homebuilder

Optimizing the Design-Market-Sell Continuum – Tips for Home Builders – Part 1

March 28, 2025
By Jim Sorgatz

As the 2024 NAHB International Builders Show gears up to roll out the red carpet this week, it’s the perfect backdrop for a little fireside chat on elevating your home building game. With the industry’s brightest minds converging in one spot, buzzing with the latest trends and innovations, we at Outhouse are seizing the moment to sprinkle some of our own seasoned advice into the mix. Let’s dive into the art of perfecting the design-market-sell trifecta, shall we?

With so much information, this post is being broken into two parts. In Part 1 we cover CAD, Rendering, and Print Marketing – the essentials every builder must have. These are what we would call the more physical items, the ones used for design review, neighborhood presentations, in your design centers, and for the construction of your homes. In Part 2 we will discuss website tools. Although renderings fall into both categories, our second post focuses on digital tools that are more interactive.

Part 1: The Essentials – CAD, Rendering, and Print Marketing

In the realm of home building, there are a few non-negotiables: CAD, rendering, and print marketing. These are the bread and butter, the tools that transform a blueprint dream into a sticks-and-bricks reality.

VP of Operations Darin Keezer with CAD tips — Darin Keezer, VP of Operations

CAD (COMPUTER AIDED DESIGN)

Imagine having a magic wand that ensures your construction documents are flawless, a foundation as solid as the homes you build. That’s what good construction documents do for you. Here at Outhouse, under the guidance of our VP of Operations, Darin Keezer and his cadre of seasoned pros with over 30 years of experience working exclusively with production home builders, we offer CAD services that are a cut above. Here’s why:

Uniformity for the Field Crew: Our approach ensures that regardless of the designer, the plans maintain a consistent look and feel, making life easier (and error-free) for those on the ground.
You’re the Boss: The files? They’re yours. Whenever you want them, wherever you need them sent, consider it done.
No Nickel-and-Diming: We’re all about transparency. No per-lot-use or other hidden fees, just straightforward billing for the time spent on your plans.
Compatibility is Key: Our 2D plans play well with others, making them a breeze to integrate with additional Outhouse services or other consultants.

While the CAD magic happens, why not simultaneously kickstart your marketing with some stunning renderings, virtual tours, visualizers, interactive floor plans, interactive site plans, and print collateral? It’s all about multitasking.

RENDERINGS – A WEBSITE STAPLE

A well-crafted rendering can speak volumes, turning the intangible into something almost touchable. In today’s market, where digital home tours are gaining ground, the allure of a beautifully rendered image remains undiminished. While virtual tours and visualizers are becoming more mainstream, renderings are still the essential source of product visualization. Colored renderings should be a staple for every home builder website. Black/white stick drawings are a huge turnoff. For as little as $195, Outhouse can create a very nice 2D rendering. For a bit more, most builders opt for 3D photorealistic renderings, as they provide a far superior picture of a home. With realistic landscaping and the ability to include special lighting like dusk shots, the renderings are often more appealing than a photo of a newly constructed home, which is frequently on a dirt lot with a couple of “twigs” for trees. Today’s home buyers expect the essential marketing tools, and renderings fall into this category. Here’s how we make your projects pop:

From Meh to Marvelous: Ditch the bland for the grand with colored renderings that capture the imagination of your buyers.
The Devil’s in the Details: Outhouse partner, Stuart Platt, swears by the golden rule: the more accurate your CAD, the more stunning the rendering. It’s that simple.

Outhouse Partner Bill Gelbaugh with print media tips — Outhouse partner Bill Gelbaugh

PRINT MARKETING – YOUR PROJECT IN THE SPOTLIGHT

In an era where digital is king, print marketing retains its crown for creating tangible connections. With an onsite print department dedicated to print media for production home builders, here at Outhouse, LLC, we understand the importance of every stage of production home building printing and the vital steps to making your project a success. This includes on-time delivery to your sales centers. Bill Gelbaugh, our print guru, knows the ins and outs of making your projects shine on paper. Here’s his blueprint for success:

Plan with Precision: Like laying a foundation, choosing the right quantity, size, and type of print material sets the stage for everything that follows.
Choose Wisely: Not all printers are created equal. Opt for one that knows the ins and outs of the home building industry.
Attention to Detail: A single typo can throw a wrench in the works. Proofread like your project depends on it (because it does).
Clear as Day: When it comes to special requests or concerns, communication is key. The right printer will make your vision a reality.

