Episodes

  • Episode 96: Leading Through Innovation: How Fortune Brands is Shaping the Future of Home

    Episode 96: Leading Through Innovation: How Fortune Brands is Shaping the Future of Home
    Jul 26 2024
    One of the hardest things for a successful company is to stop doing what made it successful and start doing something that will stretch its success into the future. It is a risk and a cost, but it can be an investment if done right. So when Fortune Brands Innovations shed an iconic cabinetry brand, CEO Nick Fink had some anxious moments. But that decision and the ensuing journey have allowed Fortune Brands to expand their product offerings, providing a more diversified imprint on our homes. They made a strategic decision to focus on what they did best and play in the parts of the home market that they believed had the best prospects. In this episode of The New Home Insights podcast, Nick joined me to talk about that evolution and his journey and share insights about Fortune Brands’ strategies, goals, values, and core commitment to technology and data.
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    53 mins
  • Episode 95: Building Success: Doug Bauer and the Growth of Tri Pointe Homes

    Episode 95: Building Success: Doug Bauer and the Growth of Tri Pointe Homes
    Jun 21 2024
    To grow or not to grow is often the question for a homebuilder. For Doug Bauer, CEO and co-founder of Tri Pointe Homes, the answer has always been “grow.” In 2009, when Doug Bauer and his partners started Tri Pointe, growth was a huge risk. But they pulled it off, and now Tri Pointe Homes is one of the top public homebuilders in the nation with a footprint across the country. On this episode of the New Home Insights podcast, Doug Bauer shares some highlights of Tri Pointe’s growth over the years.
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    42 mins
  • Episode 94: Hillwood Communities and the Art and Science of Placemaking

    Episode 94: Hillwood Communities and the Art and Science of Placemaking
    May 31 2024
    If you have anything to do with the housing market in Texas, you have heard of Hillwood Communities. If you are from elsewhere in the country and have not heard of Hillwood, here’s your chance. All across the great state of Texas, Hillwood is building some of the best-designed and most successful master-planned communities in the US. They have achieved this with expert placemaking, which Hillwood defines this way: "We create places where relationships with neighbors evolve into friendships and those friendships begin to feel like family." On this episode of the New Home Insights podcast, our guest is Fred Balda, the president of Hillwood Communities. Fred has guided Hillwood Communities for over three decades and he shares his approach, outlook, and take on all things master plan. He and Hillwood have a track record that says you should listen.
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    1 hr and 5 mins
  • Episode 93: Shifting Foundations: A Deep Dive into Demographics and Housing

    Episode 93: Shifting Foundations: A Deep Dive into Demographics and Housing
    May 10 2024
    Demographics impact housing in a few massive foundational ways and a thousand small ways. Price, product, place—demographics help define them. On this episode of the New Home Insights Podcast, our guests are Chris Porter and Eric Finnigan, two leaders at John Burns Research and Consulting who live and breathe demographics and what they mean for housing.
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    44 mins
  • Episode 92: Building Up: Walton Global's Strategic Land Insights

    Episode 92: Building Up: Walton Global's Strategic Land Insights
    Apr 11 2024
    This episode of the New Home Insights Podcast delves into the intricacies of land banking, a crucial component of the real estate industry, with insights from Kate Kaminski, the COO of Walton Global. Kate shares her journey from the home building industry to her pivotal role at Walton, a company that has significantly influenced land banking in North America since its shift from Canada to the US in 2006. Walton Global, a family-owned enterprise for over 45 years, specializes in land asset and investment management, focusing on raising capital globally to invest in various land assets, primarily in the southern United States.
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    51 mins
  • Episode 91: It’s the Spring Selling Season, So Why Are You Reading this Instead of Selling a Home?

    Episode 91: It’s the Spring Selling Season, So Why Are You Reading this Instead of Selling a Home?
    Apr 5 2024
    Every year, the housing sector eagerly awaits the spring selling season. With the holidays in the rearview and the weather warming, it’s time to buy. If you are a purist about seasonal starting dates, it is not technically spring yet, but don’t be that way. Jody Kahn and Dillan Krieg are surveying homebuilders monthly for John Burns Research and Consulting. They keep tabs on the housing market nationwide and at a granular level. We chatted with both of them on the latest episode of the New Home Insights podcast, so tune in for some spring selling season insights.
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    47 mins
  • Episode 90: Empire Communities' Marketing Insights: The Art of Selling Lifestyle

    Episode 90: Empire Communities' Marketing Insights: The Art of Selling Lifestyle
    Mar 1 2024
    “Lifestyle” is one of the hottest concepts in new home sales and marketing. At its core, it means designing homes that not only have a specific buyer in mind but a buyer who knows exactly what they want and where they want it. It relates to both community and home. Lifestyle is about offering the right rooms and features in a home and the right amenities—schools, retail, parks—in a community. It is your identity wrapped up in your home and your neighborhood. Building on our sales and marketing focus from our previous episode of the New Home Insights podcast with Stephanie McCarty of Taylor Morrison Homes, we chat with Caroline Simmel, Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Empire Communities’ Georgia and Tennessee region. Caroline and her colleagues are all about lifestyle, but she also discusses trends and preferences, processes and methods with us.
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    52 mins
  • Episode 89: Harnessing Brand Power: Taylor Morrison's Marketing Dexterity

    Episode 89: Harnessing Brand Power: Taylor Morrison's Marketing Dexterity
    Jan 31 2024
    The concept of “brand” can be a bit vague. At its core, it is a service or product that some part of the public can identify as uniquely yours. It is what you do, what you provide. It sets you apart, and people want it. Think Apple and iPhones; think Lululemon and translucent leggings. Or think Google and mapping software that lets you know there’s a Starbucks on the street where you are about to turn right. (Hey, Google, there is always a Starbucks at the corner. You’re not helping.) Taylor Morrison is one of the biggest home builders in the nation. A few years ago, they wanted to refine their brand. Stephanie McCarty is Taylor Morrison’s Chief Marketing and Communications Officer. CEO Sheryl Palmer tapped Stephanie a few years ago to refine and modernize the builder’s brand. Stephanie’s mission is to ensure home shoppers know what they can expect when considering a Taylor Morrison home.  On this episode of the New Home Insights podcast, I talk brand with Stephanie, and tons more. We get into buyer segments and market niches, media usage and strategies, data analytics and market research, and online and in-person sales strategies.
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    49 mins