mRELEVANCE is excited to announce its launch of www.HBABlog.com, a new blogging platform designed specifically for home builders associations. HBA Blog was officially launched at the 2009 National Association of Home Builders Executive Officers Council (EOC) Conference in Louisville, Ky. The EOC Seminar provides high-level association management education and motivation specifically related to the home building industry. Managing Partners Mitch Levinson and Carol Flammer unveiled the program during their social media session, Social Media Lab: Building a Social Media Program from the Ground Up, to executive officers and senior staff of state and local home building associations.
HBA Blog is a free blog platform for home builders associations that will help increase the online visibility for associations and their members. Created by building industry professionals and supported by local industry experts, HBA Blog allows associations to share information about their chapters, councils, education events, executive officer and government relations news and more. HBA Blog members also enjoy the added benefit of being able to follow other associations across the nation.
Levinson says, “We created this platform to make blogging easy for HBAs. Best of all, with the mRELEVANCE team supporting the site, HBAs will have support from industry insiders along the way.”
“Many HBAs are interested in blogging and launching social media programs. HBA Blog will provide them with their first step toward online success,” commented Flammer.
HBA Blog is completely customizable and offers eye-catching themes, helpful widgets, podcasts, videos, photos and more. Support comes in three-tiered service plans, offering associations as much or as little support as needed.
For more information, visit www.HBABlog.com.
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Friday, August 14, 2009
mRELEVANCE Launches HBA Blog at NAHB's Executive Officers Council Conference
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Builders Insurance and Home Builders Association of Georgia Reach Agreement to Resolve Proxy Contest
/PRNewswire/ -- Builders Insurance (a Mutual Captive Company), and the Home Builders Association of Georgia ("HBAG") today announced that they have reached agreement in principle to resolve and conclude HBAG's proxy contest and other outstanding issues between the parties. As part of the resolution, HBAG and HBAG's local associations will enter into endorsement agreements with Builders Insurance.
"We are pleased to have reached these agreements and to be moving forward with the Home Builders Association of Georgia," said Patrick Mitchell, President and Chief Executive Officer of Builders Insurance. "We especially want to thank Georgia Commissioner of Insurance John Oxendine for working with the parties through the settlement process."
Allen Richardson, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Builders Insurance stated, "Builders Insurance and HBAG have a long history of mutually beneficial cooperation. With the proxy contest behind us, we can continue to offer a choice of products that meet the unique needs of home builders at affordable prices."
"On behalf of HBAG, I am delighted that we were able to reach a resolution that serves the best interests of all parties," said Charles A. Eison, Sr., President and Chief Executive Officer of HBAG. "We are committed to continuing to represent the homebuilders of Georgia and look forward to working together with Builders Insurance to do so."
The settlement agreements are subject to execution of final documentation.
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Friday, May 23, 2008
Home Builders Association of Georgia Launches Fight to ''Take Back'' Builders Insurance
(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Home Builders Association of Georgia (HBAG), comprised of more than 13,000 builders statewide, issued an urgent call today to members who are policyholders/owners of Builders Insurance to “take back” the company and restore it to a fiscally conservative company that serves its policyholders/owners.
Because repeated requests for accountability and transparency have been ignored, HBAG today urged members to support action to amend the Business Insurance Charter to return power to owners/policyholders. Additionally, HBAG urged members to call a special meeting to elect a new board of directors committed to reducing exorbitant director fees, distributing profits fairly and establishing sound corporate governance measures.
HBAG reported that over the last five years Builders Insurance, which provides workers’ compensation and other insurance to builders across the state, has paid excessive salaries, fees and indirect compensation to its directors, reported at more than $1.9 million in 2006 and 2007 alone. HBAG believes that additional unreported payments in 2007 are likely. This is out of line with market compensation for similarly sized companies and as a percentage of revenue far exceeded directors' compensation at large public companies like United Parcel Service and Delta Air Lines during that time.
Moreover, since 2000, premiums have skyrocketed while dividends to policyholders/owners have plummeted from 13.6 percent of premiums to 1.5 percent.
Charlie Eison, president of HBAG, said, “At a time when our industry is fighting for survival in a tough economy, it’s outrageous that Builders Insurance’s board members have padded their pockets with exorbitant payments that rightfully belong to our members who are the policyholders and owners of this company. We need to take control and return Builders Insurance to its rightful mission of serving our members – not creating a financial jackpot for directors.”
Underscoring the need for accountability and transparency, HBAG reported that Builders Insurance has undertaken the following actions:
- stopped reporting a large portion of directors’ compensation in 2007;
- changed the bylaws to increase its control making it virtually impossible for owners/policyholders to remove a director or hold a special meeting;
- attempted to throw out HBAG and replace it with a shell association with little or no accountability to policyholders;
- Supported legislation without consent of the policyholders that would enable them to reorganize the company on terms financially favorable to the directors.
