Risk-taking has to be one of the most unsettling aspects of offering any new product. Whether it's a decision to locate a fast food restaurant on a certain corner, what time of year to introduce a new model of computer, or how much to charge initially for a new service, it's never easy.

Business marketing types and CEOs sweat bullets over location, timing and pricing, hoping to get all of the most cutting edge information at their fingertips to lessen their risk. Builders of new homes are no different, gathering as much information as possible on the best areas to build, what product will sell there, and at what price to begin offering it. They rely on expert data gatherers to provide them with the latest information on demographics, population movements, employment base shifts, and average incomes, along with what buyers may want in a new home.

One of the largest such firms is The Meyers Group, founded in 1985 by Jeffrey S. Meyers, who recognized the vital need for more complete, accurate and up-to-date information in the Southern California residential home building industry. The first Meyers Group office began in a Del Mar, California garage, and the firm has expanded 40 offices throughout the country, delivering local data products via a single universal platform. This platform was adopted to ensure delivery of the most accurate and timely residential real estate information by way of using research analysts for on-site data gathering techniques. According to company claims, the information provided by this method provides 90-95% accuracy.

In an industry known to resist change in general, the data supplied by firms such as this help builders and developers make multi-million dollar decisions for change and innovation in the new home market place. Today, builders can view a wealth of information directly from their desktops, including in-depth sales information, color photographs of project homes and floor plans, as well as detailed geographic information indicating where current developments exist. CD-ROMs and software can now replace the pendulous books builders kept on shelves, referred to as their "bibles" when deciding on new products and areas. In the near future, Meyers will move beyond CD-ROM-based products and allow clients to access new home data by simply logging on to the Internet visiting the Meyers Group web site, a move that will revolutionize data access for builder/developers.

A look into a Meyers Group book reveals page after page of detailed information of every new home community that exists in a given geographic area. It identifies the builder, project, unit count, price per square foot for each home offered, configuration of each plan (single level or 2-story) and the prices the builder offers to the buying public. Extra notes include incentives being offered, community amenities, and type of home construction. No stone is left unturned; enabling any builder to assess other builders' products and sales trends, and compare or plan for his own, based on the information he takes into account. Sometimes it is the latest round of quarterly information supplied by firms like the Meyers Group that show trends in the marketplace, hitting the front pages of business and real estate newspaper sections nationwide.

Meyers also monitors rivalry between "hot" markets in the United States, evidenced by their "In-Box" publication, which comes out quarterly. They have created what is called their "Investor Hotness Index", designed to help builders and investors monitor supply and demand conditions in each market. They contends that employment growth is the most important determinant of housing demand, and building permits are the best measure of supply. When these ratios are out of skew, investors may use this information to act accordingly.

Entering a model home complex for the first time finds many buyers mesmerized by the elegance, newness, designer-like beauty and thrill of new home presentation. Little do many of us realize what pain-staking research and risk-taking decisions went into the end product we delight in strolling through. Market research has become more and more sophisticated, and new home builders are willing to pay whatever they must to get the latest information to help them lessen their risk.

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