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Show Notes: The podcast delves into the evolving landscape of home building and design, exploring the integration of innovative features such as home theaters, convertible spaces, and energy-efficient solutions. It discusses the adaptation of homes to accommodate modern lifestyles, including remote workspaces, recreational areas, and specialized amenities like dog baths and equestrian facilities. The conversation also touches on the importance of creating heirloom properties that fulfill long-term dreams and cater to specific family needs. Additionally, the discussion covers the challenges and intricacies of navigating building regulations and the drive to make homeownership more affordable and sustainable in the face of rising costs.
Transcript:
Steve Tuma: You know, we work hard, and we like to know at the end of the day it’s a good, fulfilling day, helping the customers. And in turn, we believe if a customer is going to work hard to save money, get a mortgage, or do whatever it is to get the house, they should pull up to it at the end of a hard day and be proud of their home.
Interviewer: Hello, everybody, and welcome to Episode 62 of the Panelized Prefab Kit Homebuilding Show. With us today, as he usually is, 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 Mr. Steve Tuma. Steve, how are you doing, my friend?
Steve Tuma: I’m doing great. It’s another great day helping people build houses. And 1993, you said that is when we started the company, and Landmark just turned 31 years old. It’s 2024 now, but yes, 31 years old on October 13th. It’s kind of an amazing situation to see that we’re growing and continuing to grow and adding different methods of helping people and services to design and build their own home. It’s amazing.
Interviewer: Yeah, trying to shave years off the age works for us as humans, but for businesses, you want those numbers.
Steve Tuma: Exactly. Yeah, well, it’s the accumulation of experience, knowledge, great attitude, and fun time.
Interviewer: I wanted to utilize our chat for this episode to allow you, as the Landmark president, to run down just why, well, firstly, why a new home builder should consider a panelized home over a standard stick-built home, et cetera, and second, why Landmark Home and Land Company should be the first choice for those who make the decision to build a panelized home. Why don’t you run us through your answers?
Steve Tuma: Well, basically, the panelized home packages, the kit homes, prefabbed, whatever word someone might want to use, it’s basically an efficiency situation because people want to build the houses. Sometimes there’s weather restrictions, budget restrictions, availability of labor, or just the desire to build a home quicker. The panelized home allows us to build basically the structure in a controlled environment within a production facility so we can give a guaranteed cost, have quality control, and then there’s less labor done on site. You can have one main framer and a couple of laborers and put the house together, so it’s a more cost-efficient process. It’s more controlled, less waste. That’s why Landmark’s panelized home process has been good, and as I’ve spoken about in other podcasts, it’s not just the package, the actual wood structure. It’s the process we go through to make it easy for people to design their home. We do all the designing, the structural engineering, energy calculations, site plans, whatever else might be required for building permits to make it easier for a customer. I guess a way to put that together in three words is one-stop shop. So you can go through, and a customer can call us, and we can help them directly according to their specific house, their design for their family, and their specific piece of land. And people may not realize they need that help, but the idea of looking at the complete project instead of a bunch of individual pieces I think will really help them understand why.
I think you asked why we should be the first choice. Well, they should consider us and take a look at us to make sure that it’s there, and I think what it really comes down to is the perspective and knowledge base and also kind of the DNA that we have in us of wanting to do the right thing and help a customer understand their complete project, help them through the plans for permitting. Instead of helping with one component, we have the perspective of looking at the details of the project but also the project as a whole, kind of tying everything together. And I think that’s where it is. Doing this many years, all the different types of homes, it’s the knowledge base, the support, and kind of the passion I’d like to say that we have for really helping people get the best home possible. Some customers say, “Hey, build a house,” and we say, “Hey, we can do this, we can do this, make it better, more energy-efficient, better design, whatever it may be.” And then I think that’s where the value is. So it’s not just the plans, it’s not just the panelized packages, the support, and understanding and help through the complete process that I think they’ll find to be very valuable. The one-stop shop, it’s easy. You call us, we answer the phone, we get you taken care of. And we’re proactive.
Interviewer: Right. I saw on one of the landmark videos that “one-stop shop” keeps coming up, and I think that’s what people are looking for. Simplicity is the best, and if you only need to go to one person who has all the answers, it just makes it easier.
