Strategic Residential Marketing

Most housing markets around the country have hit bottom and are now on the road to recovery, a recovery that will be a slow but steady process.  For most of us in the homebuilding industry there are still several months of challenges to be faced and many days filled with hard work in front of us.  

The past few years have certainly been difficult but, as the recovery comes to be and our industry returns to prosperity, hopefully we will remember the lessons that we learned and maintain the skills that were necessary to have seen us through what is arguably the toughest market seen in our lifetimes.  One of those lessons that I have been reminded of lately is to remember what is truly important in life. Read the rest of this entry »

Having missed a concert by The Bee Gees several years ago, we realized that we had made an error in judgment as Maurice Gibb passed away shortly thereafter and we will never have that opportunity again so for the past few years we have made an effort to see performances by as many of the older performers and groups as possible and last night my wife and I went to see Eric Burdon and The Animals in concert.  In my opinion the performance was “OK” but certainly not stellar.  Burdon, while still having a voice, appears to now believe that high volume, often consisting of screaming, is an appropriate substitute for a song’s melody.  

We had an exceptionally delightful evening a few weeks ago seeing Roger Daltrey perform the Who’s “Tommy” in concert.  The show was phenomenal and if it comes to your town I would strongly encourage you to go.  Daltrey and his band were amazing, playing the entire rock opera non-stop for over one hour. The show builds to a crescendo with the finale, titled above, moving the entire sold-out audience of six thousand plus to their feet for a standing ovation.  I admit to being a fan of the original album, the opera, the movie and even the pinball game that followed (Pinball Wizard). 

I believe that the plot line of “Tommy” is realistic, especially for today, and the message is certainly relevant in this age where fame is short-lived and heroes and idols are often shown to have feet of clay or, when they speak the truth instead of what people wish to hear, they are quickly removed from their pedestals.

The song from Tommy used as the title of this blog is also specifically relevant to the homebuilding industry and to me, personally.  To overcome buyer reticence, inertia and fear, homebuilders today more than ever before need to provide an emotionally meaningful and personally relevant message to each customer so they not only see and hear but also “feel” the compelling message to purchase.  And just as in the song, I am usually retained to provide an “opinion” and the “story” although I seldom expect my clients to follow me up a mountain and I do not expect that if they follow my advice they will see the “glory”, just successful residential developments and homebuilding operations. Read the rest of this entry »

It does not matter whether I go north, south, east or west; to a large metropolitan area or a small remote town.  It does not matter if I am there to explore new market opportunities, strategize a new development, reposition an existing community, work with a homebuilder on new products or otherwise assist a client or if I am in town to teach a class or lead a seminar.  Repeatedly the response I receive to a suggestion for any adjustment or improvement is “It’s different here, you do not know this market.”

Perhaps in the future I will travel in hyperspace to a remote planet near the galactic center where the laws of physics or the laws of nature do not apply and then, and only then, it may well be true that it is different there.  But until that time, the reality is that, regardless of the location, most housing markets in this country and across the globe are far more similar than they are different.

Of course there are local considerations in every marketplace that have impact on the consumer purchasing patterns and help to determine sales by any homebuilder.  There is typically a “good” side of town and a “bad” side of town, a “blue collar” side of town and a “white color” side of town, even a “cheap” side of town and an “expensive” side of town, often all determined by industry and employment centers, roadways, natural barriers and historical development and settlement patterns.  There are locational preferences for specific ethnic and other sub-market groups that must be respected.  There are local architectural, design and product preferences and prejudices that are difficult to change.  These specific factors of each local market are certainly valid but they can usually be identified and codified fairly quickly by observation and market research and the underlying concepts are relatively constant in every market although the details may vary.

More important than these local specifics, however, are the similarities in every market that apply to homebuilding: Read the rest of this entry »