By Carole Hawkins, Staff Writer
It was a homebuilding conference that felt like a summit.
Industry leaders held more than 60 seminars, panel discussions and education sessions on topics ranging from energy efficiency to sales and marketing techniques to changes in the Florida building codes.
Sponsored by the Florida Home Builders Association, the Southeastern Building Conference was in July at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando.
Senator invites builders inside the tent on springs protection
Protecting Florida’s freshwater springs doesn’t sound like a pro-business policy.
That was the case that state Sen. David Simmons made to builders, though.
“If our springs are dying, you can be sure that it is the canary in the coal mine for our economy,” Simmons said at the convention.
Homes near springs that are no longer a source of recreation won’t sell, he said, which will harm an economy that depends on tourists and transplants.
Before going further, Simmons introduced himself. The Republican from Altamonte Springs received the top award from the Florida Chamber of Commerce for his votes in 2014 and was named the number one pro-business senator by the Associated Industries of Florida.
“I am very pro-business,” he said.
Springs are a window into the Florida aquifer and the water that homebuying customers drink, Simmons said. Twenty years of growing population and a continual increase of nitrate pollution have turned Florida’s crystal clear springs into algae-choked morasses.
Simmons this year helped sponsor the Springs and Aquifer Protection Act (SB 1576). It’s legislation that, among other things, would limit the use of septic tanks near Florida’s fastest running springs.
The bill passed the Senate unanimously, but only after revisions gutted funding and time tables.
Builders don’t much like laws that limit septic tanks, he said.
For example, instead of springs protection, the Florida Home Builders Association asked the state to fund a septic tank study to determine how much pollution the tanks create.
Wastewater treatment, agriculture and residential fertilizer also put polluting nitrates into the aquifer, Simmons agreed. But, he said, septic tanks also are part of the problem.
Instead of groups pointing fingers, he wants builders at the table helping to find a long-term business-friendly solution.
He warned about the reaction of Floridians who don’t have clean water.
“They will blame you … and when they do that, none of us will like the results,” he said.
Build creatively for large rewards
Everybody makes money building the same box. But, big profits can come from thinking outside the box.
Don Evans, president of Orlando architect firm The Evans Group, challenged his audience with ideas that, at face value, sound bad, but made millions.
Build narrow: 24 feet wide, 20 feet, 15. It starts to sound like a trailer. But, Evans has sold expensive, well-designed homes that were no wider than these.
Location can be the compelling reason to do so. For example, The Evans Group designed 24-foot wide houses on a forgotten parcel near the Ponce Inlet Lighthouse that sold for $1 million each.
“The ocean’s right there,” he said. “It’s all that leftover land that nobody looks at where you’ll find opportunities. Everyone just assumes it’s condominium land.”
Multi-story, even for seniors: When D.R. Horton designed three-story houses on the beach, Evans convinced them the third story would be the most popular, because of the view.
For the model, the master bedroom was built on the top floor and buyers loved it. They wanted their living room up there, too.
Most, he said, wouldn’t have tried that.
“I’ve built in senior living communities where, you pick the right thing on a second story, like a club room, and they will crawl up those stairs,” he said.
Other successes came from cantilever decks, bonus rooms over the garage and a rooftop den to view the fireworks at Disney.
“It’s interesting what will sell a house in certain places,” Evans said.
Retirees choose walking trails over golf courses
Golf courses are out, walking trails are in.
Dave Robertson of RPI Media Inc., a real estate research and marketing firm, talked about what retirees and snowbirds, who often pay cash, want in a home.
One of the biggest changes has been golf continues to fall as a sought-after amenity. Only 32 percent of retirees surveyed said they wanted it, down from 75 percent 25 years ago.
Walking trails has been number one for a decade, Robertson said.
“It’s a really cheap amenity,” he said. “It doesn’t take much. You can put them in wetlands. You can put them anywhere.”
Other trends are:
Home size: Mega-mansions are out: 65 percent of retirees want 2,000 to 3,000 square feet. Only 1 percent want more than 3,500. “Even the money-is-no-object buyer does not want a 10,000- or 12,000 square-foot home,” Robertson said.
Reverse purchase mortgages: People previously might have paid $500,000 cash for a home and taken out a reverse mortgage. Now, instead of tying up the money, they are putting $200,000 down on a $500,000 reverse mortgage loan and using the other $300,000 to buy income producing equities, life insurance and mutual funds, Robertson said.
Cost: Seventy percent of snowbirds and retirees want to spend $200,000 to $800,000. “Americans aren’t spending $2 million on a home,” Robertson said. “Those who can afford a $5 million house, want to spend $800,000 and have three houses.”