargain tips and advice. Of course, if you'd like to add in your
two cents, feel free to e-mail
us.
If you're new to this page, you can check out previous mail in our archive files linked below.
WARNING: Links to other web sites on this page are informational only. They do not constitute an endorsement by us or our book, YOUR NEW HOUSE. Be sure to check out any sources carefully before ordering.
Press release
For Immediate Release For Further Information Contact:
Todd Shraiberg
847-390-2193
tshraiberg@cahners.com
A New Information Resource for the Residential Construction Industry
HousingZone.Com, the Internet's first information portal for the residential
construction industry, debuted January 14 to rave reviews. Created by
Cahners Residential Group and introduced at the recent National Association
of Home Builders convention in Dallas, new home builders, remodelers,
manufacturers and association and government officials praised the site for
its organization and concise, easy-to-use format.
Features of the one-of-a-kind site include a daily news feed from
Lexis-Nexis that is updated each business day by 2 p.m. EST with content
specific to residential construction. News from thousands of sources is
divided into 10 hot topic buckets, including government policy, economic
data, regulations, technology, green building, kitchen and bath,
architecture and design, building materials, supplier news and builders in
the news.
HousingZone launched with 10 main sections or houses for easy navigation and
information access. They are:
* Topics: Content is broken down and organized into sales, building,
management, design, construction materials, economics, home systems,
legislation and regulations, affordable housing and products. Content is
searchable by keyword, topic and provider.
* Products: In the online version of Professional Builder magazine's
Buyer's Guide, users can dynamically generate searches across entire product
lines or a single product type. They can obtain manufacturer information
including contacts, sales channels, distribution networks and products
offered. There is also a new products database that is searchable by keyword
and manufacturer.
* Associations/Government: Users can find information from the
residential construction industry's associations and government offices.
Content provided includes award winners, certification information,
installation guides, funding applications as well as links and contact
information.
* Design Gallery: This section includes complete coverage of
award-winning home design, as well as articles on the latest design trends
from architects, manufacturers and associations.
* Projects: Follow entire building projects such as Professional
Builder's Show Village, as well as a host of remodeling jobs and future
housing developments.
* Education: HousingZone has constructed its own Virtual Campus where
industry professionals can continue their education. Future course offerings
will include product installation tips and maintenance instructions.
* Events: A complete listing of the events that shape the residential
construction industry. Also included are links for travel planning and
conference registration.
* Classifieds/Jobs: Users can exchange resumes, post and view
available jobs and scan the classifieds for products and services.
* Store: Inside the store, visitors will find links to purchase
building products, house plans, books and other merchandise.
On a tight deadline? Need information in a hurry? Try Zone-In, the
HousingZone search engine that scans over 3000 handpicked web sites within
the residential building community. Key words can be run against specific
categories such as manufacturers, associations or government offices.
HousingZone.com has a lot to offer consumers as well. Features designed to
make the new home or remodeling purchase easier include:
* How-to-choose/How-to-find: A complete listing of search engines to
help users find builders, remodelers, contractors, architects, attorneys,
house plans, new houses, old houses and much more, as well as articles on
how to choose each.
* House Plans: Thousands of plans covering every imaginable housing
style and size can be viewed at HousingZone. In addition, the site offers
R.S. Means Residential Cost Estimator. This allows consumers to "create" the
home of their dreams in their location of choice and determine what it would
cost to build.
HousingZone is an ever-expanding entity. Additional plans for 2000 include
the acquisition of more content, auctions of building products, more virtual
classes, expanded coverage of construction projects, consumer trends,
building materials, labor issues as well as original content each week.
Information partners in HousingZone include Cahners residential group
magazines including Professional Builder, Professional Remodeler and Luxury
Home Builder. Other Cahners titles supplying content to the site include
Home Systems magazine and Contractor
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Wed, 26 Jan 2000 23:00:55 -0500
Big builder lawsuits?
