Building Nevada - August 2000

New-Home Marketing Still Traditional,

But The Internet Is A Growing Presence

by Chuck N. Baker

Marketing new homes is an ever-changing exercise. As the buying public constantly reveals its likes and dislikes, builders have to be ready to make advertising decisions quickly in order to grab hold of what families are seeking in the current market. Some things on buyers’ wish lists seem to remain the same over time- a quiet neighborhood, privacy, amenities, a nice view. But buyers are a moving target. What was an option last year may now be a standard feature, with competition constantly putting pressure on homebuilders to one-up the competition. A developer’s message must rise above the din of the ever-crowded marketplace.

In Nevada, what does a builder have to do to stand out? Nevada Business Journal contacted a number of leading home builders and asked them to describe their marketing efforts.

SOUTHERN NEVADA

At Del Webb’s Sun City, Las Vegas, marketing has an added obstacle, or opportunity, depending on how one views the situation - residents must be 55 years of age or older.

Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Sun Cities Las Vegas, Steve O’Connor said his firm markets primarily to southern Nevada, but the company also has a large advertising presence in southern California. "For the Sun Cities, our ads stress lifestyles. What we try to do is to expose the reader to the various amenities and recreational advantages," O’Connor said of his print advertising. Offerings such as health and fitness possibilities are featured in newspaper advertising. O’Connor continued, "We use newspapers, magazine, TV and radio in Las Vegas. In southern California we [have a] lengthy television campaign about the Sun Cities."

To market its current neighborhoods, O’Connor said, "We have brochures [and] our overall integrated marketing program is probably the best in the industry in terms of sales pavilion presentations." Anthem features 15 model homes as well as a large sales center, which O’Connor says is a showpiece in itself.

One new wrinkle many builders use today is the Internet. "We have multiple links on the Internet to our McDonald Ranch and Anthem communities," says O’Connor, "and we also have our own (Del Webb) e-mail address, www.suncity.com."

Del Webb also has a unique program that allows prospective buyers to stay at a new-home location and experience the lifestyle. Their vacation getaway program offers 30 fully furnished units for the exclusive use of prospects to do a test drive of the community to see if it is for them. The cost is about $89 per night. They get a golf cart in the garage to drive around the neighborhood and have full access to the recreational amenities. O’Connor said, "It’s the most successful marketing plan we have. Its a large percentage of our sales."

Del Webb also uses billboards in the Las Vegas Valley to get its message across, and they have an aggressive Realtor program. "We have a very attractive Realtor relations program," O’Connor said. "Sue Streeter is our Realtor Relations Coordinator. She promotes us to Realtors as a full-time job. She visits real estate offices, and offers programs for continuing education." O’Connor said Streeter also hosts the Anthem Realtor Institute to educate the real estate community on current topics in the industry.

O’Connor concluded, "Basically we’ve been doing this for about 40 years, and every time we build we take into consideration" the marketing and sales information gleaned from decades of experience.

When super-successful Kaufman and Broad bought out super-successful Lewis Homes a couple of years ago, the decision was made to keep both names active in the marketplace. In the Las Vegas area, Director of Marketing Carrie Sanchez handles both brands. She explained Kaufman and Broad is "more of a first-time buyer home. The buyers are more conscious of price ranges. They start in the low $100,000s." Sanchez said, "Our main form of advertising is our television programs and our signage for both brands. We don’t advertise that strongly in the [newspaper] real estate section. We found that the newspaper doesn’t work that strongly for us. Less than 5% of our buyers are from the newspaper."

The branding is so well known, Sanchez said the companies offer few special incentives. "We believe the price and the value of the homes are incentive enough," she said. "That’s really proven to be true in this market."

The company signage includes week-end directional signs as well as off-site billboards, and "human signs" to promote special events, like grand openings. Brochures and collateral material are also a part of the mix. "We have community-specific brochures that display floor plans and elevations, as well as all features and possible options a person can get at each community. And we also have corporate brand brochures that talk about our mortgage company, our showroom and our warranty."

The Lewis brand is aimed at the move-up buyer, Sanchez said. The company takes advantage of the Internet and invites prospects to take virtual tours of current neighborhoods the company builds. The address is www.kbhomes.com. Glen Barnard, president of e.KB Inc., the firm’s e-commerce division, said the virtual tours are a tremendous time saver for potential homebuyers. "It’s extremely helpful for them to tuck the kids into bed at night and start house-hunting on the Web," he said.

"The emergence of the Internet may be changing the face of how we market new homes and the real estate community," said Leslie Bausher of American West. "My belief is, people don’t buy homes on the Internet. But they do shop on the Internet. If you’re in St. Louis and being transferred to Las Vegas, it’s a great medium for preparing yourself for what’s available, the price ranges, how homes compare to what you’re living in ... If [a builder’s] presence isn’t established on the Internet, they may lose them." Bausher said American West is making a major effort to improve its website, www.americanwesthomes.com. In the meantime the company is strong in newspapers, home magazines and billboards.

