© 2007 Door & Access Systems
Publish Date: Fall 2007
Author: Tom Wadsworth
Pages 40-42

NEW NUMBERS
For the Garage Door Industry

Energy Tax Credits
50% of U.S. homeowners are aware of the energy tax credit. (Taxpayers who make energy-saving home improvements, such as installing qualified insulated garage doors, are eligible for up to $500 in tax credits in tax years 2006 and 2007.)
Source: Jeld-Wen Perfect Home Survey, conducted October 2006, released April 2007

43% of U.S. homeowners will either definitely or probably undertake projects to take advantage of the tax break before it ends on Dec. 31, 2007.
Source: Jeld-Wen Perfect Home Survey, 2007
Editor’s Note: You have until Dec. 31, 2007, to take advantage of this government-supported incentive for consumers to buy qualified garage doors. Consumers are aware of the tax credit. Are you?

Garage Door Adds Curb Appeal
70% of U.S. homeowners feel a new garage door definitely or probably adds value to overall curb appeal.
Source: Jeld-Wen Perfect Home Survey, 2007
Editor’s Note: “Curb appeal” should be the two most-used words in your sales pitches.

The New Front Door
42% of men and 41% of women say the garage door is the exterior door they use the most when entering the home. The front door was a close second.
Source: Jeld-Wen Perfect Home Survey, 2007
Editor’s Note: This statistic should spur sales of garage door openers, exterior keypads, and battery backups.

Reducing Noise
49% say their home is not quiet and would benefit from sound-reducing products.
Source: Jeld-Wen Perfect Home Survey, 2007
Editor’s Note: Here’s another good reason for an insulated garage door.

Men and Garage Doors
2x More than twice as many men as women say they are planning to change the garage door in the next 12 months.
Source: Jeld-Wen Perfect Home Survey, 2007
Editor’s Note: Hmm. I’ve often heard that women tend to drive the garage door decision. Perhaps more men PLAN to do it, but women get the job done.

Most Important Attribute of a Garage Door
45% of U.S. homeowners said durability is the most important attribute of a garage door.
Source: Jeld-Wen Perfect Home Survey, 2007
Editor’s Note: Remember this statistic the next time you recommend that a customer buy your cheapest door.

Three-Car Garages
19% of new one-family houses completed in 2006 had a three-car-or-more garage (1992: 11%; 2005: 20%).
Source: U.S. Census, Annual 2006 Characteristics of New Housing
Editor’s Note: This is the first drop in this annual statistic. Strange, because square footage continues to increase.

Three-Car Garages: Midwest
29% of new homes built in 2006 in the Midwest had a three-car-or-more garage (1992: 16%; 2005: 32%).
Source: U.S. Census, Annual 2006 Characteristics of New Housing
Editor’s Note: This is also the first drop, and a big one.

Three-Car Garages: West
32% of new homes built in 2006 in the West had a three-car-or-more garage (1992: 20%; 2005: 33%).
Source: U.S. Census, Annual 2006 Characteristics of New Housing
Editor’s Note: Door dealers in the South, where only 10% of 2006 homes had 3+-car garages, should be jealous.

Owner-Built Homes
24% of all owner-built homes in 2006 had a three-car-or-more garage (1992: 11%; 2005: 22%) (Owner-built houses are built for owner occupancy on the owner’s land with the owner acting as the general contractor.)
Source: U.S. Census, Annual 2006 Characteristics of New Housing
Editor’s Note: When the contractor has a vested interest in the home, three-car garages are more common.

Two-Car Garages
64% of new one-family houses completed in 2006 had a two-car garage (1971: 19%; 1981: 53%; 2005: 64%).
Source: U.S. Census, Annual 2006 Characteristics of New Housing
Editor’s Note: This statistic has been remarkably stable for 15 years.

313,000 of all new one-family houses completed in 2006 had a three-car-or-more garage (1992: 102,000; 2005: 331,000).
Source: U.S. Census, Annual 2006 Characteristics of New Housing
Editor’s Note: This number, though down from 2005, equates to about one million one-car doors. Don’t you love three-car garages?

Complaints Against Garage Door Companies
778 complaints were filed against “overhead garage door” companies in 2006 to the Better Business Bureau (2001: 348; 2005: 768). “Cellular telephone service and supplies” received 28,791 complaints.
Source: The Council of Better Business Bureaus, 2007
Editor’s Note: Since the Internet is making complaint filing easier, this slight increase is not bad news.

Complaint Ranking
#207 In 2006, BBB complaints for the “overhead garage doors” category ranked #207 out of 2,900 business categories (2001: #231; 2005: #197). “Cellular telephone service and supplies” ranked #1.
Source: The Council of Better Business Bureaus, 2007
Editor’s Note: Our ranking is dropping. That’s good news. But we still have a way to go.

Report Requests
104,377 company reports were requested from the BBB about “overhead garage door” companies in 2006 (2001: 18,915; 2005: 76,630). Mortgage brokers received 1,346,130 report requests.
Source: The Council of Better Business Bureaus, 2007
Editor’s Note: This is a huge jump from 2005. I attribute the jump to (1) increasing media exposure to garage door repair scams and (2) increased use of the Internet to request these reports.

Report Ranking
#94 In 2006, BBB report requests for the “overhead garage doors” category ranked #94 out of 3,600 categories (2001: #143; 2005: #112). Mortgage brokers ranked #1.
Source: The Council of Better Business Bureaus, 2007
Editor’s Note: More report requests can mean that (1) more consumers are investigating garage door companies and (2) more rip-offs are being prevented.