Well I think we can all agree that black and white floor plans are a stunning way to communicate with a potential purchaser.

Why not differentiate yourself and create a visual that portrays the space in a way that purchasers can actually see themselves living in it. Call me crazy but this is the largest purchase of their lives so let’s give them something that helps make a more informed decision.

One more thing. These types of renderings have had significant price drops over the last few years so now is the time to revisit and see if this fits within your marketing budget.

Sincerely,

Brad Jaycock, V.P.

888.439.4633

I get asked this allot so I thought I’d post it here as it is even more relevant in today’s economy.

Most people expect me to say “do it all in 3D don’t build models” … WRONG … You should always build at least one Model home unless you are doing a heavy pre-construction marketing campaign (build registrations, create a buzz, test the market, etc) … the old adage that what you build you sell is to a large extent true and I feel that the ability to touch and feel a home is essential in closing a sale.

What I would recommend is to definitely build fewer and use the money you save (see below) to have at a minimum 3D floor plans or even better have 3D interior/exterior animations done. Here is why:

Model Home

Costs/model: $40 - 60K Interior Merchandising & Design, Cost to build carried until model sold, security, landscaping and maintenance, utilities, $2k in photography for collateral.

Benefits: Ultimate way to communicate builder quality, great experience for families to visit for everyone to connect with a design (if that design is built), provides a great location for sales environment if no sales center/trailer built, allows the sales team to watch/listen to prospects as they are touring the home(s) … if they are touring with them.

Virtual Model Home

Costs/model: $6,000 - 10,000 depending on size

Benefits: Leverage the animations to get renderings from the interiors and exteriors and use all of this content on your website, in emails, print for sales center, billboards and Direct Mail, test the market before committing to construction, satisfy the need that your purchasers are looking for…that rich media experience.

There are so many more advantages to this but none more compelling than what you will save by building ONE fewer model home will pay to have ALL of them at least in 3D Floor Plans if not all fully animated which will give you a much better online experience which will give you better traffic to your sales center which … i think you can handle the rest

Jim Warren, CEO

This is what we’ve heard from two of our competitors since we launched our new pricing at IBS. Now I’m pretty sure that is a compliment…just not from them. One of them we beat out of a contract in California by 35% and the other by over 40% in Florida. What they are specifically complaining about is our new pricing that has come about from our partnership with BHI (www.builderhomesite.com). Through their buying power we’ve been able to reduce our prices by 30-40% and more will come once the market catches wind that the price has finally come down to allow use on all projects.

I’ve always maintained that our medium (renderings and animations) would follow the same path ($100,000 websites now cost $10,000 or less) as websites and interactive did about 3 years ago once the available workforce became available, greater competition in the market place and of course off/nearshore solutions.

I’ve known for a long time that this was coming and I’m glad to be apart of the BHI wave and be the hand that initiates the change vs. being the face that feels the hand of change.

Viva la revolution!!!

Jim Warren, CEO

I just returned from the International Builders Show in Orlando. We were exhibiting with our new partner BHI (www.builderhomesite.com). This was an interesting experience for me as I hadn’t exhibited since 2002. Here’s what I noticed:

As expected, attendance was way down over last year let alone back in 2002. But this wasn’t all bad as those that did attend were much happier to speak with due to not having to battle down the isles against the hordes of people like past shows.

Price was King…everyone was shocked that our new pricing was as low as it was. We’ve rarely come across anyone that doesn’t love the work we do, price has always been the only objection. Based on the response from the show (and our competition) we have finally been successful getting the pricing down below and/or inline with traditional marketing mediums.

A lot more custom home builders than I’ve seen before.

Didn’t see a single regional/divisional level representative from any of the top 20 homebuilders. Only national level executives were found, if any at all.

People are still amazed by the work we do…I’ll never get tired of hearing that…we kind of forget that when we aren’t out on the road enough.

It is back to Las Vegas for the next three years…YAY. People just seem way more social in Vegas.