Steve Tuma: Right. Well, there’s also the financial benefits because things are expensive. So sometimes people say, “Hey, I could go build this house.” They get a quote from a contractor. Let’s just say, for example, the contractor says $400,000, and they budget it to build for $300,000. It’s more affordable for them, but you also look at the savings of that $100,000 difference. It’s not just the $100,000; then it’s if you have a mortgage, the compounding of that. If you had a mortgage, that might be like saving you $200,000 or $300,000 over the course of the loan. So it’s a financial situation. We have more and more people paying cash on situations like that. A lot of them still use banks, which is fine. But that’s why even if you do go with a mortgage, your mortgage should be less. So that’s one of the things. And a lot of people do it because of the financial savings. A lot of people don’t realize that. They’re like, “Hey, can you help me with this? Can you engineer a home? Can you help me with the site plans?” And we bring up, “Hey, look at the money you can save over time.” It’s that mystery money that you don’t see in the compounding of interest over time. And then also, I think a lot of people do it because it’s pride in controlling their project and knowing how it’s built. So if they understand electric or drywall, they can do the parts of the project that they want and go through and control the quality and understand exactly how the house is being built. That’s the key thing. You know what you’re getting for the dollar you’re spending.
Interviewer: And just the financial thing is really important, but just having the feeling of controlling what you’re building, you know, rather than having a contractor who just comes out and tells you what’s what. I mean, to have some kind of control over your new home seems like an important thing.
Steve Tuma: Right. Because all of our customers are interested in customizing their home. They want the garage they want for their big truck, the workshop, lawnmowers, bikes, barbecue equipment, whatever they have. They want to know. They want to know the kitchen’s right for how they eat. They want to know the bedrooms are right. Sometimes people are in shift work or different work, or they have kids that are noisy. So they want one bedroom on the other side of the house that’s insulated to keep sound out. So there’s a lot of details that we can get into. And you know what’s interesting is it’s not that much harder just to add these little details to make sure that it’s there for the long-term benefit of someone being happy with the home that they want. You know, it’s kind of interesting. Sometimes people are like, “Oh, I just need a garage that’s 20 feet deep. My car’s only 17.” I’m like, “Yeah, but you don’t want to open your car door and hit your other car. You’re going to have lawnmowers or bikes or a barbecue or something.” So we can work with them through it. Now, sometimes in some places, a 20 by 20 garage is huge, you know, because of limited space. But we can work those details with people. A lot more people are going from the formal dining rooms to islands with eating areas. There are peninsulas or different things like that. Gaming rooms, theaters, home theaters, and things like that. So we’re able to really take the time and support the customer to make sure that it’s put together. But yeah, you ask about the benefits; I think basically it’s the desire to listen to a customer and help them get the best house possible.
Interviewer: Yeah. Let’s stick with this control thing because I’m interested in controlling costs, controlling how you work with your contractor, controlling the timing and the longevity of your project, how long it’s going to take to build, etc. But what about quality control, the overall quality of the house? How can Landmark help a new homeowner builder control the quality, the actual overall quality of their project?
Steve Tuma: Well, that’s interesting because it actually starts in the initial conversations in the design phases. So when a customer understands their house and we talk to them, the conversations get a little deeper. At first, they might say, “Hey, I want a 12 by 12 kitchen.” But then after we do the plans and they start thinking, “Hey, where’s the microwave? Where’s the stove? Where’s the sink? Where’s the dishwasher?” We can work on these details. And then eventually they get to the point of like, “Hey, wait a second. Is my house going to be cool? Is it going to be warm? What kind of cabinets do I want? Where does it make sense for me to spend a little more money? Where does it make sense to scale back?” So what we’re finding is when people understand the process, it just kind of naturally comes out where they take an interest in it because they see that with our system they do have a choice, so they can go through. But they also have a knowledge base in us where someone could call and say, “Hey, I went out and talked to my window guy and one guy says this and another guy says that. How do I process this? How do I understand what needs to be done? Do I want a vinyl window? Do I want a wood window?” And we could go over the energy calculations to show them what it is. So by being supportive and being there to help the customer, then it’s kind of interesting. I think they actually get into it where they can then go through and be a better consumer to know how they’re spending their money. So by having a good set of plans, knowing the products that they’re working with, they’re then able to have better control of the schedule, the budget, the design so that when they act as the owner builder, which pretty much all of our customers are now, some of them will get a job coordinator or a contractor to do it, but they’re ultimately controlling it. I think they just get a pride. People want to build their house because it’s something that they personally enjoy. It’s a life goal. It’s a money-saving situation. It’s a quality of the product. And I think that’s the case because yes, there’s always inspectors, you know, that inspect your house. But generally, it’s like a safety thing. You know, make sure hallways are the right size, make sure ceiling clearances make sure the structure is right. But no one’s really there checking to make sure that your cabinet drawer is done right or your shower drawer is right.
