Builders

CHICAGO -- Boys and girls, can you say "twisted pair"?You say you don't know what "twisted pair" means? You say you don't care?You say you glaze over during explanations of high-tech household features? Yes, I know. It's not that you don't recognize the potential benefits of having a house that's wired for the future; it's just that you'd be just as happy to be told, instead: "Plug it in here and go on with your life."Alas, the leaders of the Geek Chic movement take a certain pleasure in your inability to differentiate POTS from Category 5, LANS from RG-6 dual co-ax.

Sixteen homeowners who were defrauded when Manor Builders Inc. suddenly ceased operation last year will be issued refunds by the Consumer Protection Division of the state's attorney general's office.Palmer C. Williams Jr., the owner of Manor Builders, Inc. and Phoenix Land Inc., fled Maryland after reneging on contracts to build homes in Baltimore and Harford counties. Williams left behind a $20,000 escrow account, which the division seized and is distributing to the homeowners."Buyers should know that Maryland law protects them in the event the builder goes out of business," Attorney General J. Joseph Curran Jr. said.

Housing sales in the Baltimore metropolitan area might not rise to the feverish pitch of 1998, but there is little doubt that the surge that started a year ago will continue into this year."

When it comes to buying in a new housing development, some people are like the tortoise, others like the hare. But whether they come in first or last, both can be winners.Daniel Morehead bought the next-to-last house on his street in Owings Mills' Winterset development in February."I didn't really want to see a lot of construction. I didn't want to see mud in the street and Dumpsters and get a flat tire," he said.Eric Buckner, who bought his home in Winterset in 1996, was one of the first -- trusting only in plans, pictures and the promises of the development's saleswoman.

For months, builders, legislators and bureaucrats had labored to build a foundation that would result in the first statewide bill to regulate homebuilders. Optimism was high that a consensus would be reached and consumers would have some recourse against rogue builders.But last week in Annapolis, House Bill 967, which would establish the Office of Home Builder Registration to license homebuilders, was attacked by builders who are seeking to bulldoze the bill into oblivion. They plan an encore Thursday on a similar bill, sponsored by Sen. Delores G. Kelley, a Baltimore County Democrat, when it comes before committee.

If Stewart J. Greenebaum gets approval from the Howard County Zoning Board to convert a turkey farm in Fulton into a community of homes and businesses, neighbors say it would become their worst nightmare.But for area builders, it would be a dream come true.For more than a year, builders have been closely eyeing Greenebaum's plan with the hope that they will be selected to build the proposed 1,198 residential units on the Iager property, west of U.S. 29 and bounded by state Route 216 and Johns Hopkins Road.

Three years ago, while much of the country was enjoying a housing boom, homebuilders in Maryland were complaining about the sluggish state economy depressing new-home sales.There was plenty of inventory and land. Yet, builders and developers were cautious; shouldering additional land positions could be a fatal strategy. But by last year, everything snapped to life. The state's economy turned vibrant. Unemployment sagged. Consumer confidence soared. Mortgage rates dropped below 7 percent.First-time homebuyers were coming into the market in droves, allowing move-up buyers to purchase existing, as well as new, homes in numbers not seen since the mid-1980s.

In December, the registering of homebuilders and home inspectors was expected to become a reality as the General Assembly prepared for its 1999 session. Instead, the roof collapsed on bills targeting those two key consumer concerns in the real estate industry."The good news is that we will have this summer to join with the committee members, the authors of the original bill to draft a new one that we can agree on and get through next year's session," said Martin P. Azola, president of the Home Builders Association of Maryland.

HERE'S A NOVEL idea for builders such as the one suing Harford County, whose adequate facilities law prevents construction of homes near a crowded school: Build elsewhere.Sprawl will continue so long as developers push new housing into areas where the infrastructure isn't, rather than proposing projects for older areas where the need for reinvestment is most critical.You see this phenomenon repeated around the Baltimore region: Mini-mansions rise in Columbia's final village, River Hill, while older neighborhoods elsewhere in Columbia and along Howard County's U.S. 1 corridor battle perceptions of crime and grime.

He stared back with eyes ablaze. The question was unthinkable. It was unfathomable. Like the preacher on the pulpit, his answer came with the force of fire and brimstone."

Homebuilders who just a year ago were mired in financial woes, putting projects on hold or drowning in inventory are inching back into Maryland's new-home market. Though sales of new single-family homes in the U.S. have shown solid gains over the summer and supply has decreased, builders say today's market is a far cry from the boom years. Credit for builders to buy land and put up homes remains in short supply. And rising unemployment and mortgage troubles are holding back consumers. Still, builders are positioning themselves for growth, expecting an upswing in demand by next year and fearing being left behind.

