“Oh, sure, they’re good for graphics,” they’d say, looking down their noses, often through black, thick-rimmed glasses as they snorted and nearly hyperventilated with that trademark laugh of the early geek-era.

I’m a wounded, but recovered survivor of that geek-bullying, and I’m proud to say I’ve been an Apple fan boy before it was cool to be one, and I have proof.  I started my software company from my dorm room my freshman year at OBU, and I committed to develop exclusively for what was known back then as “Macintosh” computers.  My minor was in Computer Scicence, and I was the only Mac-using student in the department.  While I don’t think I got any wedgies because if it, I took my share of abuse.  But no one had as much RAM as I did in that Power Mac 6100.  Nope, I had upped that bad-boy from its standard 8MB to 80MB, and no one could touch it because that was back in the day when you actually had to worry about how much RAM a computer came with, and it cost a small fortune.  I had a secret source where I landed those sacred chips for a heck of a deal.  All for the graphics.

It wasn’t until years later when the iPod hit that people started recognizing that maybe there was something of substance behind the passion so many die-hard Mac fans possessed for their computers.  Often compared to the love Harley riders have for their bikes, Mac users would dang near die before being forced to use Windows.  Tens of millions of iPods were sold, most of which were to non-Mac users.  Once everyone with access to clean drinking water had their first iPod, Apple did it again, and introduced the iPhone.

Now look at all the Apple fan boys and girls. 

I don’t want to waste time waxing about all the I-told-you-sos to my old friends and past classmates, as my faith requires of me my best effort at grace and forgiveness.  So rather than rubbing it in, I’d just like to say to everyone who recently acquired their first Apple product, the iPhone:

“Welcome to coolness.”

I’d also like to announce a special treat just for you iPhone users.  Consider it my welcoming gift to you for having joined the coolness club...the new iPhone version of JeffClickHomes.com, among the first of any builder web sites developed specifically for the iPhone.

From the site, you can access a list of Jeff Click Homes’ available homes on your iPhone, as well as all “coming soon” homes just getting started, and complete information on each of our floorplans and communities.  Additionally, you can tap the map-button from any page to launch a Google-map to that community right there on the iPhone.  Need to call or email a question?  Buttons for that, too.

So grab your iPhone and check it out.  No need to key-in any special address from your iPhone...just go to www.JeffClickHomes.com and we’ll handle the rest.  Our site knows coolness when it sees it.

I recently succumbed to the temptation of waiting with anticipation for Mr. UPS Guy.  While I didn’t scream like a school girl, I did probably rival the giddiness of a certain beloved man I won’t mention when my latest gadget arrived: the OmniPro II integrated home control system that Home Automation Inc. has donated for Jeff Click Homes’ 2008 Parade Of Homes entry.

We’re just weeks away from completion, and while the infrastructure for all of the technological amenities was built and pre-wired in it months ago, the fun is about to begin, as we install everything from this system, to the several zones of audio, five plasma TVs, and numerous other geek surprises.

For you fellow geeks out there, we took a few snapshots of the un-boxing of God’s gift to home technology.  I give you the OmniPro II…

The OmniPro II by Home Automation Inc., an advanced integrated home control system, arrives for the
Jeff Click Homes entry in the 2008 Parade Of Homes.

The main components of the system, including the primary board, a zone expander, thermostat,
outdoor temperature and humidity sensor, and other components.

The current OmniPro II System, installed at the Jeff Click Homes Furnished Model Home in Silverhawk.

The “brain” of the home, an HAI OmniPro II System, complete with HAI’s HiFi Zoned Audio System,
irrigation control, video surveilance, and more.

The front elevation of the Parade Home, with masonry in progress.  A new brick from Boral is the primary facade with black mortar.

We’re a little over 60 days out from completion of this year’s Parade Home.  If you do the math, that’s the latter half of August, which is almost a month before the COHBA Parade of Homes.  I know.  We have some other special things happening with this house that will take place before the Parade.  So stay tuned.

Two rooms that create outsets to the facade are accented by taupe concrete brick with white mortar.  The entry will be a multi-colored stacked stone that will tie the two brick colors together.

The facade is nearing completion.  Once the finishing touches are added to the brick, we’ll move on to the stone and special tile accent we’re doing over the entry.  Hopefully that’ll all take place by late week in time for a site clean-up in preparation for concrete next week.

“Keepin’ it grill” under the back covered patio, where a grilling space is defined by brick pony walls.  This outdoor space will be quite cool when it’s done...

