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Show Notes: The discussion centers around the comprehensive and customizable approach to building a home, emphasizing the importance of personalized design and customer involvement throughout the process. From the initial conversation to the final move-in, every aspect of the home is tailored to the client’s needs, including the choice of materials, energy efficiency, and accessibility features. The importance of clear communication and understanding between the building company and the client is underscored, ensuring that each home is not just a structure but a reflection of the owner’s vision and preferences. Additionally, practical advice on navigating design choices and construction considerations offers valuable insights for those interested in creating their dream home.
Transcript:
Steve Tuma: We have a lot of knowledge from real experience, so when someone calls up and says, “Hey, Steve, what about energy codes?” or “Hey, should I get a civil engineering design?” or “Hey, how do I deal with the septics or do I get an electrical layout?” I’ve done so many of these that chances are 98 out of 100 questions I can answer right there.
Interviewer: Hello, everybody, and welcome to episode 61 of the Panelized Pre Fab Kit Home Building Show. With me today, as always, is the president and founder of Landmark Home and Land Company, a company which has been helping people build their new homes where they want, exactly as they want, nationwide and around the globe since 1993. And that’s 31 years, folks! Mr. Steve Tuma. Steve, how you doing, bud?
Steve Tuma: I’m doing great. It’s a good day. Yeah, October 13th of this year marked 31 years of helping people build houses all around the country, and sometimes around the world. Big houses, little houses, some in places that are below sea level, some are at 10,000 or 11,000-foot elevations, some are waterfront, oceanfront, some are in cities. It’s kind of interesting—31 years of helping people get the house that they want.
Interviewer: Yeah, it’s pretty impressive, man. There’s no way to look at a 31-year business, especially a family-owned and operated business like Landmark is, without acknowledging that it’s a big, amazing accomplishment. Let’s just say that.
Steve Tuma: Right, It’s pretty cool. It’s cool to look back and see the evolution of what we’ve done, the different customers we’ve helped, and amazingly, a lot of them come back and build their retirement homes, or homes for their kids, or a move-up house, whatever it may be—a second home. It’s pretty interesting. It’s pretty cool.
Interviewer: Yeah, to say the least. That’s a good word. I can imagine you have a sense of pride. Today, I thought we’d go over some of the finer points surrounding a basic review of a home building project from the very start. So, are you ready to dive into that?
Steve Tuma: Yeah, this is an interesting topic because, you know, a lot of people come in different directions. They have different ideas of what they want, different ways, different situations with each property and each new building project.
Interviewer: Yeah, and I’d say one thing that Landmark is famous for is you guys have the ability to get right back to a customer, listen to what their concerns are, and help them to get off to the right start. So yeah, that’s kind of a good thing to be known for. All right, let’s start right off. The review process of a new panelized home seems like an important first step in any new home build—just, you know, to get the finer points down before you’ve put one single nail into a piece of wood. So tell us how you guys over at Landmark Home and Land Company would begin that conversation, say, by reviewing the land itself that the house is going to sit on.
Steve Tuma: Well, a lot of it’s the land, the house, the specific need of what a customer is looking for. So if someone is doing their vacation home, it might be a different design or kind of need than if it’s their home for a growing family or a retirement home. So I always kind of want to get an idea for what people are trying to achieve, but also where they’re building. You know, the land—Is it a flat piece of land? Is it the side of a hill? Is it a steep slope? Is it waterfront? There could be different code issues—there generally are. There could be different concerns on accessing the house. You know, can you get in a good driveway to get into the garage if it’s a slow piece of land? But also where it’s at. If you took the same house—just take a random home design—and you wanted to build it on flat land in the Midwest, even though the house may look the same, it’s going to be different than if you put it in the south or anywhere in the hurricane zones, you know, in Florida. But then if you took that house and went into the Rocky Mountains or the Sierras, there’s going to be different concerns. How does the foundation attach to the land? Are there different conditions for seismic conditions, snow loads, high wind speeds, expansive soils? So we always like to get an idea of where a house is being built, what’s the purpose, and what are the land conditions so that we can go.
