The new home has many advantages in design, materials and technology

It’s good for you and it’s good for the national economy

If you are tucking into a meal right now, read this later. If not, picture this: A sweaty, scruffy guy is sitting on the edge of a worn sofa. He is clipping his toenails, which are flying onto a stained shag rug.

This yucky image is prominently displayed in a builder’s advertisement that was published in an American newspaper. The large type below the photo boldly inquires, “This, or a brand new home?”

I don’t know your taste or choice, but that image steered my wife’s preference towards a new home.

Shock marketing notwithstanding, the ad got me thinking about what goes into that home’s construction…

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By Peter Simpson for The Vancouver Sun
April 17, 2010

Renovation HST

Renovation contractors in attendance at the March Renovation Council meeting believe homeowners are accelerating renovation decisions in order to avoid paying the HST, which lands July 1. The contractors also believe the HST will adversely impact legitimate renovation spending, and will fuel an already burgeoning underground cash economy in home improvement.

Posted by Greater Vancouver Home Builders’ Association
April 19, 2010