I need way more comfortable shoes and trade shows are still brutal tough on you and your team.

Our competition had much smaller booths than I recall…not such a bad thing!!

Almost everyone was looking for the same but for less money to reduce their marketing expenses and didn’t seem too open for trying anything new…primarily they wanted to either get more for their existing spending or simply reduce costs across the board. No shocker there.

Lastly, it has been too long since I’ve been in Orlando and I really enjoyed my visits with Deb, Ed & Paul.

See everyone at PCBC in June!!

Jim Warren, CEO

Over the years of developing strategies in the field of Digital Marketing solutions, We have had the opportunity to work with many of the nation’s top builders and the most creative marketing minds in the industry. As with all interactive sales center’s the biggest inhibitor is that the technology may get in the way. We quickly came to realize that applying the K.I.S. rule (Keep It Simple) was required. Simplicity in operation and navigation is critical to successfully incorporating technology in a sales center. Guests should not be made to feel intimidated by the technology, but rather invited to explore and enjoy the interactive experience.

Back to my last post … make sure you select a qualified vendor! One who has the expertise and experience to deliver proven results! Everyone knows a friend or family member who creates digital media out of their basements. This is not the time to blindly put your faith in an unproven vendor solution. Having a black screen on a wall is not the desired end result. With a qualified vendor in place, the next goal is to keep the interface navigation simple and intuitive, this has also proved to be invaluable. At the sales center a guest is not judging the creative ability of a builder or the artistic and programming power of their design team. They are judging the builder, community and homes being sold at that development.

The Experience of a well laid out presentation which clearly communicates the brand, the community and all which it has to offer is the most distinguishable memory which the guest will take with them from the sales center. The minute the guest experiences complexities or difficulties in using the display, they will back away in order to not attract attention to the fact that they are stuck. This is not a good use of technology, but rather when planning, developing and designing the display every effort should be made to incorporate technology which assists in providing an invitation to explore.

Oh Yeah… High quality visuals, video, audio should always be mandatory!! Please see www.imagenius.com

New home sales up and existing home sales down…according to HanleyWood’s Key Indicater Alert today.

“New home sales increased slightly while existing home sales continued its downward spiral in October. New home sales increased 1.7% in October to a seasonally-adjusted 728,000 homes, up from a downwardly revised September figure of 716,000. Revised new home sales figures showed that sales were at their slowest pace in September since January 1996. At the current sales pace, there are 8.5 months of new homes supply on the market. Inventory levels continued to decline as builders have been scaling back production until the market stabilizes. The number of new homes for sale declined to 520,000 which is the lowest it’s been since December 2005. The median price for a new home plunged 8.6% from September levels to $217,800. Median new home prices are now at their lowest levels since September 2004.

Existing home sales declined for the eighth consecutive month as seasonally-adjusted sales of existing homes fell 1.2% in October to 4.97 million units. That is the lowest sales pace recorded since August 1998. Sales of existing homes are down 20.7% from the 6.27 million units in October 2006. Median existing home prices fell another 1.2% from September levels to $207,880; the median price is at its lowest levels since March 2005. Inventory of existing homes jumped to 10.8 months supply at the current sales pace, while the number of existing homes for sale increased 1.9% to 4.370 million units. Inventory of existing homes is at an all-time high.”

Hey in the current times any good news is GREAT news.

