New Home Insights Podcast John Burns Research and Consulting

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.

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.

“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.

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.

Scott Laurie and Olson Homes know that you have to be smart when you are one of the smaller fish swimming in the sea of big fish. You have to be nimble. You have to play the long game. You have to be omnivorous. You have to seek opportunity where others may not see it.

Olson Homes is a Southern California builder with a laser focus on what they build best and where they will sell best. However, the lessons learned from Scott’s experience as a small builder are universal.

The pandemic taught many lessons. In housing, one was that disruptions in the things we build homes with can, unsurprisingly, bring the industry to its knees. As 2023 draws to a close, we ask: Are we finally past all of that—the rising prices, broken supply chains, and interminable waits for everything from a garage door to window latches that forced builders to wait weeks to sell a home that was otherwise ready to go? Can we finally stop using the phrase “post-pandemic” and just move on?

Matt Saunders, JBREC’s Senior Vice President of Building Products, lives, eats, and breathes this world. On the latest episode of the New Home Insights podcast, he joins me to walk us through the latest in building products and trends in remodeling and discuss the future of these spaces.