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interactive kiosks

Is 2025 the Year to Break Out of the “Home Builder Box?”


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There are many brilliant people here at Outhouse, and one of them is our content creator and social media manager, Tabitha Warren. An enthusiastic advocate for the FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) movement, Tabitha made the bold decision to leave her full-time job as a tax accountant in her mid-thirties. But instead of retiring, she pivoted to a new career in digital marketing, joining our team at Outhouse while also helping other companies build websites. It wasn’t an easy transition, but through determination, hard work, and a relentless drive to learn new skills, she made it happen. Today, she’s a Canva expert, crafting stunning graphics and managing social media for most of our marketing efforts. What’s even more inspiring is her constant quest for the “next big thing.” Her curiosity and drive to adopt cutting-edge technologies push me, the old guy, to keep learning and reaching for more.





Tabitha Warren in front of husband Anthony





Tabitha Warren,  enjoying some free time with husband Anthony





In a way, Tabitha’s journey mirrors the challenges the home building industry faces. As she mentioned in her January 10th post, “Navigating Labor and Supply Chain Issues,” the industry enters another year trying to stay ahead. It’s not a lack of demand—there are plenty of families looking for new homes—but labor and supply chain bottlenecks, coupled with sticky inflation, that are driving home prices higher (thank you, pandemic). And let’s not forget the high interest rates that persist even after a couple of Fed rate cuts (thanks, lenders).







Builders and contractors who adapted quickly survived. 







The housing crash of 2008-2010 showed us that builders and contractors who adapted quickly survived. For many, that meant streamlining operations, letting go of staff (not-so-affectionately called “right-sizing”), and embracing new, cost-saving techniques. Some even chose to be acquired by other companies. Many long-time construction workers faced similar crossroads, and those who were willing to adapt to new careers—sometimes temporarily—are the ones who have thrived today.

The reality is, like the stock market, the home building industry is volatile. It’s a constant roller coaster ride with high highs and low lows, and rare are the moments when things are smooth sailing. The key to surviving and thriving? Being agile. Builders who can pivot quickly, streamline processes, adopt new methods and technologies, or even revert to time-tested strategies when necessary will be the ones who come out on top.





Image of a house blueprint transitioning to 3D exterior rendering










This is exactly why we built the Outhouse CAD department with this roller coaster in mind. Many homebuilders already rely on us for renderings and interactive tools, so it only makes sense to put our 30+ years of CAD expertise to work and help with drafting services. Here’s how outsourcing your drafting to us can benefit you:

• Uniformity for the Field Crew: Our approach ensures that your plans maintain a consistent look and feel across the board, no matter who the designer is.
• Compatibility is Key: Our 2D plans integrate seamlessly with other Outhouse services or external consultants—no hassle, just smooth collaboration. 
• You Own the CAD Files: Whether you build one home or a hundred from a single set of plans, the CAD files are yours to keep. 
• Accelerated Delivery of Marketing Assets: We can produce your interactive floor plans, site maps, virtual tours, visualizers, renderings, and brochures simultaneously, allowing you to hit the market faster and more cost-effectively.







Embrace the future (or more precisely, the present) with 3D photorealistic renderings, 360-degree virtual tours, and interactive floor plans. 







If your website still sports black-and-white stick drawings and static floor plans and site maps, it’s well past time to think outside the box. Embrace the future (or more precisely, the present) with 3D photorealistic renderings, 360-degree virtual tours, and interactive floor plans. Interactive tools are far more engaging than static images—they allow homebuyers to digitally add structural options, rearrange furniture, and even take virtual walks through rooms with integrated VR hotspots. These experiences help families emotionally connect to your homes, turning casual browsers into serious buyers. Plus, interactive features are proven to increase the time visitors spend on your site, which often leads to more sales. In today’s tech-savvy market, these tools aren’t just a nice-to-have—they’re essential. Younger homebuyers, especially, love the gamified, interactive experiences.


















Outhouse.net excels at providing all the digital and print marketing assets that today’s homebuyers expect when shopping for new homes, including 3D renderings, virtual tours, visualizers, interactive floor plans, and interactive site maps for your website. And we don’t stop there—we also offer interactive kiosks, print materials, large format signage, and display options for sales offices.

Looking for more ways to expand your horizons? The International Builders Show in Las Vegas, happening February 25-27, is a fantastic place to explore the latest in construction technology and trends. If you’re attending, make sure to stop by and say hello to Outhouse principals and our OSC partner Blue Gypsy Inc. in Sales Central, West Hall W311. We’ll be sponsoring coffee and snacks throughout each day, and we’d love to meet you. All are welcome—even if you have a floor pass only!







