Great Design Matters: Homes By Brian, Inc.
Leinart home plan #29336
He’s never had another job. His father has been in construction for over 50 years. In fact, Brian Lantz started working for his father in home building when he was just 10 years old! In 1988, Brian went out on his own, founding Homes By Brian, Inc. The secret to his longevity is simple. According to Brian, “Quality and personal touches pay off.”
Based in Schererville, Homes By Brian built 10 homes last year in Northwest Indiana. That’s a good pace for Lantz, whose quality reputation hinges on his personal involvement. Lantz’s degrees in civil engineering technology and construction engineering are evident in the company’s homes. For example, some builders simply dismiss cracks in garage floors, stating “concrete floors are just going to crack.” But prior to pouring the garage slab, Lantz floods the gravel and sand base with a couple inches of water to aid in compaction, thus minimizing the likelihood of future cement cracking. He heats and dehumidifies his homes prior to drywall application to reduce the chance of drywall problems later on. In addition to both gluing and screwing the floors to eliminate squeaks, Lantz screws the subfloors along with screwing the walls down to the floor, further reducing the potential for squeaks.
Lantz’s personal involvement extends to doing all his own client meetings, bidding, scheduling, and even the materials take-offs. He stakes his own houses and spends the day onsite each time a new homesite is being excavated to spot any soil issues. Throughout construction, Lantz visits each jobsite two to three times per day.
“I like working with Design Basics’ plans! I know what to expect and can ballpark a price pretty easily. And I encourage my customers to look at Design Basics for plans for their new home,” comments Lantz.
Lantz is also his customers’ single point of contact, helping ensure clear and consistent communication. There is no other salesperson; he meets with all prospective buyers and clients in his home office. Customers aren’t assigned to a foreman, either; Lantz personally works with each customer from beginning to end, even attending his own closings. He also works with his customers on modifying plans to get them the design that’s “just right.” Lantz lives in one of his subdivisions among many of his customers-turned-neighbors and friends. And, he has even vacationed with some of his customers.
Northland home plan #2322
Not surprisingly, this high level of personal involvement has resulted in tremendous positive word-of-mouth, the #1 source of new customers for Homes By Brian. The company has never used traditional media advertising nor even been listed in the phone book. Rather, Lantz has always found that his yard signs are effective marketing and more recently, if he’s had a spec home, he holds open houses in that home on Sunday afternoons to meet potential clients and answer all their questions. Lantz wrote his own website but conceded the company’s Facebook outreach to his son.
Customers’ personal experiences building with Lantz have resulted in 13 different clients whom he has had the pleasure of building two houses for. It often becomes a family affair as well. Lantz built four homes for one extended family and five homes for another. He has even built a couple homes for second generation customers – adult children whose parents first chose Homes By Brian for their new homes.
Click here for more about Homes By Brian Inc. and see beautiful photos of their custom designs!
(Cover photo: Ashton home plan #2203.)
Design Basics’ Kuebler plan (
From the company that pioneered mixing cutting edge design with innovative range hood technology, comes a new idea in stress-free cooking. Elica’s NikolaTesla induction cooktop is designed to make cooking and clean-up a hassle-free process. Elica incorporated the standard, highly desirable qualities of an induction cooktop such as rapid boil and easy cleaning, and took it one step farther by integrating a fully functional range hood into the cooktop itself. The central fan replaces the typical range hood and gathers grease and odors without compromising design. It also has a built-in double bridge function that combines two adjacent cooking zones to adjust for large pots. A 10-speed touch pad control system allows you to easily control the fan, so all you have to worry about is answering the doorbell!
Two battles continue: the sanctity of the owner/s bedroom (it’s not your “home office”); and whether or not there’s going to be a TV in the great room. For those willing to compromise on the latter issue, Seura offers their “Vanishing Entertainment TV Mirrors” that look and function as a framed mirror until powered on–that’s when these LED TVs literally shine through. Savor the big game with the TV on, and save your marriage with the TV off!