Anderson Homes, LLC

Building a custom home in Sequim or Port Angeles means you first must find a home builder.  Let’s be honest about how home builders, and many companies around the country, promote themselves.  It has been popular in marketing for businesses to boast about themselves.  It’s been popular for salesmen in key industries to boast about themselves, too.  “I’m the top producer in my area,” or “We have more awards than any builder.”

When someone says something akin to, “I’m the greatest,” it reminds me of Mohamed Ali.  That was his phrase, and most of us can see him saying it in our mind’s eye as he danced to and from the ring.  That cocky statement worked for Ali, not only because of his personality, but mostly because he really was the greatest.

But when a salesman or a home builder brags in all their promotions about being the greatest, it just doesn’t work for most people.  First, who can say a builder actually is the greatest?  We knew when Ali knocked out his opponent, but how do we know about builders?

Second, and more importantly, and most people probably don’t know this, anyone can get certificates and “awards” issued from companies that specialize in issuing certificates and awards (FOR A FEE).  In other words, if you pay for a seminar, you will get a certificate you can frame and place on the wall.  But it doesn’t end there.  You can then mention that certificate or award in your advertisements.

Let’s take it to the next level.  There are national associations which will issue certificates and awards, provided you pay for the courses and provided you can complete applications to receive awards.  Not everyone will bother with these kinds of little gimmicks, so that makes it easier for those who do take the time and money to “win” such awards.  You see, you “win” if you play and pay.

What is the real key to a home builder’s competence and professionalism?  The customers.  The level of customer satisifaction is the real answer.  But there’s a trap here, too, for the unwary customer looking to select a builder.

There’s a game called “Highest Customer Satisfaction.”  Anyone can say, “We’re number 1,” or “We have the highest customer satisfaction,”  but most of the time that is just puffing.  You can vote yourself number 1, and you can pay an association to vote you number 1.  In the building business, any builder can get some clients to write happy testimoniies.

Rick Anderson doesn’t play the games.  He builds what is arguably the finest custom homes on the Olympic Peninsula.  He doesn’t go to seminars to get awards.  He builds fine homes.  That’s what he does.

What Rick Anderson does have is probably the highest percentage of truly happy clients of any builder.  Period.  Is that puffing?  Yes, but I think it is solid and true.  No builder I know of since I’ve been here (1994) has had so few unhappy or disgruntled customers.  People absolutely delight in the process of working with Anderson Homes, and they are ecstatic when showing their homes to friends even many years later.  Would you like to learn more about what Rick Anderson does and how he works, and why his past customers are all so happy?  Call and come see us.  I think you’ll be glad you did.

Not all home builders are the same.  Not even close.  Choose your builder because he is an outstanding builder, not because he has awards on his wall issued by associations.

In Washington state there is no law that creates a home warranty.  Many people mistakenly think there is.  This legislative year that ended in Olympia included debates and attempts to create a law that would have placed many new legal liabilities on home builders, including the ability for lawyers to get rich by suing builders for up to 10 years after the home was completed if the homeowner did not “reasonably enjoy” the home.  Fortunately, the legislation failed to pass.  What will our politicians come up with next?

Lest you think that this writer is against home warranties, and lest you think this writer is not in favor of holding builders accountable for fraud and misrepresentations, let me be abundantly clear.  I am most certainly in favor of consumers getting what they were promised and what they paid for.  I dislike misrepresenations and cheap sales tactics that suck innocent people into a contract that ends up being a nightmare.

The point is not to let the politicians come up with answers, because their answers are going to prevent con men from doing their thing, but more than that the new laws can actually create a whole new set of negative consequences and problems for good builders and good customers.

What is the answer to holding builders accountable?

The first answer for all consumers, whether you are having a new custom home built from the ground up or hiring a contractor to put a new deck on the back of your home, is to do your due diligence in filtering through those contractors who are good and those who are . . . shall we say, not so good.

That alone would put most of the dishonest companies and the less-than-professional folks out of business.  If you are seriously considering having a custom home built in Sequim or Port Angeles, why guess?  Why shoot in the dark and pick one out of the Yellow Pages?  Picking a home builder should not be like picking the short stick out of the hat.  Why hire one because he looks good and smells good?  “Gee, he seemed like such a nice guy,” is the comment I heard many times as a real estate lawyer during the litigation process.