I found your book last night and read almost all of it
in one sitting. Very informative and well written. My
wife and I are thinking of buying a house that will be
built this spring by a production builder who has been
building in one form or another here in SE Michigan
for 30 years. They have built many, many homes and
currently most of their developments are for houses
over $300K with one development being estates starting
at $1 Million. We are looking at one of their few
lower-scale (which in this market is $200K) models.
They've built several of this style of house already
in one phase of development. Now they've run out of
room and are expanding across the street. This will be
phase one of the new development with another two or
three phases to go. So, they've been around along time
and will continue to be around for a while. I've
checked with the Better Business Bureau, but haven't
heard back from them yet.
After reading your book, I decided to also check out
www.knowx.com and looked at Lawsuits. It came up with
31 lawsuits with several of those being the same suit
but under different names (Tri-Mount Builders Inc,
Tri-Mount Developers Inc...) Narrowing those down I
looked at the data. The earliest suit is from 1990 and
the latest is from January of 1999. The results break
down to:
11 suits Dismissed
1 Withdrawn
1 Settled
1 Judgment for Plaintiff
7 Pending
So, is this a normal amount for a big builder in these
litigious days? Does the large amount of dismissed
mean that these are mostly frivolous lawsuits or that
they have very good lawyers so don't bother suing
them? A lot of the amounts seem to be $10,000. Enough
so that it seemed like that was just a default amount
with no connection to the real case, so it is hard to
tell if they were suing for large amounts of money, or
smaller. The one judgement for a plaintiff was for
$1,579.
I think my next step is probably to talk to a real
estate attorney in town and see what they think. But I
thought I'd also get your take on the situation as
well.
Just for some more information, they built a model
home for this model when they first took over the
original development from a builder that went under,
three or four years ago. They are still using the
model and with the exception of a few small cracks in
the poured basement, it looks to be holding up well.
Andrew
Neophyte home buyer trying to do it the hard way
Our reply
Andrea
Thanks for reading our book, YOUR NEW HOUSE! Glad you found it helpful!
First, let us congratulate you on actually checking for past lawsuits. Many of our readers never do that research.
We understand why this would be concerning---and we don't know the answer to "how many are too many". I think I would do what you said---ask a real estate attorney to evaluate this info and give an opinion. Frankly, it makes a bit nervous there are that many actions in the past seven years. Yes, we live in a litigious society and all businesses have complaints---BUT the key is how you handle them. And having customers file suit isn't a good sign.
let us know how it goes,
--
Alan & Denise Fields, authors
BRIDAL BARGAINS • THE BRIDAL GOWN GUIDE • BABY BARGAINS • YOUR NEW HOUSE
Contractor vs. realtor
My wife and I purchased a lot in a development in Lancaster Co., PA
about 2 years ago. When we bought the lot, we knew there was a clause in
the sellers agreement, requiring a 5% commission for the realtor when we
constructed a house, through the contractor.. The realtor has an
exclusive agreement with the developer to market the development. The
realtor was paid a commission for the lot we purchased. Now about 2
years later, we are preparing to build a house and are working with a
builder who has built a few homes in the development. This contractor
has no agreement with the realtor so the realtor faxed a form to the
contractor, asking him to agree to pay the commission. I told the
contractor I did not want to pay this money, especially since I had
absolutely no help from the realtor after the lot was purchased. The
realtor did not introduce me to the builder or provide any other
service. The realtor will not meet with me to discuss this and has
conveyed by fax, letter, and agent that he will not negotiate the fee.
My real estate attorney tells me that the provision for 5% is most
likely unenforceable since it refers to commission with a contractor who
he has no contract with and since the deed does not reflect the
provision, etc. The realtor has indicated to the contractor that if he
does not include a commission, he will not build in the development
again. The contractor has paid the commission before, when he built a
house and sold it worth the lot as a package. We are the only buyers in
this 52 lot development who bought a lot without building a house right
away. We were ready to get started and are now stalled. Not only that,
but the contractor and I who developed a great relationship have a
relationship that is becoming strained. He does not want to lose future
business, and I don't want to see him caught in the middle. I am also
not anxious to spend a lot of money on an attorney. I am frustrated out
of my mind. Can you give me advice?
