Stanley Martin
Building “move-in” ready homes
A
concrete example of strengthening conditions in the Washington, D.C. housing market, Stanley Martin Homes shattered their July sales record, selling 41 new homes. These sales numbers solidify Stanley Martin’s strategy to construct more “move-in ready” homes and meet the demands of the current housing market. To put things into perspective Stanley Martin’s July sales record, for more than a decade, was 24. This record was set in 2008 just prior to the stock market crash. Aside from that, Stanley Martin’s average July sales fell somewhere around 16 new homes sold. Said differently, Stanley
PHOTO COURTESY OF DREES HOMES
Martin not only crushed their record of 24, they sold 25 more homes than their typical July average. Stanley Martin’s Vice President of Marketing, Lauri Chastain, attributes the incredible sales success to a number of factors; “The market has consistently been improving, but we’ve really seen an uptick in sales since January of this year. Buyers are taking advantage of historically low interest rates, which increases sales numbers, and sparks consumer confidence. When consumer confidence goes up, so do sales.” Chastain said, “In terms of why Stanley Martin in particular is having
such success, we’re building what people want – communities with great curb appeal, close to where they work, smart floorplans with sought-after details, and utilizing energy efficient building practices that reduce homeowners’ monthly maintenance costs. Also, we’re having tremendous success with our “move-in ready” homes and plan to build more moving forward.” The move-in ready homes Chastain refers to are homes that are constructed prior to being purchased. The homesite, floorplan, elevations, and interior options are selected and construction is started so the home
can be either closer to completion or “move-in ready” when a buyer wants to buy“new” but doesn’t have the four to six months normally required to construct a home. With the transient Washington, D.C. metro population and the strong military presence, move-in ready homes have become popular and account for a significant percentage of Stanley Martin sales. In an effort to meet the increasing demands of the Washington, D.C. market, Stanley Martin will boost production of its move-in ready homes this fall/winter and plans to offer move-in ready homes at each of their communities.
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FALL RELOCATION - ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT
OCTOBER 2012