Prof Builder Magazine Folds !

[Happy Home]

Wow !...When I first started as a kid....years ago, how in anticipation I was hoping they would approve my request for the magazine. Getting it meant something....I had arrived somewhere.....?

RIP Professional Builder Magazine
Est 1936 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professional_Builder

Our parent company, Reed Elsevier, announced in July of 2009
its intentions to substantially exit its Reed Business
Information U.S. publishing business, while retaining other
businesses. Over the past several months, multiple publishing
brands have been divested. On April 16, 2010, we announced
the closure of the remaining publishing brands and their
associated products and services. Consequently, the April 2010
issue was the final issue of Professional Builder Magazine and
our web sites will cease operating as of April 30, 2010.

We are proud of the role we have played in informing our industry
over the years and it has been our pleasure to serve you.
Regards,
The Staff of Professional Builder Magazine

[Allan Edwards]

Doesn't surprise me, it is probably more a sign of the print media business than anything to do with home building. I bet Joe Stoddard would have some insight into this.

[ThingOfBeauty]

I'm hoping and hoping the excellent staff at Hanley-Wood, particularly at Remodeling, can make it through.
I read a lot of trade magazines, and they are really fantastic, truly great magazines.

[Top Notch]

I hope much of this comes full circle...I enjoy reading a magazine around the house at my leisure. The computer is oversaturated with information and at times overwhelming. The computer is taking away too many jobs.

[ThingOfBeauty]

Professional Remodeler is also closing shop.
Tough times.

[Dick Seibert]

By the time that this is over in much of the nation magazines will be extinct, a national magazine needs a antional audience,

(April 18) -- The housing crash that helped bring on the worst recession since the Great Depression will linger in the nation's hardest-hit real estate markets until 2025 -- or later.

Nearly a full generation will pass before major metro areas in Arizona, California, Florida and Nevada return to the solid ground reached at the height of the housing boom in 2006-2007. And it'll take a decade or more for other urban markets in the Northeast and industrial Midwest to likewise return to peak conditions.

That's the gloomy word from financial information analyst Fiserv Case-Shiller, which released an instantly controversial study of home price trends for more than 375 U.S. markets earlier this month.

Adding insult to injury, the data-crunchers say even the start of a housing recovery in general is still a year away.

"Nationally, Fiserv Case-Shiller data points to a further 7 percent decline in home prices through the end of this year, with a prolonged recovery beginning early in 2011. In many markets, the emphasis is on the word 'prolonged,' " said David Stiff, Fiserv's chief economist.

Representing an "unprecedented market cycle" of bust to boom, the areas with the deepest price declines will face the longest recovery periods, the study indicates. Specifically:

Orlando, Fla., won't recover its average 59.9 percent drop in home prices until 2039.
Sacramento, Calif., will likewise jog in place until 2039 to make up its 54.8 percent home price crash.
San Jose, Calif. -- considered the capital of Silicon Valley -- won't recover from a 41.7 percent home price plunge until 2023.
Jacksonville, Fla.'s home price bust of 39.3 percent will keep that market below peak until 2020.
Tucson, Ariz., also will have to wait until 2020 to rebound from a 36.8 home price plummet.¹

An online friend on a watch forum is a contractor who's son is a bankruptcy attorney in Baltimore, he says his son says most of his clients are contractors now.


¹ http://www.aolnews.com/nation/articl...ays%2F19440151

[Allan Edwards]

Dick

Your link seems to deal with (1) prices and (2) general residential real estate market (3) the worst hit markets. Nothing to do with starts or new construction, totally (or mostly) irrelevent to contractors. In my universe of a few hundred custom builders, no doubt profits and sales are down, but I've seen very few builders go out of business. The one's that have probably had no business being builders in the first place.

I think for builders, we have reached the bottom and things will improve, if not this year then next year. There has been 2 years of starts being very low, so I tend to think there could even be some pent up demand beginning to form. The existing inventory is old, stale, picked over, I think people would welcome some new, fresh, 2010 homes.

2010 could actually be a record year for me. Not sure yet, may not happen, but I have actually expanded a bit.

