The Novi Nice List recognizes builders who set the standard for buyer communication and engagement. This blog breaks down the full set of rules, deadlines, and judging criteria so your team knows exactly what to submit and how to stand out. If you’re planning to apply, read this first.

Builders spend millions every year perfecting their brand. The logo, the model homes, the messaging, the marketing..it’s all designed to tell a consistent story. But when it comes to how buyers actually experience that brand, it often falls apart.

Builders are investing in more technology than ever before. CRMs. ERPs. Scheduling platforms. Warranty tools. On paper, it looks like a modern tech stack. In reality, those tools often live in their own silos.

CRM and ERP systems were built for internal efficiency. They keep your teams organized, but they were never designed to engage buyers. Buyers aren’t logging into your CRMs and they couldn't care less about your data workflows. What they care about is feeling important while they’re browsing, and feeling confident that their home is being built exactly as promised after buying.

Printed materials are outdated the moment they’re handed out. Prices change. Incentives shift. Specs get updated. And suddenly your marketing team is reprinting another stack that will live in the model home storage closet until someone throws it away.

Last week we called out the ROI Lie: the idea that only trackable dollars matter. We challenged builders to look beyond spreadsheets and think about the hidden ROI of buyers who feel heard, supers who aren’t buried in calls, and teams free to actually sell.

Every fall, budget season brings the same conversations. Spreadsheets fill up with line items. Departments make their case. And someone always asks the question that feels like the ultimate test.

At NoviHome, we’re always looking for ways to help builders and sales teams work smarter, close faster, and create an unforgettable homebuying experience. That’s why we’re thrilled to announce our newest AI-powered feature: Rilla, now fully integrated into your Novi App.

If I had a dollar for every time I heard that one, I could probably fund my own new community. It’s the safest objection in the book: it feels protective, it sounds reasonable, but in reality it’s one of the most expensive excuses in homebuilding today.

Every fall, builders sharpen their pencils and lock in the budgets that will shape the next year. Line items get debated down to the dollar. One of the biggest costs almost never shows up in the spreadsheet: the cost of poor communication.

VIP lists are one of the most powerful tools in new home marketing. You tease a new community, a clubhouse, a model grand opening. Buyers register. Interest builds. People want in.

Too often, the only image of a home is a rendering that never changes. Real photos don’t get posted until after professional shoots.. And progress updates? They’re either not approved for marketing or already out of date by the time they are.

 Your sales team’s time is too valuable to be wasted on copy-paste follow-up. And yet, most builders still treat follow-up like a to-do list: open a CRM, find the buyer, write a message, send it. Repeat. For every prospect. Every update. Every price drop.

Across the country, urgency is gone. Rates are high. Timelines are long. And buyers are stalling. But here’s the good news: urgency can be created.

Most builders are throwing out incentives like candy: rate buy downs, closing cost credits, free appliances. But if no one sees them, they don’t matter.

A buyer signs a contract. Then days or even weeks go by with little to no communication. They don’t know what stage their home is in or what’s supposed to happen next. Most won’t speak up right away. They wait, hoping someone will reach out first.

Buyers and agents don’t stay engaged by accident. They stay engaged when they’re reminded. When updates feel personal. When it’s easier to track your homes than to scroll a third-party site.

If you’re sitting on completed homes with no clear process to move them, you’re not alone. And you’re definitely not stuck. NoviHome’s Hometracker solves this exact problem by giving you a scalable, structured way to keep buyers and agents engaged with your inventory, without throwing your margins out the window.

With incentives available in up to 90% of new home projects in some regions, promotions are no longer optional, they're expected. NoviHome’s new Incentives feature gives builders a better way to manage them across projects, teams, and audiences.

Recommendations lets you tailor the experience that buyers have in your app. Salespeople can recommend floor plans, communities, and amenities that they know their leads will love.