Seen & Heard at PCBC 2018

We spent four days at PCBC and heard from industry thought leaders, saw many friends and associates and enjoyed some great food and wine– more than once. Here's our collective takeaways, in no particular order... 

Bitcoin for real estate purchases and property taxes becoming accepted in some states (e.g.. Arizona)

J. Walker Smith, Kantar Consulting. Presented on trends, consumer behavior. Good stuff. Liked his point of view. Several articles online to peruse.  

We live in the age of immediate information AND reactions. Everything has more immediate impact: a customer complaint on social media can go viral in minutes. Example: a single tweet by Kylie Jenner cost Snapchat $1.3B in value.  

Books referenced by panelists:   

·     “When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing” by Daniel Pink

·     “Thoughtless Acts: Observations on Intuitive Design” by Jane Fulton Suri

·     “Creating Great Choices: A Leaders Guide to Integrative Thinking” by Jennifer Riel

Max Duetsch and Rhombus

New Mission: Month to Master program.  

Three Questions in the pursuit of Happiness…

·     What does your ideal life look like? Must be defined and intentionally pursued in small incrementally. Who are you most jealous of?  

·     What can you do in 30-60 minutes per day to make progress towards your ideal life

·     What is one thing you’ve always wanted to learn but have been putting off?

Patrick Lencioni on Leadership & Culture

·     You know you have good core values if you get punished for following them. 

·     You have to have good conflict to avoid bad conflict

·     Pyramid: Trust >>> Conflict >>> Commitment >>> Accountability >>> Results

·     Venn diagram: 3 qualities of a Team Player: Humble, Hungry, Smart 

·     “Smart” = EQ/common sense NOT IQ/technical skills

FIRA: a Finnish company. Uses a collaborative approach to Design/Build. Spends time with client on front-end to ensure better results. Similar to Entekra’s FIOSS.  

B2B alliances becoming more common: Customers that become sponsors or strategic partners: example, LP's $45M investment in Entekra. Others in the works, too.  

While some builders look to Japan and China for ideas (and capital partnerships)– e.g. Sekisui, Sumitomo, Daiwa, Country Garden– Clayton Homes (Berkshire Hathaway) continues to add regional site built builders to its family of companies. If you include factory built housing, Clayton is the largest provider of new homes in the U.S.

Gaining traction and usability: consumer friend BIM technology that allows a customer to design their home, then plans are sent to factory for production. Might eventually render the “model home” obsolete (or at least reduce need for as many).  

Off-site construction is gaining wider acceptance as a higher quality, more efficient process from foundation to frame. Entekra and Raney Construction are two leaders in this segment. Lessons builders learned: You can’t evaluate by “first costs”– must consider the total cost/value impact. 

Builders as long term service providers. The move towards “connected, smart homes” could provide builders and developers a long-term revenue opportunity through data collection and services. 

ADU’s:  Homes with ancillary, revenue producing units are the fastest way to improve affordability. New homes designed with granny flats, AirBNB spaces, etc. can help with affordability while also addressing multi-generational housing. KTGY and Bassenian Lagoni are two architectural firms with cool looking product that fits any single-family community. Also, Donald Ruthroff with Dahlin Group.  One way to get past zoning restrictions on ADU’s: don’t include a full kitchen (stove/oven).  

Mail drop doors on exterior garage wall for Amazon.com deliveries.  

Ring Doorbell: in addition to the obvious advanges to the home owner, it can also provide notifications of suspicious activity to others in neighborhood network.

Modular Multifamily:  Case Study | Lessons Learned…

·     Don't evaluate at “first costs”– must evaluate by the full cycle “total cost and value proposition”

·     33% savings compared to stick “when it goes right”.  

·     Averaged 100 units in 12-15 days.  

·     Don’t expect your normal subcontractors to get it right. If possible, use subs with prior experience with modules or components.  

·     Mentioned: Guerdon Modular, Boise, ID. “The Union Flats” projectBuild prototype in factory, then walk and make changes. Once the production line starts, changes will kill the benefits. 

·     Better: embed your architect or design team in the factory so they can work directly with the modular supplier.  

·     Ensure supplier can keep production going. Interrupting the schedule to accommodate others creates more delay than apparent on front end.  

 Two most frequent words or phrases heard during the week:  Labor, Affordability.