[Dick Seibert]

Sure Allan, the point is that a magazine has to look at the overall demographics, we only have to look at our markets and our price niches within our markets. In the Case Shiller study Houston isn't listed but Austin should be back by 2016, Fort Worth by 2013, and San Antonio by 2012, in California markets they don't list San Francisco but in Sacramento it's "After 2039" and San Jose 2023. Many from my area here are going down to Silicon Valley to work because while it's part of the San Jose Market the upper price range hasn't even taken a hit.

Remember I've mentioned a customer of mine who's father sold his steel mills and all other property before the crash of 1929, he then built a mansion for $350,000 figuring he didn't want to put his money at risk but would rather enjoy life with his family in a nice mansion. He didn't make any money, his son sold the home getting his $350,000 out of it 47 years later (his buyer turned the home over for $800,000 one year later, if the son had only waited while I built his new home instead of taking his money and renting he would have made the additional $450,000).

Some areas that didn't inflate so severely by over-building will come back faster, and the very top of the market may not even be affected, remember this all happened becasue the government allowed lenders to pass out free money to the lower and eventually the middle classes, the upper classes didn't take the free money in the first place so their market comeback isn't as severely prolonged. Professional Builder depends upon all markets, I bet Architectural Digest and The Robb Report don't go out of business, wealthy people like to look at pictures, and Rolex, DeBeers, and Bentley will keep buying ads in them.

[Lavrans]

I don't know, Dick.

I think this is more the print market- heck, Gourmet is gone.

[Dick Seibert]

Lavrans:

My son is an old-fashioned letterpress printer, this weekend was the wife's 76th birthday but we had to put off the celebration until after the first of the month, he is working 12 hours per day 7 days a week, only the wealthy order their print work done in letterpress. BTW, in his shop there are racks of lead print (whatever those little things that have the letters on the ends are called). Joe Stoddard did letterpress printing as a young man, maybe he can go back.

[Gough50]

I think this is a combination of the climate for building, the slow decline of print media, and, maybe more importantly, the parent company. Reed Elsevier has been dumping a lot of its publications over the last few years. They've been widely criticized for what many consider their predatory pricing, especially of their scientific publications and there has been a move to boycott them as a result.

I understand that the main point of a business is to turn a profit, but they seem to taken that to an extreme.

[Allan Edwards]

Sure Allan, the point is that a magazine has to look at the overall demographics, we only have to look at our markets and our price niches within our markets. In the Case Shiller study Houston isn't listed but Austin should be back by 2016.

My point is for builders these kind of stats are a bit irrelevent. Austin, which you referrenced, is the #1 ranked new home market in the country.

[MarkMc]

They've been widely criticized for what many consider their predatory pricing, especially of their scientific publications and there has been a move to boycott them as a result.

I understand that the main point of a business is to turn a profit, but they seem to taken that to an extreme.

Hey don't forget that have have their hands caught in pay for ["peer"] play cookie jar more than once in recent years. It's one thing to pay a lot for good journal, a whole nother matter when the articles there are found to be skewed infotainment.

Dick; the upper classes didn't take the free money in the first place

Are you saying all that money evaporated [AGW?] or them lower class folk have stuffed mattresses? You gotta follow the money like you've inferred in the past, but all the way.

[Lavrans]

He's right, Mark- they were handing out the money and harvesting the considerable profits, then when the market went they made sure their insurance covered what was left of their risk. Then they used the governments money for a very cheap short term investment while betting against their own clients and old investments in the market.

It's nice to make money coming and going :-)

[Ted S.]

Dick

Your link seems to deal with (1) prices and (2) general residential real estate market (3) the worst hit markets. Nothing to do with starts or new construction, totally (or mostly) irrelevent to contractors. In my universe of a few hundred custom builders, no doubt profits and sales are down, but I've seen very few builders go out of business. The one's that have probably had no business being builders in the first place.

I think for builders, we have reached the bottom and things will improve, if not this year then next year. There has been 2 years of starts being very low, so I tend to think there could even be some pent up demand beginning to form. The existing inventory is old, stale, picked over, I think people would welcome some new, fresh, 2010 homes.

2010 could actually be a record year for me. Not sure yet, may not happen, but I have actually expanded a bit.

I'm with you on this Allan. I try to keep up with the stats of my local area and things appear to be improving, given that production basically stopped and inventory has continued to be sold, especially with the tax incentives, it would appear the demand is strengthening. I think we are going to see some good numbers soon.