"Subprime": Word of the Year

Call it a little “housing humor” – or not.

Falling into the category of “who knows, who cares, but oh my that’s interesting,” the American Dialect Society, a group that’s dedicated to the study of the English language in North America, plus other languages, says the selection is based on a word’s importance.

“When you have investment companies losing billions of dollars over something like bundled subprime loans, then you have to consider whether [a word is] important,” said Wayne Glowka, chair of the New Words Committee of the American Dialect Society in a press release. “You probably also want to think about paying off that third mortgage.”

Other home finance-related finalists included exploding ARM (loans that explode beyond the borrower’s ability to pay for them); liar’s loan/liar loan (money borrowed under false pretenses); NINJA (No Income, No Job or Assets); and the always popular scratch-and-dent loan (a loan or mortgage that has become a risky debt investment, especially one secured with minimal documentation or made by a borrower who has missed payments.

(Photo credit: Nksz, Stock Exchange. Thanks!)

10 Ways to Keep Buyers Walking Through the Sales Room Door

Read, browse, and learn from articles, blog posts, book reviews, video, and other relevant homebuilding news with In the Media.  Whether these links include home sales advice, purchasing trends, or big-picture industry analysis, we know the content will be both informative and useful. 

10 Things Homebuilders Can Do to Keep Customers Walking Through the Sales Room Door by Paul Cardis
"No single strategy is going to save a struggling home builder. Rather, it will take a holistic approach that attacks the problem from every angle and perspective. Quality home builders are going to be the last Mohicans standing — be one of them."

The Prospecting Machine by Mike Lyon

How Homebuilders Can Deal with Difficult Customers by Ann Matesi
"The reality is that the builder/client relationship is a long-term one, often lasting for a year or more. Getting along on a personal level will make the process work more smoothly. But, like building the home itself, laying a good foundation for the builder/client relationship takes work as well."

In the Media

Read, browse, and learn from articles, blog posts, book reviews, video, and other relevant homebuilding news with In the Media.  Whether these links include home sales advice, purchasing trends, or big-picture industry analysis, we know the content will be both informative and useful.

Video

Tim Costello discussed how homebuilders need to leverage the Internet to connect with homebuyers at the 2007 Summit.  By moving the home buying process online, builders can provide buyers with the tools they want.

Gary Hoover, founder of Bookstop and Hoover's, Inc., shared the top 8 factors that separate a successful enterprise from an unsuccessful enterprise in his keynote address at Summit.  Great success comes from focusing our attention on history rather than the future, Hoover says.  Hoover also gave an insightful lecture on retail science and how builders can integrate the retail experience into their sales process.

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Web 2.0: What Are They Talking About?

NAR Blasts DOJ Real Estate Web Site

In the Media

Read, browse, and learn from articles, blog posts, book reviews, and other relevant homebuilding news with In the Media.  Whether these links include home sales advice, purchasing trends, or big-picture industry analysis, we know the content will be both informative and useful.

Articles

The State of the Nation's Housing 2007 - Joint Center for Housing Studies, Harvard University
"After setting records for home sales, single-family starts, and house price appreciation in 2005, housing markets abruptly reversed last year.  In 2006, total home sales fell 10 percent, starts tumbled 13 percent, and nominal house price appreciation slowed just a few percentage points.  Suddenly, it was inventories of unsold vacant homes that set records and homes in foreclosure that were making the news."

Sell New Homes by Using Your Senses - Rick Heaston, GIANTS
"Differentiating in terms of your customer's experience is the easiest, quickest, most effective and budget-friendly way to make more sales. All you have to do is think a little differently than you do right now. But there's a twist. I want you to think about your customer's experience in a different way; I want you to think about it before they buy."

2007 Gold Nugget Awards: Fields of Gold - Jenny Sullivan, Kathleen Stanely and Carolyn Weber, Builder
"They are greenfields, brownfields, grayfields, and desert outposts. The 44th annual Gold Nugget Awards celebrate Western projects that transcend the norm and reshape the housing landscape as we know it."

Selling by Design - Big Builder
"Home builders' newest ally in sales? Design centers that woo home buyers with wine and cheese among the carpetsamples and light fixtures."

BHI News

Builder Homesite Delivers Comprehensive New Home Listings On Yahoo! Real Estate
Envision Options Management Solution Wins Big at the OTTO Awards

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How to Capture AND Convert More Leads
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Search Engine Marketing Strategies: PPC vs. SEO