As years go by things change, and the custom home building business is no exception to that rule. The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) has recently published an article on the subject, laying out what new trends they’ve noticed with custom builders.

The nation has become increasingly concerned with the environment and the utility costs that come with not going green. To keep up with client preferences, builders are using green building techniques, including renewable or recycled materials. Homebuilders are also installing energy efficient appliances, water-saving plumbing, solar panels, double pane windows, insulation to cut heating costs, and more. Since these houses are, by nature, custom, clients are satisfied thanks to the multitude of eco-friendly options they can select to make their home one-of-a-kind.

Another trend in the custom housing market is the multitude of unique amenities we’re seeing in custom designs. Customers seeking a custom-built home want something that sets their home apart from the rest. Today’s homeowners are especially fond of health-conscious features, like yoga studios, weight-lifting rooms, saunas, resistance pools, and more. Besides healthy home features, clients are also looking for ways to entertain guests and relax. Bowling alleys, in-home theaters, game rooms, billiards, etc. are all on the top of the list for many buyers. Lastly, homebuyers are seeking comfy retreats in their custom home, like screened-in porches, greenhouses, or even warm hearths and outdoor living spaces.

It’s important to note that new additions are increasingly “techy,” in the age of cell phones and specialized apps. Customers love the idea of being able to control their lights, fireplace, garage door, home temperature, security system, and music all at the touch of a cell phone screen, so custom builders are tending to their needs by building houses that can integrate these apps.

Builders have also found themselves tailoring their projects to the needs of multigenerational households. Many families have a parent, relative, cousin, or even a friend live with them permanently, and they want their home to be compatible with their lifestyle. A 2011 study by the Pew Research Center reports that 39% of 18 to 34 year olds have had to move in with their parents in recent years.

Multigenerational families are often looking for a house including a traditional mother-in-law suite, a separate apartment, or a separate living space within the house. These apartments often include their own kitchenette, living area, and bathroom to help the family member retain their sense of independence.

A final trend the NAHB mentioned in their article was customers’ desire to build a house that is easily accessible to any visitor.  This means lower countertops, wider doorways, and fewer stairs for an aging baby-boomer generation. Building a custom place to suit the needs of a wide variety of people helps increase resale value and can make you, the builder, feel good to know that you’ve helped a person retain their independence longer than someone in a standard house with multiple flights of stairs or narrow doorways.

What trends have you noticed in the custom home building business? Leave a comment below!

Most custom builders run a lean operation. That’s one of your best qualities, after all, working individually with your home builder through their entire process. Lasso CRM understands that, and their home builder software is designed with the custom home builder in mind. The role of  their team, they say, is to help you put CRM into practice to maximize the value and ROI of your investments. To do so they provide personal, knowledgeable service and help every step of the way.

Marketing and selling in the custom home building industry has a lot of moving parts. You’re finding and attracting leads, offering tours, creating relationships that lead from interest to closing. All in a highly competitive market, too. New home communities and lead follow-up mean there are plenty of priorities: are you always multitasking? Deadlines looming over you? Lasso home builder software supports your team from implementation to training, with constant support and innovation based on your needs.

Real people with real answers that care about your success and understand the real estate industry: every custom home builder is assigned an experienced Client Manager. They have extensive practical knowledge in real estate CRM, as well as IT and project management, to provide you with personal assistance, mentoring, and problem solving. When starting out you have the option of instructor-led online or onsite training; both are complemented by their built-in audio/visual e-Learning modules so you can learn or refresh your skills, at your own pace and on your own schedule.

Then once you’re up and running, you’ll get any question answered quickly by their knowledgeable team of Client Support Representatives via email or toll-free call. You’re also automatically enrolled in their unique Customer Success program, which keeps you updated on new features and maximizes your skill set with the program. Home builders have been collaboration partners in the design and functionality from day one. So if you have an idea for a new feature, or change to make it better? In their quest to make their home builder software “work the way you do”, they’ll incorporate your suggestions into future software updates. These updates are free and automatic.

If your marketing and sales team ever think they could benefit from home builder software, check out Lasso CRM for them. Their core purpose is to equip you to sell more real estate: “Faster. Easier. Profitably.” As a custom home builder, you shouldn’t miss out.

Thinking of your website as a model home, you know how important the basic framing is: the foundation and walls, the programming and design. But after you build the house, you’re going to fill it before inviting people in. As a custom home builder, you want to show off your eye for detail and design, the perfect staircase or dramatic lighting that makes your potential home buyer gasp in amazement.  Think of your website content as home interior. And that’s why your website is only going to be as good as your content.

Content is what conveys your message, boosts online presence and traffic, and invites the home buyer in. Content needs to be fresh, and it needs to be convincing. We offer a few tips on writing and preparing good web copy.

Be personable. While professional, the atmosphere of company websites online are expected to be personal and relaxed. Very formal language is often looked at askance; you don’t want to be reciting your company history like a Wiki page. You want to tell them a story. Write in first, not third person. Even more important is avoid a pressured, sales-oriented tone.