And some customers know a lot of details; some of them don’t know anything about it. So we’ll take the time under either condition to work with a customer, kind of get them up to speed on the process of what to look out for, and then we can, you know, show them how we can help them from our experience and just ideas to make a home, you know, economic to build, make sure that the design concepts make sense for what they want, and make sure it’s a set of plans that we can, you know, get through, make sure it’s good for the building department and the actual execution of the building processes themselves. So it’s kind of a unified approach. It’s not just a, “Hey, this is our system, hope you like it.” It’s, “Hey, what does our customer specifically need? What are they looking for in a house? What are the land conditions, the building site, building department concerns to make sure that everything’s done properly?” So it’s kind of a multi-pronged approach. It’s not a one-size-fits-all. It’s kind of just our knowledge base that we tailor to each individual customer’s needs. Amazingly, a lot of people have thought about this. They understand. They say, “Hey, I want to build in a mountain. I understand that I’ve got a slope to my land. We maybe have to get a civil engineer in.” You know, maybe the design you’d build on the side of a hill is different than if you had a flat piece of land or if you were in the city versus a country setting. So we kind of have the conversations to help them through and sort different things out. And what I’ve found is all customers have an understanding from a perspective of what they want to do. We just have to kind of, you know, finish it out with details that maybe they haven’t thought through or they may not understand. But whatever it is, we’re willing to take the time to talk to each individual customer, you know, person by person, specific to their project. And I think that’s a tremendous value that a lot of customers or potential customers don’t realize they need. They don’t realize that we’re here to supply those details. They may have built, you know, bought a house that was built somewhere and they were just told, “Hey, here’s this house on this lot. What color do you want it?” You know, where in our case, it’s “What do you want? Where do you want it? Let’s figure out what you need and get it all taken care of so that the customer gets the house they want.
They understand the house and then they also understand the costs.” It’s a lot of work to build a house and we think a customer that understands what they’re doing and the costs and the processes, it’s just a better build and it’s actually more rewarding for them. People build a house on their own because they want to. They want to understand the quality. They want to understand what the house is going to look like. They understand why something’s being done a certain way, and it’s their money. They also want to know why and how it’s being spent.
Interviewer: Yeah, that makes sense. Do you often find that some customers are so excited about a project that maybe they get a little ahead of themselves? Is that often a lot and you have to kind of—
Steve Tuma: I wouldn’t say it happens a lot, but what I’m finding is different customers have different things. Some people are very concerned about the structural design. Other customers are concerned about the work that they can do. Other customers are just concerned about a schedule, but sometimes they have a schedule that just might not be possible. People calling up in the Midwest on November 1st saying that they want to start the house before the snow flies. Maybe the snow already is flying, so there’s different situations that we take the time to explain the process to them so they can understand and have a realistic set of expectations for what’s there. But amazingly, we’ve got a good customer base of people that have wanted to build a house. It’s not like they wake up one day and say, “Hey, I want to build a house,” and call us. Generally, it’s been something that’s—sometimes it’s been there since they were a kid. Sometimes it’s something where they got sticker shock from a local builder and they’re like, “We want this house, but we need to get it done less expensively.” And then they realize the owner-builder situation’s there. So people are generally pretty focused on what needs to be done. We just have to fill in spots here and there. And then we’ve had other customers that are professional builders. They know how to build and they just need us for the efficiency of the design, the one-stop shop, the panels, and the guaranteed cost. So that’s something that they appreciate. So every customer kind of has their own approach. And then, like I say, we fill in the spots where they might need a little bit of information or knowledge to understand how something goes through. And amazingly, it works out very well. I think it’s because we’re attentive. We understand the owner-builder. We build houses ourselves, and we have a lot of projects going on right now. So we kind of know the pitfalls. We kind of have likely seen situations before. We build in all different types of situations across the country, you know, tops of mountains, sides of mountains, flat spots, waterfront. You know, just all these different conditions. So we’re a great resource where we can help people. That, I think, is the important thing.
Yeah, true help. No voicemails, you know, no push to here, push for there. Just give me a call on my direct cell phone. Yeah. And we talk about your project. It’s fun. Customers become friends or part of our life. And we’re proud to work with good people. That’s why we’ve been here for 31 years. It’s the basic thing: take care of the customer and make sure they get what they need and want.