Interviewer: Right.
Steve Tuma: That’s something that’s kind of just left up to the consumer to do it on their own. So I think the process that we go through of supporting and helping a customer makes them realize that, “Hey, I’ve got some help here where we can do it.” And like, let’s get to our planning. You know, in the case of kitchens, we can detail dimensions out so they know the space they have. You know, something like garage doors, they know the height of the garage door, the size of the garage door, the windows will give them a complete list. So when they’re shopping for windows, they have a list of the exact amount of windows, the type of window, and the size of the window. So they could be a knowledgeable customer for whatever other products they’re getting. And I think when people are organized, they have a good set of plans, and they have an understanding, people take them seriously.
Interviewer: Sure.
Steve Tuma: Which leads to getting better contractors, getting better suppliers because they’re like, “Hey, this is a serious person that knows what they’re doing,” and it helps them move forward. So it’s kind of an evolution on it. And then like I say, we’re always available to help people. So it’s kind of interesting. And what’s interesting is about this is someone will say, “Well, I’ve never built a house. It’s intimidating. It’s scary.” I would say a big portion of our customers have never built a home. Some of them may not have ever picked a hammer up, but they understand the management of the process. So sometimes it’s a management project just as much as it is technical. So we’ve worked with all different types of customers to figure out, you know, to be supportive of them so that they could figure out the best approach for their project.
Interviewer: Right. Well, it’s interesting what you say. I mean, it’s, you know, you get the right people on the job. What do they say about the tide raising all boats? You know, I think that falls into line with when you’re working with the best people, you know, and you’re confident in them. And everybody, you know, your electrician, your contractor, everybody comes in and they’re all doing that great job, you know. And I’m sure—I don’t know—you guys at Landmark don’t really have anything to do with who a person chooses or decides to hire as a contractor, say. But it seems to me like having you behind them, like sitting on their shoulder when they make those choices as to who they hire, it’s just going to make the project better overall. And I think it’s just building confidence in a customer knowing that they can go to you with a lot of answers that maybe somebody else won’t have.
Steve Tuma: But it’s also the complete and accurate set of plans we supply. The details are there. So if a contractor says, “Hey, how big are the footers? Hey, do you need drainage around here? How tall is your basement? How many rebar need to be in a wall?” The answers are right there on the plans. So this makes it easier for the customer to communicate with the contractors. But it also makes it easier for the contractor to remember what needs to be built. It’s right there on the plans.
Interviewer: Yeah, that’s important.
Steve Tuma: You know, that type of situation really clarifies it. So then when a customer gets a quote, it’s for an exact set of plans. It’s not a situation where it’s like, “Well, it’s about this,” and then when you put the foundation in, the price is different because something changed. No, the plans are accurate. So I think that’s where it comes together. And like I say, we’re always available if a customer’s got a question. Every once in a while, you know, in different parts of the country, people do things differently. You know, some places, cement block is more common than poured walls. Other places, sometimes people like to use ICF foundations, which is a foam kind of block that can get filled with cement. So sometimes customers will be like, “Hey, Steve, should we go ICF? Should we do this? Should we go block?” You know, we could talk to the ins and outs of each one and see how it is because sometimes those different materials will affect the design of the home. It’s pretty interesting. So we’re able to kind of catch things like that. If a customer wants to try a different type of product or something that they may have heard about, we’re able to talk to them about the ins and outs as to why something may be of benefit to them for their project. And then our customer can make a decision on what they want. And that’s control of it because as they gain knowledge and understand it, it’s fine. But we also have a lot of customers that are very knowledgeable. Some are professional builders. Some people have built homes before. Some people have helped friends build homes. But I think what they like is that we unify everything together. And you know, we’re looking at the individual details, but we’re also looking at the broad scope project. It’s kind of cool. Look at the details, look at the big picture.
