Village Builders construction forecast for 2012

What it looks like for Village Builders in the upcoming year of 2012.

The upcoming year of 2012 looks to be a anther good year for Village Builders Inc.

Every year since the credit crunch and stock market crash of 2008 Village Builders business and production has increased year over year. With 2011 being such a good year for Village Builders it will be hard to top it. But perspective project starts for the spring of 2012 look to be shaping up for a record breaking year for the company.

With the new management structure being put in place in 2011 it seems to be allowing Village Builders to identify new clients earlier in the planning process and to form a relationship of trust and honesty between the two parties. This is breeding more loyalty in the customer base and allowing Village Builders to play a larger part in the planning process of the projects. We are now installing driveways, wells and other essential services before the building process even starts.

Because of this planning and customer service Village Builders looks to be able to plan for the future with more work and larger projects in the precious years.

With the design department into its second year of operation, the prospect for growth seems at the moment to be limited only by the amount of employee’s in the design department.

With a record number of employee’s in 2011, Village Builders looks toward keeping a stable number of employee's as it heads into the spring and the summer of 2012.

The Current apprentices (carpentry) in Village Builders were at an all time high in 2011 and that trend will continue in 2012. With a focus on expanding skilled labour, apprenticeships for carpentry will be available to perspective new employees. There will be a focus on trying to improve the attrition rate of 50% on apprentices.

Current apprentices with schooling will be asked to take a greater role in production and more responsibility on smaller projects in 2012.

With the current construction climate looking to be extremely volatile in 2012 for a lot of Village Builders competitors as it was in 2011 the ability to higher skilled labour such as carpenters looks to be very promising.

Overall Village Builders looks to be heading for another good year in 2012. With our ability to successfully manage and build projects at an extremely high level with an equally high level of customer satisfaction, we look to be able to stay the course of giving our clients what they want for the price that they expect.

Rob Abbott

Operations Manager

Village Builders Inc.

2011 review of construction in the Collingwood, Creemore and Wasaga Beach area

Review of residential construction in the Collingwood, Creemore and surrounding area for 2011

2011 was volatile year for the construction industry overall. A lot of places in Ontario had almost no new work starting and no new work coming in the future.

The Collingwood area seemed to be bucking the trend in Ontario. A lot of builders were able to stay busy but were not able to accumulate any backlog of work into the future.

The Collingwood market has been flooded with “custom builders” as they call themselves over the last 2 or 3 years. The construction market was not strong enough to feed all the builders that have setup shop in the area. Many want-to-be big home builders found themselves without any work.

The builders with good reputations and track records of quality and fine workmanship stayed busy.

New home building seemed to be carrying the market, with the renovation market also being flooded with company’s looking for work, the leads became few and far between. Additions seemed to be at an all time low in the area with people tearing down older homes and building new ones, instead of adding more space. Almost all work was done for clients from the range of 50 to 70 years old. This is a trend that has existed for the last decade.

The large increase in development fees and building permit fees have had a large effect on the market in the Clearview township area. Clearview Township has now created a have and have not society with their massive increase in the cost of building permits and development fees. It has come to the point where only larger homes are being built in that township because smaller homes have become too expensive for the average person to build. Only the wealthy are now aloud to build a home in the Clearview township area. This of course means that residential construction almost came to a halt. Very little residential construction was started or completed in the Clearview township area in 2011. Most of the work in the area took place in the Collingwood area and into the Wasaga Beach area.

Wasaga Beach seemed to have healthy construction year, with many older cottages being either torn down for new homes or older cottages being completely renovated. Construction can be found on almost every street in the Wasaga Beach area, the closer to the water the more work there seems to be happening.

The Collingwood area seemed to have a reel spike in commercial redevelopment with many new projects springing up on the main street; this helped keep employment higher than the year before.

With the delay of winter conditions this year it seems to have given the construction industry an extra shot in the arm. Less people seemed to be laid off at Christmas time this year compared to previous ones.