Interviewer: That customer service thing, that’s just a dying art, you know, and the way you guys handle it—let’s say it’s old school. Maybe it’s retro, but I would prefer that to any modernization where I have to push a bunch of buttons to get an answer.
Steve Tuma: It’s the cool thing about it, the attentiveness, because we have a lot of knowledge from real experience. So when someone calls up and says, “Hey, Steve, what about energy codes?” or “Should I get a civil engineering design?” or “How do I deal with the septics?” or “Do I get an electrical layout?” I’ve done so many of these that chances are 98 out of 100 questions I can answer right there. And I think that’s what people are surprised about. They’re like, “Well, you don’t have to go to someone, or you don’t have a meeting and try to get some authorization?” It’s like, no, we’re a company that’s designed to be knowledgeable and be able to support a family in their efforts. And that’s the way we’re set up. I’m kind of the central hub of working with all the architectural designers, structural designers, and all of the people that are necessary to get a good set of plans put together. And then a lot of details for also making sure the panel product is put together so we can carry the concept all the way through.
It’s kind of interesting because sometimes people say, “Well, I can get my own architect, I can get my own structural engineer, I could get my own this and that.” I’m like, “Yeah, I’m sure you can.” But it’s kind of like, you know, trying to put ducks in a row or chase greased pigs. It’s great. Everyone’s going to do their individual process. Good luck if you don’t have the right knowledge. But how do you tie it together? Because sometimes people can draw a pretty-looking set of plans, but is the right information there?
Interviewer: Right. Yeah.
Steve, Tuma: And people say, “Well, you know, this guy designed this, he designed that.” I’m like, “I’m sure he did.” The idea is to find out how well it goes together, stay on budget, and stay on schedule. There could be a big difference there. So with us in the one-stop shop, we’re able to give our customers the knowledge and understanding and support so that they can leverage their time to stay busy with their family, their job, and then the actual construction of the house instead of dealing with minutiae. So it’s kind of like having a resource for extra brain with building and design knowledge that helps them get it put together. It’s a lot of interesting conversations. It’s a lot of talking to customers and sometimes working the conversation with them so that they develop the plan idea because sometimes people say, “Hey, I know what I want,” and they do. But then when you start getting into the finer details, you know, they might have to sort through. So they haven’t thought everything out, and that’s where we’re able to help. So if they say, “Hey, you know, what’s the benefit of vinyl siding versus cement board versus brick?” We can go through the different situations. But we also have an understanding that if they choose one or the other, it may affect the design and the engineering as well, so they don’t accidentally go down the wrong path. And that’s the really rewarding part of it is kind of taking the time up front—what I say is doing your homework up front—so that the project is well thought out, completely thought out. It’s easier to get permits. It’s easier to build. It’s easier to pass inspections. And it’s a lot more rewarding. And it’s the thing that keeps you on track for keeping your schedule and your budget in line. You know, it’s the reality of thinking about it up front instead of just diving in and building. You don’t want to design and build a house in “real time.” You want to design it, have it all sorted out, and then execute the building.
Interviewer: Sure.
Steve Tuma: That’s how we can help.
Interviewer: Well, help. Again, we go back to customer service. Help. Simple word, but it means a lot.
Steve Tuma: Oh, it is. And in today’s world, you know, I’m a consumer myself. You know, every company has an award: the best of this one minute after purchase, the best of this a week after purchase. And then me as a consumer calls in, and I’m on hold, and people say they’re going to call me back, and they don’t. It’s kind of aggravating. And I think that we’re there to answer the phone, get people taken care of, and get them the answer that they need, you know, right away or very quick. That’s relevant to their exact situation.
Interviewer: Yeah. So, you know, on this show, we talk a lot about plans. You know, it’s choosing plans, adjusting for the exact home design that a customer wants, etc. It sounds, you know, like oh, it’s just one aspect of everything. And it is. But it seems to me that’s such an important part because that’s where you start. If you don’t have a plan, what do you have? So let’s get into how you review the design elements of a new panelized home and within that partnership that you would develop with a customer.