Advertising features quality and branding. "We want people to feel comfortable with the investment they are making. Beyond that, it might be location and the amenities for the price." The company builds near master planned communities, offering more value in locating homes close to more expensive neighborhoods. "But we also build our own master-plans," she pointed out. The company cooperates with brokers on a fee basis and reported 800 sales last year.

In Nevada for about nine years, Pulte Homes offers products from $86,990 up to $449,990. "We build in master-planned communities, because our buyer profiles give more value to being there," said Joe Whatley, vice president of sales and marketing. He said the buyers are "a little more sophisticated, educated, more experienced. They give value to master-plans."

Pulte advertises in newspapers and periodicals, in many cases stressing style. "I think we try to sell more style, and location. It’s real critical. We’re not really trying to sell the price point. The more experienced buyers are looking for more special things in a home. They know what they’re looking for, and they know what they don’t like."

The company has tried television with mixed results, but does use radio to announce new communities. "Our major form of advertising is word-of-mouth," Whatley said. "A lot of people have bought a Pulte Home in Nevada and [are now] buying a second one. We have name brand recognition because we are in 43 cities across the United States, in 27 states."

Billboards along freeways are often used by Pulte, and the company encourages Realtor participation with commissions and extra rewards. The company also offers a 10-year transferable home warranty. If an original owner has to leave the area or wants to move up, the warranty stays with the home and is transferable to the next owner, for a total of 10 years.

Pulte says its the largest home builder in the nation in terms of number of homes sold. "We sold over 22,000 homes in 1999," Whatley said. "This year we’ll sell close to 800 homes in Las Vegas."

Advertising includes values and lifestyles, and testimonials. Pulte offers energy efficient homes, and has won awards for construction designed for hot climates. Point-of-sale pieces promote its "Engineered For Life" qualities, and a garage area in a model home contains an energy display.

NORTHERN NEVADA

Home buyers in Sparks can check out Bright Homes, which is building Wingfield Springs, a master-planned golf course community. "We’ve got two different projects," said Division Manager Ed Davis. "We have 84 single-family units in one and 130 in another." he said. "We advertise primarily in newspapers. We stress quality, price and location."

Davis said the company promotes value, "and we have been in business for almost 30 years. We’ve built in California" before moving into Nevada, he said.

He said offering custom features and options is something most builders have to do these days. In addition to newspaper marketing, Davis said, "We’ve done some radio advertising. We did a hole-in-one promotion and a remote radio broadcast. If prospects got a hole-in-one they would get golf certificates. We set up a putting green at a model complex and did a remote broadcast from a model home."

Davis said Bright sold "about 40 or 50 homes last year. This year our plans are to surpass that. We target families with kids, but we also have retirees because we offer some smaller, single-story homes. [Those buyers] want to move down to a golf course community with no maintenance of a large yard."

Reno’s Neuffer Homes takes a most unique position when it comes to marketing its homes. It doesn’t. That is to say, the company has turned over marketing responsibilities to the local Coldwell Banker real estate brokerage.

Broker Jim Wilburn is the director of new home sales at Coldwell Banker Plummer and Associates, Inc. Neuffer has four subdivisions, and Wilburn said, "We handle all of the creative work relative to making sure the advertising stays new and fresh and exciting. We propose concepts constantly to keep it in the fashion it needs to be. We handle placements on radio, TV and billboards, and we design Neuffer’s marketing plan and budget."

Wilburn said marketing stresses Neuffer is a third-generation local builder. "Being a local builder they live, eat and breathe right here with the rest of us and they are concerned with the quality of their product, and the customer service they offer their clients."

Neuffer advertises a five-year warranty and has a Website as well as a link to the Coldwell Banker Website. The addresses are www.neufferhomes.com, and www.cbplummer.com.

Marketing in the northern portion of Nevada is handled differently than it is in the south for Kaufman and Broad - Lewis Homes.

Gigi Chisel is vice president of sales and marketing for the companies. "The market here is probably not quite as segmented as the Las Vegas market," she noted. Selling homes from $169,900 to $272,000, Chisel said the company uses traditional channels such as outdoor advertising, direct mail, and television and has a sizable referral base. "Our name is well recognized in the marketplace. We probably receive more referrals than others in the industry," she said. She noted the company has an award-winning Website which offers a pre-qualification program with on-line registration. "Our Website activity has gone up every month," states Chisel.

The company relies on surveys for a large portion of its marketing. She noted lifestyles and trends are "constantly in a state of flux. The first person that alerts us to a trend change is the home buyer. We will survey home buyers in every market every two years."

She said the company checks its own buyers, competitor’s buyers, resale purchasers and others. She wants to know why people purchased a particular home over one of hers. "The people who bought in some ways are less important than the people who didn’t buy," she concluded.