That is our humble advice to ensure your print media materials turn out just as you envisioned and on budget. Remember, at Outhouse, LLC, we have more than 25 years of experience in specialized homebuilder printing.

MEET US AT IBS!

And there you have it, folks. A sneak peek into the alchemy of blending design, marketing, and sales into a seamless continuum. But wait, there’s more! Swing by IBS this week for a cup of joe on us at Sales Central in the West Hall, Room 311. Outhouse and our friends at Blue Gypsy Inc. can’t wait to meet you.

Stay tuned for Part 2, where we’ll dive into the digital deep end with website tools that make your projects not just seen, but experienced. Until then, happy building!

Growing Sales with Bitmojis – a Lesson for Home Builders from Ralph Lauren

October 2, 2024
By Jim Sorgatz

How resilience, agility, and focusing on what matters most lead to success in both retail and in home building.

Ralph Lauren Bitmojis on Smapchat

Who knew Ralph Lauren had their own Bitmojis? In a recent webinar featuring Matthew Shay, President & CEO of the National Retail Federation, and Patrice Louvet, President & CEO of Ralph Lauren, the two men discuss the importance of resilience and agility in 2020. Hired in 2017, Patrice is a brand guy and was brought on board to, “write the next great chapter of the iconic brand.” How the company interacts and engages with consumers is where Patrice centers his attention. And that is why, when the pandemic hit, this rather traditional brand stepped outside the box and designed their own Bitmojis for Snapchat. Launched in August, there have already been more than 3 million downloads. Building amazing partnerships with social media in recent years is one of the company’s greatest strengths.

An “opportunity in crisis,” the shift to digital moved light-years ahead in 2020.

Heavily focused on what the digital age wants, Patrice believes digital will become like electricity – we won’t notice it, but it will be everywhere, and it will power everything. An “opportunity in crisis,” the shift to digital moved light-years ahead in 2020.

What was most interesting about this webinar is how retail and home building share many of the same challenges and goals. To move the company forward in the Twenties, Patrice has 5 primary areas Ralph Lauren is targeting:

Elevate and energize the brand – bring in a new generation of consumers.
Shift to direct-to-consumer. Stores will continue to play an important role, but online sales are growing.
Digital
International expansion
Develop high-potential, under-represented categories

A tech-savvy generation of home buyers has accelerated the digital revolution.

In the homebuilding industry, the pandemic along with a tech-savvy generation of home buyers has accelerated the digital revolution. Sales centers will still play an integral role, but much of the interaction between builders and buyers will take place virtually. International barriers are being toppled as builders crisscross “the pond.” Landsea Homes and Sekisui House (Woodside Homes) are just a couple of examples. And, builders are constantly working to develop under-represented categories – affordable housing for one.

Also needing attention are four areas affected by Covid that Patrice believes are here to stay:

Health and safety have become a huge factor in human behavior and will continue to be for quite some time, if not indefinitely.
The move to connectivity – people are not going to quit using apps and having home deliveries. Mom and grandpa just learned how to do all that!
Consumers are looking for a personalized experience.
Importance of values and purpose, “What difference will we make?” Consumer response to companies focusing on these has been amazing. Authenticity is a core Ralph Lauren brand value.

With the world staying home, resilience, agility, and focusing on what matters most have become critical to the success of every business.

Three valuable lessons Patrice learned from Covid:

Focus on what matters most
Resilience
Agility

Companies who quickly learned these lessons and adapted have survived and even done well.

This insightful webinar brings home the importance of your brand, company culture, and marketing. As home builders, our industry tends to not be on the cutting edge. We have been building and selling homes the same way for 100+ years. Builders have been making strides forward, but nothing prepared us for the events of this year. With the world staying home, resilience, agility, and focusing on what matters most have become critical to the success of every business. Engaging with consumers online is key. This is where Zoom, Online Sales Counselors, CRMs like TopBuilder and Lasso, chatbots like those powered by AtlasRTX, and online marketing tools including Interactive Floor Plans, Virtual Tours, Matterport Tours, and Visualizers play an integral role. Focusing on what the digital age wants, and thinking outside the box (Snapchat Bitmojis anyone?) to write the next great chapter of your iconic brand are keys to success.

Drive engagement on your website with the Outhouse Interactive Floor Plan.

On a final note, Patrice talks about citizenship and sustainability. Companies like Ralph Lauren cannot be successful if they don’t take the lead. Consumers and partners expect it. “People will remember you for what you did and the way you behaved.” These words hold true for home builders as well.

