Remodeling Market Memo

Mark Richardson, CR, a newly inducted member of the Remodeling Hall of Fame, recently talked about the way that his team at Case Design & Remodeling are approaching the slowdown in the remodeling market. He says that in 2008, the sales people in his firm that experienced the best success were those that sold projects based on what the house needed, not what the homeowner desires.

In the past several years, most projects were sold as a function of homeowner desires. According to Richardson, the focus now is on giving the house what it needs to perform best for its owners. I think there is a lot of wisdom in this approach. First, we know that people are preserving their cash during this downturn. At the same time, many have an impulse to protect what is, in many cases their largest asset. Second, the average age of the American home is 32 years and rising. A sales person armed with detailed plans on how to make a home perform better and flow better for its occupants over the long haul will have a better chance to make the sale.

This entry was posted on Monday, November 24th, 2008 at 11:43 am and is filed under Remodeling Market Memo. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.