You're buying a new house. You're thrilled and relieved. But if you're like most new-home buyers, you're also confused. What, exactly, do you really need to know -- and how hard is it to find out?

Stage front and center on your "need-to-know list" is the price. That is easy to find out.

But the sale price represents...

When we talk about the new house, we're always focused on the look.

Nobody talks about the lasting look or what it takes to get one. What's required to ensure that your new house will look as good in 30 years when your mortgage is paid off as it did on the day you moved in?

The answer: a strong focus on durability, which is "the...

It's difficult to make predictions, especially about the future. But one thing we know for sure -- we are all getting older, and in increasing numbers. In three years, about one-third of the U.S. population will be 50 and older, an unprecedented demographic milestone. It is the first time in history that a nation has achieved such an extended...

When most of us look at a production home builder's furnished model, we ooh and ah about the floor plan (it feels so big and open); the floor finishes (this Brazilian cherry looks almost edible); the beautiful kitchen countertops (my friends will be jealous); room sizes (this bathroom is big enough for 20 of my best friends); and a host of other...

Home buyers want more time, not more space. They don't pine for more luxuries and more of the good life. They want time to enjoy what they have now.

This was the central finding from focus groups convened by Builder magazine to develop the concept for its show house at the 2007 International Builders Show in Orlando, Fla., last...

I learned this lesson once again at the International Builders Show in Orlando last month when I visited the New American Home for the second time in broad daylight. When I saw it the night before, I...

A hundred years ago in the United States, most people shared small living quarters with only a few rooms, and family members were constantly interacting with each other. This was still true at mid-century when millions of families moved out of the cities into single-family houses during the great suburban migration that followed World War II....

When asked about the "dismal science" and what exactly economists do, most people think they study money.

In fact, economists use various analytic tools to predict behavior. But, the public is partially correct because the majority of economists' predictions deal with financial matters. When economists talk about new...