Overall it seemed that the year of 2011 was a feast or famine year for a lot of builders and renovators. It seemed to depend on market reputation, with the leaders in the industry staying busy and the rest fighting over what was left over. 2011 seemed to be a better year than 2010, which continues the trend from the 2008 credit crunch that saw the construction market almost completely dry up.

Rob Abbott

Operations Manager

Village Builders Inc.

Village Builders 2011 year in review

2011 the year in review for Village Builders Inc.

It has been an interesting year for Village builders Inc in 2011.

For the third straight year the overall work taken on and completed has grown. We have grown every year since the credit crunch and stock market crash of 2008.

2011 was the year of the house for Village builders, we started and completed more houses in one single year than ever before in the company’s 30 year history.

Renovations on the other hand were down compared to the previous two years but still ahead of the pre 2008 pace.

Trends

The trend for houses seems to be that they are getting more expense per square foot. Houses now have all the bells and whistles in them and every feature imaginable to make life a little easier. Things such as rough-ins for elevators and generators are now a common theme in all our houses. Electronics and automation is on the rise with more tech savvy clients wanting to be able to control their house functions from there smart phones.

The trend for pre 2008 was that the houses grew in size, but were close to the same price per square foot and tended to be in the chalet or country style. The trend in 2011 was houses of all sizes, shapes, styles and locations but with an ever rising price per square foot.

·         Energy efficiency in all the aspects of the home is growing year over year, 2011 was no different. High efficiency gas furnaces are now the norm and if the property allows geothermal heating seems to be the only sensible option for houses in the country that have no access to natural gas. More insulation is being added to houses, in the walls and in the attic with the rising cost of electricity and gas.

·         A larger percentage of houses that we built or were building in 2011 are getting away from wood siding and are turning to stone or brick. Also cement sidings popularity has continued to grow.

·         Steel roofs have become the most popular option for at least half of the houses that were built. With the uncertainty of the quality of shingles these days and the extreme weather steel will continue to grow in popularity.

·         Decking is undergoing a major revolution with so many new products and options. Builders are being asked to look into products that they have never even heard of or seen before. Composite decking is becoming the most popular because of its longevity and new materials that are making it look more appealing.

·         Fireplaces are growing in size, especially natural gas fireplaces, with so many options out there people are being buried by choices and so are builders.

·         Painted trim is the most popular way to finish off the house in 2011 and reclaimed floors that are finished on site were also the most popular.

·         Window sizes seem to have grown in size. Also the amount of different manufactures that we seem to be using has grown as well.

·         Houses with attached double car garages seems to be the norm again in 2011, this is a trend that has continued for the last couple of years, even with the space for a detached garage people are opting for the attached version.

·         Master suites are now the norm in all houses built in 2011. Suites commonly all contain a large bedroom, large Ensuite bathroom and an ever growing walk in closet with custom shelving units installed.

Overall it seems that homeowners are becoming more and more confused with the over abundance in choices that they are able to find on either the internet or in the stores. There is a growing lag on the building process because of homeowners being bogged down with choices.

Employment

Village Builders as a company now employs more people than they ever have before. This is in every department from the operations, office staff and the design.

With the prospect of large new projects in the spring and the current ongoing projects the operations side of the business looks to grow even more in 2012.

With the increased management and growth of the business, perspective clients are being identified earlier on in the building process. Instead of being identified months before there project starts they are now being identified years in advance. This is allowing Village Builders to take a more active role in the planning process of their perspective client’s entire project. This is one of the main reasons for the growth in 2011 in Village Builders.

Overall the year of 2011 was of growth and change with so many new employees.

2012 looks to be another year of growth with less change to structure of the company and more infill around the current structure.

Design Department

This year marks the 1^st anniversary of the interior design department at Village Builders. The prospect of growth in this sector seems to be very large as not only new clients are using our service, but former clients as well are taking advantage. The design department has revolutionized the renovation side of the business with new modern designs and out of the box thinking. They are also giving our clients more personal attention than ever before and being able to help keep a strict eye on all the purchasing of materials and order tracking.

2011 was one of the most successful years for Village Builders Inc. and 2012 looks to be even better!

Rob Abbott

Operations Manager

Village builders Inc.