NZCB Builders Travel to USA and Learn the Value of Presentation

First impressions usually take over your thoughts when you look at a home; before considering location, value for money and return on investment. In January, a team of New Zealand Certified Builders (NZCB) members completed two days of spec home tours in Las Vegas and Los Angeles. We were impressed by how good the Americans are at home staging and marketing. They have a knack for giving that instant feeling of walking into ‘a home’, versus just walking through another spec house.

The exterior appearance of the new home builds weren’t necessarily pleasing to the eye (see photo of our members standing outside an LA development, right). The location of some of the developments also raised some eyebrows, but they definitely made up for it on the interior presentation. Every show home had a different style and character to appeal to a variety of tastes. But the thing that stood out was their ability to make each room appeal to their target audience. Each show home had a definitive target audience in mind. If it was a family home, the master suites were always opulent, while children’s bedrooms were fun – always one that appealed to young boys and one for the girls and both filled with toys. If the show home was targeted towards single first home buyers, then the feel was very modern/on-trend but also tugged at all the heart strings and had all the gadgets that any millennial would die for.

NZCB Members Nick Farrelly, Richard Poff, Greg Poole and Andy McRae in front of one of the poorly finished LA new home builds.

The level of detail for researching the target audience was also taken very seriously. For example – pet owners. One show home had its own walk-in doghouse in the master suite because they know that dog owners love to keep their pets close. Giving them the ability to have their own room within the master suite was one detail I’ve never encountered before.

The main lesson we learnt was research! If you are selling off plans and have the ability to stage your show homes, then the more effort and attention to detail your presentation can provide, the easier it is going to be to sell. The same applies to marketing material – each development had a theme and its own identity to help sell the story as to why you needed to live there.

Mike Craig, Mike Craig Builders Limited and NZCB Board Vice Chairperson What did you enjoy the most about the 2-Day tour at the International Builders Show (IBS)? The scale and diverse quantity of products on display and finding products that would suit my business. The different building styles to New Zealand.

What learnings from the IBS were you able to take back to your team in NZ? Just how big the market is compared to ours and the price difference, with product being cheaper in most cases. Not a lot of high-end product. What did you enjoy the most about the group home tours from Pardee Homes in Las Vegas and Tri-Point Homes in Los Angeles? It was really nice of these guys to take time out of their day to show us around and I enjoyed their engagement with us. Also learning from their building styles. What learnings from the group home tours were you able to take back to your team in NZ? That scale has worked to their advantage, workmanship is not a priority and dressing their show-homes takes your eye from their workmanship. Their margins are much higher than ours.

Q&A from our NZCB Members

North Island

South Island

Andy McRae, The Builders.co.nz Limited and NZCB President Central Otago What did you enjoy the most about the 2-Day tour at the International Builders Show (IBS)? Checking out the products available in that market and seeing if any were transferable to our own. The international lounge was nice too, just to have a space to chill out.

What learnings from the IBS were you able to take back to your team in NZ? That although our market is tiny, we are not that disadvantaged. We have similar products and, in some cases, more innovative products. IBS was mind blowing just by the sheer scale of it all. What did you enjoy the most about the group home tours from Pardee Homes in Las Vegas and Tri-Point Homes in Los Angeles? It was interesting to see the sales side of “home providers” and how they retail their product. The lack of attention to detail in all of their products was disappointing, but they are meeting their market. NZ design and construction methods are much more stringent! What learnings from the group home tours were you able to take back to your team in NZ? I think we all could think bigger-picture and try and get some economies of scale. Our market however, is very volatile and it would take significant mental and financial investment to make that work. Also, our compliance costs aren’t making it easy to keep housing affordable. I mean, they build a three-storey house without any scaffolding, except for a week for rendering!