Parker-Associates-blog-August-2018-form-over-function

Form Over Function

How to Balance Costs and Aesthetics in New Home Design Building a house is expensive. There’s no question about it. It’s probably the single biggest investment of anyone’s life. And as such, it takes time and effort from the new homeowner, architect or designer, engineers, and custom home builder to make it successful and be exactly what the homeowner always dreamed it would be and more. But, to build a house AND make it cost-effective requires even more effort to ensure that the right decisions are being made while retaining the discipline required in the approach to keep it affordable. Recently, I was in Europe with my family on vacation […]

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Top Things Every Subcontractor Wants From a Builder

Retaining Skilled Workers Finding and retaining skilled trade workers is a battle every builder has to fight. Things have only gotten tougher as the shortage of skilled labor continues in many regions throughout the country, but that doesn’t mean all hope is lost. To attract workers from the skilled trades, you need to make sure your company is one that subcontractors actively want to work for. If you’re interested in having something newly built, such as your home or a part of your home, call on Columbus remodeling contractors. To make that happen, here’s what you need to do. Make sure your business is organized Working well with the trades requires […]

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Parker-Associates-blog-August-2018-Columbia-Top-Cities-to-Retire

Southeast Cities Continue to Rank High with Retirees

Retirees, who want to move, face a conundrum… Live in a slower-paced, budget friendly small or midsize city, but without the need to travel far to get first-class healthcare. It’s no surprise that a most of the top 10 cities that fit that bill in the United States are located in the southeastern part of the country.  All have at least one hospital that has received five stars – the highest rating from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.  And, all offer relatively low cost-of-living and median home pricing. Equally attractive is that most are located in states that exempt retirement income from state taxes or have no state […]

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Parker-Associates-blog-July-2018-americandream-believing-millennials

Millennials Believing in the American Dream

A recent 2018 Bank of the West study dealing with the buying habits of millennials indicates the equity-shy demographic is now turning to real estate as the cornerstone of their investment portfolio. Homeownership is emerging as the most popular ingredient of their American Dream (56%), followed by debt pay-off, and the goal of a comfortable, early retirement (49%) as the second and third most critical components. The study shows how millennials’ desire to own a home is pushing some to risk their other goals by taking on mortgages, with one in four say that they are willing to withdraw or borrow against retirement funds to finance down payments for a […]

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Parker-Associates-blog-July-2018-WhyDoProjectsFail

Top Reasons Why Projects Fail

Parker Associates works closely with builders and developers from all over the country as well as the world.  Though we like to be involved from the start of a project, it’s often times that we are asked to come in and figure out what went wrong.  This is something we do quite often and amounts to a bit of forensic understanding.  Researching the past and combining it with the current market data shows a clear picture in most cases. As noted by TempusResource, there are some alarming statistics regarding the number of projects that fail. Not only that, but the rate at which they are falling short has increased over […]

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Parker-Associates-blog-July-2018-swot-analysis

Why SWOT Yourself?

Do a SWOT Analysis on Yourself …and Why You Need One Many businesses we interact with come to us because they don’t feel they are performing well within their business.  It’s often surprising to find that they haven’t performed some of the basic business aspects, including a SWOT analysis.  One of the most basic lessons you learn when involved in business school is the SWOT analysis – strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. And it’s a great framework to apply to your business to understand what you do well, what you can improve on, and where the greatest threats to your company lie. But, it goes beyond that, we should also […]

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Converting Online Shoppers

4 Steps to Converting the Online Window Shopper. Recent data have shown that the average ecommerce conversion rates range from 2 to 5%.Yet, many retailers are reluctant to automate browse recovery emails because they have these questions: How will consumers respond to emails generated from an online shopping session? Will they view the emails as intrusive? Will that increase my unsubscribe rates? Will automated browse recovery emails really get shoppers to come back and buy from my website? According to Monetate’s Q4 2016 Ecommerce Quarterly Report, more than 95% of visitors leave your website without making a purchase. If you haven’t started using a browse recovery strategy, or if you […]

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Search Engine Marketing Mistakes

That Keep You from the Results You Want It’s no secret that Search Engine Marketing (SEM) is an effective digital marketing tool that should be included in every business’s marketing strategy, but are you seeing the kind of results you want? SEM is only effective if it is done right. This requires a full understanding of the tool, in addition to daily upkeep—both of which require time that you as a business owner are already short on. Here, our friends from SEO Agency have highlighted four common SEM mistakes that are hurting your campaigns and keeping you from seeing better results. Whether you’re just starting to explore search engine marketing, or […]

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The UrbanPlan Initiative

Parker Associates and PTC Computer Solutions have been teamed up for years volunteering to help with ULI and their UrbanPlan initiative in Northeast Florida. It’s a great program to help the next generation of developers think outside the box. As the ULI puts it, UrbanPlan is a project-based learning curriculum unit for high schools and universities. Bringing together disciplines such as economics, city government, real estate and urban planning, UrbanPlan engages students to consider the myriad of complex decisions that shape our built environment. Learn more about the UrbanPlan and how you can get involved at their website. It’s really cool. UrbanPlan is an academically challenging classroom-based curriculum that gives […]

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