Steve Tuma: Well, I’ve got an example. I got off a phone call with a lady in Texas. Hi Beverly! She started out with a house. She wanted to build about a twenty-five-hundred-square-foot ranch home on a slab with a three-car garage facing the front. She has a specific look on the outside of the home and then some specific details on how she wants the inside. You know, some guest bedrooms, a little workout room, an office, and then the master suite, and then a very large kind of great room concept with, you know, a kitchen, a dining room, and a living room. And she wanted them to be a specific—the kitchen, dining room, living room had to be forty-six feet long. OK. And it’s just kind of like, OK, so you figure it out. We had this plan idea. We fine-tuned this, fine-tuned this. Well, sometimes you make a little addition, like add a foot here, add a foot there, add a hallway here. And you don’t realize you added three hundred square feet. And suddenly it’s like, whoa, wait a second. We can’t just add square feet because generally that means more money. So there was a specific target. So we’ve had to kind of sit there and go through a couple iterations of the plans to find out what’s really going on here. What’s going on? So she wanted a certain size fitness room. But then after a while, she goes, “Hey, wait a second. This is taking a lot of space. I really don’t use two pieces of the equipment.
There’s only three.” Right. So we worked out a layout there. Then we figured out, you know, the big thing is she has a family of about 40 people where she wanted to know that there are spots for people to hang out. You know, some people talk here. Some people watch the game. Some people sit around the fridge. Some people be out in the back patio. And how do you get this together? So through the conversations, we were able to kind of boil it down to make sure she got the elements of what she wanted and then get rid of those little wasted spaces that are nice, but they’re not really usable. You know, so if you have people coming in going to this great expansive 14-foot-tall great room, do you really need an entryway that’s 10 feet by 15? It’s kind of cool, but you know what? 8 by 12 does the same thing, you know. But sometimes you adjust something here, it domino effects into something else. So we were able to move some of the positions of the garages, tweak some of the sizes and accesses into the different rooms. And I think we got it. We’re in the process of going through. So it’s taking a couple of iterations to find out what’s really important because sometimes people come up with ideas and say, “Hey, I want a 2,500-square-foot home.” It didn’t necessarily happen in this case. This is just a generic statement, but “I want a 2,500-square-foot home.” But if you ask them the dimensions of all the rooms they want, it’s 3,500 square feet, right? So it’s aligning the vision and the reality with what works out mathematically. Sometimes we have to kind of sit there and go through and say, “Hey, wait a second. You’re asking for a dining room of this size. How many people are going to sit in it?” And they say, “Well, we really don’t even use the dining room. Usually, it’s my wife and I with a bistro table in front of the TV.” It’s like, “OK, so do you need a 15 by 20 dining room if you’re not going to use it?” And they’re like, “Well, our house now has a dining room.” I’m like, “But do you use it?” They’re like, “You’re right. We don’t.
But we still want it because every once in a while…” So then we figure out a way to put it together. And in some cases, it means a smaller dining room. Other times, it means changing a floor plan. We’ve had a lot of people—they’re like, “You know, the family doesn’t come over a lot except for like Fourth of July and the holidays. Then there’s 15 people. We need an expansion place.” So we’re able to design something so that that works out. So a lot of it is just really in asking them questions and letting them answer and asking them other follow-up questions to find out what really is the gist of what they’re looking for. Because it’s easy to say, “I want a big dining room.” Well, what does big mean? Right? Is that 12 by 12? Is that 20 by 20? And a lot of it just gets into the lifestyle. Some people literally sit down, you know, 12 people at one table. Other people say, “No, 20 people come over, but there’s five there. There’s five here. The guys are in the garage looking at the hot rod. The guys are in the back playing with the barbecue. Women are over here in a craft room or just hanging out with the family, just talking and catching up.” So it’s kind of an interesting thing to see how it goes. And when it gets really interesting is when we have people that are building houses where they have a garage for their airplane, or people in equestrian projects, you know, where they have horses and they need kind of a little mini tack room cleanup room in the house, or people with different hobbies—restoring cars, playing with cars, craft rooms. One guy had an in-house butcher shop. It was kind of weird. Wow. They had an They had an organic, like truly live-off-the-land, type of situation. Other times, there are people with concerns about solar and how the sun reacts. Currently, we’re doing a house right now where they’re very concerned about wheelchair access and making it very, very wheelchair accessible. So avoiding differences in floor heights, making sure the doors are the right size, light switches are in the right place, roll-in showers, different situations like that.