Other interesting news in the report:

“Inland Empire, CA - Despite Housing Slowdown Growth Remains Strong

Fueled by strong economic growth the Inland Empire has benefited from strong migration patterns from coastal areas. Drawn to the area by affordable homes and employment opportunities, the region’s population has been growing by 3.5% on average for the past five years”

You can subscribe to their email here: here: http://www.hwmarketintelligence.com/meyersalerts/newsletter.asp

Let’s face it there are several hundred companies out there right now all saying they are #1 in the renderings/animation industry, all of which are banging on your door saying “look at me and my wonderfully pretty images”. At first glance you can easily bring the number down to what looks like 50 qualified firms. Upon further review I’m sure you will find that the number of qualified proven VR Firms in North America is somewhere between 5-15 (and even fewer that handle the deliverables AND content…most are just content) depending on your vertical. Here are some questions to ask yourself when bidding out your next project…

What is their track record?
Does their portfolio reflect multiple projects over several years? A qualified vendor may cost a little more on the front end but will no doubt save you thousands in lost time and resources during the production of a project. The reason you may be getting a “deal” could mean many things i.e. they upcharge during production, few staff (longer timelines), their proposal leaves something out or of course quality.

Who have they worked for?
Doing VR for one custom home in Muskogee, Oklahoma or a new church in Bismark, North Dakota is a little different than a 1200 home master plan or urban infill project in a major market. Make sure they can handle the workload that you will be entrusting them with. Another thing to keep in mind is if their portfolio only shows condo/multifamily and you are developing a single family home project then I would ask to see something similar in scope to your project.

Where does their specialty lie?
If their portfolio shows print renderings only and you are asking them for renderings AND animation keep this in mind………

Number of Images to make up a rendering: = 1
Number of images to make up a 2 minute animation = 3600

A still rendering for print may take anywhere from 15 minutes to a few hours to “render” a final image. Therefore if you have a change and need it quickly then not a huge problem for a “Renderings” company. An animation frame can take anywhere between 15 -45 minutes to render. Mutiply that by 30 frames per second of animation, 60 sec per minute and you can see how an unqualified firm might get in over their head quickly. One change in an animation may take several days to render even with a rendering farm of 20 computers……….. If the firm does not have full rendering farm of cpu’s then you are asking for numerous delays and will need to purchase plenty of Aspirin!

Ask about the production process?
Their process should outline when you will approve architecture, when you will see preliminary images for comment, when you will be seeing revised images, how many rounds of comments, what constitutes an extra charge during production etc etc. If this question draws a blank face from the sales person…….RUN! Without a standard production process they simply won’t hit your deadline or any critical dates along the way.

Brad Jaycock, Vice President
Imagenius.com Inc.
888.439.4633

If you are going to go through the time and money to build a website portal to generate advertising revenue then follow up on ALL inquiries or don’t offer the service. I’ve inquired twice via email and twice via phone to BuilderOnline’s new Sponsored Videos on their website without a single response. No wonder their reputation is what it is with the builders. Drives me nuts when companies don’t follow up with their customers.

Note to CSR managers everywhere, if you have a person responsible for exactly this function for your website…test them regularly by sending inquiries through your site. In a time where the public voice has never been so loud, a single experience like mine can cost you more than one lost sale.

Jim Warren, CEO

… you can implement easily and affordably:

1. Offer some form of Rich Media experience: video, audio, more photographs/renderings. 95% of your competition aren’t … you will be noticed and remembered.
2. Put Video content first and upfront…not hidden…they are looking for it.
3. If you have some form of internet concierge or person assigned to leads generated online…track and monitor their communications. It should be frequent, personalized and offer value in return for their permission.
4. Measure, Measure, Measure…there are enough tools (google analytics, campaign manager) now to see what your response rates are for marketing initiatives and fine tune what you are doing.
5. Show something better than traditional black line floor plans and line elevations…the additional costs are minimal and you will stand out from everyone else.

If 80% of all people start their new home search online, you have to give them all of the information they are looking for if you want them to come to your sales center. Here are some ways to do that:

1. Directmail a DVD or CD Rom to your interest list or database.

2. Show more content on your website BEFORE sales center launch than your competition.

3. Communicate with your interest lists frequently (minimum every 45 days) and personally via email, mail and phone.

4. Hold a private opening for online registrants only before your public opening and advertise this!

5. Offer insentives for people who to pre-register, visit your sales center or purchase a home to refer others to you.