Small Kit Homes vs. Large Kit Homes

What this episode covers

Show Notes: Small kit homes versus large kit homes.  Different design features and how they affect your new home project.  New home design for your specific building site. Transcript: Steve Tuma: We like to listen to what a customer says and needs and believe they need. That’s where we are able to help. We are able to work with them on designing the home right, making sure it fits on the land, and making sure that they are happy with it. Interviewer: Hello, everyone. Thanks for joining us for Episode 46 of the Panelized Prefab Kit Home Building Show. With me as always is the President and Founder of Landmark Home and Land Company, a company which has been helping people build their new homes where they want exactly as they want across the nation and worldwide since 1993, my friend, Steve Tuma. Steve, how are you man? Steve Tuma: It’s another great day. It always seems to be a good day. Interviewer: That’s a good attitude. Steve Tuma: Well, it’s fun. We get calls from people, “Hey, I want to build this weekend home. Hey Steve, we want to build another home. You helped us two years ago.” Interviewer: Right. Steve Tuma: And it’s kind of invigorating actually. Interviewer: Well, when you love your work, you never work a day in your life. Isn’t that what they say? Steve Tuma: Right. We are the only company with 10 days a week and 30 hours a day. But we figure it out. Interviewer: Like a Beatle song, Eight Days a Week. Steve Tuma: Yeah, exactly. Interviewer: I thought today we would get into a subject that has been asked about by a customer too. And that’s the subject of big homes versus small homes. We all have that thing. Should I get a big dog or a small dog? But when it comes to building houses, I think it’s a little more complex. So I guess you might equate it to expensive homes as opposed to lesser expensive designs but I’m sure it’s much more complex than that. So if you’re good, let’s dive in. What are the differences between the two? Steve Tuma: Well, it’s kind of interesting because if you put that on a matrix, you’d be kind of like OK, so a smaller – does smaller mean that it’s less expensive? Does larger mean that it’s more expensive? Well, there are ways of making small homes simple. There are also ways of making small homes very intricate. There are also ways of making big homes simple and big homes very intricate as well. So there are ways to control budgets. If someone says, “Hey, I want a smaller, just really, really detailed palace.” That could be done. Other people say, “Hey, I need space. I just want a big simple home so I could get the most square footage for the dollars.”  So there are ways to adjust it depending upon what a particular customer needs, what their budget is, just their personal lifestyle. Some people like the simple designs. Simple is more. Other people want stuff that’s more intricate, get in different architectural features, just different looks, different roof pitches, ceiling height, porches, different architectural features and finishes. So the basic difference is kind of what does a customer want and to what degree do they want it? We’ve done extremely simple homes. We’ve done extremely complicated homes. So it’s more we believe the listening of the customer to find out what they need because some of this is relative. If you grow up in a very boxy home, putting a front porch on it might be intricate or if you grow up in a very intricate home, simple might be what someone else considers to be intricate. So we like to listen to what a customer says and needs and believe they need and talk to them and kind of help them put it together on something that’s workable for what it is. A lot of customers understand what they need but don’t have the...