Women-Centric has revolu-tionized our business! In
heights hard to imagine, we went from your typical,
cement-headed home-builder with houses “For Sale,” to
producing distinct, remarkable, Women-Centric homes
that are Sold! In fact, our business has quadrupled
in just a few short years, in the midst of a “depression.”
We will never build another home that is not Women-Centric,
period!!!! For any fence dwellers: don’t wait
another minute – run to Design Basics! It will
change your entire business for the good!
Thank you, Women-Centric & Design Basics, for giving
us the vision & tools to implement something
remarkable!
Hugh A. Fisher
Deer Brook Development Corporation.
A web site of and for our Woman-Centric
Matters! WC Builders to promote them, their projects and their
events to a broader national audience.
Noteworthy
Woman-Centric Buzz
3/31/2012
Designing with her outlook
Design Basics has studied the needs of female homebuyers, and now markets
itself as 'woman-centric'
by Mary Umberger
Posted on: March 30th, 2012
What do women want?. Well, in real estate terms, the Design Basics home-plan
company thinks it knows a lot. It has intensively studied the attitudes
of female homebuyers
and now markets itself as "woman-centric." And it has begun teaching
its homebuilder clients how to do business the same way.
A Maine builder has cracked the code to what design elements and thoughtful
details hit home with many female buyers.
by Teresa Burney
Posted on: February 27, 2012 12:53:00 PM
During the housing recession, when many of Mark Patterson’s competitors
in southern Maine and New Hampshire stopped selling houses, Patterson’s
Patco Construction kept chugging along in large part because he builds
and sells houses women want.
Patco isn’t a big builder. It sold 45 to 50 houses at its peak
in 2004 and things have tapered off since 2008 to 20 to 30 homes per
year now. “But a lot of my competition has built nothing,” Patterson
said. “I’m building homes and we don’t do spec. Everything
I build is pre-sold.”
Designed for Women (May 31, 2011 ) Central Virginia HOME Magazine
By Patricia C Held
Call it intuition. Women definitely have it! Instinctively, we can recognize
what works well and what does not work well in our homes. Unfortunately, sometimes
the people who build our homes are not as intuitive. That’s why national
design firm Design Basics launched a new division called Woman-Centric Matters
in 2006, a program which licenses and trains building contractors in how to
understand and meet the needs of female homeowners and to market to female
homebuyers.
In 2003, Design Basics, in Omaha, Neb., one of the largest home plans
design firms in the country, began interviewing couples about what they
want in home plans and found that the most useful feedback came from
the women who participated.
In 2006, this research led the company to create the Woman-Centric Matters
program. “Whether building new or remodeling, we wanted to better
understand what she wants in her home,” says Paul Foresman, vice
president of Woman-Centric Matters, a division of Design Basics.
The Experience
Women want a home that reflects their tastes and interests. And, Foresman
points out, the social reasons for upgrading a home are important to
them but are often overlooked.
Sales and Marketing Ideas (Nov. / Dec. 2010)
The sales and marketing magazine of the housing
industry - Publish by the NAHB
The homes you build speak volumes about your view of women. Are women's
preferences in home design evident throughout your homes? Which do you
focus on more:
the practical aspects of design such as traffic patterns and value engineering;
the aesthetics and the "WOW" factor; or the social aspects of design --
what the home says about her, the home owner?
Home builders are trying to capitalize on why women are drawn to some
houses -- and not others.
When Brandi Hach and her husband were looking for a new home, they swore
that new home construction was not for them. She was eight months pregnant
at the time and in no mood to deal with the frantic building process
she saw her friends go through. Then the Hachs happened to drive by an
open house held by Fargo, North Dakota-based Heritage Homes, and in they
went. "I was blown away," says Hach. As soon as she walked
through the front door, she was drawn to the enormous living area next
to the kitchen, and then she spotted the rear entry lockers offering
a counter and a place for everything.
CNBC
Features Woman-Centric Program and home Builder
(April 26, 2010)
CNBC’s taped a segment Design Basics' Woman-Centric program and featured
Heritage Homes in Fargo, ND. The segment aired on Friday, April 23, 2010 at 2:45
ET.
Many of you many have seen the Smart Money/Wall Street Journal article.
this. If not here is the link - Smart Money Magazine Article. April 2009
Issue. When it comes to house hunting, Kim Sliney is the first to admit
she can be picky. After visiting—and vetoing—37 houses, the single mom
from Exeter, R.I., happened upon her just-right fit: a newly built, $350,000
home that boasted a spacious-feeling layout, killer walk-in closets and
custom details like crown molding, granite countertops and a gas fireplace—for
no extra charge. How did she stumble into . . .
We are working hard for national coverage of the Woman-Centric program
and our Woman-Centric builders.
Read the
entire article: Wanted: Single Women Home Buyers at SmartMoney.com
4/9/2010
WALL STREET JOURNAL Online
The Ladies' Turn
Hungry to jump-start sales, more home builders are aggressively targeting
women buyers. Will they bite? By ALYSSA ABKOWITZ
When it comes to house hunting, Kim Sliney is the first to admit she
can be picky. The 46-year-old interior designer just couldn't see herself
living in small, chopped-up rooms. Or being happy in boxy interiors
adorned with blah bathroom tiles and Formica counters. After visiting—and
vetoing—37 houses, the single mom from Exeter, R.I., happened
upon her just-right fit: a newly built, $350,000 home that boasted
a spacious-feeling layout, killer walk-in closets and custom details
like crown molding, granite countertops and a gas fireplace—for
no extra charge. How did she stumble into this particular development?
She was driving around in the area and saw a woman-centric sign on
the entrance. "It was very intriguing," says Ms. Sliney.
Is your buyer a Margo, an Elise, a Claire, or a Maggie? By knowing which of these personas your female buyers most closely align with, you may be able to narrow that huge inventory of homes for sale and help her find the place that’s perfect for her.
CNBC
Features Woman-Centric Program and home Builder
Watch
