Anderson Homes, LLC

The home building business, like so many other areas of real estate, has been riding a tidal wave of change as our economy is stretched, as the mortgage and real estate industries undergo dramatic changes, and as consumers move away from traditional print advertising to the free, powerful, and instantaneous search and find tools on the Internet.

This is good news for consumers, including anyone planning to build their retirement home in Sequim or Port Angeles. It used to be hard for consumers to find a great home builder, someone they knew was the best in his market, and someone who could be trusted.  The old method was to use the Yellow Pages, to stumble across an advertisement in a newspaper or magazine.  These were very unreliable methods, because these advertisements revealed nothing about the man, the home builder himself and whether he was good, or just said so in the advertisement.  These ads told you nothing about his character or how he truly treated his customers.  There are a hundred things these kinds of professionally drafted ads did not tell you.  They had one purpose, and that is to get you in the door so you could be persuaded to sign a contract.

That’s how it used to be done.  That’s how consumers would find a home builder, apart from a friend sharing a referral.

Today consumers have been empowered as never before.  Today a retiree from California can jump up on the Internet from the comfort of his own home at 10:30 in the evening, search for a Sequim home builder or a Port Angeles home builder, dig deep into the available information on the numerous Internet sources, and decide which home builder he will want to sit down with.

It gets even better.  Today that same retiree can do his due diligence on a Sequim home builder to find out all about his homes, testimonials, photographs of the exterior and interior of homes he has built, and begin to filter through which home builder to meet with and interview in person.

Of course, the Internet does not necessarily tell all, and a home builder could present a good image, but leave a wake of injured customers behind him.

Rick Anderson gives consumers an open and free portal into the Sequim home building business with a great website full of information and videos, and a blog with articles and videos designed to help consumers walk through the decision making process from beginning to end.  Rick’s homes do not compromise quality, and he likes to say, “A custom home is just a home build the way you want it.”  A custom home does not have to be expensive.

Rick also provides consumers an online inventory of many of his homes with beautiful photos inside and out.  Rick’s customers undoubtedly are the most satisfied customers of any home builder on the Olympic Peninsula.

Here are some great online resources for you:

View Rick Anderson’s Beautiful Custom Built Sequim and Port Angeles Homes

Read Testimonies of Happy Anderson Homes Clients

Get an online estimate to build your home

Look at Models and Plans

All of these resources are provided absolutely free without obligation.  Enjoy, and let us know if we can help.

Possibly Related Posts:

• 3 Tips for Building Your Retirement Home
• Sequim Contractors Building Homes?
• Sequim Contractors: Home Design
• Home Warranties for your Sequim or Port Angeles Home

Rick Anderson of Anderson Homes, LLC, a Long time Sequim and Port Angeles home builder has created an easy online form to ask about the cost of building your retirement home. Many people are planning to build their next home, but where do you start? Now you can start with an inquiry to the largest local home builder since 1981. Rick Anderson has built over 400 homes and has what is almost certainly the highest customer satisfaction rate of any builder, bar none.

If you are planning to build your retirement home in Sequim or Port Angeles, be careful about builders who will say almost anything to get your business. It is real easy for competing builders to simply quote lower bids, and then gradually work the profits back into the contract with extras and change orders and surprises.  Click on this image to go to Rick’s online inquiry form.

When it comes to quality, service, and the lowest price per square foot for your home, you’ll be hard pressed to work with a more qualified builder than Anderson Homes. You’ll find builders who will build for less per square foot, some who will build quality homes, and some who provide a level of service that almost matches Rick Anderson’s, but you won’t find another builder who scores so high on all three.

Rick Anderson can be reached at 360-452-4641. Call him and make an appointment to discuss your home plans. I think you’ll be glad you did.

Possibly Related Posts:

• Less Than $40 Per Square Foot?
• Building a New Custom Home and Saving Money
• Homebuilders Downsizing New Homes

Can buyers find the perfect home in Sequim or Port Angeles?  I’ve spent time with several out-of-state clients over the past several months looking for the perfect home.  Here’s the scenario.  With budgets in the range of $350,000 to $800,000, these clients scoured the MLS online to find homes that might be ideal.  After narrowing it down to a reasonable number of possible homes and filtering through the best prospects, these clients arrived to do the walk-throughs.

Here’s the common theme:  “We just can’t find the perfect home with a kitchen, general floor plan, and garage and acreage and view the way we want.  The only way we are going to get exactly the home we want on the lot we want is if we have our home built by a custom home builder.”