Auction signs sprout from manicured front yards of a row of new brick and stone townhouses in Columbia, signaling yet more foreclosures amid the collapse of the luxury housing market. n But in what some experts see as the latest wave of foreclosures to hit the Baltimore area, the homes' builder, rather than homebuyers, went into default. Two separate lenders have foreclosed on 35 of Dale Thompson Builders' unsold homes, building lots and unfinished houses in Columbia's Scot's Glen townhouse development.

The call is out for energetic community volunteers to rebuild the popular Waverly playground destroyed by an arsonist last year. "We need at least 1,000 persons to step forward," said Marisa Canino, president of Friends of Our Playground. "The fire was a senseless act of arson and we instantly moved to start rebuilding. I can't belive we are so close." Work crews began preliminary regrading and site work last week. The once-popular playing area - north of the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Family Center YMCA at Stadium Place, the former location of the old Memorial Stadium on 33rd Street - burned Sept.

LAS VEGAS - If you'd love to purchase a new house but you're sitting on the fence, what exactly would it take to get you to buy? Mortgage rates lower than today's 5 percent range? Smaller down payments? Below-market value pricing? Special amenity packages? Or a big tax credit? What's the magic mix that will get you motivated? Or is it unlikely you'll get off the fence as long as you're worried about the economy and further drops in real estate values? Questions like these are at the core of the housing industry's problem: Builders are stuck with bulging inventories of homes - most of them priced lower than six months or a year ago - that are still not selling.

A mini-trend is in the making. Fueled by demand, affordability and demographics, smaller homes - especially energy-efficient and well-designed ones - are emerging as welcome alternatives to McMansions. A substantial group of buyers is seeking less: less house, a lower mortgage payment and price, a smaller utility bill. It also wants more: more flexible use of space, greater energy efficiencies, more functionality. "It is the core trend of the future. People have more economic viability with their homes going forward," said Richard Thometz, principal of Hailey Development and a home energy services company in Burtonsville.

Construction begins in Columbia As reported April 23, 1967, in The Sun: Construction and sale of new single-family houses are under way in the new "city" of Columbia in Howard county. First model houses are expected to be ready for early July showing. "Kickoff" of home building is by a builder with broad experience with a national homebuilding concern. At least six other builders are expected to be announced soon. All home building in Columbia, a project community of 110,000 persons within 15,000 acres, is expected to be done by builders who buy lots.

FORT WORTH, Texas -- D.R. Horton Inc., the second-largest U.S. homebuilder by revenue, said yesterday that orders for its houses tumbled 37 percent in the first three months of this year. Orders for the fiscal second quarter fell to 9,983 houses from 15,771 a year earlier, the builder said. The value of houses ordered plunged 41 percent to $2.6 billion from $4.4 billion a year earlier. Builders, including D.R. Horton and industry leader Lennar Corp., are in their second year of slowing sales as buyers wait for prices to stop falling before making an offer.

Is the end of the housing slump in sight? History and a dozen major indicators say, "Heck, no." Homebuilder stocks say, "Yes." The Russell 1000 Homebuilding Index is up 30 percent since its lows in July. Shares in builders such as NVR and D.R. Horton rose as much as 19 percent for the first five weeks of this year before falling back a little last week. Sometimes the stock market makes uncanny and successful forecasts, as when it began bidding up energy stocks in late 2003, when oil was only $28 a barrel.

Maryland's home prices - so high they lock many workers out of the market - have reached "crisis" levels, speakers said yesterday at a conference called to address the issue. "Housing Maryland's Work Force," held at the Sheraton Inner Harbor by the Home Builders Association of Maryland, drew more than 200 people from building industries, worker-affordability advocacy groups and local government agencies. Even with a strong local economy, "for many, many Marylanders, homeownership is out of the question," said Audrey E. Scott, state planning secretary and chairwoman of the newly convened Governor's Task Force on Workforce Housing, which is scheduled to make recommendations by July 1. "It is incumbent upon us to come up with a solution."

Few things light up an economy like pouring foundations and nailing shingles. They employ skilled workers in your town, not overseas. They add to the community's capital stock and tax base. They generate revenue for lumber, drywall and carpet vendors. And the permanent growth that they represent - new resident families needing sofas, dish soap and leaf bags - supercharges the larger commercial climate. So the stalling of Maryland's construction-job growth this summer and fall is something to be concerned about.