Interviewer: And that’s—I was just going to use that phrase—the big picture. To have Landmark, as I said, on your shoulder, and just the confidence to actually be able to look at the big picture and important stuff. Speaking of importance, we talk a lot on this podcast about the importance of design. But let’s go through it again just so people are clear, especially people who haven’t heard the show before. Now fill us in on how Landmark Home and Land Company works with the customer to work with that, build the design and floor plan that they want. How do you guys make sure that that gets done?
Steve Tuma: Well, there’s a lot of it in figuring out a custom home design, a custom panelized home design. It’s not just the design of “Hey, I want a bedroom this big; I want a garage this size with two windows in it,” and whatever. It’s making sure that it works with the codes. It’s making sure that it’s reasonable and makes sense for what you’re intending to do. So there’s a lot of details on the architectural design so it meets codes, so it gets what the customer wants. But it’s also the design for energy efficiency, fitting on the land, the structural engineering, other details that are involved. And not all customers are going to understand all those details, much less how they all flow together. So that’s how we work, so that when they’re developing their project, they get an understanding of it. And I’ve done—I don’t know how many houses we’ve done over 31 years, but the point is, I’ve been directly involved with every single one. So I’m a great knowledge base for people to understand what they need, ask questions, how it applies to their project, and move it forward. Design can also really affect the cost. A lot of people call up and say, “Hey, how much is a house per square foot?” And it’s like, “Well, what does your house look like?” And I jokingly eventually say, “That’s like calling the grocery store and saying, ‘How much is dinner?'” Yeah, it’s kind of funny no matter how many times I say that, it still brings a chuckle because what are you eating? Are you eating day-old bread? Are you having steak? Are you having salmon? Right? You can’t just say, “Hey, how much is a half a pound of dinner?” It’s what’s in it. So if someone says, “Hey, I got to build this house for this price range,” there’s certain elements that we have to look at. So in general, the more corners, the more expensive it is. Right? The more ridges and valleys in a roof, the more expensive it is. The taller it is, you know, because taller walls and taller roof, the more expensive it’s going to be. It’s just because it’s more materials, you know, so you can see that if you ordered a six-ounce steak, it’s going to be one cost. If you order a 12-ounce steak, it’s going to be another cost. So the way that a home is designed and the features of it can really affect it. So some people want a big house just because they need space for the kids. Other people want a smaller house that’s just way more intricate. Sure. So those are each going to have different costs, even though they may look the same or resemble each other. It could be a significant part of it. So that’s something that we talk about, depending on what a customer’s perspective is and what they’re trying to achieve. Some people have budgets that are a little more flexible. Other people are very tight on their budget, and they need specific ideas. So that’s the key thing, is kind of looking at it. But amazingly, a lot of customers have it down pretty well, like, “Hey, I’ve figured this out. I’ve done some research. I’m going to do a 2,000 square foot two-story with a full basement and a three-car garage off to the side.” And they have it. They just need us for design. But the design elements are there. And you know, sometimes we talk about the design a lot, but it’s kind of one of these things where it’s like the pre-planning of the project. There are different ways to do things. There’s different ways to take advantage of a beautiful scenery. You know, someone’s got a great view of a mountain, a tree, a field, the water, the ocean, whatever it may be. There’s different ways to do that for people to get what they want but also control the cost.
Interviewer: Sure.
Steve Tuma: And that’s what we’re able to do. So if a customer is still kind of like, “Hey, do I do a two-story, a one-story? Do I do a bi-level? Do I do a basement? Don’t I do a basement?” We can kind of model the concepts out and work with them to understand what’s there.
Interviewer: You know, this all always comes back to customer service and just you’re being available when somebody calls, the odds are you’re going to be there to answer it. Or if you’re not, it’s a matter of just minutes or an hour or whatever just to get back to them instead of waiting for days. But again, Landmark, as we always say, is known for its remarkable customer service. But I believe you guys go far beyond that. It’s the details of a project that seem to be of the utmost importance to you and your company. Details, you know, from the beginning to the end, like through the whole project, things like building on the—well, just building on the land of your choice or land that you already own just to help customers build exactly as I said at the beginning of the show, where they want, how they want. You must be proud of your ability to help your customers with details like this.
