This article appeared in today's edition of Big Builder Online. Who's next, the Realtors who represented the buyers? The lenders who gave them mortgages? What about the local governments who approved the neigborhoods and issued the building permits for those homes?
Gee, maybe I can file a federal lawsuit against Ford Motor Company for building and selling too many F-150 pickups that get less than 20 mpg causing their values to plummet. Or maybe I can file a federal lawsuit against all of the major oil companies for raising the price of gasoline causing the demand for any low mpg vehicles to plummet.
Source: BIG BUILDER News Publication date: September 10, 2009
By Teresa Burney
Federal lawsuits filed recently against eight large production builders in California blame them for creating neighborhoods where high foreclosure rates have caused home values to plummet, wiping out the investments of many home buyers.
"I think [builders] had a lot of help from the financial institutions," said attorney Richard D. McCune of the McCuneWright law firm in Redlands, Calif. "But I absolutely believe that they were at the center and the beginning of this."
McCune filed the federal lawsuits in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California on Sept. 3 on behalf of buyers who purchased homes from Beazer Homes USA, Centex Homes, D.R. Horton, Lennar, Richmond American Homes, Ryland Homes, Shea Homes, and Standard Pacific Homes at the peak of the building boom.
All eight lawsuits are seeking to become national class action cases, representing buyers who put 20% or more down on homes in the builders' neighborhoods across the country.
"This particular group of buyers, anyone would be hard-pressed to say they did anything wrong," said McCune. "For the vast majority of these people there is no ability to go out and get the money back." For instance, one plaintiff spent $560,000 on a home in 2005. Now the local tax assessor says the house is worth $235,000. "He put 60% down on the house thinking that was the conservative move."
The cases ask for compensatory and punitive damages as well as restitution and/or disgorgement of profits.
While the plaintiffs' names vary, the eight lawsuits' allegations are essentially the same. Specifically, they accuse the eight builders and their mortgage companies of violating two portions of California's Unfair Business Practices Act, as well as fraud, negligent misrepresentation, and breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing.
The general accusation is that the builders knew or should have known that by selling homes to investors who would not live in them and buyers who had credit issues and put little money down, they would create communities that could lose their value if home prices failed to climb and buyers with little investment walked from their purchases.
The lawsuits claim that the builders had the responsibility to disclose to buyers that they were selling to investors and buyers with poor credit and/or were investing little in their homes.
"What we believe is that, for the people who were qualified to buy these homes and were financed by the builder themselves through their mortgage companies, there is an obligation from the builder to let them know the facts that could materially affect the value of their homes," McCune said.
The lawsuits allege that the builders' practices in recent years of controlling every step of the home buying process, through appraisals and issuing loans through their finance companies, created an environment where there was no "neutral party" who didn't have a stake in the deal. Plus, McCune said, the fact that the mortgage companies knew the details of buyers' finances bolsters the allegations that the builder companies had to know there could be problems with foreclosures and buyers walking in the future.
"They certainly had knowledge that the house of cards had to come down," McCune said.
Beazer and Standard Pacific, two builders who returned messages requesting comment on the lawsuits, said they haven't been served with the lawsuits yet and don't comment on pending litigation.
For now, all the lawsuits' plaintiffs come from California's Inland Empire area, which has been particularly hard hit by the housing downturn.
"Our local governments are in trouble because of the shrinking tax base," said McCune. "Life savings are gone, and these national builders came and built and then left us with this big mess. I know they feel like the market has affected them badly, but it's hard for me to feel sympathetic because they played such a big part in this."
Chuck Miller GMB CGB CGP MIRM CMP MCSP CSP President / Builder - Chuck Miller Construction Inc. (208) 229-2553 chuck@chuckmillerconstruction.com
This is a sequel to my last blog, E + R = O. For those of you who have read Napoleon Hill's "Think & Grow Rich", this will probably sound familiar. For those of you who haven't, I highly recommend that you add it to your reading list. "Think &Grow Rich" has been described as one of the most influential books of all time in pointing the way to personal achievement. I believe the principles in this book are especially applicable now when we are in the worst recession since the Great Depression.
In the closing pages of his book, Mr. Hill asserts that people who do not succeed have one distinguishing trait in common - they know all the reasons for failure and have built what they believe to be air-tight alibis to explain their personal failures. These alibis allow us to shift the blame for any negative outcomes we experience to events and circumstances and away from our response to those events and circumstances. Alibis are easy to recognize. They typically begin with the words - "If only."
