The Home and Building Association of Greater Grand Rapids 2007 Home Expo will take place February 1-4, 2007 at the DeltaPlex Entertainment Center.

I will be there talking with contractors and filming demonstrations to put up on the website. If you have a booth at the show and would like to be interviewed, please contact me.

Most metropolitan areas have regular home shows. Many times these are sponsored by the local home builders association or a similar organization. You should try to attend one of these shows if you are thinking about building a new home or starting a remodeling project, finishing a basement or attic. There are so many innovations and new products for the home that you have probably never seen before. Home shows like this are a wonderful way to get new ideas and discover easy and better methods for your home or remodel project. If you haven’t chosen a contractor, this also might be a great way to talk with some one face to face and see samples of what they can do.

How do you find out about home shows? Most of the time they are well advertised, so listen for radio and TV ads or watch your newspaper for details. Otherwise find your local home builders association website and look for information there.

Construction of new homes and apartments increased by 6.7 percent in November to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.588 million units. Building permit applications are still down, but this is a good sign that the housing market is bouncing back. I think we will see a small surge the 1st quarter of 2007 as the demand will start to catch up with the supply. Many builders have scaled back production the last few months, and so the supplies of housing stock will start to decrease.