Hanson Builders, Inc.

To all our Clients, Vendors, Suppliers, Subcontractors, and Friends;

We appreciate the part you played in another successful year for Hanson Builders, Inc. in 2011.

Merry Christmas!

Ethiopian Adventure
MAY 2011
Dean Hanson, President, Hanson Builders, Inc.

My 16 year old son (Berhane) and I just returned from a week in Ethiopia.  We had a great week.  This recent journey started almost two years ago when Catherine and I went with our daughter Amanda to Ethiopia to meet our new granddaughter Amanda (& husband Matt) was adopting.  While at the orphanage Catherine and I felt led by God to adopt two boys; brothers Berhane & Seguy, 12 and 14 who had been in the orphanage for 6 years.

I have found two great organizations dedicated to such a mission.  If you have time, check them out and consider becoming a partner with them.

Children's Hope Chest http://www.hopechest.org/ethiopia/

Beyond the Orphanage http://www.beyondtheorphanage.org/

What are the factors in the choice of a window?

A) Utility - Look Through it. Open it for air flow.
B) Efficiency – Thermal barrier to control temps, solar gain & elements.
C) Aesthetics – shape, side, placement.
D) Costs - Relative value of the selection made.

So let's take them one at a time.

A) Utility: It is a little known secret that about every window sold in America has glass from a single company. In Minnesota all new homes come with a window that has "LOW E", argon gas filled which simply discloses the reflective properties of the glass. "Hung" windows slide up and down, "Casement" windows crank out. We use Single-Hung units in most our homes. They come in lots of sizes, including tall 72" units, are very rigid, and don't have "gears" to wear out, jump off track, or break. All windows today come with a clad or weatherproof exterior shell. Most of the windows in our homes have enameled (painted with spray) jambs on the inside.

This accomplishes two key objectives:
1) The white (or near white) color reflects the light more and makes the home interior brighter – even on cloudy days, and
2) The enameled jamb parts are much sturdier against the sun's attempt to deteriorate the finish there. If you've been in any home over 10 years old you see the need for sanding & re-varnishing stained jambs, while enameled jambs hold up much better.

B) Efficiency: As mentioned above, we typically use a Milgard Brand single-hung window in our homes. They are tighter than a double-hung, and are some of the most thermally-efficient windows on the market at any price. They are easy to close, even for kids, and hence end up having less drafts. All homes built today must meet minimum wind-shear loads, so that is not any issue worth fretting about.

C) Aesthetics: While this is certainly the most subjective category, we generally prefer classic grid styles, shapes and sizes that "balance", and as tall a window as can fit in a room. Most of our Great Room ceilings are elevated to allow taller-than-typical windows in that space. Sometimes, we will set them about at floor height.

D) Costs & Value: This is the area we have done the most technical AND consumer feedback research around. After extensive research we learned that the "King" of windows, the Andersen brand (which we using exclusively) not only did not have the best warranty, it also commanded a premium price we were not sure was worth it. So, we lowered our homes' base price and began offering it as an option. The results were immediate and overwhelming – only about 2-3% clients were willing to pay the upgrade once they were apprised of the several other, less expensive choices. We received the message loud and clear.

In fact, 2 members of our executive team now live in homes that have our Milgard and Hayfield vinyl hung-style windows – and LOVE THEM. The Milgard Warranty is fantastic. We now have about 10 year's experience with these products and have no plans to go back to traditional wood windows – except by client request and in a few of our high-priced homes. Years ago, millwork companies switched from "solid" wood doors to particle-board-core doors with thick wood veneer. These doors look great and perform better than solid doors ever could. Window technology is much like that – these new units will perform better, cost less, and require no maintenance. Some things, like wood floor, we believe in staying with the old-fashion product and process. But with windows, the newest technologies have indeed improved the breed . . .

Further reading:

LOW E – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low-emissivity
Milgard – http://www.milgard.com/windows/vinyl-windows/style-line/

Mpls. Post-Recession Economy Among Best in U.S.

