Subdivision - Lake Hills in St. John or StoneBridge in Schererville?

[Northwest Indiana]

Originally Posted by knighthood82

No, it's not the case. I will say people speak with their feet and their wallets though. Instead of critiquing a local homebuilder who has been helping out the local economy for 50 years why don’t you look at what the national builder DR Horton is doing in Winfield and hoping to expand to the rest of the area:

Your statement makes it sound like it's NOT okay for D.R. Horton to construct those types of homes because they are a NATIONAL builder (instead of the actual quality of construction/architectural style) but its OKAY for Olthof to build similar homes because they are local, am I correct?

I understand that Olthof has been around for a long time. But so what? Are you saying that the age of a company somehow trumps how quality of a product they produce? Well, I don't think so. Yes, ultimately, the market will control it. And people do speak with their feet and wallet. But if there are little to no competitors, then people don't really have a choice (unless they spend more or get an older home).

Either way, I already started a thread a while back regarding DR Horton:

D.R. Horton Coming to Winfield and Crown Point Indiana

[knighthood82]

Originally Posted by Northwest Indiana

Your statement makes it sound like it's NOT okay for D.R. Horton to construct those types of homes because they are a NATIONAL builder (instead of the actual quality of construction/architectural style) but its OKAY for Olthof to build similar homes because they are local, am I correct?

I understand that Olthof has been around for a long time. But so what? Are you saying that the age of a company somehow trumps how quality of a product they produce? Well, I don't think so. Yes, ultimately, the market will control it. And people do speak with their feet and wallet. But if there are little to no competitors, then people don't really have a choice (unless they spend more or get an older home).

Either way, I already started a thread a while back regarding DR Horton:

D.R. Horton Coming to Winfield and Crown Point Indiana

No that's not what I'm saying.. DR Horton can build whatever they want and I'm not going to bash them for it. If their buyers are happy with the types of homes they build than who is anyone else to criticize them for it. What I am saying is DR Horton is the type of builder that you should be comparing Olthof with for a fair comparison. Both build new homes in the homes in the 170K- 250K range which is where the vast majority of buyers in today’s market are looking. There must be a market for affordable new housing no matter who chooses to build the homes in that price point. I guess our definitions of "affordable" are just too far apart. You keep saying that if a buyer spends just a little more money they can get themselves into a custom built home by a small builder but even 270K is too much for most people these days and that’s still below most custom home builders starting point. Every builder is going to do what they do best and for some it's building many homes at a low price point and for others it's building expensive homes for a small audience - there's plenty of room for both out there. You continue to harp on quality but you haven't mentioned one specific valid reason of piece of evidence to point at. All you keep mentioning is lack of luxury features that not everyone can afford and most can do without.

[richb]

For a production builder Olthof is actually pretty good. When I am traveling, I almost always pop into new houses in the area I am. And let me tell you, compared with some production builders in other places, Olthof quality is not bad. They may use inexpensive materials for a lot of things, but the house itself is put together correctly for the most part. You don't see crooked or bowed walls, they use concrete for the driveways most of time, the amenities of the subdivision (landscaping, pools, clubhouses) are pretty nice. Homeowners are generally happy with their houses, and they do fix things pretty quickly when they come up.

The complaints I hear are from people who don't live in one of their houses. And the complaint is usually about the appearance. And appearance is subjective. Sorry but it is. Most think they look fine.

When it comes down to it, most new home buyers in NW Indiana are families. And families will chose the house with more interior space over the smaller house made out of more expensive material. An all brick house with solid oak trim, but only 3 bedrooms that is more expensive vs. the vinyl siding house with plastic trim and 4 bedrooms and for 50 grand less, which one do you think that family with three kids is going to buy? The one where each kid can have a room, that is a big thing for a lot of people. Not the all brick exterior.