It’s a deceptively simple concept: provide a top-of-the-line product at a lower price. It may be easy to articulate, but implementing that philosophy requires a dedicated team and visionary leadership.
The formula has been a winning one for Tobi and Mark McGuigan and Patrick Zalupski, co-owners of Dream Finders Homes, NEFBA’s most recent Pinnacle Builder Award winner.
The McGuigans started Dream Finders Homes (as Dream Finders Construction) when the building industry was very strong. Unprecedented housing starts were being recorded in Jacksonville. Within a few years, however, the industry experienced a slowdown, the likes of which even long-time veterans had not seen.
“We were conservative builders, completing about 10 to 15 homes per year,” Mark McGuigan said. “And, when we saw the market beginning to slow down in 2007 and 2008, we cut back even more.”
Fortunately, Patrick Zalupski approached Mark and Tobi with an idea.
“I went to Mark and Tobi sometime around the middle of 2008 about building in Pine Ridge Plantation, a community in Middleburg,” said Patrick, now a managing partner in the company. “I thought there was an opportunity to sell affordable, value-packed homes, and Pine Ridge provided an opportunity to test this theory. We decided to partner and create Dream Finders Homes LLC.”
Mark, who has been a builder most of his life, brought his extensive construction experience to the mix.
Tobi is a licensed general contractor who takes care of everything from permitting and code compliance to financial statements (and much more, according to her husband).
Patrick’s background is finance. He was an internal auditor for FedEx before moving to Jacksonville to obtain his real estate license.
“Mark and I have been friends since 2003 when I moved to Jacksonville, and we were always looking for a way to work together,” Patrick said. “We finally found that opportunity in late 2008. I manage our sales force, deal with land acquisition, marketing and advertising and financing.”
Combining the talents and experience of these three started the ball rolling.
Now as signs of a recovery loom large on the horizon, Dream Finders Homes is remarkable in its growth.
“Our goal is to provide the best overall value in new-home construction, which involves a combination of competitive pricing with quality finishes,” Tobi said. “Achieving that goal means we focus on customer satisfaction, and it’s our relationship with our customers that has enabled us to grow.”
And, grow they have. For two consecutive years, the company has been on the Jacksonville Business Journal’s list of fastest growing companies. From its initial two employees, the company now has 18 employees. From completing 27 homes in 2009, the company anticipates completing 350 homes this year.
“We focus on key principles of hard work, cost control and value,” Patrick said. “We have to constantly be striving to get better at what we do. We are not the absolute lowest price, but if you compare our standard features to any other builder – apples to apples so to speak, then we should be the best overall value, which provides homeowners the confidence of knowing they have purchased with equity already in the home.”
Patrick said new customers come in the door because of word-of-mouth advertising. He estimates nearly 100 percent of Dream Finders’ business is from referrals.
Even with the pressures and demands of a rapid-growth company, Dream Finders sets aside time and resources to give others a helping hand. Last year Dream Finders built a home for wounded Afghanistan Marine Cpl. Tyler Southern. Southern, who lost both legs and his right arm in service to his country, is living in the home in St. Augustine built by Home Builders along with donations and volunteers through Homes for Our Troops.
“Our 7-year old son saw the news story about Tyler on television and asked me why I didn’t build a home for him,” Mark said. “It was that simple. And, the answer, of course, was ‘why not?’”
Once the project was begun, Mark said the community coalesced into an army of volunteers, cutting the cost of the project in half.
Dream Finders has also donated a renovation to Dreams Come True and it supports local youth athletic teams.
Dream Finders Homes builds in family-oriented communities in Duval, Clay and St. Johns counties with new single-family detached and townhomes ranging in price from the $70,000s to the $400,000s. Home buyers can find a roomy townhome in the popular Durban Crossing area from less than $100,000 to single-family homes in the $430,000 range.
“Our listed price is our move-in price,” Mark said. “When we come to the table with an agreed-upon price, there aren’t any add-ons. And we give the customer the choice of a 75- or 90-day build schedule. Then we guarantee it. We think that’s unusual – if not unheard of. It sets us apart.”
Being a very lean company, each of the three partners shoulders a great deal of responsibility and overlapping duties so they pinch hit for each other as needed. The three agree that the company’s employees are a major reason for its success.
“We have a great sales team to interface directly with the buyers, and we have a tremendous construction management team to ensure that each home is built to the specifications of both Dream Finders and the future homeowner,” Tobi said. “With 350 homes projected for 2012, we rely a great deal on our organized and disciplined administrative team.”
Another point of agreement for the three partners is the value of their NEFBA membership.
“We joined NEFBA because we believe it’s important to be unified with the building community and when the industry succeeds, we will ultimately succeed as well,” Patrick said. “Mark and Tobi deserve all the credit for Dream Finders achieving the Pinnacle award. They worked hard to have all of our trade partners become NEFBA members.”
With a winning formula for success, a true dream team, a commitment to the community and a strong customer-satisfaction driven relationship with buyers, Dream Finders Homes has generated enviable momentum in a challenging market and earned the respect of the local industry along the way. NEFBA is proud to honor Dream Finders for earning the distinguished Pinnacle Builder Award.