 Interesting article – Dallas Morning News, Steve Brown – real estate editor. North Texas buyers can expect long waits and higher costs for new homes /cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/dmn/E3WT346UTBCG5PZDWXOFHOZAMI.jpg) Don’t be surprised if it takes six months or more to get a new Dallas-area house.(Michael Hogue)By Steve Brown6:00 AM on Mar 26, 2021 When Michelle Riddell began helping her parents look for a Dallas-area home, she was expecting a challenge. “We started the process thinking we’d find something for less than $300,000 — that was clearly delusional,” Riddell said. “Existing homes in their price range meant you were in an automatic bidding war, which meant you were likely paying more than you should for a place.“And most new construction had long waiting lists.”Riddell and her folks think they were fortunate to land a new home in Celina, even though their house won’t be ready until September.“We know how lucky we got when we walked into a situation where the existing buyer had just dropped out,” she said.“My advice is not to get discouraged with the long lists new builders describe.” With record housing demand and almost no preowned homes on the market, North Texas homebuyers are increasingly turning to the new home market to put a roof over their heads.But with the surge in purchases and the supply issues builders are facing, don’t be surprised if it takes six months or more to get a new Dallas-area house.“The home delivery dates are being extended,” said Ted Wilson, principal with Dallas-based housing analyst Residential Strategies. “Typically it’s been extended by about two months from a year ago.”Wilson said average home construction times that were near 130 days in 2019 have ballooned to almost 180 days in the D-FW area this year.A shortage of home lots, building materials shortfalls and labor issues have combined to slow the rate at which local builders can produce houses. The impacts of COVID-19 are also increasing build times.“Builders have these huge backlogs,” Wilson said. “They came into this year with typically six to nine months’ backlog” of houses sold but not yet complete.“Many builders are putting neighborhoods on allocations as to how many sales they can do.”Arlington-based D.R. Horton, the country’s largest homebuilder, said in December that it had a sales order backlog of 28,487 homes nationwide. That’s double the backlog of a year earlier and represents $8.9 billion in home sales.While sales are obviously the goal for all the builders, it’s tricky to measure profits on future construction at a time when prices for everything from lumber to building lots are quickly rising.“They don’t want to just continue tallying up the sales and find they have underpriced these units when they finally get them built,” Wilson said.He said some home construction is being delayed by shortages of building materials, including plumbing supplies, roofing and appliances.“You have houses nearly finished and are waiting on components to come in,” Wilson said.With the sales backlogs, Wilson said he expects more than 50,000 single-family home starts this year in North Texas — perhaps even setting a new record.Unlike in previous cycles, builders are constructing very few speculative houses to have ready for buyers.“Builders over the past 10 years, now fully aware of the risks to building too many homes, kept a lid on speculative building,” housing economist Ali Wolf of housing research firm Zonda said. “That prudence led to really healthy and successful homebuilding companies over the years and has only recently caused some problems, the biggest of which is that builders don’t have enough homes built today to match the rampant housing demand.”Wolf said that if current housing demand continues in 2021 as it is expected to, the large builder sales backlogs are no problem.“Running a large backlog isn’t without risks, though,” Wolf said. “There could be cancellations driven by the buyer finding another home or a change in their employment situation.“Higher interest rates could make the monthly payment less reasonable.”While most builders are honoring their sales agreements, there have been reported cases of contracts canceled by builders who are trying to raise the prices of houses.Some high-end home contracts even include rarely used price increase triggers designed to protect the builder from cost overruns.Phil Crone, executive officer of the Dallas Builders Association, said it is a standard clause in contracts that is not used very often. “It’s an escalation clause for certain materials, which is common in fixed-priced contracts,” he said. “Certain materials include drywall, plywood, OSB [engineered wood], framing lumber and concrete. Our standard forms are triggered by a price increase of 25% or more within 30 days of executing the contract. This is very uncommon even with today’s volatility, but it protects against unconscionable situations.“The good builders are going to be honest with their clients about what they are having to contend with.” Shortages of labor, materials and building lots — along the pandemic — have significantly increased the average time it takes to build a North Texas home.(Tom Fox)Crone said shortages of building materials and huge price increases are the downside of what is one of the best housing markets builders have ever seen.“I know one custom builder was telling me yesterday that what was a $50,000 lumber package for him a year ago is now $150,000,” Crone said. “Even week to week, you are at a commodity roulette table to see what materials you can get and what you have to pay for it.“That’s just no way to run a business.” ____________________________________________________________________________ Time for a little self promotion.  Congratulations, to us for passing our 1 year anniversary. Thank you so much for your support! A great staff committed to your ultimate satisfaction. “Serving for Your Success“Hours of Operation: March1 – October 31 6AM-6PM November 1-February 28 7AM-5PM Deliveries every Monday-Saturday Follow us on FacebookOffice phone 817-633-9188 Fax 817-633-9515 Orders can be sent to order@roadrunnerroofingsupply.com Our address is 1900 Timberlake Dr. Arlington, TX 76010 www.roadrunnerroofingsupply.com ____________________________________________________________  What does the residential building code state in reference to roof valleys, both open and closed. R905.2.8.2 Valleys Valley linings shall be installed in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions before applying shingles. Valley linings of the following types shall be permitted:For open valleys (valley lining exposed) lined with metal, the valley lining shall be not less than 24 inches (610 mm) wide and of any of the corrosion-resistant metals in Table R905.2.8.2.For open valleys, valley lining of two plies of mineral-surfaced roll roofing, complying with ASTM D 3909 or ASTM D 6380 Class M, shall be permitted. The bottom layer shall be 18 inches (457 mm) and the top layer not less than 36 inches (914 mm) wide.For closed valleys (valley covered with shingles), valley lining of one ply of smooth roll roofing complying with ASTM D 6380 and not less than 36 inches wide (914 mm) or valley lining as described in Item 1 or 2 shall be permitted. Self-adhering polymer modified bitumen underlayment complying with ASTM D 1970 shall be permitted in lieu of the lining material.  Join OCU Live “Business Building Day”1st event – April 7 (join at the link below)ABOUT THIS EVENTOCU Live! is bringing our Business Building Day to you but this time virtually! Learn from the pros about how to take your business to the next level with Business Building Resources and Industry Experts- don’t miss out! Connect with our Business Services and Owens Corning for a day filled with real solutions and expert tips. https://owenscorning.vfairs.com/__________________________________________  Boost your rebate during the 2nd quarter with GAF Armorshield and Designer products. You will earn an additional 2% based on purchases April – June.  ____________________________________________________________________________ As a special appreciation for our customers, each month we will draw a company name out of a hat and send a special “mystery gift”. Qualifying contractors can be existing customers, walk-ins or new account setups that have purchased during the previous month. It’s our way of saying “Thank you” and to show appreciation from our staff.  March’s drawing winner was Todd @ Jenkins Roofing. The gift was a LED Truck step. Thank you, Todd for being a Roadrunner customer!  Each month will be a different gift. ____________________________________________________________________________  Don’t do this on a roof! In case that’s you in the pic, wear Cougar Paws next time. We stock the boots & pads. Safety 1st! Stop by for a custom fitting.  ____________________________________________________________________________  Our Spring/ Summer office hours are now in effect. Cell phones & emails work 24/7 throughout the year. Just try us! Roadrunner office hours 6 a.m. – 6 p.m. Monday – Friday. Don’t forget that we deliver on Saturday, upon request. |
| Copyright © *2021 * *Roadrunner Roofing Supply*, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: 1900 TImberlake Dr. Arlington, TX 76010 Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list. |