Materials Selection By Clients

maj

You may be right, I just didn't read it that way the first time. Maybe he'll come back????

I usually don't offer to help in decisions like that, but feel like I should be available to assist in their decision if they need it. And most, around here, will ask the contractor before they'll ask some salesperson in a showroom.

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Mike Finley

There is no wrong or right way for this to happen, it only matters in regard to how the builder operates and where their profit motives are. Big builders make a chunk of their profits by upgrades. There is profit in the upgrade from carpet in the dining room to instead wanting hardwood in the dining room beyond just the difference in the extra cost of the hardwood. A builder with a design center controls the profits because they control the upgrades.

If you send the customer blindly around town to pick it out you lose some of the ability to profit from it. Around here there are places such as Prosource which is a flooring center where I have an account, the customers can be sent there and make selections and the prices they are quoted are pre-arranged through me and my account rep there. The mark-up over my cost can be any percentage you want basically.

If you lack your own design center I would think using vendors typical of Prosource would be your next best thing. Around here there are lots of show rooms operating this way.

Dave-Raleigh

As the builder you have to cultivate a list of suppliers that will work wth you.

Tract builders have their own showrooms for kitchen/bath and usually lighting. Limited choices in each category. Can't go anywhere else (from a practical standpoint) because the builder will just wash his hands of any participation at all.

Get into the million dollar and up homes and the clients don't mind paying for interior design help (if they need it). In any case the higher end builders seem to have several preferred showrooms that they deal with based on the client's tastes (not their budget). These showrooms are different than the ones for the $200-300K homes.

As the client you get the names of the showrooms from the builder, a personal contact at each showroom that actually knows Joe from xyz builders and someone that understands what the 'theoretical' faucet budget (or kitchen cabinet, lighting, etc budget ) is going to be. If there is a interior designer involved they they go with the client to the showrooms. After all they are getting paid hansomely to do that hand holding.

When the client show up in the showroom the 'personal contact' makes some small talk about the builder already telling them about the house being built and some info about the client's tastes.

Not that its going to be a dollar amount but experience says faucets in the $500-1000 range per fixture aren't going to be a surprise to anybody. 15 faucets, $10,000 to 15,000.

The person building the $200K house is going to debate about faucets in the $75-200 range. For a million$ and up house the range probably becomes $500-$1000 (or higher). The person (whoever it is) helping the client has to understand this and participate accordingly.

You don't send the low end client to the granite showroom to look at counter tops. You also don't send the high end client to Lowes/Home Depot or similar showrooms to look at counter tops, cabinets or lighting.

Around here you can find just about all the showrooms in the yellow pages. The better showrooms will open outside normal working hours/days if appointmentss are made and the client's budget warrants it.

Our lighting showrooms seems to have a 100% markup that is immediately discounted by 50% if 'the builder sent you' or you know to ask for it.

avrcustomhomes

I wanted to thank everyone for all the information and try to clarify a few things.

At the present time I do have several sample boards set up for some of the materials I do offer for options (ex. roofing shingle/tile) and I also have several catalogs on cabinets, faucets and lighting options to hand over to clients to look at prior to sending them of to a local showrooms.

On my meeting with the homeowner I do remind them that the price they are paying includes certain standard options for the price (really we are require by code to furnished the home with them) but they are able to make any changes as they want. I try to stay away from the color matching and personal taste questions. I am the builder and not a decorator; I can give them an idea of what we see in todays market but they make the final selections.

When the client goes to the showroom I have set up a specific contact with the vendors to handle my clinets needs that understands all the parameters that I have set up for my clients - (basic options and budget for specific project) that way the homeowner gets to see and touch the standards features that are part of their home and decide on any changes.

I do know that I have to do a better job at setting up a system to track and manage the time alocated for the homeowner to make all their selections.

Thanks again for all the feedback
Alfredo
AVR Custom Homes,Inc.