As professionals who earn our livings from the housing industry - and I include Builders, Developers, Realtors, Lenders, Trade Contractors, and Material Suppliers - are we building alibis for difficulties we are currently facing? Do any of these sound familiar?
If only the media would stop reporting all the negative news about the economy,
If only consumers would just stop listening to all the negative news and start spending again,
If only all those people facing foreclosure wouldn't have bought homes they couldn't afford,
If only the mortgage companies had not written all those no-doc and low doc loans
If only Wall Street had not created all those collateralized debt obligations and other asset-backed security and structured credit products backed by those questionable mortgages,
If only the banks would just start lending money again,
If only the government would hurry up and enact an economic stimulus package.
What other alibis have we built?
I believe what Napoleon Hill wrote over 80 years ago is still true today - building alibis with which to explain away failure is a deeply rooted habit. But if we want to succeed, it is a habit we need to break. We need to stop blaming events and start working on how we are going to respond to those events in order to produce our desired outcomes.
Our greatest asset is our minds. Let's put our minds to work to formulate responses to the current crisis in the housing industry. Better yet, let's create Master Mind groups to formulate those responses. For, as the saying goes, two minds are better than one.
Chuck MillerGMB CGB CGP MIRM CMP MCSP CSP
President / Builder - Chuck Miller Construction Inc.
For those of you who have read Jack Canfield's Success Principles, you are familiar with the formula E+ R = O. For those of you who are not, the formula is E (Events) + R (Response) = O (Outcome). The formula expresses the idea that our response to every event we experience in our lives determines the outcome. If we don't like the outcomes we are currently experiencing, we can either blame the event (E) for the outcome (O) or we can change our response (R) to the event (E) until we get our desired outcome (O).
I heard Jack explain the formula again as I was listening to my Jack Canfield's Success Principles CD's this morning on my way to the gym this morning, and I thought about how applicable this formula is to the current state of affairs in the housing industry.
Let's think about how this formula is currently being applied. As professionals who earn our livings from the housing industry - and I include Builders, Developers, Realtors, Lenders, Trade Contractors, and Material Suppliers - how are we responding to the current events?
Are you blaming the Wall Street, the banking industry, the mortgage industry, the government, etc., etc., etc.?
Are you "hunkered down" - stubbornly holding on to your old ways of doing business or simply hiding out and trying to hold on until things finally turn around - hoping that the government will act quickly to pass its much debated stimulus plan and that the stimulus plan will turn things around?
Or are you responding by taking positive action? Here are just a few thoughts.
Have you read the legislative alerts from NAHB regarding the stimulus package currently being debated and contacted your Representatives and Senators to voice your opinion?
Have you researched what mortgage programs are currently available to your potential buyers so you can share that information and help alleviate their fears that are preventing them from moving forward?
Have you considered forming strategic partnerships with other industry professionals to promote your product and services? If you're a Builder, have you spoken with Developers, Realtors, Lenders, Trade Contractors, and Material suppliers to see if you can develop strategies to help you reduce your costs?
Have you done your market research? In most markets, homes are still being purchased? Who is buying? What are they buying? Where are they buying?
Have you adjusted your product offering based on your market research?
Have you diversified?
Have you talked with your Realtor and Lender partners about conducting educational programs for potential home buyers to try and allay their fears and provide them with the information they need to feel comfortable about buying?
If you haven' responded by taking positive action, hopefully this will spur you to act. If you have and it hasn't resulted in your desired outcome, what else could you try? If your response has resulted in the desired outcome, how about sharing what your response with the rest of us.
Chuck MillerGMB CGB CGP MIRM CMP MCSP CSP
President / Builder - Chuck Miller Construction Inc.
"Associate yourself with men of good quality, if you esteem your own reputation; for it is better to be alone than in bad company."- George Washington - First President of the United States
I consider this quote from our first president good advice. I have always believed that one of our most valuable assets is our reputation. When I read this quote after our first day of meetings at the International Builders' Show, I immediately thought of all the men and women I have had and currently have the pleasure of associating with through the NAHB National Sales and Marketing Council and the Institute of Residential Marketing and I know that I am following President Washington's advice.
Chuck Miller GMB CGB MIRM CMP MCSP CSP
President / Builder - Chuck Miller Construction Inc.