Musings from Home Builder, Author & NAHB Speaker Alan Trellis

October 2, 2024
By Outhouse Partner

“The future cannot be predicted, but futures can be invented.”
— Dennis Gabor

Randomness and circumstance combine to create the daily environment in which we must live, and hopefully thrive. But to believe that these alone determine our destiny is to incorrectly account for our own decisions and actions. Our future is as much about what we do with the hand we are dealt as the hand itself. It is up to each of us to be the best that we can be – to do the most that we can do. Poor circumstances can make this harder, and at any given instant guarantee that our best will be unacceptable, and the most we can do be insufficient. But if we consistently address both the good times and the bad with courage, determination, and thoughtful creativity, we can always impact the outcome of our lives and our decisions. We can always, to some degree, invent our own futures.

“If you are not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you’ve launched too late.”
— Reid Hoffman

This quote relates directly to an article I wrote entitled “When Truisms Collide”. In that article, I discussed how two conflicting quotes, generally considered as truisms, could be in direct conflict and yet both be true. The answer to this inconsistency is relatively simple – which truism is correct depends entirely on the circumstances and environment of any given situation. Mr Hoffman is entirely accurate in his assessment if there is huge pressure to get to market and grab market share before a competitor beats you to it. This would be particularly true in the case of new technology-driven products, where obtaining a foothold is the highest priority.

For a homebuilder, particularly one with an excellent reputation, I would argue that it is equally important that while our new product need not be perfect, it should not be embarrassing. The cost of reputational damage must always be weighed against the advantages of being first to market. History is filled with unsuccessful product pioneers, whose market share was stolen by the second round of better designed, better performing, and better priced alternatives.

“Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened”.
— Dr. Suess

Many great quotes are similar in that they are variations on a core theme. The fundamental message contained here is “Be Positive”. “Every cloud has a silver lining” and ”Pessimism leads to weakness, optimism leads to strength” are just 2 other examples of this pro-positive theme. Yet here, Dr. Suess has expanded the base message of positive versus negative to one of appreciation versus lament, with the added message that everyone get’s to decide the outcome of this contest through their individual perspective. To quote another quote, we each get to determine if, in our mind, the glass is half full or half empty. The amount of water in the glass doesn’t change- how we chose to see it is what changes.

“If you cannot do great things, do small things in a great way”
— Napolean Hill

Most of us dream, at some time, of doing great things. Yet true satisfaction and long term success come from hard work, commitment, and attention to detail. Big things consist of myriad small things, and getting these right is the foundation on which big ideas, big plans, and big business success are built. As builders, we should understand, better than most, the importance of a solid foundation, and strive to do the nagging, every day small things we must deal with in a great way. Only then, will you be capable of accomplishing great things

Submitted by

Alan Trellis, Author, NAHB Speaker, and co-founder of Home Builders Network.

With 40 years of experience as a custom home builder and consultant for the home building industry, Al is co-founder of Home Builders Network, which provides management consulting, marketing, residential design, and land planning for home builders throughout North America. Collectively, their clients build 3,000 homes per year, for a sales value of $1.2 billion. Al is the author of many books on residential construction; has served as chairman of the NAHB Custom Builder, Education, and Business Management committees; and is a leading speaker at the NAHB International Builders Show (IBS).

5 Tips for Selecting the Right Digital Marketing Agency for Your Home Building Company

October 2, 2024
By Outhouse Partner

As a successful home builder, you know that the home buyers in today’s world begin their home buying journey online. They are searching for homes and evaluating builders’ new home communities and floor plans via their websites long before they ever decide to make contact with a salesperson and visit a community.

Lady checking out builder website. — An engaging website is critical to new home sales.

You know you need to have a home builder website that generates quality sales leads, and you also want to grow the number of qualified home buyers that visit your site.

You know it would be terrific to have a trusted partner agency to help you navigate the increasing complexities and options that are available in today’s digital marketing toolset. But let’s be honest. You are not an expert in digital marketing techniques and technologies, and you don’t have the time to become one. You are also working with limited marketing resources and can’t afford to waste money on selecting the wrong partner.

We all fear making mistakes, especially when those mistakes will cost us time and money. So how can you move forward with more confidence to find the digital marketing agency that is right for you and will help you sell more homes?

Here are some key questions to consider to help you evaluate a digital marketing agency that you are considering as a partner.