So generally, the customer knows what they want, but every once in a while, the customer needs help in how they achieve that. Whether it’s an energy efficiency thing, a design thing, or how we fit it on the land, we take the time to work with each customer.
Whether the customer has never experienced this before or they’re more experienced and have an understanding, it’s really about taking the time.
And it may sound, you know, a little intimidating for someone to say, “But Steve, I just don’t know.” Well, that’s the process we go through. We want our customers to understand their project, know their project, understand how it’s getting built, understand the codes, understand the effect of the design issues, and how it works within their house. So that, I think, is where it’s at because people want to build their house. Part of it is saving money, but also a part of it is just the pride of doing it themselves. It’s just a goal where they want to build a house for money savings, savings on mortgage payments, making sure that it’s built right. You know, they trust the contractors, but it’s kind of a trust-but-verify situation. Make sure that things are put together right.
Interviewer: Yeah, of course.
Steve Tuma: So it’s an amazing process.
Interviewer: It’s again, it all goes back to customer service and you guys being willing to get on the phone and spend the time it takes with the customer to get them what they want. And why is that so difficult nowadays?
Steve Tuma:Well, we do it. We’ve actually evolved into it, and it’s actually pretty interesting. Sometimes we’re on calls with people with four or five family members. Sometimes it’s one family member. Sometimes the call is 20 minutes. Sometimes it’s two hours. Whatever it takes, we’re there to help a customer get the best home they can.
Interviewer: Yeah, let’s change the subject a little bit now to finishing materials. They’re just materials in general, things like windows, cabinets, those special touches that, you know, can sometimes get bogged down in the minutiae of it. They’re still very important. And, you know, just to help make the house a home, all those little details. I’d imagine the review process regarding those sorts of elements is something you guys get very detail-oriented about. I would imagine that’s the case. Am I wrong?
Steve Tuma: Yes, it is. It’s an interesting process because we do all the design work, the engineering, the plans for the permit application, and then we deliver a panelized home package to match the approved plan. So it’s easier for construction and inspections and, you know, certificates of occupancy. But the points you’re bringing up—we don’t supply the windows and cabinets and siding and, you know, trim and carpeting and stuff like that. But we work with a customer. The reason why we used to do it like 25 years ago, but the reason why is our customers like to personalize it.
So if someone goes through and they say, “Hey, in this area, Navajo red’s a good color,” or “We need this type of stone,” or “We like this type of siding,” it allows them to touch and feel, in a sense, the product. So our panelized structure, the wood structure, it gets covered up. People don’t see it unless you’re in a basement looking up; you’ll see the floor system. But in general, the details of that. Now, we can help people. Windows are an example. There’s expensive windows, less expensive windows, and very expensive windows. There’s some that perform better, you know, for energy efficiency. There’s different materials, colors, hardware, and looks that can go through.
So in that case, since our customers, whether they’re building a very simple home or an extremely expensive home, they still want to know what they’re getting. So then they could go to a local window supplier and see what’s there. The nice thing is, on our set of plans, we’ll put an opening schedule, which basically says the type of window, you know, casement, double-hung, single-hung, picture, whatever it may be, the size, and then the rough opening. So then they can go to their supplier with the plans and say, “Hey, can you get me a quote?” And those suppliers typically supply a printed-out list of all the performance values and everything that they can then check with the energy calculations to make sure it passes the energy efficiency.
But then we can also put the proper rough openings into a wall so that when the windows are installed, they can just put them right in the rough opening we supply and move on. It adds to the ease. We can detail out kitchens, you know, get dimensions as to where the dishwasher is, the sink, you know, windows, and things like that. But the cabinets, again, cabinets are endless possibilities of types of materials, textures, finishes. So with our plans, they can then go to their kitchen supplier and sort out what type of cabinets they want, and they can design their own cabinets. Where if we supplied that, you’re kind of working off a standard unit, you know, “Hey, here’s a choice of six cabinets.” Well, there could be thousands of options.