May I boldly suggest for your own benefit that you call me and talk with me about what you plan to do and how to select your builder?  Would I recommend Rick Anderson of Anderson Homes, LLC?  Yes, but more than that I’ll answer your questions honestly with integrity, and you can hire whomever you desire.

Great builders who are honest and build quality homes, don’t take short cuts to increase profits, and don’t misrepresent the true costs in the beginning to get you to sign a binding contract.  They don’t need legislation to hold builders accountable to you.  You need to find out who they are, and avoid the ones who are not of highest caliber.

And a couple of footnotes that may be worth considering.  Great builders don’t need a team of guys running around as a warranty team to fix all the problems, because a great builder doesn’t build a house that has all kinds of problems. A great builder gives you a warranty that no contract and no law can trump.  A great builder builds quality and then takes care of you long after you move in.

Questions?  Call me, Chuck Marunde, at 360-775-5424.  I’m easy to talk to, and you won’t even get a bill.

A homeowner can build their own home or act as their own general contractor, but is that a good idea?  Will you save money and get a quality home built the way you want it built?  Why can’t a homeowner simply find out who the best subcontractors are and hire them to do the job?

Playing golf looks pretty easy.  Why can’t a beginner just beat Tiger Woods?  Michael Jordan may be the best basketball player in history, but why can’t anyone tall and athletic go one-on-one with Michael?

What’s so hard about building a house?  It’s not exactly an athletic event.  The answer is much longer than we have space here.  I want to touch on three significant reasons to hire a GOOD general contractor.

Many retirees have been planning their dream home for years, and have looked at hundreds of house plans, options, materials, and compared costs.  You can purchase a nice floor plan, or you can hire an architect to design a beautiful home.  I’ve worked with both architects and builders, and here are some thoughts worth considering.

1.  The first issue is cost.  A good general contractor who builds quality custom homes brings a wealth of experience to the table in design and the selection of materials.  He can look at a floor plan and suggest ways to make the refinements you want for your perfect home, and he can also help you select materials that might be much less expensive than your first choice while achieving the desired quality result.  This is important, because architects are not typically tuned into the cost of materials as builders are who do this work every day.  An architect is focused on his design, and he understandably has a lot of pride in his work, but he is not necessarily designing with the goal of saving you every dollar he can on materials or the design itself.

2.  The second issue is quality.  A good general contractor maintains quality control during the entire construction phase of your home, and that includes quality control over the materials used and the quality of work of the subcontractors and their employees.  Without a lifetime of experience doing just that, you would be well advised not to attempt to be your own project supervisor.  Without a trained eye, you won’t know what to watch for.  One other thought on this issue.  Some assume that the county or city building department will be supervising to watch for code compliance and quality, but that is definitely not their job, and they won’t do it.  Code compliance is important, but they have checklists on the code and the quality or lack thereof of the construction or the materials is not within their authority or interest.

3.  The third issue is honesty and fairness.  A general contractor who has built many homes will have a discount contract with the lumber company and other suppliers, and an honest builder will tell you about these discounts and even pass them on to you.  These discounts can amount to 10% or 15% off retail you will pay directly if you act as your own general.  I should add here that if you do act as you own general and hire subcontractors, there are subs who will take advantage of you, and you will pay much more to that sub or subs than your general contractor would have paid.

There is one builder I highly recommend in Sequim and Port Angeles.  He has built homes here since 1981, has an incredible customer satisfaction rate (the highest), does get volume discounts, and knows how to pass savings on to you and keep design costs down.  His name is Rick Anderson and he does have a website at Anderson Homes, LLC.

Planning your Sequim or Port Angeles home to be energy efficient gives you an opportunity to consider many ways to be efficient.  This video touches on a few ways to be energy efficient, or as some like to say, “green.”

If you have come to the conclusion, like many other buyers in the Sequim and Port Angeles areas, that the perfect home does not exist in the current inventory of homes for sale, and you have decided to shop for a good quality home builder, this is a time to be very careful.

Many builders around the country have been struggling to survive.  This isn’t front page news, but it does have serious implications for you.  The first obvious implication that is playing itself out is that some builders are determined to provide the lowest bid, even if it means they might only work for minimum wage or less, and even if it means they might bid too low to finish your home.

The old maxim that, “Buyers hire the builder who provides the lowest bid” has gone to entirely new levels with this recession.  Now there are builders who work out of the back of a pick-up truck and do all the work themselves without subcontractors in order to come up with a bid that is so low, no established or credible custom home builder can compete.

