A major reason for the current lack of starter or entry-level homes on the market is because builders have not been focusing on these types of residences. More often than not, they have been constructing higher-end homes with a larger profit margin. While some builders are finally starting to build more affordable homes, a home builder in Louisiana has been finding success with simple, affordable homes for years and, this year alone, it is on pace to build 2,000 of them.
DSLD is the largest home builder in Louisiana and didn’t get there by building large, high-end homes. In fact, the suburban homes that DSLD delivers are usually between $130,000 and $360,000, with the average price settling in right around $200,000, according to Businessreport.com.
The houses, which appraisers have said aren’t fancy, but are of good quality, are built to one of DSLD’s few floor plans, which Saun Sullivan, senior partner at DSLD Homes, says is part of the appeal, citing the paradox of choice theory as a main determinant in their limited range of houses. “We try to design the house around people, so they’re not forced to get involved in the building process themselves to a large extent,” Sullivan said in an interview with Businessreport.com.
Part of what helps to keep the construction costs down is that DSLD buys its materials in bulk (made possible due to their smaller selection of floor plans), which allows them to undercut the prices of other builders that build fewer homes a year.
The same contractors are often used, as well. Each contractor gets paid two days after completing work. The trades get a report once a week on how they’re doing, with future work being awarded on merit. Usually the contractor with the highest scores also ends up being the most affordable. That old idiom of measure twice cut once carries some literal and metaphorical weight in this instance, as it is cheaper to do a job right the first time.
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