Ed Phillips, executive vice president of HBAG said, “Builders Insurance is not being properly managed and has no accountability or transparency. Feedback from our members shows strong support for taking back the company and cleaning house to protect policyholders’ interests.”
Since owners/policyholders share the liability of a captive mutual company, HBAG considers it paramount for owners/policyholders to control the company’s management.
Below is the reported compensation for Builders Insurance’s directors for 2006 and 2007. HBAG believes there might be more than has been reported.
| Name | Directors Fees from 2006 to 2007 more than DOUBLED | Total Reported Compensation | |||||||
| | | 2006 | 2007 | | 2006 | 2007(a) | |||
| Troy E. Barber | | | $35,000 | | $85,000 | | $167,748 | | UNREPORTED(a) |
| John C. Bowles | | | $35,000 | | $80,000 | | $173,156 | | UNREPORTED(a) |
| Frederick E. Fisher | | | $0 | | $0 | | $95,087 | | UNREPORTED(a) |
| Guilford E. Hill | | | $35,000 | | $75,000 | | $127,220 | | UNREPORTED(a) |
| Gerald A. Kopp | | | $35,000 | | $80,000 | | $198,130 | | UNREPORTED(a) |
| Allen M. Richardson | | | $35,000 | | $90,000 | | $190,880 | | UNREPORTED(a) |
| Michael F. Ryan | | | $35,000 | | $75,000 | | $186,655 | | UNREPORTED(a) |
| William L. Schwanebeck, Jr. | | | $35,000 | | $75,000 | | $186,655 | | UNREPORTED(a) |
| TOTAL | | | $245,000 | | $560,000 | | $1,325,531 | | UNREPORTED(a) |
(a) Other than directors’ fees and some minimal additional compensation, the total 2007 compensation is unknown because Builders Insurance has ceased to report it.
Builders Insurance was started by HBAG in the early 1990s to provide affordable workers’ compensation and other types of insurance exclusively to its builder members and local builders associations across the state. As such, Builders Insurance is owned by policyholders, similar to a co-op or credit union.
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Speed Up the Sale of Your Home in a Slow Market
By Bill Daprano
President,
Home Builders Association of Midwest Georgia
Trying to sell a house during the winter months in a down market can be difficult, but there are several things you can do to improve its marketability. By expending a bit of effort before it goes on the market, you can ensure that your home presents well, stands out from the crowd and doesn’t turn off potential buyers so that you can sell quickly…and at the best price.
Tone Down Personality
Your bookshelves may be filled with Pulitzer-Prize winners and your collection of Americana figurines may reflect your personal interests, but to home buyers, it looks busy and cluttered, and may distract them from truly seeing your home’s unique architectural features and spacious rooms. Also consider whether family pictures help or hinder a sale; future homeowners may not be able to look past your kids’ smiling faces plastered all over the walls and see themselves building their own future in your home.
Since you hope to move soon anyway, go ahead and box them up and put them in storage in advance of the open house or showing.
While that red accent wall opposite the lime green fireplace perfectly ties in with your ultra modern furniture, a potential buyer at your open house may be turned off immediately and decide that the entire house doesn’t reflect their style. Consider painting walls a neutral color such as beige or taupe.
Don’t Burden the Buyer with Repairs
If there are problem areas in your home, get them fixed before the showing. When prospective buyers tour the house and see leak stains on the ceiling or peeling paint, they will also see future work and assume that bigger maintenance and repair issues are lurking behind those small problems.
This is particularly true in kitchens and bathrooms, which are often the two rooms that make or break a sale. The expenses you incur on the front end sprucing up your home will be cheaper than the profits you could lose by having to lower the price to meet buyer demand.
Maximize Exposure
Lastly, take advantage of new technology to find unique ways to market your house. Use YouTube.com, a video sharing Web site, to introduce yourself and your house for free. Take home shoppers on a virtual tour and tell them about its uniqueness and strengths from a first-person point of view.
Use Internet social networking sites such as Facebook or MySpace to create a Web link with a profile of your home. Include pictures and a description of your home’s features. E-mail the link to your friends and ask them to forward it on to their network of contacts.
Be sure that you are using traditional marketing techniques to your best advantage. When photographing your home for promotional purposes, invest in a wide-angel lens for your camera so that rooms appear bigger and in proportion when they are displayed on Internet home listing sites or in marketing flyers. If you decide to create a virtual tour, look for professionals who will be able to film and upload your video using the best techniques and technology.
