Welcome to our valuable Housing Industry Report:

“The 10 Things You Must Know BEFORE You Buy A New Home”

This information has been provided to you free of charge by Heart Of Texas Housing in Temple, TX.

We’ve done our best to make this report not only value-packed and helpful, but also quick and easy to read, learn from and USE! The simple fact is that there has been a ‘silent revolution’ going on in the housing industry for the past several years. The ‘new options’ that have been created aren’t as widely known as they could be. The result: too many home-buyers are spending too much money for too little. This info will put YOU on top of the game! So let’s get right to it!

1. What are the available construction methods?

Up to a few years ago, there were really two main types– Mobile Homes and Site-Built Homes (or ‘stick-built’ as they’re often called). Mobile homes were generally cheap, substandard homes, but they offered a great alternative for people who couldn’t afford to build a site-built home.
Over the past two decades, the quality of Mobile Homes skyrocketed as some of the more progressive companies realized the advantages they had over the site-builders. For example, they were buying huge quantities of materials, building in climate-controlled facilities and building units in ‘jigs’ with the ability to actually build at higher specs and higher uniformity! This led to Mobile Homes ‘branching up’ into Manufactured Homes, Modular Homes … and the quality and innovation continued upwards over the following years. This eventually led to the housing breakthrough known as ‘System-Built Construction’. System-Built Construction is a marriage of the BEST elements of site-built and factory-built elements. The simple fact is that System-Built Homes are superior to all other options for several reasons that will become apparent as we go through this report!

2. What are the prime considerations you need to take into consideration when having YOUR home built?

A. Quality – (There are many elements to this consideration.)
B. Time from ‘idea’ to ‘move in’
C. The potential ‘headache’ or ‘nightmare’ factor
D. Hidden Problems (These are not apparent until years after the home is built.)
E. Price
F. The COMPANY you are dealing with
G. Durability/Warranty We’ll be looking more closely at each of these as we go through the report.

3. Why doesn’t everybody know about the superiority of System-Built Homes?

Like so many purchases, there can be quite a bit of ‘vanity’ involved in the purchase, and that’sperfectly OK. A great example is the fact that as auto-maker competition increases -along with technical advancements, smaller, ‘cheaper’ car companies are more able to compete with the quality of the Cadillac’s, Mercedes, and other luxury brands.
These ‘cheaper’ car makers are delivering –in some cases- the same or better quality for much less, but because of the ‘vanity factor’, people will pay 2-5 times MORE for the same thing to have the ‘prestige logo’ on the front of the car! This is just as true with the housing industry. As a result, the System-Built Industry has been ‘in the shadows’ of the Site-Built industry, (and that has been just fine with the Site-Builders!). The very simple fact has been that the majority of the public has not been made aware of the fact that System-Built Homes are actually superior in many ways to Site-Built Homes! And now, the word is getting out!

4. What are the prime ‘quality factors’ you need to consider to make sure you are getting the BEST home- regardless of construction method used?

A. The construction materials, starting with the wood!
B. The construction location. As an example: A home built indoors, in climate, temperature and humidity-controlled conditions is obviously a far-superior choice as opposed to one built in the weather!
C. The processes and systems used in the manufacture of the home. Anything that creates a tighter fit, or more precise fastening, is going to raise the durability of the home- and your ENJOYMENT of the home!

5. Why does the ‘Construction Location’ matter so much?

As we touched on a moment ago, with traditional home construction, your building materials lay in the wind, rain and fluctuation of humidity/mist/dew, etc. –often for WEEKS- while your home is being constructed!
This is obviously a problem, but prior to the System-Built option, you were stuck with this. With System-Built Construction, your home is built in totally temperature AND humidity controlled conditions. As the builders’ say, “Your wood doesn’t warp!” That’s a BIG deal, especially years down the road… Do you want to live in a home where the wood is rotting behind the sheetrock?