And some people want a simple kitchen; others want an extremely extravagant kitchen or vanities, whatever it may be. So with that, we’re able to get them the support so that when they want to go out and pick out these different features, they can get the exact garage door they want, the exact front door they want, with the exact doorknob. So we’re kind of doing the heavy lifting and the design and the structure and all the foundation design and everything, and then they, in a sense, get to work on the more fun things of, “Hey, what color? How big of a fireplace? Do we want a stone fireplace? Do we want an oak mantle?” Whatever it may be, and they can sort that out.
It’s pretty cool because people really, really get into that. It’s the finishing look; it’s the image of the house; it’s the feel of the house; it’s the efficiency of the house. And they’re supportive in that so that they can go through and get the house they want with the look they want.
Interviewer: There’s also an element there too. I’m one of those people that when I have to wait even for a week for something, I go crazy. So if there’s little busy jobs that I could do, like go down to Home Depot and pick out my own windows, that adds a lot to the overall experience, I think.
Steve Tuma: Yeah. Well, once people get into this process, they’re busy. So it’s one of these things where what we’re able to do is make it easier for them because when they have a set of plans with the dimensions and the details, like you use kitchen cabinets, they can go to the kitchen cabinet supplier, they have everything, and then they get to go through and pick out the types of cabinets, the types of woods, the finishes, and everything else. So it’s pretty cool. And depending on how deep they want to get, we’re always there. If people want to get real deep into civil engineering, into energy calculations, the types of beams they have, you know, they look at it, what the underside of their front porch is going to look like. Is it a flat ceiling? Is it a cathedral ceiling? Is it decorative beams? You know, we can work with them on the whole project. It’s actually kind of fun. Yeah. It’s pretty cool.
Interviewer: And why shouldn’t it be fun? You’re building your new home, you know, that should be fun. Yeah. Let’s get into energy for a moment. This is a subject very much on everyone’s mind these days with energy prices going through the roof. How detailed do you like to get when it comes to the concerns of energy efficiency in a new home? How much input do you have in the actual efficiency of a new home?
Steve Tuma: Well, we always do the calculations. Each state has its own energy calculation method and energy standard. So we always make sure that the house at least meets that. Sometimes customers want to go beyond for their own personal reasons, sometimes by chance just the nature of the design the home excels. So we always make sure everything’s, you know, code compliant. Some customers want to go a little deeper. Some of them are into solar. Some of them are just into thermal bridging. Some of them just want certain insulation. So we can work with them on that whole project. It really is a bottomless pit. How deep do they want to go? Some people say, “Hey, I’ll just go to my local furnace guy. He’ll put in a 90-some percent efficient furnace, and we’ll be good with it.” And that’s fine. You know, we always point out to people, “Well, the 90 percent efficient furnace is great, but how it’s installed and verified that the installation is right is also very important.” It’s kind of like taking an energy-efficient car that gets 50 miles a gallon. Well, that might be when it’s sailing along on the highway. But if you’re accelerating fast and stopping fast and real stop and go, you know, driving kind of crazy, it’s not going to get the energy efficiency of it. So you’ve got to get a system that’s built for what it’s intended to do and then verify to make sure that it’s installed properly. Sure. So we can talk to different people and get HERS raters and other people to go through and make sure that the house is designed. And a lot of the energy calculations have a thing called mandatory measures, which are basically procedures you have to follow to make sure that the energy efficiency calculations we provide are adhered to.
Interviewer: Yeah. Yeah.
Steve Tuma: So, and sometimes it’s simple things like people will, you know, poke a wall for a spigot or an outside electric socket. Well, just the idea of caulking it on the inside so air doesn’t leak through makes the home more energy efficient. How are you insulating behind a fireplace? Are you insulating the chimney? Are there drafts? There’s a whole variety of different situations there that can work into it. So it really gets into how much effort people want to put into it. Some people are very deeply involved. Other people are like, “Hey, you know, let’s just make sure we pass. I’d rather put my money into a bigger garage or, you know, a fireplace or whatever it would be.” So we can work with the people on that.
