Shop 'Til You Drop!

No, this post is not about Christmas! Aux Contrare - it's about a part of our home building program that enables  us to help our clients pick out wonderful things for their homes. Yesterday I went shopping with the Palmers for appliances and plumbing fixtures and it got me to thinking about the process. 

One of Hoebeke Builder's distinctives has always been to shop with our clients. Most of the other guys will wind their customers up like little toy soldiers with a list of things that need to be selected and turn 'em loose. Total chaos ensues! With a universe of options the homeowner normally gets confused, and overwhelmed. We have an orderly system that clearly identifies those items we will need selected to build your home; dates by which selections need to be completed; vendor lists where we already have accounts; tips for things to look for when making those selections; and charts to record the selections once made. Sounds difficult right? Actually through the years our clients have found our system amazingly user friendly. Could that be why we have two "three peat", eight repeat, and two next generation clients?

It's not enough though to equip the client with specific information needed and let them forge around trying to come up with things they are going to have to live with for years. They need to be lead! We strongly encourage the use of an interior designer, but even that is not enough to systematically get through selections. Since we have the accounts, and since we need the information to be able to complete their home in a timely fashion, we REALLY like to go with them to guide them along. My operating partner Phillip McCloud hates to shop, so yours truly is fortunate enough to make the arrangements and help guide the process. 

Still another reason that I like to shop with our clients is so we get to HEAR our customer. On almost every shopping trip either an expectation of the client, or some treasure they have always wanted in their home is usually revealed. If we don't shop with them - we miss it! Not long ago my client, her decorator, and I were in a tile store shopping hard for hidden treasures. Very casually my client said "...this will look fabulous with the limestone hood in the Kitchen!" (Ah....what limestone hood? First I've heard of it - and oh by the way that will require steel columns, brackets etc. in the wall to support the load!) Unflappable as I always am, I quietly took notes and quickly got the steel in the wall for the limestone! Had I not been shopping, we would have totally missed the need for steel and it would have required major renovation to add later.

We have fun! Lot's of fun! And when you are spending a lot of money for that "tailor made" home of your dreams, it NEEDS TO BE LOT'S OF FUN!! Maybe that explains my second title here at Hoebeke Builders - "Vice-President In Charge of A Good Time!"

The Digital Economy

(Editors Note: With the summer months upon us, I have decided to throttle back a bit on writing and posting. With the minor exception of a trilogy that I am working on, most likely I will be posting just once a week. Look for the pace to pick up again in the Fall - I just have too much to say!)

"Maxine" - the Pool Cleaner

Our pool is a mess! You see, "Maxine" our faithful, and tireless Polaris Pool Sweep, died! After several years of service she just gave up the ghost. Not a particularly good time of year to quit, but she just didn't seem to care.

So I needed a replacement. After looking around locally, I did what the younger generation seems to be going to first - I started shopping online. Ebay is a wonderful thing! For a little less than half of retail (with a rebate coupon) I have the new Maxine on her way! During the process it occurred to me that traditional shopping avenues have already given way to the "digital economy."


Instead of building homes based on the availability of goods and services provided only by the local economy, we are beginning to see trends that suggest that some goods incorporated into the projects are being shipped in from distant points. It only makes sense - if a vendor in Las Vegas is willing to sell and ship to you the product of your desire substantially cheaper than the local retailer, why not? 

It's not practical to find standard local commodities like lumber for the framing of your home, on the internet. You need too much lumber, too quickly, to try to buy it online. Not necessarily so for some products like roofing materials and maybe things like brick. Because of the unique variations of some of these items, it is entirely conceivable that you could locate something unusual that you really like in another state, made with cheaper materials and labor, and have it shipped to your jobsite for less money. 

Competitive price shopping the internet works great on many items like appliances, cabinet knobs, etc.! Standard products built by national, and international corporations are shipped all over the country for distribution through retailers. Generally, items that would be subject to wide variations in pricing due to a retailer's interpretation of value or excessive inventory levels are good candidates for finding a bargain.   Yet because of the ease of shopping locally where we know the availability can be immediate, we usually opt for the local source.
 
Many would argue that not being able to see, touch, and "test drive" a product creates a definite advantage for local retailers. However, if you have seen something locally that you like, often you can jot down a model number and color to see if you can find it cheaper on the internet. Remember, "the product doesn't know where it came from!" To me therein lies the beauty of our digital economy! The potential of online buying keeps local sellers very honest in their pricing.

Hopefully Maxine will arrive fully intact and ready for work. Buying out of Las Vegas could be troublesome if our new pool cleaner shows up missing some parts. But, the reputable seller promises that if there are any problems they will take it back with no questions asked.  Heck, all I want is a clean pool!

Choices...