I am perhaps most excited about this patio and back yard.  It will be a true “outdoor space.” Creating a great area under the covere of a patio can be some of the most unique and inexpensive living space you can get, and many people take it for granted, expecting that it’s too expensive or requires too much maintenance.  Here’s a little tip: you don’t have to dust or vacuum outdoor living spaces.  How’s that for maintenance?

The remaining pieces for the fire pit and water feature were ordered today.  More on that to come in a future update.  Until then, Parade On.

In order to spend the afternoon celebrating my Dad, and perhaps to be celebrated a bit myself, the JCH Furnished Model Home in Silverhawk will be closed on Sunday, June 15th.  We’ll be back open bright and early again on Monday.

Happy Father’s Day to all you fellow Dads out there.

Nope.  And in keeping with my recent theme of rock-star references, my favorite gem of sales genious comes from the silver-tongued former, former again, and now current lead singer of one of my top-5 fav bands, Van Halen.

“If ya love what I do, tell a friend. If you don’t, tell an enemy...” --David Lee Roth*

‘Just about covers all the bases, doesn’t it? 

Now we’ve made it easier than ever to tell a friend (or enemy) about the home you just discovered by Jeff Click Homes.  However, you won’t have to wear spandex and do the splits mid-air to do it.

If you’re like me or my wife, Deziray, and spend significant time on the computer, it’s not uncommon to come across a great article or product on that you want to share.  On an almost daily-basis, I’ll see something that Deziray might like, and instantly look for a “Share This...” link on the page I’m on.  Many of the best sites have it, but for those that don’t, it’s kind of a hassle to copy the link into a new email, then key in an explanation of why I’m sending it.

So now at JeffClickHomes.com, if you’re browsing our list of available homes and find one you want to share with someone, simply look for this button:

When you click it, you’ll see this:

The new “Show A Friend” form, which lets you easily share a link to the page of the home you’re considering buying.  Simply fill your info, your chosen recipient’s info, and a custom message, and you’re good to go!

Your recipient will momentarily receive this:

This is the email your friend receives, which links directly to the page for the home you were looking at.

So, while you’re here, you “might as well Jump!” on over to the homes section, browse around, and invite a friend to join you.

I was spending my Saturday doing one of the things I love doing when the phone rang.  I couldn’t answer because I was in the middle of a showing with some guests at the furnished model in Silverhawk.  After a good conversation and some time answering questions, they left to go look at a few of the other available homes.  I checked caller ID, as a Saturday call at the office usually is someone calling to see if we’re open.

Hmm, no voicemail.  The name on the Caller ID log was peculiar, but in came another visitor.

I hadn’t thought back to that moment until about an hour later when I was sketching and the phone rang again.  The name on Caller ID that was once peculiar was now twice familiar.

“H-I-L-T-O-N.”

“Must be an out-of-towner spending the weekend in an Oklahoma City hotel while shopping for a new home,” I thought as I clicked the “Talk” button, quickly speaking into the phone in my best radio voice, “Jeff Click Homes, this is Jeff.” The response was a “click” of another kind. 

I’d been hung up on.

“Probably just confirming we’re open,” I thought to myself, and went back to pencilling on another sketch for the new Parade Home for this year.

Moments later, it rang again.  Click.  Later, again.  Click.  I received numerous repeat phone calls that day from the same “Hilton”, all of which would end abruptly in the same fashion. 

I couldn’t help but laugh as I queried in my mind, “What kind of loser prank calls a model home, let alone mid-day on a Saturday?  Maybe someone really wants to see if I’m here.  Who’s stalking Jeff Click Homes? Who’s stalking me?” I hadn’t been the recipient of this kind of prank-calling action since Jr. High! 

Little did I know the depths to which this potentially ruinous encounter would take me.  As though it was burned into my head from repeated exposure, the mental image of that one word on Caller ID plagued my mind’s eye; the orange back-lit screen and charcoal gray liquid crystal display text spelling out the word “Hilton.”

Then it hit me.  It has to be Paris Hilton calling.

My imagination immediately began to explore the possibilities.  “Why is Paris Hilton calling me? Is she looking for design tips for a remodel of one of her Caribbean hide-aways?  Perhaps a new hip contractor for a secret new hotel she’s opening somewhere here in the city?”

I continued, as though the pubescent catalysts of both paranoia and fantasy from boyhood began a long-overdue awakening of sorts, “Is she looking for a pimp new crib in the Oklahoma City Metro to add to her repertoire of vacation spots?  Is she headed this way to check out my work?  I have a no-dogs-allowed policy in my homes...is she bringing that multi-millionaire 2lb. dog she always seems to be carrying around?  Would I have the lower fortitude to tell her that the mutt isn’t allowed it in the house?”

