I had the opportunity to tour an amazing home in Cleveland Heights last night. Several things made the home amazing to me- first was the impeccable way the owners had restored nearly everything in the home, saving the pieces that froze the home into the early 20th century- things like what had to have been one of the first intercom systems- and undoing some of the unfortunate “upgrades” of previous owners. What truly struck me, though, was the original worker’s attention to detail. Hand carved and custom made corbels for transition points in walls, custom carved bits for the stairway newels, hand fabricated caming in leaded glass windows throughout the home, and thoughtful floorplan elements that created private and public places inside and outside, all around the home.  Hand crafted doors both interior and exterior, with beveled glass that creates visual points of interest all around the home. Everywhere you turn, there’s something that a craftsman born in the 1800’s cut, sanded, beveled, installed, or finished with great attention to detail and personal pride. The home was built like a fortress, standing guard on a 2 acre corner for over 100 years, sheltering it’s occupants from  the First World War, the Depression, the Second World War and all the history that came since. To build a home in this manner today can be accomplished, but at a cost north of the $10 Million mark. Of course, the craftsmen that knew how to do such fine leaded glasswork, or custom carving of plaster and wood are long dead. Their work, though, lives through time-echoing throughout our industry as a reminder that, many years ago, homes were built by artists.

This home is for sale, and if you are of a mind to become a caretaker for this piece of liveable artwork, here’s a link to the Realtor website to make an appointment. Arlington Road for sale

Several years ago there was a study done based on exit polling from model home visitors on what they thought builders make on each home. This was done in the context of a national survey by the NAHB (National Association of Homebuilders) on what builders actually make. Most people believe that builders make over 20% on their products. Nationally, builders were actually making between 0 and 5%. The cost of running the business was 10% of gross revenue. Recently, another such study was done. The cost of simply running the business has risen to 12% of gross revenue, and overall  profitability dropped those same 2%. What this means is that building companies, nationally, are under tremendous pressure to stay profitable while still satisfying their customers. We see this pressure every day. Since we started Myers Homes in the early ’90’s, most of the builders that existed when we started are gone. Their staffs scattered, their customers orphaned, and their vendors cast off. Since 2005, nearly 70% of the builders in our market have vanished! We, though, are still here. Our customers still get a return call if they need information or help with something, our vendors are still  here, and we’ve retained most of our staff over the years. Often, especially in a bid situation, we are asked to change our business model to accommodate the pricing structure of others. We’ve recently lost a few jobs because we wouldn’t/couldn’t get low enough in our pricing. I’ve found that price is paramount only for the shortest moment of the transaction- right up until the contract is signed. For the rest of the duration of the transaction- which may last for a year or more of plan development, construction and more years of warranty support, price isn’t an issue at all, but service becomes the most important thing. In fact, most of the people I meet that had bad experiences building or remodeling with another company never talk about the pricing choices they made and are only reflecting on the bad products or service they received in exchange. Maybe that’s why we still work for our customers many years after the initial  sale. Call us- give our way a try. It’s much more relaxing!

There’s a common perception of the residential construction  world that there isn’t any real skill or knowledge required, that, really, if a typical homeowner had a little time, they could pretty much take care of everything they need construction-wise. And, I suppose, for some, that might be true. Coordinating different sub-trades- that’s a few calls. What’s so hard about that? Navigating permits- that should be pretty cut and dried. But, today, building anything really does require broad knowledge about materials, installation techniques, project management skills, building science, and interpersonal relations- along with a bit of legal knowledge and street smarts. Fixing a roof leak sounds simple, but it might not even BE a roof leak. The thought that one can hire just about anyone to replace a window, let alone build an entire house, though fairly typical, couldn’t be farther from the truth. While most decisions are based on cost, cost is probably the least important criteria to use when vetting a contractor- and probably the one criteria that, at the end, was most meaningless to a given customer’s satisfaction with the job. No one remembers the money they might have saved, if they are instead focused on the time they wasted, or the cost of paying someone to do it over. Refer back to my post a while back-https://myershomes.comhow-to-choose-a-custom-home-builder/    to help you figure out the kinds of questions you should be considering. Watching the Cavs game last night (Go CAVS!!) LeBron makes things seem easy. Like he goes out on the court, and everything just comes to him. What you don’t see during the game, are the thousands of hours he spent by himself, working on a practice court, perfecting his technique. It looks easy to us because we don’t see the total commitment it takes from him to make that spinning layup look easy-