Oklahoma Home Builder News

Attention OSHBA members!

No one likes to leave money on the table. So, what would you think if you could get a rebate for your loyalty to many of the nation's leading housing industry product suppliers? Now you can!

We're happy to introduce the OSHBA Member Rebate Program, aimed at increasing your bottom line. For the minimal effort of informing us about the home construction projects you use and when you close on a home or project, you'll be putting money back in your pocket. Both Builder & Remodeler companies, no matter how large or small, qualify for the program. When you participate in the program, you can count on receiving checks every quarter!

Please note: Program is only available to current OSHBA Members. Check out www.hbarebates.com/oshba.html for more information, rebate claim forms, deadlines, and all the other information you need.

From OSHBA 2011 President Michael Herndon:

Michael Herndon, 2011
OSHBA President

Lately it seems everyone I talk to has an increased optimism. And we can all do with a dose of good news right now.

I attended NAHB's construction forecast webinar earlier this month along with several builders. All the economists agreed the outlook for housing is improving. David Crowe cites low inventory, good mortgage rates and pent up demand as reasons for optimism. He also stated remodeling should continue to improve. We also heard from Mark Zandi and Robert Dink and both had good reasons for optimism. Slowly but surely we seem to be heading in the right direction.

Our Summer Convention is July 14-16th and you will be able to get all of your required hours for the Certified Builder Program. Just a reminder to put on your calendar and plan to be with us.

Don't forget May is National Remodeling month and there are lots of downloadable material at www.nahb.org. If you want help in promoting remodeling this is the place to go.

Please continue to mention the builder's association at every opportunity and remind your builder and associate friends of its importance. Membership is a key to our success.

On the legislative side, we have had tremendous success with our voterVOICE program this year. Please be sure to register when you have the opportunity. Everyone who has an email with NAHB receives the weekly updates and the action alerts. But not everyone has registered. When you register, your home address and business address is automatically linked to your legislators. That allows you, even if you don't know them personally, to be able to communicate to them issues that are important to our industry. Please register. And then, please respond when you receive an action alert. Our association is powerful when we are working together.

We also have several educational opportunities available. You can visit our website - www.okhba.org - to find the events we have scheduled and sign up. Here are some of the following:

May 12 - Lead Based Paint Training

May 26 - OSHA Safety Training Requirements for Residential Construction

June 1 - OSHA Fall Protection Seminar presented by NAHB

September 27-28 - OK Green Building Summit

For information call OSHBA at (800) 256-9980.

Happy building!

P.B. Odom III

As published in The Oklahoman, April 24, 2011

P.B. Odom III does not suffer pessimism gladly.

Those prone to tsk-tsk at an aggressive approach to real estate development need not apply.

The developer of southside Oklahoma City's upscale Rivendell neighborhood  more than 500 homes, 3,000- to 10,000-plus square feet in size, at SW 131 and May Avenue  and numerous other developments is quite willing to take a little pain now for gain later.

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Jeff Click

As published in The Oklahoman, April 24, 2011

Jeff Click has always worked the cutting edges of technology and home design.

At 35, he is both already an old hand as a builder, and the go-to guy for everything new in the constantly evolving dance of form and function, whether in the living room or a handheld communications device.

He started building houses at age 22 after already starting a successful software company.

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As published in The Oklahoman, April 24, 2011

It was the old-fashioned kind of green that got Ideal Homes into the new kind of green building:

Moolah. Scratch. Cold hard cash  the company wanted to make money by building homes designed to save their owners money on energy.

"We were looking for a sales differentiation," said Vernon McKown, who leads the company as a co-owner and president of sales. "We just felt like we could build a few thousand dollars extra on our houses and show our customers how they could save a bunch of money. We weren't really environmentally (sensitive) when we started."

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Want to learn more about building green? Make plans to attend the

2011 Oklahoma Green Building Summit

with Joseph Lstiburek, Ph.D, P.Eng., ASHRAE Fellow, the premiere green building science expert in the nation.

Sept. 28-29

The Reed Center

5800 Will Rogers

Midwest City, OK 73110

$75 for both days, or $50 each day early bird registration online

www.okgreenbuiildingsummit.com

Mark Dale

As published in The Oklahoman, April 24, 2011

Last year wasn't the first time that Mark Dale had to stand up for a beaten-up homebuilding industry and lead its walking wounded.

He had been there before, in 1990, his first time as president of the Central Oklahoma Home Builders Association, a tight-knit bunch of folks who couldn't help take the slump personally when they saw friends and colleagues fall.

Twenty years later, during a second turn as president, Dale's experience leading the industry as it slogged out of the 1980s oil and real estate bust helped give younger builders perspective and remind older ones that recessions can be survivable.

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