New Home Insights Podcast John Burns Research and Consulting

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.

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.

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.