Here in the Kansas City area we have a handful of builders who could be characterized as “Big Builders.” We are talking about companies who construct more than 50-60 single family homes a year. These companies are typically building on both sides of the state line and are well spread out in all directions and in a range of prices. The common denominators of these large unit companies is that they have large administrative teams and good purchasing power. There is nothing inherently wrong with large volume builders but there are definite trade offs in personal attention.
On the other hand you have small builders who are typically building a few homes up to a couple of dozen homes. Naturally, there are a few medium builders with volume in between. Covenant Custom Homes is definitely in the ranks of small builders. Depending on the year, we typically can handle about one dozen projects. Could we build more, yes we could but only at the expense of our customers.
We are, I am pleased to say, a true custom builder. That means we never build the same house twice. Our clients take their own custom plans or adapt of our’s.
Before any ground is broken, we have typically worked and reworked every plan for months. We have listened, provided ideas, suggestions and offered multiple options for the cost/benefit of many different products and methods.
Now, the average new in the Overland Park area is about $450,000. Our average home is nearly twice that. That’s not to say we couldn’t build a $450,000 home but we can not afford to divert our attention away from our client’s projects because they are too grand and detailed. They require attention every single day and that means from the builder not a hired hand.
Some folks might be concerned that our lower unit volume would render us noncompetitive in the marketplace of labor and materials. Fortunately, that is not the case, as we are founding members of the Affiliated Builders Purchasing Group. We are one of 18 builders (small, medium and large) in the Kansas City market who pool our purchases for almost every product and services that goes into your new home. We can say unequivocally that we buy at prices at least as good as any large volume builder. In fact ABG is together the largest builder in the KC Metro.
