Enough with the bad news, let’s look to the good and move forward!! For those who know me, I can almost hear them say “hypocrite”. Several years when things were good, I was trying desperately for people to see the dark cloud approaching. Trust me, I was definitely a cyclical person (just ask my wife). Today, I again find myself in the minority. This time however, I see good things. No, I don’t see the market growing much in the next five years. And no I don’t see dead people like in the Movie the Sixth Sense. Between interest rates going up, lending standards tightening up, foreclosures continuing to increase, and a weakening job market, growth is definitely several years, perhaps even a decade, out. Then why so positive? Well, I see an opportunity for new fundamental strategies in home building to emerge. Things unheard of a few years ago could become the success stories of tomorrow. Things like multigenerational homes and catalog homes are just a few concepts that could find success serving these new markets.
Just last week when doing work for a builder client at the Villages, I saw for the first time one of original Sears catalog homes. Very impressive! What was most interesting is that despite common misconception, customers could design their own homes and submit the blueprints to Sears, which would then ship off the appropriate precut and fitted materials, putting the home owner in full creative control. Customers had the freedom to build 
their own dream houses, and Sears helped realize these dreams through quality custom design and favorable financing. Today, a hundred years later with the benefits of computerization, success like this can once again emerge.
In the coming months I plan to explore and deliver you the best practices that are currently reshaping the Real Estate Industry. Stay tuned!
home builder consultant 