6. What are the prime ‘materials differences’ between construction methods?

As just one example, exterior walls built with 2x6s are obviously better than those built with 2x4s, but the quality of the wood is a factor as well! So, whereas a site-builder might only offer 2x4 exterior walls, some System-Builders offer only 2x6 exterior walls. The cost advantages of building in volume indoors with precision equipment allows System-Built Builders to deliver HIGHER specs for LOWER prices.

7. What are the ‘nightmare’ factors you talked about?

Traditional Site-Built Homes come with a LOT of ‘gotcha’s’ that aren’t anybody’s fault, but are there nonetheless. They are just the nature of the beast! When you build in the weather, you are at the mercy of….. the weather! A few days of rain can throw the entire building/inspection cycle into disaster!
Multiply this times the fact that there are potentially SEVERAL contractor teams (plumbing, electrical, exterior-interior construction, roofers….etc.) having to coordinate over time to get the home built! If one key person on a team is sick for a few days, their team might not be available for the key days in the process that their work is the ‘sticking point’. Just ask 3 friends who have had a home built on-site, and you’ll find at least ONE such horror story! System-built construction eliminates 100% of these nightmares, and cuts the time from idea-to move-in down to a fraction of the time associated with Site-Built construction!

8. Why can one home with identical specs as another cost as much as 100% more…

This is a more slippery question!
As we’ve stated, vanity can be a BIG factor.
Some builders have done a GREAT job at creating the ‘perception’ of quality – good marketing and expensive advertising that makes them appear to be building a superior home. Often, these builders are doing exactly what everybody in their market is doing, but the perception in the public mind gives them the ability to charge MUCH more for the same thing. The biggest factor is the lack of real education available to the home-buying public. Prior to this report, you were pretty much stuck either believing (or NOT believing) what your builder told you!
Fortunately, more and more people are becoming aware that many site-builders build homes using IDENTICAL materials, but then simply market their homes as ‘different’ or ‘better’. Now, getting closer to the heart of the question, why can a Site-Built Home and a System-Built Home both be built with identical materials but sell for dramatically different cost-per-square foot?
Well, let’s put what we know together:
A site-builder has 10-times more potential nightmares to deal with…they build in unprotected places where they are at the mercy of the weather and contractor teams… and they have to deal with the realities of building out-of-doors. It quite simply costs them more to build, and they have to build in some ‘cushion’ for the risks they are up against!
System-Builders build in climate-controlled conditions in factory settings with much higher uniformity and precision – FREE of the ‘potential monkey-wrenches’ that site-Builders MUST deal with. This, combined with their massive purchasing power, and the far-fewer ‘unknowns’ allows them to build and sell the same or better quality for much less money. It’s that simple!

9. I know that the company I’m dealing with is important, but how can I KNOW that I’m dealing with the right people?

This is a HUGE issue! Fortunately, it’s easy to know if you are dealing with the right people!
1. You’ll know by the way you feel when you are in their presence. Visit with them and ask them the toughest questions you can think of. If you like the way they answer THOSE questions, you’ll probably enjoy dealing with them ‘down the road’.
2. You’ll know by the fact that they proudly display testimonials and photos of their work around their offices and on their website. The ‘right people’ for you to deal with LOVE providing quality homes for the clients – and we only represent these types of builders!
3. You’ll know by the fact that they have great numbers of people who say GREAT things about them.

10. How can I learn about the REAL advantages of System-Built construction so I can make the most educated decision possible?

This is the easiest one of all! We will give you a call, and set up a FREE, no-obligation tour of our homes. You’ll see, first-hand, the real, measurable differences of System-Built construction. You’ll be able to go‘hands-on’ and see the construction differences, the quality superiority and the precision craftsmanship that is ONLY available with this state-of-the-art construction. You’ll experience a relaxed, enjoyable tour of System-Built Homes in an absolutely ‘pressure-free’ learning environment.

We hope that this report has served you and we look forward to the opportunity to provide you with whatever information you need during your home buying experience.