Company says it's an effort to differentiate itself in the tough housing market.
Oct. 13, 2008 — by Jason Knott
In an attempt to differentiate itself during this tough housing market, Newmark Homes is now offering the Wayne-Dalton Z-wave Home Controls package as a standard feature in all new builds.And it might be working. In the eight months since the adoption, the Austin, Texas-based Newmark has sold 230 homes.“I’m always looking for that one thing that will make us different and stand out," says Don Cox, VP of sales and marketing for Newmark Homes. Article Link
This article in CEPro struck a cord with us in the Home Systems Group at Parks Associates. We just finished a report that focused on the subject of wireless controls — Opportunities for Wireless & Powerline Controls. In the report we explained how our research shows that home builders are turning to technology amenities to differentiate their homes. A broad-based survey we conducted in partnership with Hanley Wood’s Digital Home revealed that 40% of single family home builders are looking for electronic products and services to differentiate their homes; another 32% are installing amenities, e.g. wiring for home theaters, multi-room audio and home offices to speed the sale/rental of homes. Clearly Newmark Homes fits this profile.
In addition, another point made in Opportunities for Wireless & Powerline Controls is that systems incorporating home controls into everyday applications such as opening the garage door and initiating a sequence of events – lights turn on, thermostat resets, etc. – help build awareness for the capabilities of control systems. Wayne Dalton’s system is an excellent example of this phenomenon at work.
Single family home builders are not alone in their inclination to seek out technology amenities to differentiate their products. We just completed a major study of the multifamily industry, Multifamily Residences: Opportunities for Digital Systems & Services, in partnership with Multifamily Executive and Developer magazines. More than half of multifamily executives are looking to technology services and products to differentiate their properties. This strategy makes perfect sense for several reasons: in a slow economy differentiators such as technology are more important than ever, Gen Y renters and buyers want technology, and, there’s more money to be made by feeding resident demand (all ages) for certain services and systems.
