Builder - February 2009 - (Page 17) BMAIL Overcoming the Show and Tell Right Side Up ood article [“The Fight to Survive,” in the December Impossible G BuilderOnline.com]. You should check I just read your pieceBleeding,” page 15]. 2008 issue [“Stop the write, a just you. The Y ou history, “Now, for the first time out www.ascribehq.com forThegreat mar- Let me was say thank brutally, tone of your in buyers are faced with the keting tool for the Web. tool not article bluntly, refreshingly prospect that their new home may lose only can be used to showcase your project candid. With all the spin on this topic, I value in real terms. That’s a tough, if not impossible, objection to overcome,” [“A Better Way?” January, page 21]. People have forever been agreeable to buying cars, likely an individual’s second largest investment behind the home, knowing full well that when they drive off the car lot the value of the car goes down significantly, and that downward spiral in value will never stop (unless it becomes a treasured antique). For the most part, experience on your Web site, but it also puts your projects out on the Web and creates links to other companies that worked on the same project. Ascribe’s primary purpose is to help companies be seen by showcasing and networking around projects and to drive qualified traffic back to their Web sites. Check out www.showcase buildings.com, just one of the many Web site project showcases where your work can be seen. DOUG HUYSER was beginning to feel as if left is right, right is left, and we’re all upside down. Hopefully some of the two trillion in Posted on BuilderOnline.com in response to Boyce Thompson’s blog post “The Fight to Survive” Getting Things Going enlighten C an youwhere home us in the industry as to building stands in respect to earmarks that will be in the coming stimulus plan? I feel the Realtor lobby is doing a much better job than the NAHB of explaining to the public the need to address existing inventory issues. I’m sure you agree that we need to have incentives to get nervous potential buyers off the fence and buying new homes that are on the ground today. Interest rates are great, but re-fis don’t put anybody but brokers and closing attorneys to work. If the stimulus plan had the 10 percent tax credit for buying a new home (capped at $25k) that has been discussed, and had an expiration date (end of ’09), it surely would get inventory moving. All I hear about is roads and bridges. No one seems to want to get on the soapbox and shout how badly we need to get homes moving. That will put more people to work than roads and bridges. KENT OLSON b il d f h bl bailout f d can b used to soften the blow funds be to banks when they adjust these mortgages. Of course it isn’t fair, but maybe we will stop the bleeding. Thanks again. DON MCDONOUGH homes, like cars, have been built with materials that will wear out and are susceptible to natural and man-made disasters. Cars cannot be built for sustainability, but houses can. Perhaps building sustainable homes is the answer to overcoming the objection that you say is impossible. JIM FARRELL Division President Ryland Homes Charleston, S.C. Via e-mail Owner Blastcrete Equipment Co. & MetRockSCIP Anniston, Ala. Via e-mail Universal Truths Planner (1960 I have been an UrbanState University) graduate of Michigan for the last 48 years and a real estate developer for 28 of those years. In addition to that, I have been involved with Rebuilding Together, a national organization based in Washington, D.C., through its Oakland County, Mich., affiliate for 18 years, which is involved in renovating homes for seniors and handicapped persons. Most recently, I have been searching for (see page 18) a used home for myself. I am Owner Olson Development Charlotte, N.C. Via e-mail W W W.BUILDERONLINE.COM f ebrua ry 2 0 0 9 BUILDER ■ 17 http://WWW.BUILDERONLINE.COM http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/hanleywood/builder_200812/index.php?startid=14 http://www.ascribehq.com http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/hanleywood/builder_200901/index.php?startid=20 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/hanleywood/builder_200901/index.php?startid=20 http://www.showcasebuildings.com http://www.showcasebuildings.com http://WWW.BUILDERONLINE.COM http://WWW.BUILDERONLINE.COM
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.