by Recreational Resort Cottages on 09/29/16
With factory-built housing, there are so many things to be considered. The
convenience and efficiency lead to great savings, and another huge advantage is
that there are rarely any surprises. Unlike custom builders, we don’t have to
factor in all the “what-ifs” when pricing your house, because we build in a
controlled environment. But the frustrating part of factory-built housing is
that you can spend months or even years planning your purchase, and the
manufacturers of not just the house itself but all of the individual building
materials used in the house can make changes that have an immediate impact.
They don’t care that you spent months planning all of your furniture and decor
around the backsplash color. They can discontinue that backplash in a blink of
an eye. And every customer with an order not already on the production line has
to choose a different backsplash. And when they raise their prices (base price
or option prices), the impact is immediate. So if your order isn’t already
placed, you are subject to the price increase. And there’s nothing anyone can
do about it. They don’t make exceptions. When something changes, it changes
across the board for everyone. THIS IS NOT A SALES PLOY. This is simple
fact.
Because of the unique product we offer and the special circumstances we are
typically building for, many of our clients do spend months and sometimes years
planning their purchase. So lately, we have seen quite a few disappointed
people. They got a price quote from us a year ago, and now prices have
changed. Or they liked the way the factory installed the tile in the shower
with the edging two years ago, and now that they are ready to purchase they are
disappointed that the tile design and accents look different today. Though it
saddens us that we cannot give you exactly what you want, our hands are tied by
the fact that we ultimately offer factory-built housing. And we are subject to
what the factory is doing at any given time. It is true that we do customize
some of the features in our homes. That is absolutely what makes us unique and
the homes and cabins we offer very special. But we don’t customize everything.
The majority of the features in your home are built on the assembly line using
the materials and procedures of the manufacturer you choose. And we cannot
control what they each currently offer. And we certainly cannot control when
and how they make changes.
We’re reminding everyone of this because we just received announcements
from three of our major manufacturers that will have significant impacts on our
clients.
First, the emergency flooding in Louisiana led to massive orders being
placed for new housing. The manufacturer of our Park Series, Classic, and Pine
Mountain Cabin product lines already has a backlog into January. If your custom
order is placed today, it will be 2017 before the home comes offline. And we
can’t guarantee an exact date because orders are coming in by the droves and
each one pushes the production line back farther. So if you need a house right
away or even before Christmas, we need to build it from another facility, or you
need to consider one of our stock models. We typically do not allow our most
popular display models to be sold, but we understand the uniqueness of this
situation and the impact of the flooding in Louisiana. So we are allowing those
that need a home quickly to choose any Classic display model. However, it is
important to remember that we only have one of each model in stock and available
for sale.
Second, Platinum Cottages verbally announced a price increase yesterday.
$850 per park model across the board and an undisclosed increase on their HUD
product line. We expect to have the written announcement today which will tell
us exactly when the price increase will go into effect. We expect it to be
immediate but are hoping for a two week grace period to get all of our orders
placed. The good news is that they are adjusting their standards to include
some items that were optional in the past including, but not limited to, radiant
barrier in the roof and composite decking on all porches. Right now those items
are free with your purchase due to our special summer promotion, but obviously
only until the price increase goes into effect. For those of you that are
unable to purchase before the price increase, at least you know you are getting
great value for the additional cost. However, we will not be able to protect
your original price quote unless your order is complete prior to the effective
date of their increase. We should also note that the demand of this product is
great year-round. A Platinum Cottage or Cabin is a very customized product, and
therefore they naturally build slower than everyone else. We are always at
least 8-10 weeks out with this product line, but right now it looks like we are
about to move to 12-14 weeks. And, of course, that can change at any time
depending on the number of orders we receive. Please prepare accordingly.
Finally, our extremely popular SkyRanch and Lake Series products just
received new décor options. We are very excited about these new options, but
when they add new choices, they always eliminate something else. And
inevitably, what they eliminated to make room for the new items is always
something someone really wants. It never fails. We can go a year without ever
putting a particular tile option in a house, and then all of the sudden when the
factory eliminates it, that is the only tile everyone wants right then. We do
have all of the new décor choices in our design studio in Rockwall for you to
look at. But if there is something in old pictures or on the old décor boards
that you want, you need to get your order in immediately, and we will try to get
it for you. The factory will only allow the selection of discontinued décor
options as long as they have materials available in their storage facility.
Once the supplies run out, the discontinued décor is no longer available. And
there is nothing we can do about it. So time is of the essence.
The good news is that this manufacturing facility has recently increased
their production capabilities in response to the demands of the Louisiana
flooding, and they build all of our most popular floorplans. They are also now
building park models. So whereas the others are getting extreme backlogs, this
facility is able to build the houses quickly. As as a result, if you need a
house before the holidays, and you have not already selected a SkyRanch,
SkyPark, or Lake Series floorplan, please talk to us about the implications of
possibly building the floorplan and style you selected from this facility.
Change is inevitable. We have learned to roll with it. But we do know how
disappointing it can be when you plan your perfect house and then we have to
tell you things have changed. We work very hard to limit any disappointment, so
we like to give you as much notice as possible of potential changes. We just
found out about all of the time delays, price increases, and décor changes
mentioned above and are immediately notifying all of our clients. Factory built
housing is an ever changing industry. It isn’t for everyone, especially those
that don’t like to be limited in choices at all. But it can save you a lot of
money and a lot of the stress associated with custom building. You do, however,
have to roll with us when the changes occur. It’s just part of the process.
Thank you in advance for understanding, and we look forward to working with
you. As always, you can call us seven days a week at 972-771-2176 or toll free
at 877-219-4059 or email us at
sales@rrcrockwall.com. We are open in
Rockwall Monday through Saturday from 9am to 5pm and Sundays from 11am to 5pm.
Visit our model display center at 4384 E Interstate 30 in Rockwall, Texas (exit
#70 and stay on the east bound service road for about a mile) and come check out
the new models on display. Four new models just got set up and have some very,
very cool new features. Our double loft model will be back in just a couple of
weeks along with our exterior fireplace model and our popular front kitchen
model with Blue Ponderosa Pine.