The University of Michigan's monthly survey is an ongoing nationally representative survey based on telephonic household interviews. The Index of Consumer Sentiment (ICS) is developed from these interviews. It gives a very accurate indication of the future course of the national economy. The Index of Consumer Expectations (a sub-index of ICS) is included in the Leading Indicator Composite Index published by the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis. The Index of Consumer Expectations focuses on three broad areas:
•· How consumers view prospects for their own financial situation
•· How they view prospects for the general economy over the near term
•· Their view of prospects for the economy over the long term
Among other things, the survey asks households to rate buying conditions for homes.
The proportion giving a "good" rating started to give way in 2004, as house prices were climbing to unaffordable levels in many areas, and bottomed out in the summer of 2006 as house prices finally topped out at the national level. But the "good" proportion has been on the rise for about two years now, getting up to 71% in August - back to the mid-2005 level.
Consumers' ratings of home buying conditions have been driven largely by house price movements. In August, 65% of consumers cited "low prices" as the key reason for viewing home buying conditions as "good," compared with only 10% at the end of 2005.
Interest rates also can have a major impact on home buying conditions, of course, but rate shifts have had a relatively minor influence on consumers' ratings during the past two years.
Improving consumer views of home buying conditions obviously do not quickly translate into stronger home sales. But the systematic improvements in recent times are laying groundwork for better sales volume a bit further down the line.
Because all real estate is local, I'd like to conduct my own survey of households in the Boise MSA. So let me know, how would you rate buying conditions for homes in the Treasure Valley?
Chuck Miller GMB CGB CGP MIRM CMP MCSP CSP
President / Builder - Chuck Miller Construction Inc.
As a Builder, I am extremely interested in the current debate about the home building and mortgage finance industry. One comment I have heard repeatedly over the past several weeks is the need to return to "sound mortgage standards" based on home values of 2.5 to 3 times income, 30 year fixed rate mortgages at 80% loan-to-value and a 20% down payment. But just how realistic is this?
According to the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the median household income in the U.S. in 2007 was $59,000. If we return to sound mortgage standards, median home values would have to be $147,500 (2.5x) to $177,000 (3x).
So under "sound mortgage standards," a household earning the median income would have to save $29,500 (2.5x) to $35,400 (3x) - 50% to 58.5% of their annual household income - for their down payment before they could purchase a home. Is this realistic? I did an informal poll of mortgage lenders and found that, home buyers with down payments of 20% or more accounted for approximately 30% of the purchase transactions over the past 12 months and approximately 70% of home buyers purchased their homes with less than 20% down.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the median home price in the U.S. is $231,000, so median home prices would have to drop 37% to 48%. Is this realistic? Even those homeowners who purchased their homes using "sound mortgage standards" would owe more than their home is worth.
According to the NAHB / Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index, which tracks the sale prices of homes sold in 223 metropolitan statistical areas, there were actually 77 markets in the U.S. where the median home price is less than $147,500 and 107 markets where the median house price is less than $177,000 in the 1st Quarter of 2008. Those include 23 MSA's in Texas, 13 in Ohio, 12 in Michigan, 11 in Florida, 10 in New York, 7 in Illinois, 7 Pennsylvania, 5 in North Carolina, 4 in South Carolina, 4 in Indiana, 4 in Tennessee, 3 in Georgia, 3 in Arizona, 3 in Oklahoma, 3 in Massachusetts, 2 in Maryland, 1 in West Virginia, 1 in Colorado, 1 in Kansas, 1 in Montana, 1 in Wisconsin, 1 in Washington, 1 in New Jersey, and 1 in Minnesota. And if you want to stay in Idaho, you can move to Pocatello. Of course, there's no guarantee that the median home price in these markets won't rise as more people move there in search of homes with sales prices low enough to allow them to qualify for mortgage under sound mortgage standards.
The Housing Opportunity Index is based on the sales prices of all homes sold in the MSA which includes both existing and new homes. Considering the data on existing and new home sales in the U.S. in the 1st Quarter of 2008, it is probably safe to assume that most of the homes sold were existing homes.
As a Builder, I would love to be able to build and sell new homes for under $148,000. But is that realistic?
