Why won't builders build what people want?

Posted by JohnV@nn on February 8, 2007, 8:31 pm

In the town where I live (and the surrounding area), builders do not
like to build basements. They also don't like to build one-level
houses. Apparently, the most profit is to be had from a 2-story on a
slab foundation. Because that's all they want to build. Never mind
that a couple of years ago, the local newspaper conducted a large
survey of home buyers to find out what it is they want in a house.
Overwhelmingly, the answer was "a one-level house with a basement."
The two-story on a slab was not even on the radar.

Presumably, the movement away from ranch houses is due to the ever-
shrinking lot size. I remember when a quarter acre was a postage
stamp. Now a quarter is considered a "large lot" by the builders. A
lot size of 0.11 acre is quickly becoming the defacto standard around
here. And for obvious reasons, you can't build much of a house on
that unless it's multi-level.

And presumably, they don't like to build basements because the
basement adds nothing to the heated living area, and when they're
figuring their profits, they have to figure price per square foot of
HLA. So to maximize profit, they simply don't build basements.

I sure looks like like home building has become simply an optimization
problem. It's disappointing that builders (at least in my town) don't
seem to care what home buyers actually want. They build what they
want to build.

Posted by Matt Whiting on February 8, 2007, 8:42 pm

JohnV@nn wrote:

> In the town where I live (and the surrounding area), builders do not
> like to build basements. They also don't like to build one-level
> houses. Apparently, the most profit is to be had from a 2-story on a
> slab foundation. Because that's all they want to build. Never mind
> that a couple of years ago, the local newspaper conducted a large
> survey of home buyers to find out what it is they want in a house.
> Overwhelmingly, the answer was "a one-level house with a basement."
> The two-story on a slab was not even on the radar.
>
> Presumably, the movement away from ranch houses is due to the ever-
> shrinking lot size. I remember when a quarter acre was a postage
> stamp. Now a quarter is considered a "large lot" by the builders. A
> lot size of 0.11 acre is quickly becoming the defacto standard around
> here. And for obvious reasons, you can't build much of a house on
> that unless it's multi-level.
>
> And presumably, they don't like to build basements because the
> basement adds nothing to the heated living area, and when they're
> figuring their profits, they have to figure price per square foot of
> HLA. So to maximize profit, they simply don't build basements.
>
> I sure looks like like home building has become simply an optimization
> problem. It's disappointing that builders (at least in my town) don't
> seem to care what home buyers actually want. They build what they
> want to build.
>

No, they build what sells. You can take all of the surveys you want,
but all that matters in the end is what people actually buy. Trust me,
if what is being built stops selling, then it will stop being built very
quickly.

And if you have a house built, you can spec it any way you want. That
is what I did.

Matt

Posted by Chuck on February 9, 2007, 2:31 am

> JohnV@nn wrote:

>> In the town where I live (and the surrounding area), builders do not
>> like to build basements. They also don't like to build one-level
>> houses. Apparently, the most profit is to be had from a 2-story on a
>> slab foundation. Because that's all they want to build. Never mind
>> that a couple of years ago, the local newspaper conducted a large
>> survey of home buyers to find out what it is they want in a house.
>> Overwhelmingly, the answer was "a one-level house with a basement."
>> The two-story on a slab was not even on the radar.
>> Presumably, the movement away from ranch houses is due to the ever-
>> shrinking lot size. I remember when a quarter acre was a postage
>> stamp. Now a quarter is considered a "large lot" by the builders. A
>> lot size of 0.11 acre is quickly becoming the defacto standard around
>> here. And for obvious reasons, you can't build much of a house on
>> that unless it's multi-level.
>> And presumably, they don't like to build basements because the
>> basement adds nothing to the heated living area, and when they're
>> figuring their profits, they have to figure price per square foot of
>> HLA. So to maximize profit, they simply don't build basements.
>> I sure looks like like home building has become simply an optimization
>> problem. It's disappointing that builders (at least in my town) don't
>> seem to care what home buyers actually want. They build what they
>> want to build.

> No, they build what sells. You can take all of the surveys you want, but
> all that matters in the end is what people actually buy. Trust me, if
> what is being built stops selling, then it will stop being built very
> quickly.
> And if you have a house built, you can spec it any way you want. That is
> what I did.
> Matt

As long as you have a signed contract. This is very important. And if you
have a professional architect / structural engineer and express your desire
to match the home as designed with no changes unless your professional
designer gets your permission from you to make the change.
CID...

