Tidewater Builders Association

A hand-made thank you card from TBA scholarship recipient

It’s back to class for college students across Virginia. One special student, a 2007 graduate of Princess Anne High School, has sent Tidewater Builders Association her annual hand-written “thank you” to the TBA Scholarship Foundation.

For the fourth year in a row Nichole Ehlers has personally penned her gratitude for the scholarship award — and sent it in on a hand-made card.

2007 scholarship recipient Nichole Ehlers with a group of high school students at Young Life camp

Nichole, a senior at James Madison University, plans to complete her Masters Degree and then begin a career as a high school teacher. She is gaining valuable experience in her third year as a Young Life leader at a nearby high school.

In her most recent correspondence, Nichole writes, “I am so incredibly grateful to TBA and am honestly still bewildered at this blessing of a scholarship, which has taken a big chunk out of my tuition…”

The TBA scholarship foundation is currently funding 38 scholarship awards. Since it was founded in 1965, scholarships have gone to 411 students for a total contribution of $1,592,500.

Students are selected based on academic achievement, community service and financial need. For more information, contact Mary Hearring at mhearring@tbaonline.org

The Smithfield House at Spring Homearama is sold.

If you thought you might want to buy the Smithfield House, built by Newhall Custom Homes for Spring Homearama at Founders Pointe, well you’re too late. The home was sold last weekend, making it the sixth of the eight homes on display to find an owner.   

Founders Pointe senior vice president Mark Edwards reports traffic has been steady at the site since May’s big event.   In addition to the Homearama homes, five others have sold in the community since Homearama, with a contingency contract on still another. 

At Tidewater Builders Association’s Fall Homearama site in Norfolk’s East Beach community, five of the nine homes are already sold. So, if you’re interested in owning one, you had better get out and look at them, or contact East Beach Realty to make an appointment.

Homearama is set for Oct. 16-31.  More information is at www.homearama.tv

All 12 homes from 2009 Fall Homearama at Culpepper Landing have sold.

NAHB's Dr. David Crowe speaks on the housing outlook

About 100 Tidewater Builders Association members got up early this morning to get a housing forecast from National Association of Home Builders Chief Economist David Crowe, Ph.D. It was the first TBA’s quarterly breakfast forums open to both builder and associate members and the crowd was about evenly divided.

Dr. Crowe explained that unlike other recessions that depended on housing to pull up the general economy, this one needs the general economy to pull up the housing market.

Although he expects the recovery to continue its slow pace, he does expect it to continue, and even expects the second half of the year to be better than the first.

He downplayed fears of a “double-dip: recession, and presented a “Top 10 list” to support his case:

1. 45 top economists in the Blue Chip forecast say so

2. Consumers are repairing their balance sheets

3. Consumers have increased spending since 2009

4. Pent-up demand will continue to reveal itself

5. Corporate taxes are up since the beginning of 2010

6. Economic indicators are better at this point in the recession than they were in the prior two recessions

7. Productivity has increased for 8 quarters and cannot keep going without additional hiring

8. Private employment has increased in every month in 2010

9. Stimulus spending is coming to the market later rather than earlier

10. Because I said so.

He cited a historically low level of new home inventory and a burgeoning “echo-boomer” population that will be entering the housing market pointing to future demand.

He urged the group to hang in there for better days ahead – even if a full recovery is a few years away. Finally, he reminded us every market is different and Virginia is not California, Nevada, Michigan or Florida.

To see his presentation, click here.

About 100 members listen to the forecast

Construction crews are working through the near 100-degree temperatures to complete the Fall Homearama homes on time. Tidewater Builders Association’s Fall Homearama will be held at Norfolk’s East Beach community from Oct. 16-31. This will be the second Homearama for the Norfolk coastal community, which launched its residential development with the 2004 Homearama showcase.

Since the 2004 showcase, which featured 17 homes, East Beach has grown into an active traditional neighborhood development with more than 230 homes, retails shops, a Montessori School and parks and open spaces for the residents to enjoy. A sprawling 7,000-square-foot Bay Front Club has been built, as well as several amenities for residents to enjoy, including a pool, tennis courts, rose garden and more. Construction is being completed on condominiums with first-floor retail and soon more cottages also will call East Beach home.

Participating in the Fall Homearama will be the following builders:  John W. “Chip” Iuliano, ABT Custom Homes; Bill Brice and Les Ore, Bill Ore LLC; Scott Crumley, Crumley Group Inc.; Larry Hill, L.R. Hill Custom Builders Inc., Chris Kanter, North Shore Construction; Jimmy Richardson, Richardson Homes Inc.; Mary-Dolph Simpson, Page Simpson and Howard Simpson, Simpson Builders Inc.; and Stephen, Alex and Steve Quick, Stephen Alexander Homes.

Crumley, a first-time Homearama builder, is building the Charity House. The beneficiary of the profits from the sale of the home will benefit St. Mary’s Home for Disabled Children in Norfolk, a long-term pediatric residential care facility dedicated to children with severe physical and intellectual disabilities. Anyone interested in donating materials or labor for the Charity House should contact Jill Woolard at Crumley Group, 428-5252 or jbarnes-woolard@crumley.com.

Here is a look at the Homearama builders’ progress. Visit homearama.tv for more information about the event.

Lead paint certification at TBA

Remodelers can breathe easier over the EPA’s new lead paint rule that was to have gone into effect in April.

At the urging of the National Association of Home Builders, the Environmental Protection Agency decided to delay enforcement of the new “Lead: Renovation, Repair and Painting” rule to provide time for more remodelers and contractors to get trained and certified. That’s because remodelers have been unable to obtain the required training to comply with the rule because it has been difficult to find classes.

The lead paint certification classes fill up quickly. Already this year, Tidewater Builders Association has provided the training for over 150 people and has added two more classes for both Aug. 3 and 4, from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day. Since classes  are limited to 25 students, they fill up quickly. The course costs $300 per student and is non-refundable. To register, contact Maggie Rickard at 305-9053 or mrickard@tbaonline.org.

Even while the EPA delays enforcement of the certification rule, remodelers, electricians, heating and air conditioning technicians and other contractors still must adhere to lead-safe work practices, including special equipment filters and a ban on open flames even. The EPA has delayed enforcement action against firms that have been unable to obtain certification until Oct. 1 of this year. The new time frame stipulates that individual contractors must apply to enroll in a training class by Sept. 30 and complete the training by Dec. 31, 2010.