Now of course you’re looking for sales. But sales are a second step. The first step is drawing interested attention. And that’s designed around giving your potential custom home buyer the information they want. Tell them what you can do for them! People highly distrust pressured marketing and advertising online, even moreso than they do in traditional print advertisement. Visitors want helpful and informative content that isn’t all in their faces. Your style will back up your assurances of honesty and customer service. Hype doesn’t sell.

Be organized. People scan when they read online. Studies show that they skim written material online far more than they do in traditional print media. You want to think like a newspaper, not a book. In fact, too much text will often push people away. Big bold headlines will grab attention and succinctly summarize the material underneath, so that your home buyer can flick through until they find what they need. Then nicely-written and well-organized paragraphs attached will offer them more detail.

And we’re sure you know this, but avoid caps lock. They don’t draw attention, they just feel like SOMEONE IS SHOUTING at you.

Enrich your text. Here’s where we think more about marketing. Using keywords in your copy is necessary if you want to draw in a crowd. SEO enriched copy is key. A balance here is important: use them throughout every page, but don’t over use them, as you don’t want to sound spammy or forceful. When creating keywords, think as the user. What words would you use to find your site? What terms would you throw into Google? Remember that they’re searching as a home buyer, not as someone already involved in the industry. So avoid jargon and use natural phrases.

SEO is crucial. If your website is the model home, and your content the interior design, then SEO is the map to it. If you build a beautiful custom home and no one sees it, what’s the point? You wouldn’t build a custom model home in the middle of the desert! You’d make it easily accessible and well-advertised. So too your website. As always, feel free to contact us with any SEO or web design questions.

More good news for our custom home builders: Nationwide housing affordability has hit a new record high! This is so for a second consecutive quarter in the first three months of this year, according to the Housing Opportunity Index (HOI) from the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo. This new HOI data reveals that 77.5 percent of all new and existing homes sold in the first quarter were affordable to families earning the national median income of $65k. This is an improvement over the previous record in the final quarter of 2011. Then, only 75.9% of homes sold were affordable to these median-income earners.

However, tight credit has remained an obstacle for many home buyers. Barry Rutenberg, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and a home builder from Gainesville, Flordia, said that, “Homes in this year’s first quarter were more affordable than they have been at any time in more than 20 years, yet many potential sales are not happening because of overly tight lending conditions that are keeping hardworking families from obtaining a suitable mortgage. Without this significant hurdle, the housing and economic recovery could be proceeding at a much stronger pace.” Read the whole article here.

Have you seen these limitations on sales as a custom home builder? The housing market may be improving, but as we noted in the last post it’s been a tough fight. To be on the forefront of the housing market as it improves, you definitely need to consider your scheme for custom home builder internet marketing. And that’s true whether you’re in the most affordable housing market, like Indianapolis-Carmel Indiana, where 95.8% of homes, and Cumberland West Virginia where 99% of homes, were affordable to households earning the area’s median income. Or whether you’re in the bottom of that HOI listing, like in New York were just 31.5% of homes sold in the first three months of this year were affordable to those earning the area’s median income.

If you have questions about your internet marketing – from website design, to mobile websites, to SEO – contact Builder Designs and we’ll be happy to answer any question or just mention your options.

As a custom home builder, are you interested in what SEO can do for you company? Or to put it another way, when people search “custom homes in Your Location”, do you come up on the first page? Because you should, and the right SEO team can make that happen. The trick is finding the right SEO team.

SEO and SEM have been referred to as the “Wild, Wild West” of the internet. There are a lot of ads, a lot of promises, and not nearly as much solid information. It’s not always easy to find the right investment. A negative experience can quickly turn people off – or maybe you’re just wondering if what you’re paying for is really worth it.

Builder Designs utilizes a unique methodology to create real results. The newest BDTV episode discusses our SEO and SEM plans, and we’d like to tell you a little about them, so that you can feel confident in finding what you need. Marketing for custom home builders is a specialty field.  You deserve someone who really knows the market.

Search Engine Optimization properly refers to on-page optimization. Search Engine Marketing, on the other hand, is off-page optimization, like ad words. Our SEO team, headed by David Bean, works full-time on the optimization process. From the initial discovery phase to ongoing evaluation of services, our one-of-a-kind program uses only the builder vertical. And we also have an aggressive link-building strategy built into our website marketing plan. Your custom home builder listing here is just one example! These research-driven plans offer trusted solutions for your marketing needs. And our prices are adjusted to your needs too.

Our SEO team has wrangled clients first page results. When 99% of people are searching online for custom homes, earning a place on that first page is like owning every oil field in Texas. Okay, okay, no more Wild West metaphors – but you get our point. It’s an important investment, and one you want to place in trustworthy hands. Interested in what SEO can do for your company? Give Builder Designs a call, and we’ll be happy to discuss your options, or just offer up some more information.