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The 2021 TecHome: Trends on the Rise for Homebuyers & Renters
There are lots of words we could use to describe 2020 but by far I believe the most (over) used word of the year was unprecedented. (Insert all the reasons why here). Because of social distancing, remote school and office closures, people who were reluctant to adopt technology, were forced to adapt to the changing...
5 (and a half) Reasons to Attend February’s TecHome Builder Online Summit
Between February 24-25, we will be LIVE for our winter edition of the TecHome Builder Online Summit. The virtual event will host several top industry leaders and tech vendors who will bring their expert insights to help builders and multifamily property managers update their home tech assortments, standard offers, and go-to-market strategies to give them...
The New Home Company: Setting the Bar for Smart Home as a Standard
Recognized by Pro Builder Magazine as the 2019 Builder of the Year, The New Home Company (NYSE: NWHM) has earned an industry-leading reputation for designing homes and living experiences that put homebuyers first. Rated #1 in customer satisfaction by Eliant in the high-volume and multi-divisional builder categories, this new generation homebuilder is deeply focused on...
Internet Connection: The Essential Fourth Utility for Multifamily.
Internet connectivity has never been more vital for multifamily properties amid the surging needs of renters. “Multifamily Builders and Property Managers need to be thinking about what the next generation of renters are going to expect”, says Dish Network’s GM of Business Development, Nate Block. Gen Z, who has been the generation to grow up...
How Artificial Intelligence Can Boost Website Experience for Homebuyers and Increase Conversions
Last week we had guest host Anya Chrisanthon speak with Jonn Hiscox, cofounder of Openhouse.ai, an artificial intelligence and machine learning marketing platform. They talked about trends and how the consumer journey is changing, new privacy policy rules and regulations and how it’s going to affect marketing as a whole. Here are the highlights from...
4 Things that Luxury Builders Should Stop Doing to Increase Sales
When a homebuyer looks for a builder to create a luxury custom home, they are looking for their dream home– a home they have in their minds that is uniquely built for them. This includes the technology that has become a key part of their lives in recent years. Unfortunately, many buyers spend thousands on...
Innovative Virtual Options Tap Limitless Possibilities with Real Results
“Virtual” has been our reality in 2020. A nationwide shutdown of businesses and travel bans forced us to conduct our work online with a never-ending whirlwind of zoom meetings. Eight months have passed and there has been amazing progress toward technology adoption in builder and multifamily industries especially in the use of virtual tools to...
5 Pillars of Wellness Technology Applications in the Home
It’s no surprise that wellness in the home is getting a lot of attention right now in both the single and multifamily homebuilding market. Indoor air quality technology most notably has taken center stage this year, but there are many new applications to control the ambient environment of a home and can contribute to a...
Scary Good Smart Tech that Makes a New Home or Condo a Treat for your Buyers– No Tricks!
It’s Halloween and we’ve all seen the movies– a family moves into a new home, excited for a fresh start– but they don’t realize there are scary things lurking behind the walls! No, it’s not ghosts and goblins but unexpected situations that pop up when they least expect it. Help your customers gain peace of...
The Keys to Post Pandemic Multifamily Comeback
At the end of 2019, Multifamily was on the rise in growth as more people wanted to live near where they worked and played–in fast-paced cities bustling with activity and nightlife. However, things changed quickly with the introduction of COVID and there was a shift toward outer-suburban single-family home ownership. What impact will this have...
“All-Songs-And-Dances” Light Fits Lux Showcase Home
During my visit with custom builder David Compo a few weeks back I was struck by how enamored he was with one out dozens of tech features he built into his entry into the SE Michigan Builders’ Parade of Home—the Juno AI (color-tunable light/speaker/Alexa interface) from Acuity Brands. Compo Builders installed 45 Juno AI’s in...
TecHome Builder Announces Powerful One-Two Keynote Punch for First Online Summit, Sept. 29-30
Austin-based business leaders Tim Costello, BDX, and Roy Spence, GSD&M, will talk tech, housing and expanding housing’s purpose in keynotes that will inspire and inform! GET MORE INFO OR REGISTER HERE Both days of the inaugural TecHome Builder Online Summit will kick-off with a can’t-miss keynote presenter that will feed the intellect, spark the imagination...
New Water Protection Solutions Leading to Insurance Savings
by Charles Hadsell - CEO of ePropertyCare Leaks, burst pipes and running toilets are a huge problem for buildings of all sizes, ranging from single-family homes to 1000-unit apartment buildings. Each year non-weather water damage costs Building Owners and Insurers $2B in insurance claims[1]. Water leaks waste about 1 trillion gallons of water annually. Much...
A New Way for Builders and Multifamily Companies To Make Extraordinary Progress on Tech
150+ vendor sponsors will dynamically present products, services, solutions and proven processes builders need to win more business with tech at new Online Summit, September 29-30, 2020 TecHome Builder is bringing builders, multifamily companies and their tech trade allies together September 29-30 for its inaugural Online Summit. The event features: the broadest and deepest collection...