Steve Tuma: Yeah, it’s kind of in our DNA because you know, we work hard, you know, and we like to know at the end of the day, it’s a good, fulfilling day. And it was a good day helping the customers. And in turn, we believe if a customer is going to work hard to save the money, get a mortgage, do whatever it is to get the house, they should pull up to it at the end of a hard day and be proud of their home.
Sure. Yeah. So the concept of making sure that it’s a home that they want, works for their family, works for their land, is in their budget, and financially makes sense for them is a very, very important part of that. We’re fortunate to get a lot of repeat business. Customers will call up and do a retirement home or their kids will want to build, or they’re building a weekend home or whatever it may be. And some of them want to add on to the house. It’s kind of cool. And that’s kind of a nice pat on the back where we know that we’ve done a great job.
So it’s the passion for the project and the full understanding. We’re not just a material supplier that says, “Hey, you bought a 2000 square foot ranch panelized home. Here it is.” It’s like, “Hey, let’s make sure it’s right for you. You know, let’s make sure that it works. Let’s make sure that there’s other concepts you may not know about or understand. Let’s look at them.” Sometimes customers come to us with very wild designs. I just got one a couple of hours ago of very extreme designs. They’re like, “Can you do this?” And we look to help them through the process. So that’s kind of the key to it.
Our customers kind of become friends. We work with them. We joke about stuff. We help each other through if they run into a problem where they’re stuck in a corner. You know, something doesn’t make sense. It’s not coming together. Something odd happens on site. We can kind of guide them to it because chances are we’ve seen a problem that a customer may run into or a question that they have. We’ve already navigated it before, so we can show them how to get through or understand a situation. And I think that’s where it really comes through. And that’s all part of our service.
And it’s kind of one of these things where I think we just have a pride in it. We started this company. It’s our blood, sweat, and tears, as we tell people. So the concept that, you know, just selling, you know, what I’ll jokingly say is a stack of wood, you know, compared to like a home that is specifically built for one family on their piece of land. It’s absolutely amazing. It’s an amazing feeling. And it’s pretty cool.
People can look at our Better Business Bureau reviews, and I think, you know, the customer’s comments, which are a result of how we’ve helped them, just reflect that tremendously. They can go to our website, and right at the top of the home page, there’s a Better Business Bureau label. They can click on it and see the reviews. So it’s going that extra mile every time, all the time, and just considering it part of the job.
So that’s—and it’s communication. It’s accurate communication. It’s complete answers. It’s answers that apply to the customer directly to the question they’re answering. We don’t have AI responders. We don’t have canned answers. It’s a customer, you know, Joe Smith, who’s building in Wichita, Kansas. You know, he has this particular question and really looking at giving the answer in relation to their project. And that’s a result of us taking the time to talk to them and understand the situation so that we can give them the best answer for their particular situation instead of a standard canned answer, which may not really have an answer in itself. So I think that’s the point.
You know, we answer the phone. We take care of people, and we want to enjoy it. We work hard. Our customers work hard to afford their home. So we want to make sure they get the best house possible. And it’s also really cool when they call us back five or ten years later and build another one. It’s kind of neat.
Interviewer: Yeah, 31 years, man. That’s got to be amazing. Just to think about that, that you’ve been around, the experience after 31 years of helping people build their homes. I mean, on a personal note, that’s got to be satisfying when you guys are able to bring someone’s new home building dream to life. I mean, even after 31 years, it can’t—you’re, I doubt very much, you’re very jaded about this, about the whole process.
Steve Tuma: Oh, it’s an absolutely amazing feeling. I don’t know how many homes we’ve done. I kind of wish we kept count, but it’s an amazing feel. Every single house, sometimes I’ll be sitting there, you know, relaxing on a Sunday, and I’ll get a ding on my phone, and a customer will send me a text, “Steve, we moved in. Steve, the house is framed. Here’s our dog running around in its own backyard. We’re not in an apartment anymore.” You know, just little stuff like that. Or, “Hey, look at this sunset,” or “Look at this amazing mountain view.” One guy sent a picture. He had, man, 30 or 40 pronghorn antelope in his yard. Wow. Just looking at this stuff. And then sometimes you get pictures of our first holiday, kid’s first birthday, and you’re like, “I remember designing that living room.”