Posted by Matt Whiting on February 9, 2007, 6:08 am

Chuck wrote:

>>JohnV@nn wrote:

>>>In the town where I live (and the surrounding area), builders do not
>>>like to build basements. They also don't like to build one-level
>>>houses. Apparently, the most profit is to be had from a 2-story on a
>>>slab foundation. Because that's all they want to build. Never mind
>>>that a couple of years ago, the local newspaper conducted a large
>>>survey of home buyers to find out what it is they want in a house.
>>>Overwhelmingly, the answer was "a one-level house with a basement."
>>>The two-story on a slab was not even on the radar.
>>>Presumably, the movement away from ranch houses is due to the ever-
>>>shrinking lot size. I remember when a quarter acre was a postage
>>>stamp. Now a quarter is considered a "large lot" by the builders. A
>>>lot size of 0.11 acre is quickly becoming the defacto standard around
>>>here. And for obvious reasons, you can't build much of a house on
>>>that unless it's multi-level.
>>>And presumably, they don't like to build basements because the
>>>basement adds nothing to the heated living area, and when they're
>>>figuring their profits, they have to figure price per square foot of
>>>HLA. So to maximize profit, they simply don't build basements.
>>>I sure looks like like home building has become simply an optimization
>>>problem. It's disappointing that builders (at least in my town) don't
>>>seem to care what home buyers actually want. They build what they
>>>want to build.

>>No, they build what sells. You can take all of the surveys you want, but
>>all that matters in the end is what people actually buy. Trust me, if
>>what is being built stops selling, then it will stop being built very
>>quickly.
>>And if you have a house built, you can spec it any way you want. That is
>>what I did.
>>Matt

>
>
> As long as you have a signed contract. This is very important. And if you
> have a professional architect / structural engineer and express your desire
> to match the home as designed with no changes unless your professional
> designer gets your permission from you to make the change.
> CID...

Well, if you engage a builder and don't have a signed contract, then you
aren't smart enough to even own a house. However, if you don't have a
contract, then if you don't like the house you don't have to pay for it.

Matt

Posted by Chuck on February 10, 2007, 3:35 am

> Chuck wrote:

>>>JohnV@nn wrote:
>>>>In the town where I live (and the surrounding area), builders do not
>>>>like to build basements. They also don't like to build one-level
>>>>houses. Apparently, the most profit is to be had from a 2-story on a
>>>>slab foundation. Because that's all they want to build. Never mind
>>>>that a couple of years ago, the local newspaper conducted a large
>>>>survey of home buyers to find out what it is they want in a house.
>>>>Overwhelmingly, the answer was "a one-level house with a basement."
>>>>The two-story on a slab was not even on the radar.
>>>>Presumably, the movement away from ranch houses is due to the ever-
>>>>shrinking lot size. I remember when a quarter acre was a postage
>>>>stamp. Now a quarter is considered a "large lot" by the builders. A
>>>>lot size of 0.11 acre is quickly becoming the defacto standard around
>>>>here. And for obvious reasons, you can't build much of a house on
>>>>that unless it's multi-level.
>>>>And presumably, they don't like to build basements because the
>>>>basement adds nothing to the heated living area, and when they're
>>>>figuring their profits, they have to figure price per square foot of
>>>>HLA. So to maximize profit, they simply don't build basements.
>>>>I sure looks like like home building has become simply an optimization
>>>>problem. It's disappointing that builders (at least in my town) don't
>>>>seem to care what home buyers actually want. They build what they
>>>>want to build.
>>>No, they build what sells. You can take all of the surveys you want, but
>>>all that matters in the end is what people actually buy. Trust me, if
>>>what is being built stops selling, then it will stop being built very
>>>quickly.
>>>And if you have a house built, you can spec it any way you want. That is
>>>what I did.
>>>Matt

>> As long as you have a signed contract. This is very important. And if
>> you have a professional architect / structural engineer and express your
>> desire to match the home as designed with no changes unless your
>> professional designer gets your permission from you to make the change.
>> CID...

> Well, if you engage a builder and don't have a signed contract, then you
> aren't smart enough to even own a house. However, if you don't have a
> contract, then if you don't like the house you don't have to pay for it.
> Matt

That is not easy to do. If you don't have contract I think that you really
don't have any control over the construction of the house anyway so you
can't dictate anything related to the house construction or the
architectural elements and plan layout.

CID....

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