Carried away, I then dared to think, “Is she looking to make a new tape?!  What?  Did I just think that?  Think of your wife, think of your daughter...think of your wife, think of your daughter...” (Fortunately, that quickly did the trick, but I had resolved to follow up with “Think of anti-bacterial soap...think of anti-biotics!” just in case.)

That thought sequence abruptly ended the freakish fantasizing, and as the day wound down, so did the frequency of calls.  Other visitors and closing time came and went, and much to my disapp...er, relief...no Paris.  I had avoided a potential scandalous brush with builder stardom, and all the paparazzi, and drama, and rumors that go with a life style of rock-stardom. 

So I thought. 

Fast-forward to Monday, as I sat in the office doing what I do.  Ring-ring!  Ring-Ring!  Then I heard the hand-held base for the phone from across the office, in its female, digitized voice, speak words that led to flashbacks of exciting fear, “Call from...Hilton.”

I trembled in anticipation as I picked up the handheld on my desk and glanced at the Caller ID screen.  Confirmed...orange, charcoal gray LCD...and just like I so well remembered from days ago, the 6 letters that haunted my previous weekend. 

She was relentless.

I gulped, inhaled, and pressed the talk button.  “Jeff. Click. Homes.  This. Is. Jeff.” I uttered.

Click.

What ever thoughts of fame, fortune, rumor, and scandal had existed before now boiled into sheer fear and rage.  I instantly flashed to the MacBook Pro, where I feverishly keyed-in the number displayed on the Caller ID under her name: 407-722-3532.  It was time for a Google reverse-lookup.

As the results page loaded, what I saw was as shocking as it was a relief.  Apparently “Paris” has a thing for calling people repeatedly from this number, and, like me, many aren’t happy about it.

As I scanned the pages of search results, reading the accounts of countless others with the same general experience from the same number, my mind began to return to normal function.  Perhaps it was because my head was shrinking back down into humility, and thoughts of 24-7 flash-bulbs and infra-red video had subsided.  I resigned to the fact that Paris Hilton did not, in fact, love Jeff Click Homes.

In my moment of relieved clarity, it all became obvious to me.  I have more than enough reason to limit my Saturdays to just one model.

Everything that each one of my clients goes through in one form or another, and it’s been good to experience it first-hand again myself as I finalize all of the numerous details for this year’s Jeff Click Homes entry into the 2008 Central Oklahoma Home Builders Association Parade Of Homes, which kicks off September 13th and runs through the 21st.  This year’s parade entry will unveil the first rendition of what is quickly becoming my favorite plan: The Numbers Plan.

It’s not that this is a draining struggle, but rather a good exercise and challenge to push the envelope of what I do otherwise every day.  I try to make each Jeff Click Home something daringly different from the last, but the Parade Home is always something extra special, as thousands of people attend each year to see it, and I don’t want to let “the fans” down!

Over the coming weeks, I’ll share just a few of the details of what we have in store for you this year.  In the meantime, here are a few previews…

A shot of the front elevation of the now fully-framed Parade Home, based on The Numbers Plan.  The green wood is a new kind of weather-resistant sheathing we’re trying out.

A conceptual sketch of the main wall of the great room, with stone columns and back-lit glass panels above, centered fireplace with plasma television, and side niches with lower euro-style cabinets.

A modern, yet cozy breakfast nook with built-in bench seat in between stone columns.

]]> Project News 2008-05-25T22:39:00-06:00 http://www.jeffclickhomes.com/story/the-rock-star-model http://www.jeffclickhomes.com/story/the-rock-star-model#When:19:18:01Z A few weeks ago, my friends at Mason & Moon Advertising stopped by and turned our furnished model home in Silverhawk upside down.  They emptied out the living room, re-arranged the furniture, covered all the windows with black pastic, and brought in some of the coolest video gear and lighting I’ve seen and turned the breakfast area into a make-shift production studio.

Why?

To shoot a new commercial for the Thunderbird Casino.  Take a viewing of the commercial and watch the first part she’s sitting on the couch painting her nails.  Who knew a model home would need a booking agent?

