As housing numbers, for both single and multifamily continue to improve, it’s interesting to look at what the long-term predictions could be telling us. One facet that is more relevant now that construction of living spaces is increasing, is just where the increases are, and how the new, projected numbers compare to what actually happened [...]

Manage the brand. Your company is a brand. You may also have a portfolio of products that are also brands. All brands are a reflection of a positioning in the minds of customers and others who interact with them. The brand comes with a promise. The promise must be reliable and true to earn repeat [...]

“Build it, and they will come.” That famous line, inspired by the movie Field of Dreams was a source of inspiration for builders everywhere. An Iowa farmer turns a cornfield into a ballpark that attracts the ghosts of Shoeless Joe Jackson and other players banned in the 1919 Black Sox Scandal. The 1989 movie uses the [...]

Think about the last thing you purchased from home. How did you do it? Were you on-line? Did you use the phone? What did you buy? How long did it take to get your purchase? Did you get it overnight? What did that cost?
What if I told you that in the near future, you will [...]

Disclosure: REFM consults to Renaissance Downtowns on financial modeling.
There was a recent NYT article about something new and progressive that is going on in the world of Master Development - allowing a community to vote online for which real estate uses it desires to see developed. This crowdsourcing of the proposed mix of uses that could [...]

I have been reading a lot of publications that are saying that commercial real estate (CRE) is at/or near a bottom and in some cases starting to trend up. It’s the trend up that’s the problem. We all know by now that I’m an optimist by nature, but here are my thoughts as to why I [...]

“The Future for Architects” specifically addresses British trends and conditions, but it sheds light on our profession stateside as well.

Basically Christchurch’s heritage has gone, but that does not mean that the buildings cannot be rebuilt in the same style, but better to stand up to time and mother earth. Imagine New Christchurch, renamed as that, at every City block the glass in the newly rebuilt buildings will change to a different colour of the [...]

The beginning of January is always a good time to look back. It is also a great time to look forward…and maybe left and right!
Let’s recap!

2007 – It’s still good, but starting to slow down. Financing starts getting tougher.

2006 – Times were good, and everyone was making money. We all should have seen that this wouldn’t last forever, [...]

What does next year hold for homeowners, residential building and design professionals? Well there’s good news for the remodeling side of the equation, and not so good news yet for new residential construction of various kinds. However, in general, smaller is better with a strong focus on green and sustainable design features with better organized, [...]