The Dream Home is alive and well !!
February 5th, 2009, Dream, Location, Home
In January 2009, during a recent job site visit of a luxury home under construction, I took some time to look around at what other builders are doing in the area. I wanted to get a feel for what is actually happening in the custom home market, aside from all the gloom and doom we constantly hear about.
One of the projects I am currently consulting on is located in the Gated Tom Fazio designed golf course community of Mirabel, located in north Scottsdale, AZ. This community is comprised of several hundred lots many exceeding the one-acre size. Many of the homes are multi-million dollar second estates for owners who live throughout the country. During the cold winter months, many of the owners return to AZ for relief, and call this community home.
I have managed the construction of several of these multi-million dollar estates. Each of which has been built for wonderful owners, many of whom I now consider good friends. According to the national media, if any demographic should be hunkering down and not spending a dime, it would be the wealthy owners of once valuable 401K’s and retirement accounts which now have a value of almost nothing.
What the media does not mention, is that many of these individuals were not as reckless and speculative with their riches as some were. Many people in this wealth bracket have practiced a long slow mantra of conservative investments and slow-building returns.
So, what was the result of my investigative drive through the Mirabel community, which is not even half way built out as of yet? Amazingly, I counted almost twenty high-end luxury homes currently under construction, with workers on-site, trucks parked up and down the streets, and the noisy activity and bustle of construction ringing in the crisp winter air.
The dream home construction market is not dead. Yes, there are families, retirees, and others who are moving forward with their dream of building and owning a piece of the American ideal. People are spending money, reputable construction companies are in business, and good old American zeal continues to press forward.
I was pleasantly surprised by what I found during this January drive through Mirabel. Would you believe it if I told you, this is probably one of the best times in recent decades to build a custom home? It is true. Costs are down, material prices are down, contractors have the ability to spend quality time with clients, many of the poor-performing contractors have left the industry, leaving the strong and viable to serve the masses.
The American Dream is alive and well. Step back for a moment and catch your breath. You may be surprised at what you see.
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