Finding construction financing in the economic desert

One of the biggest challenges facing new homebuilders isn’t finding new homebuyers—it’s pulling the funding together to secure land and build new homes. And even if you have stellar credit and an extensive portfolio of experience, there’s still no guarantee you will be able to find the necessary funding to start new projects.

Each year BUILDERnews reads through piles of press releases, writes about hundreds of new products and materials, and interviews builders on what they are using on the jobsite. Based on criteria that include product durability, inventiveness, energy efficiency and innovation in the building industry, we’ve chosen our favorite top three products in eleven categories. Products chosen didn’t necessarily have to be new, either. In fact, we chose a couple of old favorites that we liked and that builders continued to use again and again on the jobsite.