Award Winners announced at the 2009 McSam Awards Banquet

Saturday night was one of great anticipation for Builder Designs as the Homebuilders Association of Greater Dallas hosted the annual McSam Awards Banquet to honor the achievements of area builders. Two of our high profile clients in Dallas were nominated for the prestigious McSam for Best Builder Website, American Legend Homes and Grand Homes. While we were thrilled to have the sites we built for them nominated, we were so happy to learn that one of them Dallas Builder, American Legend Homes won the coveted honor of having the Best Homebuilder Website in Dallas! Working in conjunction with Bright and Co. Marketing for several weeks to bring the site from an idea to a reality was only part of the fun. Building a lasting relationship with them and having them as a satisfied (and now Award-winning client), is the icing on the cake!  Congratulations to our friends at American Legend Homes and Bright and Co.  We are thrilled the site won and have to admit we think the judges did a stellar job with their winning choice! 

Of course not only were several of our builder clients and acquaintances in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area honored with awards, but our very own Susan Taylor was also singled out for a very much deserved Legends of Sales and Marketing Award.  For years she has been part of the Dallas/Ft. Worth Homebuilder community, originally working with the New Homes Journal and later coming to join us at Builder Designs.  What an amazing honor, being named a legend isn’t an everyday occurence and the BD Team couldn’t be more pleased or proud of her for her accomplishments.  Congratulations Susan!

Last but not least, we would like to extend our heartfelt congrats and raise a toast to all of the winners and nominees in this year’s awards.  Our well wishes are extended especially toward those award winners we’ve had the distinct honor of working with in this past year.  In what has been a difficult year for the industry at best, we have to say it’s news like this that brightens our day and hopefully yours as well!

Instead of “Slump” let’s think “Sell!”

Let’s face it, sometimes thinking positively is easier said than done. Looking back on the past several months and grabbing a mental snapshot of the headlines and top stories in the news or on the radio, I don’t recall many being overly positive.  In fact, the general mindset has been gloom and doom and no one wants to be subject to that kind of news day in and day out.  So in the vein of  trying to be a “Bright-sider” (yes, I watched GMA this morning) I wanted to share some positive things relating to the real estate industry that I’ve heard recently either in the news or from our clients, friends and comrades.

• Dallas home builder, American Legend Homes, sent us an email a couple weeks ago saying “11 sales this past weekend and 7 the weekend before…I know your website is a huge contributor to that”. I don’t know about you, but hearing that positive news made me hopeful that perhaps the end of the “slump” is here. One can only hope!

• Had a call from a Realtor client of ours on Friday that I don’t hear from very often.  He said traffic picked up practically overnight in the new home community that he markets, he was somewhat astonished and glad to be so busy. Same goes for a number of other Realtor/Builder/Developer clients I’ve been talking to. This is the time of year when we typically see that welcome increase in traffic.  With the homes on the market, low mortgage rates and high volume of traffic, we’re hoping that translates into lots of contracts…did someone say slump? We’re thinking Sell!

• According to the NAHB, in February, nationwide housing starts turned upward for the first time in 8 months.

• The National Association of Realtors announced that existing home sales rose in February 5.1%

• Word is getting out and our SEO client base is growing rapidly! Not only is this great news for us, it’s indicative of the mindset of our clients. Many are coming to realize the potential to be found in their internet marketing efforts and understanding the value of putting their best virtual foot forward. I know I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, good SEO pays for itself.

Those are just a few of the things that I’ve heard lately that made me smile and want to share.  Sometimes hearing a little bit of good news can make it a little easier to get through those days where it’s difficult to see the blue sky and fluffy white clouds.  I’ll keep my eyes and ears open, if you want to share your positive stories, post a comment or shoot me an email.  If you have a REALLY good story, I might even buy you coffee

Builder Designs client, DeYoung Properties’ Extreme Home episode airs tonight on ABC

All of that hard work paid off and tonight you can watch the story unfold on ABC’s Extreme Makeover Home Edition featuring Builder Designs client, DeYoung Properties.  The show on the Riojas family in Fresno, California will air tonight nationwide at 8:00pm (7:00pm CST) on ABC (check your local listings for station info).  We hope you’ll check it out. It was great to be a part of the whole experience from start to finish and we were honored to have been able to create a website for the fine folks DeYoung Properties and their volunteers to keep track of volunteers, donations and also to keep the public apprised of their progress with blog entries, photos and video links.  You can (and should) check it out at www.extremedeyoung.com and then watch the show tonight!

McSam Nominees announced by Home Builders Association of Greater Dallas

Builder Designs wants to say congratulations to our clients American Legend Homes and Grand Homes for their nominations for Best Builder Website in the 2009 McSAM awards.  We’re proud of you and beyond thrilled to have been chosen by  each of you to create two very impressive websites which showcase the fabulous homes you build!  Good luck to you both.

In case you’re not familiar with the McSAM awards, here’s a brief overview from the Dallas HBA’s website.  “The McSAM Awards were created in 1979 by the Sales and Marketing Council of the Home Builders Association of Greater Dallas in recognition of Sales and Marketing excellence. The prestigious McSAM Award is given to Builders, Developers and Associates who have made a significant and creative contribution in residential marketing through specific achievements during the year.”