According to a recent study, the Twin Cities’ post-recession economy is faring better than many others across the globe and in the United States.
The Twin Cities’ post-recession economy is on the road to recovery, according to a report released Tuesday by the Brookings Institution and the London School of Economics and Political Science.
According the report, which examined 150 of the world’s largest metropolitan economies, the Twin Cities’ post-recession economy ranks 44th in the world and sixth in the United States—behind Austin, Texas; Virginia Beach, Virginia; Washington, DC; Dallas; and Baltimore.
The report, called the Global MetroMonitor, examines data on economic output and employment in 150 of the world’s largest metropolitan economies, located in 53 countries, from 1993 to 2010.
Minneapolis was among the few American metro achieved strong turnarounds, moving from about the bottom third to the top third in the rankings between the recession and recovery period, which includes 2009 and 2010. The report said that the areas that achieved turnarounds fared well in the banking, manufacturing, and business services sectors in 2010.
The Twin Cities’ economy ranked 98th worldwide during the pre-recession period, which spanned from 1993 to 2007, and it ranked 102nd during the recession period, which spanned from 2007 to 2009.
Istanbul, Turkey, claimed the top spot during the recovery period. Shenzhen, China; Lima, Peru; Singapore; and Santiago, Chile, rounded out the top five during the period. Dublin, Ireland, and Dubai, United Arab Emirates, had the worst economies during the recovery period, according to the report.
Metropolitan areas in China claimed the top five spots during the recession period— Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Tianjin, respectively—while Moscow and Tallinn, Estonia, claimed the bottom two spots.
During the pre-recession period, Shenzhen had the best economy, followed by Dubai and Guangzhou.
The Brookings Institution, which was founded in 1916, is a nonprofit public policy research organization based in Washington, DC.

From National Association of Realtors:

2010 Housing Opportunity Pulse Survey
Americans Still Believe Buying a Home Is a Good Financial Decision
NAR’s eighth annual Housing Opportunity Pulse Survey reveals that nearly eight out of 10 respondents believe buying a home is a good financial decision, despite ongoing challenges with the economy and housing market. The survey, which measures how affordable housing issues affect consumers, also found job security concerns to be the highest in eight years of sampling, with 70 percent of Americans saying that job layoffs and unemployment are a big problem in their area; eight in 10 cite these issues as a barrier to homeownership. The telephone survey of 1,209 urban and suburban adults in the top 25 metropolitan statistical areas was conducted for NAR by American Strategies and Myers Research & Strategic Services for NAR’s Housing Opportunity Program.

Some key results:

•• Americans continue to believe that buying a home is a good financial decision (77 percent believe total strongly or not so strongly, 68 percent strongly so).
•• More than two-thirds of respondents (68 percent) say that now is a good time to buy a home.
•• Job insecurity and the lack of jobs continue to be the primary obstacle to home ownership and market recovery.
•• Respondents see the recession and job losses as the main reasons for the foreclosure problem, a shift from last year when they more likely to blame homeowners who bought homes they could not afford.
•• A majority of renters say that owning a home at some point in the future is either one of their highest priorities (39 percent) or a moderate priority (24 percent). Just 21 percent of renters say that owning a home is not a priority at all.
•• Frustration with banks is up: now a majority worry that banks have made it too hard to qualify for a home mortgage loan.
•• 51 percent of respondents say foreclosures remain a big or moderate problem in their area. While there has been a significant drop in the percentage of those surveyed who say foreclosures have increased, 51 percent say that the rate of foreclosures is about the same as it was last year.
•• Most of those surveyed say that it is harder to sell a home in their neighborhood than it was a year ago.
•• Looking forward, 70 percent expect real estate sales in their neighborhood to remain about the same over the next few months. A nearly identical number (69 percent), also expect home values to remain the same.
•• Nearly one-quarter (23 percent) are now very concerned about the number of homes and condos for sale in their area—a number that is up 7 points from last year.
•• Most respondents are more concerned about the drop in home values than they are about home costs being too high. Still, cost remains the significant barrier to many who would otherwise like to buy a home.

Pavement is going in right now for Spring Meadows in Plymouth. Our model home, the Westland II is about 30 days from completion. We have two more inventory homes queued up to go – a Crestview-Max and a Crestview II-Max. Additionally, we have 2 client homes that are in Plan Review stages and they will be starting in November. Also, I just saw the plans for the pool and clubhouse – very nice with outdoor Kitchen, fireplace.