According to the National Association of Home Builders Economics Department Construction Cost Survey, the average new home built in the U.S. in 2007 was 3,340 sq.ft, was built on an 11,968 sq.ft. lot, and had a total sales price of $454,906. At 11,968 sq.ft., that equals a finished lot cost of $9.31 per sq.ft. The finished lot cost was $111,452 and accounted for 24.50% of the Sales Price. The cost of the raw land accounted for 40.8% of the finished lot cost and the development cost accounted for the other 59.2%.
Construction cost was $$218,810 or $65.50 per square foot and accounted for 48.1% of the Sales Price. Labor cost is typically about 20% of the Sales Price or 40% of the Construction Cost so in the average home, the labor cost would be approximately $90,981 which is actually 41.6% of the Construction Cost. According to the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics May 2007 National Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates, the median hourly wage for construction occupations was $17.57 plus 21% for payroll taxes and insurance equals $21.25 per hour. So dividing the labor cost by the hourly cost, the number of man hours required to build the average house was approximately 4,000.
The cost of construction financing marketing (2.4%), sales commissions and marketing costs (6.8%), overhead and general expenses (7%), and the builder's profit (11.2%) account for the remaining 27.4%.
According to the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the median household income in Idaho in 2007 was $51,500. If we return to sound mortgage standards, median home values would have to be $128,750 (2.5x) to $154,500 (3x). If I use the same percentages as the average new home built in the U.S. in 2007 for finished lot cost, I would need to be able to purchase the finished lots for $31,544. The raw land cost at 40.8% would be $12,870 per lot. Assuming a density of 4 dwelling units per acre, the raw land cost would need to be around $51,500 per acre. Is that realistic? Possibly.
In the Boise City - Nampa MSA, finished lot costs start at about $6.50 per sq.ft. Using this cost per sq.ft., the lot size would be approximately 4,850 sq.ft. Is this realistic? There are developments in the area with 4,500 - 5,000 sq.ft. lots, but these will need to become the norm.
However, there are other factors that need to be considered. The cost of materials used in land development, like steel, concrete, pvc pipe, and asphalt continues to increase. As fuel costs continue to increase, so does the cost to operate the equipment used in the construction. Fees also continue to increase as does the time required to obtain the necessary approvals. This added time equates to additional costs. So as development cost increase, something else will have to decrease in order to maintain a finished lot cost of $31,544. Is this realistic? Will land owners be willing to accept less per acre for their raw land? Can the lot size be decreased even more and the density increased?
If I use the same percentages as the average new home built in the U.S. in 2007 for construction cost, my construction cost at 48.1% of the Sales Price would need to be $61,929 and 41.6% of the construction cost or $25,750 would be labor cost. According to the Idaho Department of Labor 2007 Occupational Employment and Wage Report, the median hourly wage for construction trades workers in the Boise City - Nampa MSA $13.85 plus 21% for payroll taxes and insurance equals $16.75 per hour. So dividing the labor cost by the hourly cost, I would have to build the house in 1,010 man hours. Is that realistic? Not very.
Let's look at it another way. Idaho's hourly labor cost at $16.75 per hour is $4.50 or 21% less than the national cost of $21.25. We'll assume material costs are about the same. Adjusting the average per square foot construction cost figure for the difference in the labor cost would give us a per square foot cost of $59.78 ($65.50 x 41.6% x 21% = $5.72 / $65.50 - $5.72 = $59.78). Dividing the construction cost of $61,929 by $59.78 per square foot, the homes I build would be just over 1,036 sq.ft. Is this realistic? How many households do you know who would want to live in a 1,036 sq.ft. home?
In conclusion, how realistic would it be to return to "sound mortgage standards" based on home values of 2.5 to 3 times income, 30 year fixed rate mortgages at 80% loan-to-value and a 20% down payment? Not very. Doing so would certainly change the home building industry which historically accounts for 10% to 15% of the gross domestic product of the U.S. We would build fewer new homes and the ones we do build would be much smaller homes on much smaller lots. And home buyers would certainly have to adjust their expectations.
Maybe I should start building apartments
Chuck MillerGMB CGB MIRM CMP MCSP CSP
President / Builder - Chuck Miller Construction Inc.
In my blog on the BuildingCredibility.com website last weekend, I posed the question "Does the Rise in Foreclosures Constitute a Crisis?" Last Monday I responded to a commentor who reported a rumor that IndyMac bank was close to bankruptcy. Based on my research of the facts, I concluded that it was unlikely. While IndyMac did not file bankruptcy, IndyMac Bank, F.S.B., Pasadena, CA was closed by the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) was named Conservator on Friday July 11th. This is the 3rd largest bank failure in U.S. history. So is this a crisis? Should we panic?