Thanks,
Ben Kauffman
Questions about the book
Dear Misters Fields!
I have a few questions after reading your book "Your new house" in the
lots section.
1 Step 10 Who can build on the lot? Where I can get this information?
and which city department I should contact?
2 Step 2 site available services.Who can give me the best answer?
Is it Planning department , building dep., city engineer or a
utility company?
3 Step 4 Where I check for zoning restrictions.Is it county clerk or
the Home Owners Association?
4 Impact fees. Who I can ask about impact fees?
I really like your book but some of these questions are not clear to me.If
you can help me with it I will be very thankful to you.All questions is
applying to the Bay Area California.
Best regards. Andrei Grokhotov.
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Sun, 16 Jan 2000 17:53:23 -0500
Press release
Contact: Andrew Hayden, Home Director
203-431-4588
haydena@us.ibm.com
Jennifer Johnson, TSI
212-320-2221
jjohnson@tsicomm.com
HOME DIRECTOR PREVIEWS ITS EXPANDED LINE OF HOME NETWORKING SYSTEMS PROMISING
GREATER CHOICE TO BUILDERS AND CONSUMERS IN THE FUTURE
Newly Designed Product Planned For Introduction Later This Year
Dallas, International Builders Show, January 14, 2000 . . . Home Director, Inc.,
the recently launched spin-off from IBM, today previewed the first expansion to
its line of breakthrough home networking products designed around the
requirements of the digital age. The new product, to be known as the Network
Connection Center, complements Home Director?s existing line of products and
offers customers a home networking alternative suitable for larger homes and
home-based businesses.
Driving the company’s focus on delivering Internet sharing, entertainment,
education and home office capabilities to consumers, the Home Director family of
Connection Center products enables homes for the promise of broadband services.
With a line of products that include features ranging from advanced telephony
and video systems to fast 100Mb Ethernet connectivity within the home, the
forthcoming product adds to Home director’s leadership position in the home
networking category.
?Since entering the home networking marketplace in 1998, Home Director has been
dedicated to delivering the best available solutions to its customers,? said
Mary Walker, president and CEO of Home Director. ?With the emergence of high
speed Internet and broadband technologies we needed to evolve our product line
to better deliver their benefits to a broader range of homeowners and the new
Network Connection Center promises to do just that.?
The Network Connection Center takes the best features of Home director’s current
line of products and expands them to meet the needs of more homeowners than ever
before. Following extensive input from its network of Authorized Home Systems
Integrators and new home builders, Home Director has designed the new Network
Connection Center for more efficient cable management in a larger home. The
company also worked closely with service providers and technology companies, to
better understand the emerging broadband and digital access devices that further
enhance the capabilities of a home network. With the input that it received from
these communities, Home Director developed a product that not only delivers on
the power of today’s technologies, but matches its existing Home Network
Connection center’s flexibility for handling emerging technologies.
Addressing the needs of an expanded audience, Home Director created the Network
Connection Center to deliver the best possible home networking solution to the
previously untapped markets of larger homes and home-based businesses. Depending
on the configuration, the Network Connection Center includes the capability of
handling up to 16 incoming telephone lines going to 128 wall jacks. To
distribute data throughout a large home or small office, the Network Connection
Center can be configured to include an eight port (expandable) Ethernet hub. For
entertainment, the product matches the existing line of Home Network Connection
Centers in distributing up to 16 incoming video signals from sources including
Cable TV, satellite, security cameras and DVD or VCR’s to any television in the
home.
In addition to these features being available today, all of the Connection
Centers have the ability to incorporate emerging technologies such as Cable and
DSL modems as well as residential gateways and control systems when they are
available. By delivering these systems today, Home Director is ensuring that new
homes are ready for the future.