You know, so there’s something a little deeper than just selling a customer something. There’s something a lot about people going through a different stage of their life. You’re affecting their life, and we want to do what we can. So it’s a great memory for them to see it. We have actually had people from 26, 27 years ago contact us to build again. Wow. It’s kind of weird to think that over a quarter of a century ago, they remember us and call us back. And we’d like to think it’s because we did a great job and we continue to improve every day.
Interviewer: Good experience is a good experience. It’s going to bring people back, you know.
Steve Tuma: Right. And that’s—we’ve got a great support system and the team that we have of engineers, architectural designers, different suppliers, different systems that we have, and that it allows us to run a good company with great people that enjoy working here, that enjoy the challenge of helping every customer to go through it. And, you know, whenever I get a picture like that, even if it’s 10 o’clock on a Sunday, I send it out to the team and go, “Look at this. This family just sent this to us. Check it out.” It’s amazing to see the responses from the team. You know, it’s kind of working behind the scenes to say, “That’s pretty cool.” You know, it’s just neat.
You know, for families that celebrate Christmas, there’s one we did in Idaho. They wanted a 26-foot tall ceiling so that they could have a tall Christmas tree. I got a picture of a 25-foot Christmas tree inside of this house. Wow. That’s all lit up. Right. What was interesting about it is this lady built it on land that had been in her family forever, in a little town that she grew up in. Now her life has gone on to live in another part of the country, but she felt it important to pay homage to the family and build this house where the now scattered can get together. There’s something kind of cool about that.
Very cool. There’s something kind of cool about helping a guy that built—he built the replica Shelby Cobras and he said, “Steve, I need a Cobra den.” The minute he said that, I knew exactly what it was to see a guy that designed his own garage, which actually matched the main house. It actually looked like a guest house. This thing was so cool. But we had to work to get the lifts right to make sure that the lifts would work. There’s enough clearance. He could get the cars in and do whatever work.
You see people where a man in Colorado wanted to make sure his kid understood certain things—working with his hands, taking care of yourself. And his weekends were with the son restoring a car and making a hot rod. You know, to sit there and see this 1930s Ford get built over time in a garage that we helped him with, and he has all of his welders and the space and the lift space and access, you know, for what he needs. It was kind of cool to see that.
Then people in their craft rooms—one of the more heart-touching ones was a family. He was 78 years old, and he said, “Steve, I’ve been married for 60 years. I told my wife someday I’m going to build a house.” He said, “I’m 78. I better build a house before she kills me.” Yeah, we both laughed. It was in Prescott, Arizona. And the wife is a master pie baker. So she wanted to have a view of their couple of acres out of the kitchen windows from anywhere in the kitchen so she could see the grandkids running around and the grandfather playing with them. And he wanted a workshop where he could fix their bikes and do different things with them. So it’s kind of amazing how there are certain things that, you know, that particular family was—a garage workshop, the kitchen, and the view of the couple of acres. So when the grandkids are running around, the dogs are running around, they can enjoy it.
So it sounds kind of weird to spend that much time making sure that through any place in the kitchen, she could see out the window to anywhere in the play yard that they had. But that’s what made it. Sure. And that’s what it was. So it takes a little time. Now, sometimes we end up in situations where building departments ask for things that may not be asked anywhere else in the world. So we also take the time to go through and do it.
In one particular municipality, we had to work with their planning and public works department. I was on an hour and 43-minute Zoom call on how to locate a mailbox. Wow. By a curb. And I was like, really? So we can’t just say “mailbox”? They said, no, you have to specifically detail. So they say, “Hey, you put it a foot and a half from the curb.” And I said, “I don’t want to sound funny, but which side of the curb?” They actually had rules. The inside of the curb—you had to go from here to here to here to here. And it had to be a certain height. And you couldn’t have landscaping on it that was going to be more than two feet off the ground. You had to document the plants. And I said, “Well, I kind of understand why, but what’s your purpose?” And it was very valid. Some people put big trees at the end of their driveway, so you can’t see a kid on a bike or you can’t see a car going through. Right. And it was a semi-congested, skinny road. So it made sense. They didn’t want people innocently putting a big mailbox with bushes around it, and then you can’t see the neighbor’s kid riding their bike down the street.
So there’s a lot of stuff. But those are the details we get into. And to tell you the truth, it’s really cool. It’s like, wow, I never heard of that before. But you understand it. So over the 31 years, we’ve gotten all these concepts together. And I think ultimately, it’s the right attitude of really helping people and understanding what they need in their home. And that’s just cool. Yeah, it’s fun.
