A HOMEBUILDING INDUSTRY PUBLICATION Dallas • Fort Worth | March 2020 2020 CURB APPEALTHIS DECADE, THE AMERICAN DREAM IS FOR RENT UNDERSTANDING THE PRICING MATRIX Photo by Jin Kim, Jin Kim Studio BRUCE GRAF: REMODELED SOUTHFORK RANCH FOR TV IN 1985 HIS LUXURY REMODEL PROJECTS TODAY ARE JUST AS EXCITING2 WE KNOW YOUR DIRT! SERVICE & FOUNDATION REPAIR Perma-Pier's knowledge of Texas soils — and what we do with that knowledge — are unmatched. CALL US TODAY | 214-637-1444 | permapier.com “ ” 972.412.6569 www.northtexasluxurylawns.com "Made in the USA" pet-friendly, kid-friendly, environmentally-friendly products. Commercial Quality Fibers with High UV Protection Drains Better Than Real Grass Professional Service focused on providing best in class products and services from beginning to end. Fully Insured Resort-like AMENITIES AT HOME Beautiful Lawns WITHOUT THE HASSLE AND EXPENSE OF COSTLY ONGOING MAINTENANCE. Synthetic EXPERTS Grass3 Building Savvy [from the publishers] As a member of the home-building industry, staying current, relevant and savvy is always a moving target. Culling through the trends to decide what will be sustainable long term is equally important. As the Einstein quote says, you’ve got to find balance, but you must keep moving. It’s not an easy business we’re in! This month’s “Sales Savvy” article by Paul Evans makes an important point about predicting carrying costs and pricing that into your asking price. But we’ve all seen the ill effects of what can happen when a builder miscalculates and keeps a house in his or her inventory far longer than anticipated — possibly due to being too late in updating the style, and occasionally being too early or off the mark in what the local marketplace is ready to embrace. As you read our annual Curb Appeal focus section, it is important to consider the style trends and weigh their long-term appeal and our market’s own unique style preferences as you work with your designer or architect to keep your home styles and material choices fresh and exciting. In your quest for relevance, you might glean some lessons from Toyota, too. One of the reasons we run our “Savvy Trucks and Toys” column in Building Savvy is that history proves again and again that the construction and automotive industries face similar challenges and opportunities. Take, for example, the replacement of traditional vehicles with intelligent cars, and compare that to an issue our industry faces – the potential shift of Americans away from home- ownership to renting – the subject of this month’s “Savvy Special Report.” As Winston Churchill said, “The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” Stay tuned! Beverly and Steve Smirnis beverly@buildingsavvy.com steve@buildingsavvy.com (817) 975-7235 TO KEEP YOUR BALANCE, YOU MUST KEEP MOVING.” – Albert Einstein Have you recently been into a home on the resale market and been able to tell by the exterior styling and the interior finishes exactly what decade it was built in? If remodeling is part of your scope of business, you’ve seen it firsthand — removing yesterday’s glitzy and ornate for the simple, uncluttered, minimalistic look. But wait! Have you heard that black is the new gray? Did you know that people are getting tired of safe and neutral, and looking for a little more color in 2020?4 Building Savvy [industry news] Texas Is the TALK of the Nation Yardi® Matrix is another report providing insight into the migration patterns that have reshaped the U.S. Economy and demographic composition. Its latest findings show that 700,000 people left Cali- fornia in 2018 and more that 86,000 of them moved to Texas. Tex- as saw 564,000 newcomers in 2018 according to the Yardi report. The Texas Tribune reports that Texas is growing at a rate of 1,000 people per day and says that most of the people who moved to the state came from other countries in 2018, for the second straight year (prior to 2017, domestic migration accounted for most of Tex- as’ growth). China and India immigrations are now outpacing those from Latin America. There were 5,149 homes priced at $1 million or more sold over the most recent 12-month reporting period analyzed by the Texas Realtors association. Dallas-Fort Worth was the leader in luxury home sales in Texas with 1,785 million-dollar-plus homes sold, accounting for almost 9 percent of North Texas’ total residential real estate volume. The MetroTex Association of REALTORs showed home sales prices in Tarrant County were up 7.6 percent from 2018 levels, and prices in Dallas County were up 6.6 percent. For all of North Texas, the median price of single-family homes sold by real estate agents rose 4 percent from the previous year. Since 1993, the Atlas® Van Lines Migration Patterns annual study has tracked the nation’s interstate (between states), cross-border (U.S. to Canada only), and international (between countries) moving patterns as reflected in moves handled by Atlas. The 2019 study reported that Texas registered its highest percentage of inbound moves in the U.S. since 2015. More than 55 percent of Atlas’ moves were moves to Texas. New York was the country’s outbound move leader in 2019. 6 Building Savvy Whether Building an Arbor, A Dog House, or Remodeling Your House, To Call BRUCE GRAF “Meticulous” is an Understatement [savvy builder] By Beverly Smirnis7 Building Savvy8 Building Savvy G Gutting and completely remodeling the interior of Southfork Ranch — yeah, the real home featured in the TV series Dallas — was one of Bruce Graf’s first luxury projects, which he completed at the ripe age of 22. As a third-generation contractor, he started working for his father as a child, sweeping floors, pulling nails from old lumber, handing tools to his father, etc. Hairstyles and home styles have changed from the 1980s, and Bruce’s active, accomplished, and award-winning company, Graf Developments LLC, has now been privy to more than four decades of constant change. Bruce is not only an administra- tor, he has performed almost every trade job in the remodel industry and continues to work alongside his talented and reliable team, professional sub-con- tractors, and chosen designers, specializing in luxury residential remodeling. Bruce is as excited today about home renovation as he was when he made J.R and Sue Ellen’s TV home into a showplace. He has completed all kinds of fabulous projects all over the Metroplex, building a word-of-mouth referral network. He belongs to NARI (National Association of the Remodeling Industry), ALA (American Lighting Association), as well as the NKBA (National Kitchen and Bath Association). He has earned several certifications and numerous awards locally, regionally, and nationally. However, it’s some of the specialty projects Bruce has undertaken that really show how his mind works and what he is capable of. “The elementary school my kids attended was in the process of creating a nature center. One day they asked me if I might be interested in building an arbor – some sort of structure to put over their outdoor learning center. Never satisfied with the mundane, I came up with the idea of designing a large ‘butterfly’ that would also serve the school by offering different learning opportunities.” The math teachers can now use the structure to explain geometry with its 45-degree, 90-degree, and even 22.5-degree angles. Art teachers point to the butterfly as a 29-and-a-half-foot-long abstract design. The antennae are made of stainless-steel strips that are just the right thickness, so in the wind, you can see them move and dance. The cedar wings and steel body, allowed to rust, teach other lessons about nature and science. The support poles were angled at the top so it would project the idea the butterfly was tilted up in flight and banking to the left. Bruce explained the attention paid to the direction of the sun at different times of the day. His goal was to make sure all of the tables would have some sort of shade during the day, accomplished by slats in each wing crossing in opposing directions. Bruce is not only an administrator, he has performed almost every trade job in the remodel industry and continues to work alongside his talented and reliable team, professional sub- contractors, and chosen designers, specializing in luxury residential remodeling.9 Building SavvyNext >