This is not an isolated experience.  For the buyers who are looking for a home that is in the current inventory, they will be pleased to be able to move in at closing right away.  For buyers who have the time and prefer to have their own perfect home design, buying a lot in the right location and with the preferred view, hiring a contractor and having their dream home built is the ultimate experience.

There are many homes on the market that are discounted, either because of a foreclosure or because the owners have gotten upside down and need to do a short sale, or simply because the house must be sold.  But in the vast majority of cases, these homes are not precisely what many retirees would prefer.  Building a home the way you want may be the best option, even if it does cost a little more.

Possibly Related Posts:

• Sequim Contractor and Home Builder
• Home Builders: Truth is Stranger Than Fiction
• Strong Home Builder vs. Weak Home Builder
• Home Builder with Exceptional Customer Experiences
• Why Hire a General Contractor to Build Your Home?

When the real estate market started to head south in late 2007 some home builders kept building spec homes.  It amazed those of us who have been through a few real estate cycles, especially because it seemed so illogical to build a spec home and tie up so much capital on a gamble that someone would buy it when buyers were showing up less and less.

Building a spec home might be a great idea when the market is hot and the builder is actually building homes people want, i.e. a 3 bedroom, 2 bath ranch with 1,800 square feet and a double attached garage.  But when the market is cold, it is not wise to build a home that people don’t want, i.e. an odd or unconventional floor plan on an unusual lot crowded by adjacent houses.

Why would I mention this?  Because there are builders who have done exactly this, and now their spec homes sit on the market aging, most likely stuck with a line of credit that may now exceed the fair market values.

As I show houses like this, some of the feedback I get from clients is that the floor plan “is just weird,” or this rhetorical question, “What was the builder thinking?”

How do you define or describe a house like this?  I don’t know precisely, but I’m reminded of a Supreme Court Justice who was asked how he defines pornography, and his answer was, “I don’t know how to define it, but I know it when I see it.”

Buyers are not excited about buying a spec home that has been sitting on the market for a year or two, especially one that no one else wants either.  If you want your own retirement home built precisely the way you want it, then you want a custom home.  A custom home is simply a home built the way you want it.  The floor plan suits you, the kitchen is perfect, the master bedroom and walk-in closet are exactly the way you want them, and the garage is just the right size.

If you can’t find the perfect home in the existing inventory of MLS homes, it may be time to buy a lot at rock bottom prices and have your dream home built by a custom home builder.

Possibly Related Posts:

• 3 Tips for Building Your Retirement Home
• Sequim Contractors Building Homes?
• Building Homes: What Customers Want
• Home Warranties for your Sequim or Port Angeles Home

Building your new home in Sequim or Port Angeles is an exciting phase in your life, and it should be full of good memories.  Well, building a home is always going to be a bit stressful until you’re moved in and have the family photos all hung.  But let’s agree on one thing here:  Building your retirement home should not be a nightmare scenario, and at the least it should not require that you constantly supervise the project managers and the carpenters on site.  That’s the contractor’s job, isn’t it?

Apparently not in most cases.  The following is a true story.  The names have been changed to protect the guilty.

Joe and Betty hired a home builder who said the right things, had a nice smile, and didn’t smell bad.  But most importantly, he was the lowest bidder.  Joe and Betty decided he was the right man for the job.

The first sign of trouble was during the dirt work and excavation of the lot to prepare for the foundation of the house.  Joe had not even signed the contract, and the equipment was on his lot tearing it up.  Once the contract was signed Joe figured it would be fine from that point, but he found out he had to constantly, almost daily be on the job site, because the carpenters kept taking short cuts and not doing things that were part of the house plan.

One day Joe pointed out to the carpenter in charge that he was not building the front porch right.  The carpenter said, “You’re always changing things.”  To that Joe replied, “I haven’t changed a single thing.  You are the one who is not building according to the house plans and my contract requires you build the house according to the architectural plan.”

I later met with the owner when his home was completed, and frankly it was beautiful.  I asked him who his builder was and how it went, and he told me his general contractor was never around, and that the general had hired a project manager who had little skill in communicating with people, but more importantly the manager didn’t pay much attention to the house plan. “The only reason this house was finished the way it should be is because I was here every day.”

That’s not a homeowner’s responsibility to supervise construction, but I have heard this from so many people now, I can’t emphasize how much the majority of builders conduct their businesses in this way.  Take every short cut possible so long as the homeowner doesn’t catch them.  Not a good business model, but it is very common.