1.) Do they understand the home building industry?

There are a lot of agencies out there that are very good digital marketers but don’t have specific experience in working with home builders. Your local agency down the street may be very good at understanding the nuances of SEO, paid search, email marketing, and more, but do you want to pay them to learn the difference between a floor plan and an elevation, or between a model and an inventory home?

If you are looking for a partner who can help you execute on the tactical level, and will simply take your direction and implement it, then this type of agency may be a good fit for you.

However, if you are not sure what the best steps are to move forward online and you are also looking for strategic advice and guidance and an understanding of what others in the industry are successfully doing, then you will want a digital marketing agency who has not just worked with a few other home builders as clients but is also participating in industry events and sharing ideas on industry best practices.

2.) Can they explain the technical things they do in a way that you can understand and be comfortable with?

Just because digital marketing can be technical in nature, doesn’t mean that you must work with an agency purely on blind trust. It is important that you are comfortable with the direction and tactics that your agency partner is implementing on your behalf. While it is not necessary for them to train you to become a digital marketing expert yourself, they do need to be able to communicate the details of what digital marketing activities they are doing and why they are doing them and do that in such a way that you can understand and be comfortable.

These communication skills will continue to be important well beyond the initial sales discussions when you are deciding whether to work together. While fancy charts and graphs can look pretty and impressive, as the agency reports their progress periodically, ensure they will not just send a canned report but will explain the data and the implications of that report. With every report should come an understandable answer to the question: “Therefore, what’s next?”

3.) Can they describe their process and demonstrate that they understand where to start and how to get you where you want to go?

You feel like your business and the homes you build are unique and special, and they are. But usually, those differences, while important, are a relatively small part of the overall picture of what you do and the homes you sell. This means that an experienced agency is going to be able to see the commonalities between their clients across the services that they offer and define and create their process or framework for successfully serving you.

Having a process to follow does not mean that you will get a cookie-cutter service or that the solutions provided will not be customized to your needs. It does mean that you will get consistency in what they deliver for you and it demonstrates a deeper understanding of how the execution of digital marketing services can help you sell more homes, even when your homes are in a different location or target a different buyer demographic than someone else that the agency has worked with previously.

4.) Does the agency claim to be an expert in everything?

Confidence is great, arrogance is not. It is very challenging in today’s environment for a single agency to be an expert in everything. Be sure to ask where the agency draws the line of which services they will offer for you. For example, at Blue Tangerine, we recognize that we are not experts in helping our clients with their core branding or with logo design, so we have established relationships with several other branding agencies so that we can provide referrals if our clients have a need for those particular services.

5.) Will the agency clearly measure success in a way that you are comfortable with?

When working with your digital marketing agency, it is very easy to lose sight of the ultimate end goal, which is to increase qualified leads so you can sell more homes. This happens because agencies feel, often rightly so, that they don’t have the full control to be held accountable for that result. Instead, they want to focus on metrics like website traffic increases and specific keyword rankings. These are, of course, important metrics that need to be reviewed and will inform the tactical execution of your digital marketing plan and strategy. However, if you double the amount of traffic to your website or your website is now ranking number one for your favorite keyword phrase, and you still do not sell more homes, is that really success?

handshake — Trust between builder and marketing agency is key.

Bonus Tip: Most importantly, are they someone you can trust?

Regardless of how the digital marketing agency you are considering measures up with whatever criteria that you apply, at the end of the day, it’s all about trust. No partnership will ever be successful in the long term if both sides are not able to work together from a position of trust. While trust is something that takes time to develop, here are a few ideas of ways to determine if an agency is trustworthy even before you’ve started working with them:

Do they get back to you in a timely manner, the way they promised to when you filled out the form on their website?
Do they deliver a proposal or quote within the timeframe that they told you they would, or if not, do they keep you up to date with where things stand?
Do they have a demonstrated expertise by working with other home builders?
How do their existing clients feel about working with them?

At Blue Tangerine, we recognize that to be trusted as your digital marketing partner is both an honor and a responsibility. We’d love to earn that trust. If you are ready to start selling more homes, reach out today and let’s talk.

Submitted by

Mila Sorensen, Director of Marketing & Marketing Services
Blue Tangerine.

Blue Tangerine is your website design, development and digital marketing agency all rolled into one – from mobile responsive websites, SEO and PPC to email and social media, we provide full-service solutions to home builders, online retailers, and businesses.