This is a potential disaster for the home owner.  There are so many things that can go wrong, and do.  Cutting bids so low means compromise.  Remember the saying from your economics 101 class?  “There’s no such thing as a free lunch.”  Many builders are striving to survive, and if you don’t do your due diligence in selecting a good one, you may end up paying much more than you planned.

I strongly recommend that you go with an established custom home builder with a high customer satisfaction rate, and one who is financially strong and has been around for many years.  Don’t be fooled by a lower bid, if you have not given a strong builder the opportunity to compare his bid, apples to apples.

Mortgage rates are starting to climb as predicted here and by many experts around the country.  Two weeks ago a client of mine obtained a 30-year fixed rate mortgage at 4.5%, but during the one week of negotiation on the property, his points increased by $1,500 to keep the interest rate locked in at 4.5%.

But this week the interest rate is already starting a steady long climb (4.91% today), which is to say, “If you intend to build your home and get a loan, you really cannot afford to wait for months.”  If you wait too long, your monthly payments will be hundreds of dollars more, and over 30 years, that can amount to a large sum of money.

Call us to get started on your house and building plans.  We’ll be glad to help with all the details.

Sequim custom home builders–how many are there, and are they all the same?  There are many, including some one-man shows, but they are most certainly not building the same quality of homes.  Here’s what is interesting.  The average couple that walks through two homes, one that is a high quality custom home and the other a mediocre custom home, will have a predictable response. Approximately 85% of good people who walk through both homes will not be able to differentiate the quality.  They will walk through both homes and say in each of the homes the same thing, “This is nice.  Very nice.”  I learned it takes a trained eye to recognize the differences, but one you see the differences, they are glaring.

Why do I say this?  Because in 30 years in the real estate business this is what I have observed.  And as a real estate attorney for 20 years, I saw many clients who came to see me about the same problems with their builder.  I write articles like this to help good people avoid the nightmare of having to hire attorneys and spend money and live with high stress for one to two years.  Building a home should be an exciting experience with a happy ending, but for most it is not.  Ask 100 people who had their homes built by a builder, and you will find out this is true.

By the way, every builder has at least one happy client, but one should not extrapolate from one or a few happy clients that a builder is the best or the one you should hire.  There is so much more to the story of finding the right builder.

I have a passion to help people make good decisions and avoid nightmare scenarios, and part of that is to help people realize there is a gigantic difference between home builders.  Many people are aware of this generally, but then they don’t know how to select a builder and they pick the wrong one.  By the time they realize that, it is far too late to get off the bucking bronco.

I heard a man who works at a bank say recently that “such and such a builder” is well known as being the top premier builder in the area.  I didn’t correct him, but as a local attorney and Realtor I knew of many clients who had hired that builder and now say things like one did last week, “I would not have [such and such a builder] build me a dog house.”  That woman should know, because she hired that builder and she really regretted it.

There is a trail of devastation behind a number of builders, but there is one builder I know of who has no history of dissatisfied customers.  In fact, this builder has a higher percentage of absolutely ecstatic clients than any other builder in all of Clallam County.  Period.  There’s no builder who comes close in customer satisfaction.  None.  I’m a Realtor now, but for years I saw unhappy clients from other builders, but never from this one builder.

Who is the one builder who builds the highest quality homes in Sequim and Port Angeles and who has a higher percentage of truly happy customers than any other builder?  I guarantee it is Rick Anderson of Anderson Homes, LLC.  He’s been a home builder here since 1981 with over 400 homes under his belt.  The man is honest, has integrity, and will not compromise quality.  But what really surprises clients is how much they enjoy the process with Rick from the beginning of the planning all the way to completion and the walk-through.

Do not be fooled by slick words, a good looking smile, or promises of the lowest price per square foot.  Don’t be fooled by advertising or claims of awards.  I recommend you actually sit down with me and discuss your plans and how you want to work with a builder.  You will get absolute honesty and good information to help you make wise decisions.  Call me at 360-775-5424.  No charge.  No obligation.  You benefit from the additional information.  What’s the downside?  There isn’t one, but there is a downside if you chose the wrong builder.  I guarantee that.

Port Angeles City Lot For Sale
East 9th St. Near the Corner of Chase & 9th, Ready for a 3 Bedroom Home
Price:  $69,900
[To make an offer on this lot, call Chuck Marunde at 360-775-5424]

You won’t find many lots like this in the City of Port Angeles.  If you want to be in a peaceful neighborhood and at the same time in the epicenter of city shopping and facilities, you should drive by this lot now.

