Wednesday, February 3, 2010

January's Top Projects

I reviewed the results of our efforts in January looking for the top projects in the Western US markets and found some expected and also some unexpected results.

For the single family home category, we collected 14 permits with wholesale cost values over $1M. The majority of these new homes fell in the resort areas. # 1 and # 2 are as follows;
#1 Jackson Hole - Teton Area = 3 permits for $9.6M
#2 Aspen - Snowmass = 2 permits for $8.6M

Now for the big commercial permits in January. Of the top 20 multi-million $ projects that were permitted #1 & #2 were from Seattle ($41M) and Portland ($31M).
Additional investigation found 11 of the top 20 projects were located in those same regions of Puget Sound & Portland Metro.

Large commercial projects collected with wholesale permit values of $1M or more came in at 162 new permits. Wholesale permit values for those large scale projects exceeded $675M.
Large scale commercial activity looks to be on the move, especially in the Northwest.

Make it a great day!
Justin Harris - Business Development Director

Monday, January 25, 2010

International Builders Show 2010

Last week I attended the International Builders Show in Las Vegas, NV. I have attended the show for a few years now, even traveling back to Orlando Florida to see and experience all that the biggest construction trade show has to offer.

Our proximity to Las Vegas (about 2 hours away) makes it much easier to attend. Next year the show heads back to Florida, however, it will still be very well worth our time and effort to attend.

Why?

Where else can you go and have an opportunity to talk to over 100 of your biggest customers in one place? Where else can you go and see what your competition is up to and see how they are marketing themselves to the industry? Where else are you going to see the very latest in industry and technological advancement and have a chance to talk to the people who are developing these tools, products and services?

And last but not least, where else can you talk face to face with your former customers and find out where you dropped the ball or what communication breakdown led to their decision and have the opportunity to not only learn from that but hopefully regain a customer and friend.

I could tell that the overall attendance of the show was down again from previous years. This was not a surprise and I believe that many of the exhibitors I spoke with felt the same. However, there was a spirit of optimism among the companies at the show. Surviving the great recession we have been going through is in itself an accomplishment. Some large corporations that were exhibiting in past years were not only missing from the show floor but have gone out of business altogether.

With fewer people to talk to reps were able to have longer more in depth conversations with the builders and developers interested in their company. More personal attention, taking care of the customer and doing things right will never go out of style.

Like trade show attendance, building permit volume is down. We just will not see the volume that was happening in 2005. However, also similar to a trade show, there are some very key and substantial people and projects happening all over the Western US and it's worth it to put your company and yourself in front of those decision makers.

Lastly, before we go feeling too bad for the city and county governments out there for their cuts in budgets due to the drop in building permit revenue, consider this;
The single largest building permit issued in las weeks reports out of any of our 33 market areas was in the City of Las Vegas, for the City of Las Vegas. The new City Hall building permit was issued with an estimated wholesale value of $98,000,000.

That's correct almost 100 million for the new city offices. I hope the building permit department is nice!

Make it a great day!

Justin Harris - Business Development Director - Construction Monitor

Friday, January 22, 2010

Now Covering Kitsap County, Washington.

We have been working hard to expand coverage in the Puget Sound area to meet the demand and requests we have received from our customers.

That being said we are very excited to announce that we now offer permits in Kitsap County and it's cities.

With a population of almost 250,000 and such a close proximity to Seattle, we know that many of our Puget Sound customers will be doing more business across the sound with the help of our reports and online tools.

If you are already a Puget Sound Subscriber, you will automatically receive access to this new county and it's permits. If you have been thinking of subscribing, well now you have another great reason to start.

Let us help your business do more business this year. Give us a call or visit us online for more information.

Justin Harris - Business Development Director - Construction Monitor



Friday, January 15, 2010

Las Vegas Building Activity Showing Improvements

While each individual market has it's own fluctuations in permit activity each week, I like to post the positive market indicators I see in our reports as they happen.

This week in Las Vegas 100 new single family home permits were issued. The majority of which were by production builders with footprints averaging 1,500 - 3,500 SF.

One project definitely stands apart in this weeks collection of single family homes. A huge custom home overlooking the Las Vegas Valley with a reported 21,424 square feet of living space.

There are some great projects out there with owners and builders who need your products and services right now. Let us help you find them and your business will be doing more business in 2010.

Make it a fantastic day!

Justin Harris
Business Development Director
Construction Monitor

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Construction Monitor - Your "Fish Finder"

I was thinking about our brand new area Reno-Tahoe and picturing the beautiful deep blue waters of the Lake Tahoe area. That got me thinking of fishing.

I believe that fishing and sales have a lot in common.

You wouldn't leave for a long trip to Lake Tahoe without the right equipment and tackle and you would certainly try to find out where the fish are.

We want to be your "Fish Finder".

When it comes to your business sales, knowing where the "Fish" or "Clients" are can make all the difference.

Let us help your company do more "Catching" instead of just "Fishing" this year.

Sincerely,
Justin Harris
Business Development Director
Construction Monitor
1-800-925-6085 x201

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Make The Most Of Your Investment

To our valued subscribers,

We feel that it is absolutely vital for you to know that you have the ability to take a broad look at what is happening right now, every single week in new construction and remodel project volume in your market.

We have built powerful tools for you to track builder activity and compare the statistics and summaries so you can see how the market is changing as it happens!

You know that newly issued building permits are a strong indicator of financial commitment to spending on products and services like yours, that's part of why you subscribe and these actions mean real dollar opportunities for your sales team.

Now more than ever, each new individual project and lead is more valuable to your company's bottom line. Make the most of your investment today by leveraging the tools that are available to you through our website.

www.constructionmonitor.com

Have a great day!
Justin Harris - Business Development Director - Construction Monitor - 1-800-925-6085

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

$1.4 Billion Last Week


This list highlights the results from our work last week. Breaking down the 1.4 billion dollars in new building permits we gathered and published. We thought you would find it informative.

This is a great time to invest in your business success for 2010.
There is work out there, let us help you find more of it by giving us a call today!

*(Click on image for a larger version)

Justin Harris - Business Development Director - Construction Monitor
800-925-6085 - www.constructionmonitor.com