But there’s other states, you know, a lot of people think energy is, you know, your electric bill, your gas bill. There’s a lot of places where they have green codes to make efficiency so there isn’t waste and materials. Flushing toilets, you have to have toilets that flush a certain amount per flush, you know, shower heads that have a certain water flow. So energy efficiency or the efficiency of the home isn’t just limited to energy efficiency. It’s also the use of the materials, the waste of the materials, and things like that. It’s pretty cool. So we’re there. If someone wants to get deep into it, we’re there. It’s interesting stuff if someone chooses to get in that deep.
Interviewer: Yeah. So the bottom line is, with all of these dream aspects of a new home and, of course, all the concerns that go with just the mechanics of building a house, how does Landmark Home and Land Company assure the customer can dress up their project in a cohesive and practical way and yet make their new home special to them.
Steve Tuma: That goes from the first conversation until they move into the house. So basically, the upfront conversation is about what you are looking for in a house. How do you want the house? Our ability to do a complete custom design, which almost every one of our customers does. They might choose a plan off our website, but then there’s usually some adjustment. I think in 31 years, we’ve done one home exactly off the website. Everyone changes it, whether it’s a choice they want for the land or whatever. And we work with them through the design process. We don’t just send them a set of plans and say, “Hey, there it is. Your house is showing up in 30 days.” We go through to make sure, and we only design the home and build the home under their direction.
Right, so we’re not just saying, “Hey, there it is. Get it.” We’re saying, “Hey, what else do you need? Is everything complete? Do we have to talk about this, or hey, last week you brought this up. Do you want to talk about it?” So that’s what it is. We’re just set up that way. I guess it’s just in the DNA of the company that every house is customized. So the customer has the choice in how they choose to do something, whether it’s the roofing, the windows, the siding, the furnace, the type of foundation, where it goes on the land. So that’s what it is. We don’t sit here and dictate to them, “Hey, you have to take this house, and you have to put it on your land like that.” We listen to what they want and go through. So it’s really a truly customized home. We can change anything on the design they want. We could put it on the land where they want as long as it fits within zoning and certain restrictions that might be there.
But that’s it. And it’s basically we listen and ask people the right questions to make sure that we get the details onto the plans properly. Customer service and caring, I guess, is a good way to put it,
Interviewer: And help, just offering help. You get so frustrated waiting for people to come on. You’ve talked to your third representative of the day with the company, and met with us.
Steve Tuma: That’s good. Once they get to working with me, they’ll work with Mike up front to review the process. But once they get to a certain stage, I’ll carry them all the way through the whole project. Which is cool. It gets a relationship going. There’s a mutual understanding of the project and what the people need. It’s just easier.
Interviewer: Yeah, well, all right. Another fantastic show with Landmark Home and Land Company founder and president Steve Tuma. But as always, Steve, before we let you go, why don’t you tell our listeners where they can find out more about Landmark Home and Land Company?
Steve Tuma: The best thing is to check out our website at LHLC.com. That’s like the initials of Landmark Home Land Company, LHLC.com. There are plans on there, videos, these podcasts, different discussions of our materials, how we help, testimonials, different details like that. And they can flip through there at their convenience. They can also look at plans and send in an inquiry on plans, asking questions. And they can also just give us a call and just make sure that everything’s taken care of. They can call us, find out what they need, and go from there. It’s 800-830-9788. Mike will answer the phone and get it taken care of. We’re very customer service oriented. We want to talk to our customers. We want to know what they need. And we want to spend the time to work with them to get it taken care of.
So that’s the best way, to take a look at the website, and then give a call. If they ever want to call me directly, they can on my direct cell phone at 708-205-2043. And we’ll do everything we can. But the website’s a good place to start. And then, you know, give us a call or send an email, and we can continue the conversation to go through and help people build their house and have an understanding of it. I think that’s the key thing. The upfront discussion is to make sure that there’s an understanding of the process.
Interviewer: Excellent. Good job. This has been a great show again, but that’s going to wrap it up for today. Thanks to all of you for taking the time to listen to the Panelize Prefab Kit Home Building Show. And as always, we hope you’ve learned a few things to help you feel more confident as you move forward on your path to becoming a kit home owner-builder. So for Steve Tuma and myself, have a great week ahead, and we will see you next time. Thanks, Steve.
Steve Tuma: Yeah, thank you. It was fun. Thank you. Thank you.
