To keep boomer clients, trust is critical. “My typical customer comes up with a new project every two to five years,” Cholfin says. “If you satisfy them, they’ll come back to you and refer you to their friends.”
Competence and professionalism are critical, too. “You must provide turnkey services to boomers,” Jerome Quinn says. “Provide help with selection — boomers don’t want to go look at a bunch of faucets. They want remodelers to bring choices to them. They want help, direction, and guidance through the process. Remodelers should expect this and be able to do it.”
Listening is also vital. One of Winans’ boomer clients planned to replace his home’s aluminum windows with vinyl-clad windows. Winans met the client’s budget with vinyl, but also showed him wood windows and their price. “It’s key to identify the baseline, but also to provide some alternatives,” Winans says. The customer chose not only wood windows, but wood doors as well. The difference was tens of thousands of dollars. “If I’d tried to talk the guy into wood windows up front instead of going with what he wanted, we’d have been toast,” Winans says. “By allowing him to consider things step-by-step, he was in control all the way, and he ended up buying more than we ever thought he would.”
By understanding the changing needs of boomers and giving them the service they want, remodelers can assure themselves of a loyal clientele for decades to come. — Bridget Mintz Testa is a Houston-based freelancer who writes about residential construction, remodeling, technology, and business strategy.
Aging Boomers’ Dream Homes: Opportunities for Remodelers Last year Hanley Wood, which publishes REMODELING, sponsored a survey titled “Every 8 Seconds: American Housing as Boomers Turn 60.” Research firm DYG conducted the online survey of 2,000 homeowning boomers aged 50 to 60 with household incomes averaging $100,000 or more to find out what they want in their “dream/ future” homes as they move into the next stage of their lives.
The survey identified a number of potential opportunities for remodelers.
- 12% of survey respondents want to make major structural changes to their current home so that people of all ages can live there comfortably.
- 17% want to do major remodeling or build a large addition onto their current home.
- 22% want to convert their current home into their dream home.
- 26% want a parent-in-law suite in their dream/future home with a separate bath and kitchen.
- 33% want luxury in their dream/future home.
- 38% want to move or remodel to live comfortably on one floor, and 66% think that having everything they need or want on one floor is either appealing or very appealing.
- 42% want to make minor changes to their existing home so that people of all ages can live there more comfortably.
- 59% are more likely to buy universal-design features if they are beautiful.
- 61% want green, environmentally friendly features in their dream/future home.
- 66% want universal-design features in their future/dream home to accommodate people of all ages, and 84% want bathrooms with these features.
- 68% want their future/dream home to have the latest state-of-the-art technology, appliances, controls, etc.
- 82% want their future/dream home to be low-maintenance.
- 84% want their future/dream home to be energy-efficient.
91% want a laundry room on the same floor as the bedrooms.
Certified Aging-in-Place SpecialistThe oldest boomers are now moving into their 60s. If you’d like to learn more about providing remodeling services for them that include universal design, the smartest move might be to get the certified aging-in-place specialist (CAPS) designation through the National Association of Home Builders training program. (The National Association of the Remodeling Industry is also in the process of developing a universal design program that will begin in spring 2008.)
Begun in 2002, the NAHB’s CAPS designation was created by the NAHB Research Center and its 50+ and Remodelers councils in collaboration with AARP. To date, more than 1,000 remodelers have achieved the designation. It helps them work with customers who want to improve accessibility and convenience in their homes so they can continue living in them as they grow older — even if they face mobility or other physical challenges.
Remodelers can achieve the designation by taking a series of three classes offered at national trade shows or through local and state home-building associations: Working With and Marketing to Older Adults; Home Modifications; Introduction to Business Management. Individuals with certain designations are exempt from the third class.
“CAPS is an opportunity for a remodeler to develop the knowledge and skill base of how an older adult thinks,” says designer and remodeler, Mary Jo Peterson of Mary Jo Peterson Inc., Brookfield, Conn., who helped write the CAPS program for the NAHB. “It’s a great marketing tool. It provides remodelers with an idea base and a presentation and business strategy.” For more information about CAPS, call the NAHB’s Professional Designation Help Line at 800.368.5242 ext. 8154, e-mail CAPSinfo@nahb.org, or go to www.nahb.org/designations.