The Thunderbird Casino Commercial Shot at the Jeff Click Homes Furnished Model Home

]]> Company News 2008-05-10T19:18:01-06:00 http://www.jeffclickhomes.com/story/its-time-for-some-remedy http://www.jeffclickhomes.com/story/its-time-for-some-remedy#When:13:44:01Z I think the Oklahoma City housing market has a fever.  Unfortunately, the cure ain’t ”more cowbell.” However, a good ol’ fashioned spoonful of truth would do the trick.

I’m one of those builders who likes to spend quite a bit of time in his furnished model home.  So much, in fact, I office there on weekdays, and then give my sales staff one weekend off a month so I can cover the model for the weekend.  I like keeping track of the vital signs of our market, and the best way to do that is to talk face to face with those out shopping for new homes.

Five...maybe even as recent as three years ago...I’d say the ratio of what we call “tire kickers” vs. true buyers in the market was maybe fifty-fifty on any given Saturday.  Now, I’d say I have the “best” traffic I’ve seen in my decade as a builder.  I say “best” because the ratio has changed dramatically to a majority of true buyers out looking.  That proves to me there is definite demand alive and kicking in the market for new homes. That’s the good side of it.

Where it gets challenging is that more recently in my conversations with these prospective buyers, I often hear comments like:

• “We’re definitely in the market to buy.  We’re just not sure it’s a good time right now.”
• “I have a great job, I have good credit, and can afford a payment.  I’m just hearing it’s tough to get a loan right now.”
• “We’re ready to make the move, but we have a house to sell first, and we hear it’s tough to sell right now and not lose money.”

I’m reminded of the old notion that if you hear something enough, it will become true, even if it’s really false.  I’m certain that’s what’s happening here.  We’re on the verge of experiencing a self-fulfilling prophecy.

You see, we’re in an age of new media.  No longer is the local tv news or the community paper our only source of information.  No longer is news delivered...or perhaps it’s more that it’s no longer consumed...in full stories.  It’s headlines and first-paragraphs.  Consumers don’t have the time or attention span to dig deep into the facts and think critically about what they’re consuming.  It’s understandable.  Heck, I’m even that way.  Where that becomes dangerous is when it begins to shape our outlook on something, thus creating an alternative reality by which we form our opinions, build our world-view, and make life-affecting decisions upon.  But hey, I’m just a builder, not a philosopher.

When it comes to the Oklahoma City Metro housing market, it seems people are reading the headlines of stories whose facts and projections are based on numbers and statistics from the major “bubble markets,” which are now correcting in a big way, and just assuming that it all holds true here.  In a sense, it’s a “Real Estate Market Hypochondria,” as I call it.  Combine that with the all the stories of foreclosures due to sub-prime loans and ARM resets, and now we’ve definitely got a virus afoot. 

There is where the fever is setting in. 

It’s time for some remedy, friends, and a good, healthy dose of the facts is just what the doctor ordered.  Don’t let the national media scare you out of the smartest move you can make. 

I hope you’ll take two of these and call me in the morning.

---

Note:This post was originally written for and published on the COHBA ”Defy The Trends” blog.

Jeff Click a builder and owner of Jeff Click Homes, L.L.C. He currently serves as the First Vice President of COHBA, and will serve as President in 2009. He appears in the ”Timing” video for DefyTheTrends.com.

]]> Local Market 2008-04-18T13:44:01-06:00 http://www.jeffclickhomes.com/story/cohba-launches-defythetrendscom1 http://www.jeffclickhomes.com/story/cohba-launches-defythetrendscom1#When:15:42:00Z With all the negative hype in the media about housing values falling around the country, it’s no wonder many are skeptical about whether or not now is a good time to buy a new home.

The fact is, in Oklahoma, the timing to buy a new home really has never been better. The Oklahoma City Metro is among the few markets in the country still enjoying consistent gains in home values, and mortgage rates are at near all time lows. Combine those factors with our strong job growth, a strong local economy, and low cost of living, and it’s obvious that Oklahoma City is defying the national trends.

Know the FACTS about the OKC housing market.  Visit http://www.DefyTheTrends.com!

The Central Oklahoma Home Builders Association wants you to know that the bad news about housing doesn’t hold true to Oklahoma. Don’t let the national media scare you out of the smartest move you can make.

As acting 1st Vice President of COHBA, and officer responsible for the campaign, I’m pleased to announce the launch of this special campaign to help spread the good news about the Oklahoma City Metro Area housing market.  I’ll be posting more on this campaign over the coming weeks, but in the meantime, be sure to check out the DefyTheTrends.com site!

You can also join the cause and view our new COHBA profile on Facebook, along with our new COHBA channel on YouTube.

]]> Event News 2008-04-17T15:42:00-06:00