A tactic that is used by many home builders who have a model home is to walk the clients through the model home as though that is just what their home will be like.  The builder does not explain that the model home has the highest quality materials and workmanship, the best hardwood floors, the more expensive cathedral ceilings, the finest fireplace brick work, custom made kitchen cabinets, marble countertops, custom work throughout the house, the best hardware and the best appliances.  And the builder just happens to NOT mention that the client’s home design will have none of this.  It’s very much like the old bait and switch tactic that we all dislike.  But clients agree to sign a contract based on how beautiful the model home looks.  It’s unfortunate because their home will not be anywhere close the model home, but they assume it will be, or should I say the builder leads them to believe it will be.

Where is integrity among home builders?  As as matter of fact, there are other home builders with integrity, but it gets interesting, because integrity alone does not determine the best builder.

Among the home builders who do have integrity in every sense of the word, from the representations made in the first meeting and all the way through construction to completion, their business models vary dramatically.  What does that mean?  It means for the same house plan, one bids $975,000, another bids $850,000, and a third bids $745,000.  That’s a huge difference in price for the exact same house.  The difference is found in the business models.  There’s nothing wrong with a business model that charges more.  This is America.  But it does point out the need for clients to be discerning.

You’re reading the blog of Rick Anderson Homes, so you might expect I would endorse Rick Anderson.  I do, but there is a huge reason, and it is absolutely true.  Rick Anderson has integrity as a builder, and you never have to worry about his project manager taking short cuts on materials or workmanship.  Never.  You also do not find Rick Anderson at the highest end of bids for the exact same house.

I endorse Rick Anderson as a custom home builder not because he and I have an obvious relationship here, but because in fact he is the best home builder in Sequim and Port Angeles.  Hands down.  It’s because of his integrity that I write here.

Choose your home builder carefully.  You’ll be glad you did.

Possibly Related Posts:

• Sequim Contractor and Home Builder
• Buyers Can’t Find Perfect Home in Existing Inventory
• Strong Home Builder vs. Weak Home Builder
• Home Builder with Exceptional Customer Experiences
• Why Hire a General Contractor to Build Your Home?

We are in the midst of a sea change in the building industry, and many small home builders are no longer in the home building business, and some of the large ones have filed for banktruptcy protection.  So what do you do if you are planning to build a home?  My recommendation is that you find a home builder who not only has an outstanding reputation for building quality homes and who has a reputation for having a great relationship with his clients, but who also is financially strong.

A home builder who has a lot of overhead and who doesn’t have strong financial reserves may be hanging by a thread, but may still be signing contracts with clients.  What happens if you are one of those clients, you put down your deposit, and a few months later you learn your builder is filing bankruptcy and your home construction has been put on hold?

There’s not much you can do.  Every asset of the builder and his operations are now under the control of a bankruptcy trustee.  Who knows what will happen?  You house may be finished, or it may not be finished.  You may get your money back, or you may not.  Scary thought, isn’t it?

I strongly recommend you consider this when you are doing your due diligence to select a strong builder.  If you have any questions on this matter, call me at 360-775-5424.  I’m Chuck Marunde, and I’d be glad to answer your questions if I can.

Possibly Related Posts:

• Sequim Contractor and Home Builder
• Buyers Can’t Find Perfect Home in Existing Inventory
• Home Builders: Truth is Stranger Than Fiction
• Home Builder with Exceptional Customer Experiences
• Why Hire a General Contractor to Build Your Home?

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.

Possibly Related Posts:

• Sequim Contractor and Home Builder
• Buyers Can’t Find Perfect Home in Existing Inventory
• Home Builders: Truth is Stranger Than Fiction
• Strong Home Builder vs. Weak Home Builder
• Why Hire a General Contractor to Build Your Home?

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.

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 misrepresentations 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 not 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.

As a practical matter, most every builder offers a one year warranty in the contract.  Now let me say something I used to tell clients when I was practicing law, “A contract is only as good as the man who signs it.”  In other words, a written contract with all the relevant clauses is important, but the key to getting your home built right and on time is to hire a great home builder.

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.

Possibly Related Posts:

• 3 Tips for Building Your Retirement Home
• Sequim Contractors Building Homes?
• Building Homes: What Customers Want
• Sequim Contractors: Home Design

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.

Possibly Related Posts:

• Sequim Contractor and Home Builder
• Buyers Can’t Find Perfect Home in Existing Inventory
• Home Builders: Truth is Stranger Than Fiction
• Strong Home Builder vs. Weak Home Builder
• Home Builder with Exceptional Customer Experiences

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.”

Possibly Related Posts: