Brick. It’s timeless, durable, and undeniably charming. I get it—there’s something about a brick home that evokes tradition and permanence. But let me ask you this: is that charm worth the hidden costs? After years in the construction industry, I’ve come to realize that brick is one of the most overrated materials we use. It’s costly, inefficient, and outdated—and yet, we cling to it like it’s the holy grail of homebuilding.

Let's talk money. Not just the sticker price you see on a new home, but the real, often hidden costs that make housing increasingly unaffordable. As someone who's spent nearly a decade dissecting construction budgets and challenging industry norms, I can tell you this: the economics of housing are fundamentally broken. But to fix it, we first need to understand it.

For centuries, construction has been shackled to methods designed for a world without machinery, without climate crises, and without a global housing shortage. Let’s dissect how we got here—and why clinging to tradition is costing us our future.

The housing market is broken. Everywhere you look, skyrocketing prices are pushing homeownership further out of reach for millions. Families are struggling to afford homes, developers are grappling with rising costs, and skilled labor shortages are threatening to grind the industry to a halt. Yet, despite these glaring issues, we continue to rely on methods that were designed for a different era—methods that are slow, inefficient, and increasingly unsustainable.

I never much liked being told to accept the status quo. When I launched Haüsa Homes (https://hausa.homes), I did so because I was tired of seeing people sink into mountains of debt for houses that often lacked real durability or modern efficiency. I wanted to prove we could challenge the old ways and create a home truly built for today—one that’s faster, more cost-effective, and more resilient.