Building Trends

More Stories

As some builders sit on the sidelines hoping for brighter days in new home sales, others are enjoying excellent traffic and sales success with creative product offerings and marketing. Even those with existing inventory that is not easily selling are finding ways to keep cash flowing by bringing new product to the market that takes advantage of reduced costs for land, labor and materials. Some examples include:
 
Neal Communities – Forest Creek
Having opened the development in 2006 and experiencing slower than ideal sales with larger home plans, builder Patrick Neal took an unusual approach and introduced the Cottage Series – a collection of small, cleverly designed homes with pricing starting in the low $120’s. Opening weekend, 1,100 people toured the models and eight sales were made. In the following three weeks, an additional 25 homes were sold. More than a hundred have been sold to date.
 
Neal tapped into a strong market of renters who recognized this as a unique opportunity to get started in homeownership. Three cottage designs ranged from 1200 to 1648 square feet, and offered beautifully designed exteriors with practical, cost effective floor plans. For more info, visit: www.nealcommunities.com.
 
Hubbell Homes – Glynn Village
Rick Tollakson, president and CEO of West Des Moines, Iowa–based Hubbell Homes had not ventured into green building, but learned that designing a conservation community would speed up the permit and approval process. The result of his effort in this direction is now selling as Glynn Village in Waukee, IA.
The community consists of Brownstones of 1,627 to 1,832 square feet priced from $157,900 and single-family homes of 1,656 to 2,255 square feet priced from $199,900.
 
The community enjoyed excellent publicity due to the green design features, generating roughly 50 sales in the first 12 months. For more info, visit: www.hubbellhomes.com.
 
Garbett Homes – Summerlane at The District
Builder Bryson Garbett has long specialized in smaller, more efficiently designed homes. Summerlane at the District in South Jordon, UT is one of his latest creations and uses his expertise to excellent effect. The project opened in mid 2006 and has enjoyed more than 70 sales through September ’08. When completed, the community will consist of a total of 276 townhomes and 182 stacked flats. A number of the units are also designed as live/work units.
 
Summerlane offers a selection of ten designs, some with two-car garages and features community amenities such as a clubhouse, pool and exercise facility. Pricing starts at $139,900 for units ranging from 899 to 1775 square feet.
 
For more information, visit: www.garbetthomes.com.