There is a great deal of debate over whether we are currently in a recession. It is commonly accepted that recession cycles are a normal part of living in a world of inexact balances between supply and demand. But what turns a usually mild and short recession into a great depression? I spent some time this past week and most of the day yesterday studying the Great Depression. The exact causes of the Great Depression is also the subject of debate and concern. While scholars have not agreed on the exact causes and their relative importance, the search for causes is closely connected to the question of how to avoid a future depression.
Was the October 29, 1929 stock market crash the cause of the Great Depression? The stock market turned upward in early 1930, returning to early 1929 levels by April, though still almost 30 percent below the peak of September 1929.Economists dispute how much weight to give the stock market crash, but it clearly changed sentiment about and expectations of the future, shifting the outlook from very positive to negative, with a dampening effect on investment and entrepreneurship, In early 1930, credit was ample and available at low rates, but people were reluctant to add new debt by borrowing.
Debt is seen as one of the causes of the Great Depression. In the 1920s, American consumers and businesses relied on cheap credit, the former to purchase consumer goods such as automobiles and furniture and the latter for capital investment to increase production. This fueled strong short-term growth but created consumer and commercial debt. People and businesses who were deeply in debt when price deflation occurred or demand for their product decreased often risked default. Many drastically cut current spending to keep up time payments, thus lowering demand for new products. Businesses began to fail as construction work and factory orders plunged.
As debtors defaulted on debt and depositors became worried about their deposits, worry turned to fear and panic. Panic created runs on banks. As panicked depositors made massive withdrawals from the banks which had financed this debt, banks began to fail. Government guarantees and Federal Reserve banking regulations to prevent these types of panics were either ineffective or not used.
Regarding the closing of IndyMac Bank, here are some excerpts from the Office of Thrift Supervision's Press Release last Friday:
The OTS has determined that the current institution, IndyMac Bank, is unlikely to be able to meet continued depositors demands in the normal course of business and is therefore in an unsafe and unsound condition. The immediate cause of the closing was a deposit run that began and continued after the public release of a June 26 letter to the OTS and the FDIC from Senator Charles Schumer of New York. The letter expressed concerns about IndyMacs viability. In the following 11 business days, depositors withdrew more than $1.3 billion from their accounts. This institution failed today due to a liquidity crisis, OTS Director John Reich said. Although this institution was already in distress, I am troubled by any interference in the regulatory process.
As a result of an OTS examination that began in January 2008, the OTS deemed IndyMac to be in troubled condition. An overwhelming majority of problem institutions are able to successfully modify their operations and business plans, work closely with their regulator and eventually return to a healthy condition. IndyMac had reacted to market conditions and OTS concerns in November 2007 by changing its operations and business plan to build a foundation for recovery. IndyMac was actively seeking to arrange a significant capital infusion or find a buyer. The recent release of the senators letter undermined the public confidence essential for a financial institution and took away the time IndyMac needed to pursue a recovery.
In addition to studying the Great Depression, I looked up the definition of Crisis. Wikipedia defines a crisis as
· A crucial or decisive point or situation; a turning point.
· An unstable situation, in political, social, economic or military affairs, especially one involving an impending abrupt change.
· A traumatic or stressful change in a person's life.
It says that reactions to a crisis include Fear, Stress, Shock and Disbelief, and Anger, and it describes the crisis response process as having definite phases which include Shock and Disbelief, Denial, Overwhelming Thoughts or Emotions, Acceptance, and Conclusion. After we accept what is happening, we are ready to work through the problems and all of their ramification and impacts on our lives. We are left with a desire to see things to their conclusion.
So does the rise in foreclosures constitute a crisis? The failure of IndyMac Bank, one of the largest bank failures in U.S. history, could certainly be considered a crucial or decisive point or situation; a turning point. I think we would all agree that are current economic situation could be described as unstable. And the rise is foreclosures is surely creating trauma and stress - for those facing foreclosure, for those homeowners who are seeing their property values decline, and for some depositors. So based on the definition of a crisis and after much soul searching, I have moved through the Shock and Disbelief, Denial, and the Overwhelming Thoughts or Emotions phases to Acceptance that this is a crisis.
I also looked up Panic. Wikipedia defines Panic is a sudden fear which dominates or replaces thinking and often affects groups of people.