Interviewer: When 31 years ago, when you started, did you have a plan of where you thought you’d be in 20, 30 years? And where do you think you’re going to be the next 20, 30 years with Landmark Home and Land Company?
Steve Tuma: We had a plan. It’s kind of my crystal ball wasn’t that good. It didn’t have a new set of batteries. But in general, the crystal balls—and, you know, we had a good discussion. I’m like, we just want to build houses for people where they’re happy in it because I’ve seen a lot of people buy tract homes, buy other homes, or just buy homes. And I’m like, really, you paid this much for it? Or they’ll be like, well, we didn’t get this, but we got that. I’m like, the bottom line I heard is they weren’t getting the house that they wanted. And it was just kind of weird.
Interviewer: Right.
Steve Tuma: So the reconfirmation of this is just as the company grew where people said, “Hey, can you help my friend in California? Can you help my brother in Florida?” And we just grew, and we built this system that allows us to take care of it. So where will we be in 20 or 30 years? I don’t know. Helping people build on the moon, maybe Mars, you know, we’ll see. We’ll see where it is. But I’ll give you the answer. It’s going to be determined by what the customers ask us to do.
Sure. Because this whole evolution has been derived by customers saying, “Steve, can you help me in the Florida Keys? Steve, can you help me here? Hey, we want to develop a winery outside of Venice, Italy.” And I’m like, well, what’s the difference between Venice, Italy versus Venice, California? Same name. Well, it’s a world of difference. But it’s through working together that we’ve been able to do it by trying these different things. It strengthens the company and our mindset and our history.
So I envision that somehow we will have some type of evolution to housing that makes sense because of just the nature of the way it is. Codes are getting tighter, just building processes are getting possibly more complex. We will have better systems so that a customer can understand it, still control, and understand the processes. I believe we’re going to get more into possibly some commercial stuff, apartments, little office complexes. I also think that we’re going to work on figuring out better designs that people can do at a very controlled cost just because, as all of us see on the news, things are expensive, but pay isn’t getting any higher. Banks are banks. They loan at whatever the interest rate is. So it’s kind of a mathematical calculation as to what people can afford.
So every once in a while, we have calls from politicians saying, “Hey, we want to redevelop this part of town. How do we do this? How do we do this?” And I tell them, “Hey, I don’t want to be too direct. And with all respect to your position, at some point, you guys got to give programs. If you want affordable housing and communities, you got to make your part affordable. You know, you can’t sit here and say, ‘Hey, the contractor should work for less. By the way, our permits are forty thousand dollars.'”
So I think there’ll be efforts where we can do that—to get stuff taken care of and not just in trying to figure out how to do things more affordably but also keep the cost of owning the home and energy efficiency. I think it’s going to be a bigger and bigger thing. In some states, it tightens up every couple of years. Other states are a little more lax. And I think there’ll also be new products that come out make it easier for people to maintain a home. You don’t have to paint it every five or ten years, you know—something that’s longer so people can put that together. And then I think as people’s lifestyles are different, where single professionals and retired people, there’ll be different designs for different stages of life. And I’m thinking that there’s going to be a lot more home offices, kind of convertible rooms that might be the spare bedroom but also the office. And I’m also finding a lot more recreation—home theater, gaming rooms, or recreation of, “Hey, let’s build a doghouse in the garage for the new dog,” or, “Hey, you know, a kitchen so that we can control our food costs but also eat more nutritiously,” outside barbecue areas, patios where people can enjoy stuff.
I’m seeing more in areas where people build basements, finish basements with entertainment for the family to come over. You and I were talking earlier—it’s like, for a family to go see a movie, 15, 20 bucks each for a ticket for kids, 80 dollars plus popcorn. You’re like over 100 dollars to watch a movie. Right. People are like, “OK, I can go buy a big screen for 500. I could go buy a sound system for 500. For a thousand bucks, we can entertain ourselves like crazy at home.” So I think that there’s different things where just the, you know, the times change where people are going to be looking for better ways of still having what they need in a home.
So I guess that’s a pretty long answer to your simple one-line question, but I think we keep our ears open, and we’re constantly listening to what can be done, and we have our own ideas. But ultimately, I believe our customer tells us what’s important to them, and then if we’re not already doing it, we figure it out to get them taken care of.