How Home Builders Can Go Faster and Further with Tech
by John Galante NOW IS THE TIME to make extraordinary progress on tech I’ve been working on this dream of the optimized TecHome in bits and pieces or full force for almost 35 years now. I didn’t start on the ground floor. I started in the basement. Or maybe the better metaphor is digging the...
Outmaneuvering the Elephant in the Room
For about six months now, COVID has been the sometimes-ignored, sometimes-omnipresent elephant in the room. We adjust our business models and activities. We try to pursue business as usual with new tools and techniques. We go into denial. We try to cope. And we just freak out every now and then about all of the...
Is Now the Time for Digital Finished Home Sales?
by John Galante I’ve just put the finishing touches on our Quarterly Housing Stat Pack a compilation of government and association market reports and forecasts. The numbers tell the story of the pandemic’s impact on the new home market. Starts are projected to be down about 10% in 2020, but up about the same amount...
How Outdoor Lighting Can Expand Your Space and Beautify Your Property
by Erin Chartier We are all looking for a little more space in our homes these days. Americans spend nearly 90% of their time indoors but with the current state of the world and everyone at home… things start to feel a little crowded! Homebuilders working with landscape designers and outdoor lighting professionals have the...
Selling Tech via Lifestyle Personas – Compelling but Risky
Establishing stock personas is a common business planning and marketing technique. It helps businesses think deeply, personally and emotionally about buyers and their core values, priorities and typical activities. Personas can help builders ideate tech packages as part of their merchandising process and can be used to hook buyers on extensive home tech options packages,...
Home AV Resurgence & The Builder’s Play
There’s been a pretty massive reordering of application priorities for new homes in the wake of the COVID pandemic. For the previous 3-5 years, there had been a decided shift from AV and Networking to Smart Home Security as top of the list. Now the tables are turned. Homeowners are stuck at home, sometimes using...
Selling Tech Room-by-Room
Presenting home tech options room-by-room is one of the easiest and most intuitive ways of achieving great sell-through. Buyers evaluate homes room-by-room, thinking about what they are going to do and experience in specific rooms. With a little knowledge, builder sales staff can walk through the tech products and applications that go with common activities...
Leveraging the TecHome Product Taxonomy in Marketing & Sales Efforts
I’m ridiculed (on a regular basis by our team!) for using highfalutin vocabulary. I cannot help it! Sister Paulanne’s daily vocabulary tests during sixth grade English class at Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Glenview, IL, drilled some of those words into me (my favorite may be “lagniappe”). Fancy words get the reader’s attention and...
True Presence Detection for Smarter Living RoomMe by Intellithings
True Presence Detection for Smarter Living: RoomMe by Intellithings Two decades ago, Bill Gates surprised the world with the incredible technology built into his home in Seattle, that enabled the house to identify specific people room location and adjust room devices based on personal preferences of the person in the room. Now, every home builder...
Leveraging the Seven Central Benefits of the TecHome in Marketing
“Features & Benefits” is an “old saw” in marketing and sales, a way of structuring messages to set the stage for a sales win. But thanks to the order of the words, we tend to have an unfortunate habit of going deep on features and shallow on benefits. This is particularly true with technology where...
Change is the only Constant
On lucky 7/7 we announced the postponement of our TecHome Builder Summit Spring (originally scheduled for May 2020 in Orlando, then rescheduled for August 2020, then relocated to Kansas City) to May 4-6, 2021 in Louisville. We have been simultaneously monitoring the waxing and waning of COVID across the nation, gathering information on preventative measures and...
Savant Acquires GE Lighting: A Big Deal for Builders!
I sat down with Savant president, JC Murphy, to discuss Hyannis, MA-based manufacturer Savant Systems’ pending acquisition of GE Lighting and its implications for builders and multifamily companies. Announced on May 27 and set to close June 30, the deal combines Savant’s smart home control and AV product expertise with GE Lighting’s product portfolio of...
The Untapped Synergies of Home Tech + Builder Tech Solutions
When TecHome Builder launched in 2001, its dual mission was to help builders make strong progress on incorporating technology into their homes and applying technology to their business processes and operations. The latter we call the Solutions side of our business. TecHome Builder went on hiatus 2008-2013, but when we relaunched it in 2014...
Gain $220K for Every 100 Homes Built
The construction industry has only had one way to control power – installing boxes, wiring, and switches in the walls. Levven two-component smart switching now gives builders and trades a choice on how to control power. Using wireless radio frequency, Levven switches send on, off, and dim commands to relays that switch the power to...
4 Cornerstones of Builder Digital Marketing & Sales Emerge Post COVID
With COVID constraining in-person marketing and sales, builders are upping their digital marketing and selling game. We studied the trends in our 2020 Re-Vision Survey earlier this year and have been in touch with some of the leading marketing and sales solution providers. In that process, we identified 4 cornerstone application areas: Lead Gen Web...
Get Going on Working & Learning from Home
You’d have had to be on another planet to not see that video conferencing is on fire as a top application. The market for video conferencing gear and services is projected to double to nearly $12 billion annually by 2027 by TechRepublic, and I think that underestimates attachment sales like mounts and large screen displays,...