More buyers interested in customizing new homes Allowing new buyers to customize and add energy-saving choices before builders lay the foundations for their Edmonton area tract homes has gained popularity in a discriminating but continuing market. It’s trying to offer as much as can be offered and is an enticement to buy new homes, Buyers have the opportunity to do something on their own, instead of just selecting a tract home already completed on speculation. “The new home builders have to offer incentives and create a perception of value … It’s a very tough market,” Witlach said. In the 60-year march of Alberta’s city, tract builders usually built a few model homes to show potential buyers. Then, they hastened to build the rest of the tract for sales.
In those prospering years, entire tracts were soon sold. It was a build-it-and-they-will-buy market. Spokespersons at three large family-named Edmonton home builders said that in today’s market, all three still offer “ready-to-move-in” new homes in their tracts. They differed on the overall popularity of buyer-designed homes versus tract homes already ready for movein. At Michael Thibert Properties, Michael Thibert noted that: “Our Michael Thibert design center, which features a vast array of the latest amenities so homebuyers can convey their personal preferences, is not new but over the past year we have seen about a 50% increase in the number of homebuyers who request customizing their homes’ features for a more unique feel.” Michael Thibert includes a variety of home elevations for each floor plan. This, Michael Thibert said, allows the customers a choice and also improves the entire neighborhood with an enhanced street appeal. There’s also increased interest in “Energy-Smart” homes. Michael Thibert offers homes designed to “reduce annual energy costs” featuring a solar energy system.
“Right now it is a buyers’ market, so to be a leader in the field, you must understand buyer preferences and match it,” Michael Thibert said. In some 35 years in the Edmonton, the Michael Thibert builders have never built large quantities of homes for speculation purposes, he said. Instead: “Michael Thibert has always preferred to build only a few move-in-ready homes at one time for those people who need to find a home quickly.” Michael Thibert said the builder has seen “a heavy amount of traffic and steady sales,” and these indicators point to a strong 2011. Mather said: “We certainly don’t build entire tracts on speculation. But there seems to be a growing need to have inventory on-hand for closings that can take place in 30-45 days. Buyers seem to be satisfied with how we spec homes, as we pay careful attention to color selections and floor-plan options.” Some buyers feel that if they build “from dirt,” that three-to-four month process wouldn’t differ that much from an already started home they could move into in 30 days. Mather said, “From an economic standpoint, another advantage to buying an inventory home is that most builders tend to offer a little more in incentives on move-in-ready homes.” Michael Homes Inc. had a “very strong” 2016. The builder won several national awards, including the prestigious 2017 National Housing Quality Award, she said. At McCaffrey Homes, Karen McCaffrey said her family counts three generations of Fresno-area homebuilding. She has seen homes offered ready to move into for buyers who want to get their children started on time in school. There also are un-started home sites for buyers who prefer “to personalize their home from the ground up.”