New Home Sales Centers Take Center Stage


 
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Even Smaller Builders Can Have a Top-Notch Sales Office





With the slowdown in residential sales, home builders across the nation are investing in new home sales centers, or model home centers, to showcase their houses and communities. Sales centers are a great vehicle to draw homebuyers in and highlight all your homes offer. Large public builders may opt for elaborate buildouts with cabinets, multiple touch screens, and monitors, especially in larger communities. On the other hand, many small or mid-size builders may ask what it takes to install a sales center. With some creativity and an eye for design, even the smallest production builders can set up an effective sales center in the garage of a model home.





Small room with wood floor, a modern wood credenza and four-legged bench.  On the wall are a touchscreen monitor, with K. Hovnanian Homes logo above and 3 large white framed poster on the right.
Come on in and explore. Simple furnishings, large framed panels, a touchscreen display, and an acrylic logo create an inviting, sophisticated room for the K. Hovnanian Looks sales center.






A great place to start is with signage experts like Outhouse. With experience in top-of-the-line installations for some of the most prominent builders and scaled-down designs for smaller companies, we can offer suggestions and advice on model home centers to fit any budget. Large framed panels that tell a story create emotional connections and are cost-effective. A large acrylic logo on the wall and smaller directional signs and nameplates give the room a polished look. A wrap covering an entire wall packs a punch and creates a memorable wow factor.   






Large format print.  A wrap with the image of motorcycle racers covering two walls in a garage. 
An inspirational wall wrap in a private garage.  Imagine one like this in your sales center!




The key to a thriving sales center is excellent storytelling and uniformity of the design elements. With this goal in mind, builders sometimes combine their sales center with a design center bringing in additional warmth and visual appeal.





A wall wrap with the image of a boy capturing a firefly in a jar.  An acrylic panel with text overlays a portion of the wrap.  
Starlight Homes sales centers may have a new look these days, but this is still one of our favorite iterations.  Storytelling at its finest.






In today’s digital age, an interactive kiosk is a must. Essentially a mini-website, interactive kiosks integrate your digital marketing tools in a single app for easy use onsite at the sales center. Responsive, device-agnostic kiosks like those provided by Outhouse integrate point-of-interest maps, interactive site plans, interactive floor plans, interior and exterior visualizers, virtual tours, and animations for a seamless home-buying experience. They engage homebuyers and can be installed on any device. Even something as small as a tablet becomes a powerful sales tool. Imagine buyers customizing their home through an interactive floor plan while touring your models.  





The home page of an interactive kiosk produced by Outhouse.  Buttons along the side link to a Welcome page, Point of Interest map, interactive site plan, and interactive floor plans.
The Outhouse Interactive Kiosk with links to a welcome page, point of interest map, interactive site plan, and interactive floor plans.  Buttons can be customized to include virtual tours, interior and exterior visualizers, or whatever else you’d like.






With a more significant budget, consider installing large touchscreen monitors to elevate the impact. Visitors to your sales center will feel like they are in a sci-fi movie as they whiz around maps, floor and site plans, house renderings, virtual tours, and more, all on a grand scale. Hang a monitor on the wall or install it in a custom cabinet or table for a more sophisticated look. Creative License International and the Temeka Group are a couple of companies that build custom furniture for sales and design centers.





A small sales center (model home center) installation for Arizona builder Cachet Homes. Cachet Logo with monitor on the left wall.  Union Park logo with floor plan posters, and a blue bench on the facing wall. Touch screen monitor for an interactive kiosk on the right wall with a table below holding print materials.
Cachet Homes Arizona sales center.  The complete package in a compact space.  Wall mounted acrylic panels, touchscreen monitors featuring an interactive kiosk, and print collateral engage the senses.






The final element of a thriving sales center is print marketing. Although some digital marketing agencies may lead you to believe that print is no longer a viable marketing tool, statistics show otherwise:






Infographic with images representing print marketing statistics which are listed below the graphic.




  • 95% of people under 25 years old read magazines (Top Media Advertising).
  • 82% of consumers trust print ads the most when making a purchase decision (Burstein).
  • Combining print and digital ads makes online campaigns 400% more effective (Top Media Advertising).
  • Print drives higher levels of brand recall vs. digital (77% vs. 46%) (Newsworks).






Think about it. We go to trade shows and expos like the International Builders Show, Pacific Coast Builders Conference, Southwest Builders Show, Southeast Building Conference, and more for human connection. We meet with business associates, physically test new products, and pick up many samples, catalogs, and marketing brochures along the way. When we get home, we review those brochures in detail as part of our decision-making process. Print still plays an integral role in marketing.





A print brochure for Capital West Homes in Arizona featuring a cover with photos of a family, community landscape, and house renderings and floor plans inside.
Print brochure with house renderings and floorplans for Capital West Homes in Arizona.  The perfect takeaway for model home center visitors.






Outhouse installs sales centers/model home centers and provides print marketing for home builders across the nation. If you’re ready to install your sales center and would like a quote on signage, interactive kiosks, touchscreen monitors, and print collateral, contact us at info@outhouse.net.  If you are unsure where to start, call the Outhouse experts at (602) 371-4394.  We are here to help and can guide you in the right direction based on your design requirements and budget.