In this issue:
- Why the TN Builder News matters
- Survey results: Builders’ views
- In 2022 licensed contractors must show continuing education
- Call for on-the-job training partners
- Industry News items
- Get paid back, HBA Member rebate reminders. A reward for small and medium sized builders and remodelers.
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Builder and Associate members,
I hope you enjoy our weekly email. The TN Builder News is designed to provide ongoing communications and engagement with HBA members across Tennessee, as well as a select group of “friends of home building” across Tennessee. I hope you have noticed a more intentional and dedicated approach to HBAT’s communications efforts. Over the course of the year, we attempt to cover the top issues that are impacting residential construction – giving you additional insight on the macro-economic issues that impact your business.
The goal: Even the busiest men and women in our industry can gain some insight on what the State HBA’s focus by keeping up with this newsletter.
Our association has a broad constituency. Builder members are generally the home builders, remodelers and land developers. Associate members are a much broader constituency by business focus: 29% are subcontractors, 25% are materials providers, 10% are in banking, 7% are real estate professionals, 6.5% are insurance agents or title companies, and 10% are other professional services.
Since our membership is so broad, the TN Builder News will continue to focus on the fundamentals necessary for construction – Land, Labor & Lumber (materials). We do welcome your feedback and suggestions, as we work to build this weekly effort into the trusted construction news resource in the Volunteer State.
Most important – we must broaden our communications reach. Your company has other team members who would benefit from these updates. Send me their names and email addresses. We will add them to the “friends of home building” list. This group gets one email, once a week at most. This expanded group will be critical as additional industry professionals aware of the joy and challenges of the residential construction industry.
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In Gratitude,
Charles Schneider
CEO, Home Builders Association of Tennessee
PS – Nashville decided to change the name of our street this year. Stay tuned for an updated mailing address for us.
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Builder Survey top lines results.
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In late July HBAT conducted a survey of Builder members to gauge their opinions on several area of HBA focus. Thank you to those who participated. We are putting together a presentation to share back these results, including results by Tennessee’s three grand divisions. Here is a quick snap shot of the results.
Mission, Focus & Value
- 94% believe the HBAs mission is still relevant
- 89% say that HBAs advocacy efforts are important
- 85% say the HBAs political influence is valuable to their company
- 81% say HBAs providing opportunities to build relationships are important
- 70% are aware the State Association organizes government affairs calls
- 67% say they have spoken to an elected official about a proposal impacting the residential construction industry. (However, over 10% of responses indicated their best relationship were with elected officials who are no longer in office)
Communications
- 93% read email updates from their local HBA, 91% read NAHB emails
- 71% read the TN Builder News (this email, a state association product)
- Builders are most likely to follow their local HBA on Facebook versus other social media.
Top Issue impacting Builders’ businesses, with regional splits
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We also are conducting a similar survey for our Associate members. All Associates should have received an invitation to participate on Monday. Many associates will receive a reminder later today.
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Important Update for Licensed Contractors
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Starting January 2022, Licensed Contractors in Tennessee will have to provide proof that they have completed 8 hours of continuing education to renew their license.
We are proud to announce HBAT was approved in July as the representative professional trade association and an endorsed Continuing Education provider by the Contractors Licensing Board. This benefits local HBAs in a few ways.
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First, TN HBA members, who are licensed contractors with a BC-A residential classification will earn 8 CE credits over two years. This means an ongoing HBA membership will automatically provide all the CE credits these contractor members need to renew their license – few state associations have a benefit that recognizes the value of membership in this way. WE DO!
HBAT will be creating certificates for HBA members showing they have been active members for the past two years and have earned the necessary CE credits to renew their license. We will provide these secure documents to your Local HBA at least 8 weeks prior to your license renewal.
Second, licensed contractors who are not HBA members will need this proof of education too. If they do not want to join your local association, they will have to spend 8 hours attending classes in person or online. HBAT will soon be promoting our online classes for contractors who don’t want to join with us. These non-members can spend a day each year getting education instead of building.
Key point: Contractors are NOT required to get continuing education from the HBAT or a local HBA, but they will pay someone to spend hours in a classroom or online with a certified education provider to earn these credits.
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Get more value from your membership with an exclusive HBA program.
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The first and third Friday of the month, HBA of Tennessee members will receive a special Builder Insight email. These features will cover a range of topics and insights to help you manage your business today and in the years ahead.
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HBAT member only Health Plan,
Spiraling healthcare costs represent an enormous challenge to the profitability of HBAT members. Insureds are faced with increasing costs and less flexible plans with higher and higher deductibles. The HBAT Benefits Trust Health Plan was developed for HBAT members to help battle these issues. The HBAT Benefits Trust Health Plan may be your solution to receiving high quality health benefits at affordable rates.
The HBAT Health Plan is an employer plan, which means the companies that enroll in the plan are required to offer the plan to all full-time employees.
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On the Job Training opportunities
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This month we are highlighting apprenticeships and on-the job training opportunities.
Our builder survey shows and members tell me, you all need more skilled workers. It is more than just electrical, plumbing and carpentry. We need more workers to learn how to be tile setters, flooring installers, roofers, HVAC technicians and all the skilled sub-trades. There are many opportunities.
As an association we need to identify 50-100 companies across the state who would be willing to accept willing workers that would develop the construction skills you need on the job. To be blunt, if we have enough engaged companies to receive workers, we are likely to qualify for workforce grants to supplement the pay of these unskilled workers.
This is why the State Association is investigating becoming an official Apprenticeship umbrella sponsor for our member companies. The HBAT would take care of the weekly bureaucratic paperwork. You get to focus on what you do best, training employees and building.