This lot is approximately 140 feet by 50 feet (precisely 49.98′ on 9th Street and 139.92′ deep), and as you can see from the site plan below (already done for you), there is plenty of room for a 3 bedroom home with 1,545 square feet and a garage with 475 square feet.

You are about midway between a modern Safeway and an Albertson’s that is getting remodeled right now.  You’re a short distance to elementary, middle, and high schools, a short drive to the city swimming pool, the senior citizen’s center, and a pet store.  Of course, Port Angeles has a gourmet coffee shop nearby with free Internet wireless, and if you like to go hiking, you’re about a 15 minute drive to the entrance to the Olympic National Park.  Want to take a walk on the dock along the waterfront downtown?  That would be about a five minute drive or a five minute bicycle ride.  Even the Hospital is less than two miles away.

At $69,900 you’re not likely to find a great city lot like this at a better price.

Much further from this central location, you can find lots for sale, but the prices are much higher.  For example, a search of the local MLS will reveal prices ranging from $83,500 to $99,900 to $215,000 and up.

From 9th Street, you can see this lot sits between two nice older homes. The neighborhood is attractive, and you’ll be proud to build your home here.

If you’re wondering, you don’t have to park on the curb.  There is an approved access easement on the back side of the lot entering through the alley easement.

This lot had more planning for a home site than normal, because the owner, a developer and builder in Port Angeles and Sequim, had detailed site plans drawn up, and those plans are available for your viewing.  We have scanned in some of the site plan, so you could get an idea of what you can build and where you could built it on this lot.

Here is part of the site plan and house plan that was prepared earlier:

What Can You Build on This Lot?  You could build this:

View the Plat here (lot 17)

View the Site Plan here for the house that was designed as a spec home

View the Floor Plan here

View the Front and Rear view of the house as planned

View the East side of the house as planned and View the West side of the house as planned

Lot 17 is the second lot west of Chase Street on the Northern side of East 9th Street.  Since there is no home yet built, a street address has not yet been issued.

Call Chuck Marunde at 360-775-5424

Are you buying Sequim real estate, an existing home or a vacant lot? If you are searching for the ideal property, I recommend being careful about the neighborhood, and I’m talking about junk freaks. They live in every city and town in America. They’re typically nice people: they just happen to be junk freaks.

The problem isn’t the junk freak–it’s what he does to his property that will adversely effect your property. Who wants a disaster of a junk yard next store or even down the street. Many buyers have told me as we drove around looking at homes that they would not consider a particular listing because there was a grotesque junk yard nearby.

Driving around the block is important, but drive a larger radius and see just what is out there. You may not have to look over or through the fence at broken down cars, rusty barrels, and refrigerators from the 1960’s, but if you ever plan to sell your home (or your children do), consider that buyers either won’t buy a home near a disaster zone, or they will pay a lot less.

Even when you do buy a lot or home in an attractive area, does the neighborhood have CC&R’s (covenants) that prohibit junk yards and pig farms?

If you are moving to Sequim or Port Angeles from California or Arizona, I recommend that you do what many of my clients do before they arrive here. Email with me while you gather information to make a wise decision, search the MLS on my website, ask me about particular listings, the neighborhood, schools, recreation, and covenants. By the time you get here, you and I will already have a sweet list of good prospects, and you’ll feel like you have a good feel for the area.

Right now is the best buyer’s market for lots we’ve seen in this area for decades, and there hasn’t been a better time to build your own home with your own floor plan.  Interest rates will be rising soon, and so will building costs.

Retirees moving to Sequim from southern California and Arizona are finding out that the “perfect home” is not necessarily an existing home listed for sale.  Sure there are many homes for sale, but it’s amazing how many of these homes are just not exactly what buyers are looking for.

Sometimes the kitchen is perfect, but the floor plan of the rest of the house is not.  Sometimes the garage or “man cave” is perfect, but there’s no den or sewing room.  The house might be amazing, but the location of the lot and the placement of the house on the site is all wrong.  The water view from the lot might be great, and the house plan might be great, but the workmanship leaves something to be desired.  At $250 per square foot for a custom home that is not quite right, no thank you.

What can a buyer do?  Buy the ideal lot in the right location with a great site location for the house, and have the house built by a custom home builder who does the highest quality work.  Now you have the perfect home, and it is not someone else’s idea of a dream home–it is your dream home.

This is what Rick Anderson does.  Email for more information or call 360-452-4641.