You're welcome! I'm used to writing long replies, so I think nothing of it
It's really tough to convey quality to buyers. I mean, every builder or seller is going to claim that their house is top quality and has no problems - which is usually a lie - but what builder is going to come out and say, "yeah, we really rushed and skimped and cut corners and you're probably going to have problems after you buy this house!" right?
Pretty much everything that has to do with quality is hidden behind the walls, so it's really tough to get that message across to buyers. They see the lipstick and mascara, not the bones and guts. One thing that might go a long way is if you take lots of pictures or video during the build. SHOW them exactly how the internals of their house is built so that they have a better understanding of all the stuff that they CAN'T see. A great finish is one thing, but a great foundation, structure, plumbing, electrical, HVAC, insulation - people can't see it, they aren't knowledgeable about it and it only crosses their mind when there's a problem! But no one's going to tell them they're going to have a problem. So if you build a house that doesn't have big problems, that's great! They're happy. But it's also simply what they expected, so you unfortunately don't get all the credit that you truly deserve.
People always say that if a builder goes above minimum code and builds a really solid house that doesn't have problems right away or after just a few years - they always say they'd be willing to pay more for that. Sorry, but that's just a big fat lie. They're only willing to pay more AFTER they've bought a house that has problems - especially those 3-5 year problems that crop up in a house that looks really nice, but the masonry guys rushed so now all the mortar is cracking and they're getting leaks, or all the super cheap caulking is going brittle, so they're getting drafts and leaks, or the crappy, rushed plumbing job starts to go, or the nails in the drywall start popping - all that kind of crap, which I'm sure you know all about!
So people always say they'll pay more for a well-built home that doesn't have these common and terrible problems that wind up costing tens if not hundreds of thousands to fix. But until they buy a house with those problems, it just isn't true. It's like everything else - people just want the lowest price. And they want to buy a bigger house than they can actually afford. I mean, why is it that so many builders build low quality, rushed, corners-cut houses? It's because they sell, turn a bigger profit, and the buyers get stuck with all the problems and builds because the legal system pretty much does nothing to punish these guys or help the home buyer. And honestly, if you bought a crappy quality house from one of these builders, do you really want THEM to be the ones to come back in and "fix" all the problems that they built in the first place? 'Cause that's the courts only solution, which is, of course, ridiculous.
Anyways, because of that, I'd say your ideal buyer would be a second time home buyer, not a first. First time home buyers are, apparently, the stupidest people on Earth. They're making what is easily most people's largest purchase in life, and they do pretty much nothing to educate themselves. You can make them super happy. You give them the lipstick and mascara that catches their eye and is the only way to get them to pay more. Then you actually do build a quality house that doesn't break on them within 5 years and they're super happy! But they weren't paying extra for that build quality. They were only paying extra for the shiny stuff that they could see.
It's a second time home buyer who's going to appreciate the bones of the house more than the finish. So if you're coming at this with the idea of building high quality, you have to go after buyers who are going to appreciate that. And it's only after they've gone through a nightmare that they realize it's worth a couple hours of their time to learn a little something about home construction and learn that the big crack in the foundation that the $500 "home inspector" told them was "no big deal, just fill it with caulk" is actually a VERY big deal that's going to cost them tens of thousands - or that their beloved granite countertop counts for nothing when all the plumbing in the house leaks, or that their pretty peaked roof with no visible roof vents for some reason is NOT a good thing when their entire attic turns into black mould! It's only after they've gone through the nightmare that they start to realize that what you see counts for pretty much nothing. Any experienced home buyer would much rather buy a house that needs everything they can see replaced but has great structure and guts, rather than the house that looks pretty, but is broken, or going to break, underneath.
So it sounds like you want to build houses that really "have it all". They look great for all the surfaces you can see - maybe have a few "extras" to get the newbie home buyers to go "ooh", AND have great structure and guts underneath to KEEP them happy well into the future! That's awesome. That's the way houses SHOULD be built. That's what first time home buyers are stupidly expecting. But there's a reason why so many new homes are rushed and built to low standards, and it's because that's how they manage to profit.
So your challenge is going to be all about conveying and educating your buyers as to why they should pay a bit more than the bigger, cheaper house down the street that looks almost as nice as the one you built. The easy way is with the stupid stuff - "granite" countertops, high end fixtures, brands they recognize - all the stuff that really doesn't matter but makes them THINK everything in the house is an upgrade. The other, much harder way, is to document and show them the stuff they can't see, and explain to them why it's worth a few extra dollars. If you go after experienced buyers, they'll appreciate that stuff. First time home buyers will go, "oh, that's nice. Ooh, look at that faucet!"
Anywho, that CeasarStone stuff - that might just be the brand name up here in Canada where I live. It's compressed Quartz is all. I'm sure there's an equivalent in the US if it's not under the same brand name. You can literally make it look like anything, so you're only limited by imagination and budget. One other cool thing are finished concrete floors. Again, you can make it look like anything these days. And on the outside of the house, there's jewel stone, which is that polymer cement finish that, again, you can make look like absolutely anything. I love the man made stuff because, if it's done right, it's flawless, requires almost no upkeep and last forever! But again, there's a reason why this stuff is always made to LOOK like something else - something people are used to. It performs the way people imagine their house is going to perform (how many people actually do the recommended maintainence on ANYTHING in their house, right?), but it's much better materials that allow them to be lazy and ignorant.
I don't envy a home builder. People expect the moon, but they never want to pay extra for it. That said, builders OUGHT to make their houses at least up to code and preferably better than minimum code and use products that perform the way people WANT their house to perform. Builders should do that and charge what they need to to make it worth while. But I also see the problem for the builder, which is that it they do that, they'll be stuck with higher priced houses that only educated people buy - and Lord knows, there aren't very many of them!
So it's a tough balancing act for you, I'm afraid. You're basically building your brand - it doesn't sound like you're a giant company with 50 years of history or something
The good news is that if you build high quality homes that are trouble free, made of high quality materials that last the way they're supposed to, and you make your buyers happy because of that, you'll reap the benefits a few years down the road when your customers speak highly of your product and remark about how they haven't had any of the problems that all of their friends had with their homes! But it's an investment on your part. People aren't going to know your quality and workmanship for a number of years.
So the best thing, I think, is to SHOW them what you've done and what you've put into your houses. Take a ton of pictures as you build. Shoot video, and use those videos to explain the products and workmanship that you're using. People do want a builder who cares and they do want a well-built house. But you have to hold their hand and educate them along the way, 'cause most of them don't know sh-- from shinola, and they'll only pay for what they can see while they assume that everything underneath is fine.
I do want to encourage you to go through with this though! I know it sounds like I'm giving you all the reasons to quit before you start
But we NEED people like you to make better houses! People who care and make houses the way they ought to be made. There's a pay day in doing it right for sure! But you do need to expect that your pay day is a number of years down the road. It takes time for people to realize value. Especially when it isn't shiny and right on the surface for them to see!
