Foreclosure Statistics…The Bottom Line

As President of the Frederick County Builders Association (FCBA), I recently was asked about expectations that foreclosure statistics, while lower than 2010, are expected to rise because the restrictions on foreclosures caused by “robo-gate” are being cleared. Here are my comments:

• It should come as no surprise that with “robo-gate” drawing to a close, the removal of impediments to foreclosure could result in a bulge of foreclosure sales coming into the re-sale market.

So, Why is it That…

When most people are looking to purchase an appliance, consumer electronics or a car they think “New”, but when looking for a home, they think “Used/Previously Existing/Previously Owned”? One inescapable conclusion is that we homebuilders who build high performance homes have done an exceedingly poor job of informing homebuyers that today’s new, high performance home and even today’s new home built to current code is not, as once was said, “…your father’s Oldsmobile”.

Home Value: How Do You Know it When You See it?

It seems obvious. Every homebuyer’s goal should be to obtain the best value for his/her money. But, “value” itself is a relative concept represented by the relationship between the desired features and benefits of a product or service and the cost associated with those features and benefits.