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In 2020, women made up just 4% of skilled construction workers in the U.S., including plumbers, carpenters and electricians. That tiny share has inched up only a few percentage points since the 1980s. Today, women make up just 9% of federally registered apprenticeships, and most of them are in industries that pay less than construction, according to government data.
Retired electrician Meg Vasey said she was one of just eight women in her Northern California union when she joined in 1981. She said there were about a thousand men at that time.
Vasey said there are likely multiple reasons the number of women in construction has remained so low. Women, and especially girls, are rarely exposed to potential careers in the skilled trades. “I do think there’s not enough women who know about this work,” Vasey said.
Across most of the US, there has never been a better time to sell a house. The average sales price of existing single-family homes rose by 22.9%, according to a quarterly report released by the National Association of Realtors. Many home renovation projects can increase the value of your property and yield a high return on investment compared to the cash you recoup in home value.
House-hunters, rejoice: The wild real estate market might finally be getting better, particularly for first-time buyers or anyone looking for a small house.
Yes, inventory is still low nationwide, down 33.5% in July compared to last year. However, the new inventory coming on the market could spell some good news for buyers looking for an affordable home: Smaller homes are slowly gaining a larger share of the inventory.
With shortages of household appliances during the pandemic, like dishwashers that can take 6 months to arrive, many consumers are trying to stretch the life of their appliances. The problem now is that appliances don’t last like they used to.
The National Association of Home Builders says you may have to replace many home items much sooner than you think. Refrigerator: 13 years. Dishwasher: 9 years. Microwave oven: 9 years. Water heater: only 11 years. Central air: 15 years. Gas furnace: 18 years. And that sleek new water saving washing machine? Just 10 years.
If you were hoping to get 40 years out of that new front-loading washing machine, the way your mom got 40 years out of her old Maytag, don’t count on it. Today’s high tech and energy efficient appliances just don’t last as long.
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“Over the last couple of weeks, we have started to see an impact from the COVID delta variant: both a slowdown on the forward-looking work that’s going to happen — that’s the scheduling activity and the time sheets activity — which is a slowdown in people working today.” Work shifts have fallen over the past four weeks, especially in regions hit hard by COVID, said David Gilbertson, UKG’s chief customer officer.
“In the Southeast, in particular, we saw a much bigger drop in workforce activity than in other parts of the country,” Gilbertson said. There is another reason fewer people have punched into work since mid-July. “There was so much built-up vacation time throughout the pandemic — people are taking vacation.”
Higher construction costs + supply shortages + rising home prices pushed builder confidence to its lowest reading since July 2020, according to the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI).
Supply chain and labor challenges helped to push overall housing starts down 7.0% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.53 million units, according to a report from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Census Bureau.
Permits, however, increased to 1.64 million, beating consensus expectations. That increase was led by multifamily authorizations; single-family permits fell 1.7% month over month.
The inability to find an affordably priced home is the primary reason active buyers have not pulled the trigger, with 39% citing high prices as their biggest obstacle in the second quarter of 2021, according to the latest Housing Trends. Two-thirds of buyers who were actively engaged in the process of finding a home in the second quarter have spent upwards of three months searching for a home without success.
In the prior two quarters (fourth quarter of 2020 and first quarter of 2021), longtime searchers reported their most common reason for not finding a home was “getting outbid by other offers.”
Homebuilder equities – investor darlings throughout the pandemic as Americans sought roomier homes with extra office and study space – tumbled in mid-May on concern that inflation would force a rate hike. For now, the Federal Reserve remains firmly on hold and home demand has surged as buyers continue to take advantage of low mortgage rates and builders get a reprieve with prices for materials from lumber to copper retreating from records. The historically-tight American housing market is not yet done making winners out of investors placing leveraged bets on the prospects of homebuilders.
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Tennessee Home Builders Foundation Supports Skills and Education
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Be part of the solution in solving our labor shortage. Help us fund scholarships to deserving students pursuing a careers in the residential construction industry. Many of these students are new to our industry, and they need your support and encouragement. Our industry needs talented new blood to fill the in-demand jobs. With your support, the Foundation can continue to take steps forward addressing the shortage of skilled labor in the residential construction industry in Tennessee.
Support your industry by making a one time or recurring donation to the Tennessee Home Builders Foundation. Donate now.
Help us build the future and make a donation today! Your donations to the Foundation are tax deductible.
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The David Stauffer Scholarship is a “matching funds” achievement based scholarship program administered by the Tennessee Home Builders Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit charitable organization.
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Reminder: Use HBA Savings to get the most value from your membership
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NAHB members save 2% on your Lowe’s Accounts Receivable or Lowe’s Business Account purchases. Save an additional 5% everyday at the store when using your business card. Learn more at https://www.lowes.com/l/Pro/NAHB.
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Get Paid Back with Rebates Available to HBA Members
Valuable for remodelers & medium sized builders
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Home Builders preach the benefits of doing business with a member. We want you to do business with like-minded people who support our industry. We also encourage you to take advantage of savings by participating in Rebate Programs.
Builders and Remodelers, if you’re not participating in this rebate program, you’re leaving money on the table. Register and claim your rebates www.HBATrebates.com
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One of the great benefits of your HBA membership is access to multiple savings programs on products you already purchase. We encourage all members to use these programs. New participants are often surprised they save 2x-4x the amount of their annual dues.
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NAHB has Additional Savings Programs for Business Savvy Members
Whether it’s a discount on a product or service or a more efficient way to operate, the smart business person is always looking at ways to cut costs and maximize returns.
Through agreements with more than 20 national companies, NAHB offers exclusive discounts on a variety of products and services that can benefit your business, employees and family.
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