So should we panic? NO. We should not allow our fear to replace rational thinking. We should simply accept what is happening and start working through the problems. We need to see this crisis through to its conclusion.
That's the primary reason I blog - to present the facts based on my knowledge and experience and encourage my readers to replace the overwhelming thoughts of fear and despair with rational thought based on the facts so we can all start working through the problems to find solutions.
What is the solution? I believe that one solution - possibly the best solution - is to halt the slide in home prices. The U.S. Senate last week passed an extensive package of housing legislation Friday, reacting to the continuing erosion of home prices and growing foreclosures by taking their most aggressive step yet to address the housing crisis. The package includes tax relief for homeowners, changes to the Federal Housing Administration, and a $300 billion program to refinance mortgages headed toward foreclosure into affordable loans. The legislation also overhauls regulation of faltering mortgage-finance firms Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The two companies have seen their stock prices drop precipitously this week because of solvency concerns, and lawmakers hope the creation of a new regulator with broader authority over the companies boosts market confidence.
House and Senate lawmakers still need to overcome a number of impediments before President Bush can sign the bill into law, but lawmakers are hopeful they can reconcile competing versions of the bill. The centerpiece for both bills is a program offering up to $300 billion of FHA-insured mortgages to help refinance struggling borrowers into affordable loans. The program would rely on lenders voluntarily writing down the value of a distressed loan for the homeowner to qualify for the new FHA-backed loan, and in return borrowers would have to share future price appreciation with the federal government. Other foreclosure-prevention and housing-related efforts in the Senate bill include $150 million in additional funding for housing counseling, $10 billion in additional mortgage-revenue bonds, and a housing trust fund to be funded by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
The temporary first-time home buyer tax credit and foreclosure relief programs would increase home sales causing inventories to fall and helping to stabilize home prices and mortgage markets.
The National Association of Home Builders continues to lobby for several amendments to be included in the final cut of the bill - particularly a change to make the first-time home buyer tax credit (currently set at $8,000) effective for a full year starting on the date of enactment. Congress must move quickly to craft a final housing bill that will help struggling home owners and get the housing market and the economy back on their feet.
I encourage you to contact your Senators and Congressman and ask them to move quickly to reconcile the two bills and deliver the legislation to President Bush to sign.
Chuck Miller GMB CGB MIRM CMP MCSP CSP
President / Builder - Chuck Miller Construction Inc.
There has been a lot of media focus in the past few months on the historic rise in the price of housing in the United States over the past few years. This rise in price has made housing out of reach for many home buyers. For those who think housing in the United States is unaffordable, consider the following from an article in Thursday's Wall Street Journal titled How to Find Foreign Buyers For U.S. Properties.
Urban real estate in major U.S. cities costs much less than it does in many other industrialized nations. According to the Global Property Guide, an apartment in London costs $28,355 per square meter ($2,637 per square foot), and Paris $15,670 per square meter ($1,457 per square foot). By comparison, according to Chicagocondosonline.com, the median sales price in 2007 for a Chicago condo was only $294 per square foot, which comes to $3,165 per square meter.
Chuck Miller GMB CGB MIRM CMP MCSP CSP
President / Builder - Chuck Miller Construction Inc.
As green building grows in notoriety, how can you be assured that your new home or remodel is truly Green. You need to insist that your Builder's or Remodeler's claims are checked by an accredited, third-party certifier.
The Building Contractors Association of Southwestern Idaho (BCASWI) has formed a Green Building Council to encourage builders to adopt the NAHB National Green Building Program which offers innovative, resource-efficient building techniques, while preserving affordability. One key element of NAHB's suite of green building tools is their green home certification program, which is administered by the NAHB Research Center. The Research Center will accredit home certification program verifiers and act as the sole home certifying body for the National Green Building Program.
The NAHB Research Center is seeking interested, qualified individuals to become green building field verifiers the program. As the sole certifying body under the NAHB's National Green Building Program, the Research Center is responsible for training and accrediting eligible individuals to verify that homes across the country meet the criteria of the national certification program.
Verifiers accredited by the NAHB Research Center will, through a process of document review and on-site inspections, independently confirm that all green program requirements and points specified by the Builder or Remodeler are in place before a home is accredited.
