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Taking Care of the Chaos


April 30, 2001
Luxury Home Builder

Center Lounge
The Custom Home Center is designed to educate and inform builders and buyers of the various options and considerations of custom homes. They offer a fully staffed design center and The Lending Center, an in-house mortgage company.
Part of what makes building a custom home so rewarding—the one-on-one relationship between builder and client—can also create headaches for everyone involved. Even when builders and clients are on the same page, problems can come up that delay the process, strain budgets and result in a less-than-perfect product.

With tens of thousands of custom builders building more than 800,000 units per year, even manufacturers, suppliers and service providers must deal with each home on an individual basis. This can often be a less-than-efficient and sometimes chaotic process, severely impacting everyone’s profits and satisfaction.

In Houston, a group of construction executives, software developers and investors founded the Custom Home Center (CHC) to aid both builders and buyers and streamline the entire process for all involved.

"CHC is great for the buyer and the builder," says Michael Doherty, president of Michael Doherty Homes, Inc. of Houston. "We no longer have to spend endless time assisting with the development of plans and detailing each project per that individual buyer’s needs and budget. Our time can be better spent on actual construction because the program takes us off the telephone and puts us out in the field on the jobsite."

The CHC concentrates on four principles of the custom building process:

  • Working with the architect and client to analyze the project and offer space and money-saving recommendations for plans that suit the client’s needs;
  • Helping with the professional coordination of colors, styles, textures, surfaces and products for the home;
  • Pricing of all materials and exact specification of all features of the home;
  • Itemized bids using this materials list and a resulting contract that guarantees the client’s home at an agreed cost.

    "We take the consumer through every step of the process from choosing roofing materials to light fixtures," says CHC founder Randel Melhorn. "We help eliminate the stress of having to make more than 200 decisions associated with what goes on, in and around the home and ultimately help determine what best suits their needs and budget."

    Initially intended as an Internet-based company ( www.customhomecenter.com) when it began in 1999, CHC soon altered its focus to develop software and an infrastructure to automate the custom home building in- dustry. Through alliances with top manufacturers across the country, Melhorn says CHC brings competitive prices, better products, product knowledge and installation expertise to each project.

    "The idea is to have absolutely no change orders," says Melhorn. "Builders can lay out their critical path and just go for it."

    Operating out of a 7000 square-foot facility in the Woodlands community in north Houston, the company currently works with a list of more than 35 builders operating in the area. These builders must meet stringent guidelines put forth by CHC, including due diligence, proof of proper insurance, a warranty program and ongoing education through a variety of outlets.

    Melhorn says that although there were a few missteps along the way, CHC is going strong—to the delight of buyers and builders alike.

    "We made practically every mistake possible along the way, but this is the first program of its kind in the country that I know of. Now we’re expecting to help with around 200 homes next year, with an average sales price of $500,000 each."and be proud.

    © 2008, Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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