For more helpful hints, contact The Home Builders Association of Midwest Georgia at (770) 716-7109. The HBA of Midwest Georgia serves over 700 businesses in the building industry in Fayette, Coweta, Spalding, Meriwether, Heard, Pike, Upson, Lamar, Butts and Jasper Counties.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
National Group Helps Wounded Troops Buy Homes
The study, titled "Vital Mission: Ending Homelessness Among Veterans," estimated that on any given night in 2006, 195,827 veterans were homeless. The number represents nearly 25 percent of the nation's homeless population.
Operation Homefront provides emergency assistance and promotes morale for troops and their families. The organization is connecting wounded veterans, who can face financial trials during recovery, with home builders and mortgage lenders to make home ownership easier.
The group is a supporter of America Supports You, a Defense Department program connecting citizens and corporations with military personnel and their families serving at home and abroad.
"When the statistics came out about one in four homeless is a veteran, that was when we said, 'That's it,'" said Meredith Leyva, founder of Operation Homefront. "That's exactly what's going to happen to our guys if we don't have a long-term vision here and implement it now.
"(We are working with) ... home builders to basically sell their excess inventory to wounded warriors," Leyva said, explaining that her organization's role is to make connections and help negotiate the best deals possible. "These are good homes, and (the builders) are dropping the price by $30,000 to $50,000."
The goal is to sell entire swaths of neighborhoods, ideally near Veterans Affairs medical facilities, to wounded warriors, she said. This creates an understanding community.
"It's a community that's going to look out for each other," Leyva said. "And even in the worst of times, they've still got their house."
To sweeten the deal further, Operation Homefront is working with mortgage lenders to negotiate lower interest rates on 30-year home loans.
The group also is asking lenders for a little compassion if a new homeowner should miss mortgage payments because of medical issues, Leyva said. That would require a statement from the doctor and a repayment plan, however, and there is no guarantee that the original lender won't sell the loan to another company who might not be so understanding.
As excited as Operation Homefront is about the program, its officials are realistic about how long it will take to get up a head of steam.
"This is going to take months, because people just can't make a commitment of hundreds of thousands of dollars on either the builders' or the lenders' side without some serious thought as to how they're going to do it," she said. "It'll take a good three to six months to build up some really solid commitments from builders and lenders."
Home builders in Arizona, as well as the Houston Housing Authority in Texas, have given the program a good start by committing a number of homes, Leyva said.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Home Building Brings Millions into the Local Economy
Dr. Elliot F. Eisenberg, senior economist for the National Association of Home Builders, spoke at Fayetteville First Baptist Church last Thursday night at an event on the economic impact home building has on our local economy.
Organized by the Home Builders’ Association of Midwest Georgia and the Fayette County Board of Realtors, Eisenberg’s presentation covered two areas: how monies generated from building new homes flow in the local economy and the costs to the local area to support that growth.
Eisenberg analyzed the impact of new home construction in three phases: the construction phase, the ripple effect and the occupancy phase, and then compared it to the cost of public services like roads, education, fire, police, hospitals and, of special concern, water. Using data supplied by the federal census, the numbers show that new homes in our local region actually pay for themselves in just 7 years.
Eisenberg reports the first year’s impact during the construction phase of 100 new homes generated over $9.2 million in local income, $818,000 in local taxes and created 140 local jobs. But the effect doesn’t stop there. Eisenberg explains that an ongoing economic ripple is created as those who profit from the home building industry spend that money in the local economy.
“The ripple effect lasts for a year following the completion of the home and is approximately 50% of the construction phase,” states Eisenburg. “The occupation phase lasts as long as the house is occupied.”
Eisenburg reports that the first year impact of the ripple phase generates an additional $4.4 million in local income, $499,000 in local taxes and 70 jobs. The occupancy phase produces $3 million in local income, $727,000 in local taxes and creates 52 local jobs.
“These numbers are impressive,” said Lynne Bride of Harry Norman Realtors. “We want people to know that this area is a great place to be and that new growth doesn’t have to cause problems.”
New homes do require fire, police, garbage collection, new parks, roads, schools and they also create new demand for water and other utilities. But findings show that by the end of the 7th year, the cost to support every 100 new homes is fully paid for with an ongoing surplus of $166,946 thereafter. This is the equivalent of municipalities paying off entire sewer systems, schools and more in only 7 years.
Eisenberg asks to contrast that kind of pay off with “car loans lasting 5 years” and asking the question “How fast did you pay off your student loans?”
Eisenburg further explains that without the economic stimulus from new home construction, local economies start to decline pointing to other areas of the country where home construction is stagnant.
“This is an exciting area,” said Eisenberg. “Home ownership is still affordable here and has the ability to pay for itself in seven years.”