Just this morning I started reading Matthew Kelly's book The Rhythm of Life, and I can already tell that his insightful writing will have an impact on my life. But it got me to thinking about "choices." Kelly's premise early on in his book is that life is a series and compilation of choices. Periodically we can look back and see the value in our lives based on the choices we have made.

So much of my work through the years has centered around the same issue. The choices required for building a home are not necessarily life altering, but most often they do impact the lives of family members. Is it red or green; smooth or rough; big or small; new fresh and sleek or rustic; does it go here, or here; hot or cold; technologically advanced or old school...the list goes on and on! It can be totally overwhelming! Often we become paralyzed with possibility (see 3/3/11 blog).

Without reading ahead I can almost sense where Matthew Kelly is going with his book. What do you want out of the project - can you clearly articulate the feelings, emotions, and desires that need to be satisfied for this project to make you happy? Can the successful completion of the project make you happy? Kelly advocates getting in touch with yourself so that when faced with choices, you make good ones.

Every picture you see on this blog represents a series of choices. Color and material preferences have been identified in each of these photos creating a symphony of decisions which resulted from a myriad of potential choices.

Without having spent inordinate amounts of time preparing a "sermon," let me share a few thoughts about maximizing the process of building and navigating through the sea of choices.

• Assemble a "world class" team of people that you feel very comfortable with that have a knowledge of the building process and can help you navigate through thousands of choices. Because the disciplines of building interrelate (architect, builder, structural design, interior design, and landscape design) I advocate building your team early - it will save you inordinate amounts of time and money.


• Take a personal inventory. Ahead of beginning the design process understand what your really like, and what you really don't!


• Take a family inventory. Understanding what your family likes and their expectations for the building process minimizes surprises.


• Be fearless! Just like those multiple choice tests we used to take in school when you don't know the answer, usually your first instinct in correct. Remember that everyone makes mistakes, and most of the mistakes can be fixed.


• Don't waiver! If you've done your homework you will be making good decisions. Just because two elements of a large picture don't match when you choose them, they are just that - two elements of a much larger picture!

Trust the team you have assembled. If their core values and sense of style appealed to you enough to select them in the first place, probably their guidance will reflect the project parameters which you established at the start of the job. Remember: Hold things loosely, and people tightly! The choices you make on design and construction of your new home or remodel represent "things," and "things" are not worth holding tightly!

Junkyard Dogs!

Everyone loves a deal! Who wouldn't? The thrill of "beating the system" invigorates the soul and brings bragging rights with it. You can't be in construction, or construction related industries without developing an eye for a deal. Everywhere we go we keep a constant gaze for the undervalued while staying ready with the wallet. Our friends affectionately refer to Molly and I as "the junkyard dogs" because we are so all about the deal...

Take this coffee table for instance. Purchased for $175 with the beveled glass top from one of my favorite local haunts, Lots of Furniture down on Riverfront. It was rusty when I bought it but it cleaned up nicely - before I shot it with lacquer.

Sometimes the inspiration for a brand new piece can come from a source that wasn't an undervalued product. These gates (or the original design) were in a studio we visited out in the countryside of France. The price in France was prohibitive so we copied the design, made some minor modifications and enhancements, and had them produced in Dallas for a home in Grand Cayman. They turned a rather plain entry into something special!



This wrought iron was found in one of my favorite places in all the world - Marchee de Pusche (the flea market) in Paris. The single gate with several side panels came off a Parisian manor. Fortunately we came along a just the right time and had them shipped back to the States. Though it has now been years since that trip we have them stowed away comfortably just waiting for the right place.

We probably saved more money in France than we could ever afford, but the exchange rate several years ago made it silly cheap to pick up really fine treasures. This gorgeous old sideboard (below - in Paris) was another find from the flea market. Made of solid walnut (a/k/a "black gold" here in the States because it is such an expensive wood to work with), we tried  the piece in several places in our home before it ended up in our Dining Room.




Our clients like it too when we shop. Often uniqueness of the products we use will differentiate their home from their friends.

The secret to finding really terrific values is knowing when and where something "fits" in your design scheme and being ready at a moments notice to buy it and get it home. Molly travelled with her Mom and sisters years ago to London and found this chandelier which she just had to have for our Dining Room. She chose not to electrify it but rather uses candles to soften the mood for dinner parties.



But being a "junkyard dog" can also take on a very sentimental point of view. As our girls were growing up we would often eat at a local restaurant that always had wonderful, original oil paintings. Our family fell in love with this particular work! Painted by local artist Kelly Stribling Sutherland in 1993 it came to represent the wholesomeness of Americana as a mother and her children picnic'd. Imagine our horror when we walked in to the restaurant one day and the picture was gone! Come to find out management had decided to rotate the art in several of their properties and they just happened to have moved it to the main office inventory. Not for long... Molly and I tracked it down, bought it and now enjoy it every day. I reminds us of the good times we have enjoyed as a family!