Guest commentary by Sarah Yaussi

Sarah Yaussi is a business journalist and editor of Big Builder magazine. Prior to joining Big Builder in early 2005, she worked for both The Post-Standard in Syracuse, N.Y., and the BBC in London.

I spent a bunch of time on the Web last night, catching up on my news, trolling for new story ideas, and listening to real estate-related conversations taking place online, when I got a message on Twitter from one of Big Builder’s 1,800-plus “followers.” This particular DM—a.k.a. direct message for Twitter novices—came from a home builder who wanted to just give me a heads up on the company’s latest social media foray. It occurred to me that it might be informative if not helpful if I did a wrap-up from time to time of some of the new and more interesting Web-based sales and marketing strategies and programs.

So, hold on to your hats because this is going to be a fast and furious inaugural round up of the best of the best in home builder Web strategies. So, without further ado, my top picks of late are:

Haverford Homes video. In this two-minute YouTube video, Maryland-based Haverford Homes creates a little good news of its own, taking viewers on a quick tour of a local community where the company is starting 10 inventory homes. I just love the “renegade Realtor” style of this video, where it feels almost like you’re in the car with the fearless narrator, who incidentally does a good job at getting all the nuts-and-bolts information about the builder and the community in a short amount of time. I also like the spin on the video, where the message is really telling consumers that the reason the company’s building these 10 spec homes is because they believe the market’s turnaround is here. (Not to mention that if the company doesn’t build them now, first-time buyers would have a hard time closing in enough time to take advantage of the federal first-time home buyer tax credit, which expires at the end of November.) The style almost makes it seem like maybe this builder knows something about the market that buyers don’t—an interesting approach.

New Lennar blog. Speaking of spin… Lennar recently launched a new blog, www.theopendoorblog.com. By now most in the home builder know Lennar’s been a leader in the social media sphere, but it’s hard to get sick of talking about their strategies when there’s something new going on with them on the Web. (There’s a lesson to be learned in that statement.) The blog, as far as I can tell at this point, offers a round-up site of the latest positive news about housing—and of course the latest contests and sales promotions Lennar is offering. To me, this is a smart strategy because, in general, the number one driver of traffic to a Web site is news. By being a news aggregator, this blog will likely gain traction in the wild world of Web by having a new hook while providing a very big side door into Lennar’s other sites. People will get to know the Lennar name by just searching for industry news. However, a word of caution, this site is for the casual consumer rather than the professional in the industry. It clearly has a news agenda that is driven by Lennar’s end goal to sell more homes, so you won’t find a very balanced menu of news items.

In other Lennar news, the company’s latest contest, “It all begins at home,” has officially launched. The contest asks people to describe where they felt most at home… in the form of a poem. It’s kind of wild to see the mad rhymes people have come up with so far.

Brookfield Homes blog. Brookfield’s San Diego/Riverside division president Steve Doyle’s blog is definitely an oldie but goodie. Lately Doyle’s been on a bit of a tear, posting three blogs in just two days. (I guess when he’s got something on his mind, he’s just got to get it out there.) There’s some good info on water conservation and greenhouse gas initiatives, but if you really want the low down on the death of California’s new-home buyer tax credit—yes, that’s right all hope for an extension has been extinguished—I recommend checking this post out.

Jonathan Smoke

One other Web-related development worth mentioning, even if it is admittedly sort of self-serving, is the new site launched by Big Builder affiliate Hanley Wood Market Intelligence. I like the new interface—the data seems very accessible—and especially like the integration of the Housing Intelligence blog, the brainchild of Jonathan Smoke, formerly an executive at Beazer Homes and a self-proclaimed housing data geek. I used to enjoy that blog before Smoke became a part of the Hanley Wood family, so I look forward to seeing that blog redevelop into the insightful, provocative blog that it once was.