Interviewer: All sounds fantastic. Yeah, I mean, it’s buy that big screen TV and Netflix subscription.
Steve Tuma: Right. Change the dining room into a home theater. And there you are. There you go. And what’s funny—I mean, hey, we’re kind of joking about that, but that’s what people are doing, and it doesn’t cost any more. Yeah. So by getting rid of the dining room, they’re actually saving the money on the entertainment. They typically eat in the home theater, or they have an island in the kitchen, which they’re already paying for. So the use of the house is becoming more rewarding. But the cost to build, it’s the same.
Interviewer: I imagine nowadays you guys are getting more and more design fixes to where people are asking you to help them put in home theaters for just that.
Steve Tuma: Oh yeah. That’s got to be an interesting aspect. We’re doing one now, a house in northern Michigan. And we’re under the garage. Wow. We’re basically—there’s going to be a home theater with a cement floor like a Span Creek where the cars are on that, and then it’s below. And it being a cement room, it’s kind of a big sound deadening feature. So I guess it was always a problem where the husband’s down there, you know, rocking out to a video or watching some crazy movie. You know, you go watch like Top Gun at full blast. You know, it rocks the neighbor’s house too. So that’s what we’re able to do. We’re seeing more of, “If I’m at home, let’s enjoy it.” Yeah. You know, type of thing.
And that goes even to the equestrian projects, you know, the horse properties we’ve spoken about. There’s people that have mini tack rooms, changing rooms. So you can go live in the horse world, take a shower, get clothed, and come into the house without being full of dirt. Right. There’s more people doing dog baths. Yeah. And like little dog entryways. As dogs become a bigger and bigger part of life, it’s kind of an interesting process. And what’s really cool about that is people are like, “Well, I want dog bath model one, two, three from this company.” They’ve researched it. Now it’s got to have this shower head and do this and do that and do that, and you know this type of a floor system. So we’re seeing a lot of that.
And then we’re also seeing a lot of people doing what I’m calling heirloom properties, where they’re building them to pass on to the family, or it’s their home and their dreams are finally being fulfilled. You know, we have one person who always—he told me when he was 15 he dreamed about 300 plus acres and a big house on it. So he’s 65 now, and he found his 330 acres. And we’re designing a home with every detail to a T of his dream from when he was 15 and give it 50 years to brew into what we have now. So there’s a lot of people that have had these long-term life goals, and they want to achieve it so that there’s a legacy for the family. It’s an amazing, amazing situation to talk to customers and find out why they’re doing something.
Interviewer: Sure. Well, this has been a really fun episode. I’ve really enjoyed this. I haven’t laughed during an episode this much, I don’t think. And we do a lot of laughing.
Steve Tuma: Was it the crystal ball thing?
Interviewer: Yeah, that was part of it. So yeah, another great show with Landmark Home and Land Company founder and president Steve Tuma. So before we let you go, Steve, as always, tell our listeners where they can go to find out more about Landmark Home and Land Company.
Steve Tuma: Basically, you can look at our website, LHLC.com. That’s the initials of Landmark Home and Land Company, LHLC.com. There are videos on there, these podcasts, discussions of different items, what we include in our package, just different details, and also a bunch of plans where people can go through. You can send us an email through there. You can inquire about a specific plan. And we’re also available by telephone. Initially, some customers will work with Mike. He’ll answer the phone at 800-830-9788. Again, that’s 800-830-9788. So they can talk to Mike about the ideas. And then once they’re at the stage of really moving forward, they’ll come over and talk to me, and we’ll be able to help them through.
If for some reason they want to call me right away and say, “Hey,” and say, “Hi, hey, I heard this on the podcast. How does this apply to me?” My direct cell phone, I’m Steve Tuma, is 708-205-2043. And, you know, we can talk about your project and see what’s going on. It’s kind of an exchange. We want to know we’re working with good people that are serious about building a cool home. So let’s get to know each other and talk about it and move forward.
Interviewer: Fantastic. Well, that’s going to wrap it up for this episode. Thanks to all of you for listening to the Panelized Prefab Kit Home Building Show. And we hope you took away some great info from this talk. And we hope you feel a lot more comfortable 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. Thank you Steve.
Steve Tuma: Thank you. It was a lot of fun. Thank You.