If you are interested in becoming a verifier, you must have prerequisite training or experience that provides you a baseline understanding of general home building practices and specific green building knowledge. Specific types of experience that meet this eligibility requirement include:
One year of acceptable professional experience in home building and green building practices (the NAHB Research Center will determine what experience meets the acceptable level), or
At least 12 hours of green training approved by the NAHB Research Center, or
Designation by the NAHB as a Green Building Professional, or
Professional certification from Green Advantage (Green Advantage is a strong supporter of the U.S. Green Building Council and USGBC chapters), or
NARI Green Building Certification from National Association of the Remodelers Industry (NARI), or
RESNET Green Rater Certification, or
LEED Accredited Professional Certification from the U.S. Green Building Council
In order to become accredited by the NAHB Research Center, you must participate in training administered by the Research Center-either in person, via Web cast, or via self-guided online materials-and pass a verifier accreditation test. The course covers the protocol for verifying that a house meets the national certification program requirements and is intended to ensure that all verifiers across the country evaluate homes in a consistent manner. This training does not include developing the green expertise each prospective verifier is expected to have as a prerequisite.
In order for our local Green Building program to work, we need accredited verifiers. If you are interested or know someone who might be interested, you can learn more at http://www.nahbgreen.org/Certification/becomeverifier.aspx. Or you can call the NAHB National Green Building Program Hotline at 877-NAHB-GRN.
If you are a consumer and want to learn more about the NAHB National Green Building Program, you can visit the website www.nahbgreen.org or you can call or email me.
Chuck Miller GMB CGB MIRM CMP MCSP CSP
President / Builder - Chuck Miller Construction Inc.
I read the following article this morning and thought I would try something a little different. I've replaced all the references to the particular housing market and any other key words that might give away the answer with blank spaces. Can you guess which market the writer is writing about? I'll give you the answer at the end of the article.
Chuck
_______________ House Prices Decline the Most in Three Years
April 28 (Bloomberg) -- ____ house prices fell the most in more than three years in April as a dearth of credit and concern that the property slump is deepening deterred prospective homebuyers, Hometrack said.
The average cost of a home in __________________ dropped 0.6 percent, the most since December 2004, to $344,000, the ______-based research company said today in a statement. Prices declined 0.9 percent from a year earlier.
A surge in borrowing costs has prompted banks to withdraw their best mortgage offers, worsening the housing decline. Falling home prices are sapping consumer confidence and held economic growth to the slowest pace since 2005 in the first quarter.
``Weak confidence is effectively resulting in a `buyers strike,''' Richard Donnell, director of research at Hometrack, said in the statement. ``The current downward pressure on prices will only start to be reversed once there is a turnaround in buyer confidence'' that will ``revolve around greater stability in the financial markets and an improved economic outlook.''
The report is based on a survey of 3,500 real estate agents and ___________________ calculating average values using judgments of achievable prices rather than sale prices alone.
Prices fell in all 10 of the regions Hometrack follows. ___________ and ___ _____________ led declines, with a 0.8 percent drop. Prices in _________________, home to one in eight of the ___________ population, fell 0.7 percent. The average time to sell a property was nine weeks, compared with six weeks a year earlier.
Deepening Slump
The findings add to evidence the housing slump is deepening. House prices declined 2.5 percent last month, the most since 1992, according to ___________, the largest ____ mortgage lender. The _______________________________________s' measure of sentiment in the housing market fell to the lowest since records began in 1978.
Prices in _________________ fell 0.4 percent in March, declining for a second month, the _____________ said today in a separate report. On the year, home values increased 3.6 percent, the least since February 2006.
Mortgages approved by banks fell 46 percent in March from a year earlier to the lowest level since 1997, the ____________________ Bankers' Association said April 23. Falling property prices make ___________ feel less wealthy and reduce the amount of equity owners can tap for spending. A threefold increase in home values over the past decade has helped the ______ economy expand for 63 quarters.
Economic Growth
The slump has put the economy on course for its worst performance in 16 years, with the ___________________ predicting growth of 1.6 percent this year. Growth was 0.4 percent in the first three months of the year, the Office of ____________________ said April 25. The _______________, backed by the Treasury, on April 21 offered to swap around $99 billion in government bonds for mortgage-backed securities in an effort kick- start lending.
Higher money-market funding costs are making lenders reluctant to pass on ______________________ interest-rate cuts since December to homeowners. __________________________ and _________________ have led write-downs among banks on securities tied to U.S. subprime mortgages. Losses worldwide total almost $309 billion.
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