The Network Connection Center is the first new product to be demonstrated by
Home Director since it separated from IBM. As an independent company, Home
Director is better able to react quickly to changes in market conditions and
build the relationships necessary to deliver on the promise of a digital world.
The flexible design of its product line, and the entrepreneurial nature of Home
Director, provide a platform within which technology partners and service
providers can develop and deliver integrated network components that meet
consumers needs more efficiently than before.
Understanding the Marketplace
Since it first entered the market in the fall of 1998, Home Director has been
determined to lead the home networking marketplace in delivering products that
meet the needs of consumers, installers and builders alike. As this market has
evolved, and new technologies have emerged, Home Director has seen the need to
evolve its products to meet market conditions.
Consumers ? today’s consumers have grown up in the technology age and recognize
that their homes need to be able to take advantage of the benefits that it
delivers. Internet connectivity, digital satellite or cable television, multiple
telephone lines into the home and advanced home theatre systems are just a few
of the things that they are demanding. The key to meeting these needs is
delivering a solution that addresses these technologies, but also delivers on
the promise of emerging ones, such as DSL and cable modems and residential
gateways, that will be available tomorrow. The Home Director solution is
designed to meet these expectations.
Builders ? As consumers become more technology savvy, they are demanding that
their homes include a complete technology infrastructure. Over the past two
years builders have seen a dramatic increase in the demand for advanced wiring
systems for telephones, video and computer networking as well as home
entertainment, security and automated lighting systems. Home Director has
focused its efforts on the new home construction industry and has developed
in-house expertise on the building process and an understanding of builders?
needs both logistically and technically. In doing this, Home Director has become
a partner to the industry.
Integrators ? The key to Home director’s success in the new home construction
industry was its development of the Authorized Home Systems Integrator program.
These business partners are local experts, trained and authorized by Home
Director to install, service and support their home networking systems. By
creating this standardized program, both consumers and builders have access to
professionals they can count on.
The Home Networking Market
Cahners In-Stat Group, Scottsdale, AZ, projects that the home networking market
will grow 60%, to $1.4 billion by 2003. Meanwhile, the Yankee Group, Boston,
says that by 2003, there will be 10 million internally networked U.S. homes.
In-Stat also reports that the home networking market grew sequentially by 18% in
the third quarter of 1999, and is expected to reach $137 million in end user
sales by the end of 1999.
The demand for Web access, as well as the growth of high-speed connections to
pipe the Internet into homes, are fueling home networking growth. For example,
more than 27.3 million users worldwide are expected to use digital subscriber
lines (DSL) by 2003, up from 70,000 in 1998, according to Framingham, MA-based
International Data Corp.
Also driving growth are the large number of new housing starts, which now
frequently offer so-called structured wiring -- a combination of telephone,
video and computer wiring types that work in conjunction to deliver data
throughout a home. By 2001, 20% of new single-family housing starts ? or
222,000 homes ? will feature this type of wiring, according to Dallas-based
Parks Associates.
About Home Director
Based in Morrisville, NC, Home Director, Inc. was launched in January of 2000 as
an independent, entrepreneurial spin-off of the former IBM Home Networking
Solutions unit. As a market leader in the home networking industry, Home
Director has built a successful business focusing on both leading edge
technologies and strategic channel development. Home Director products are
available across the United States and Canada through a network of Authorized
Home Systems Integrators (AHSI?s). To locate an AHSI, visit the Home Director
web site at www.ibm.com/homedirector or call toll free 1-800-426-7144.
####
For Home Director media inquiries, please contact Andrew Hayden, Director of
Communications at 203-431-4588, or via email at haydena@us.ibm.com.
Home Director and ?The Intelligent Home? are trademarks of Home Director, Inc.
Home Director, Inc. is not an IBM company.
IBM is a trademark of International Business Machines Corporation and is used
under license.
Other company, product and service names may be trademarks or service marks of
others.
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Fri, 14 Jan 2000 13:46:45 -0500
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