Masterpiece Homes Florida - success built on satisfied customers

Buying a new home is a daunting experience, no matter if it's your first, second or even third. Choosing the floor plan, watching the construction, finalizing the mortgage - none of these things are taken lightly by most new homeowners.

When it comes to buying a new home, most people prefer to work with a builder that is willing to work with them and treat them with respect, rather than one that treats them as just another sale.

That's what has helped make Masterpiece Homes Florida a success in the central Florida region, according to President Robert Fitzsimmons. He says the company not only focuses on building the best homes it possibly can, but also emphasizes building a strong rapport with its customers. Masterpiece has grown into a major player in the area through positive word-of-mouth and the strong reputation it has created for itself, Fitzsimmons says.

Masterpiece follows the golden rule when dealing with its customers, Fitzsimmons says, as well as with its suppliers and subcontractors. Looking at the company's growth over the past several years and the recent attention it has drawn from one of the larger homebuilders in the east, it's safe to say that this philosophy has served Masterpiece Homes Florida well.

A Good Start
Masterpiece started building homes in 1994, in Deltona, Fla., north of Orlando. Fitzsimmons says the company focused at first on servicing the needs of first-time homebuyers. In 1995, Masterpiece sold 50 homes. The following year, the company sold 101 homes. The company hasn't looked back since, and in 2003 Masterpiece was averaging about 300 sales per year, Fitzsimmons says.

The company currently has 10 communities either completed or in development, and is positioned in more than six counties in central Florida. Fitzsimmons says Masterpiece specializes in the “entry-luxury” home, a well-appointed home built with the first-time new homebuyer in mind. He says the company's average home is valued at about $340,000.

In August 2003, Masterpiece Homes Florida was acquired by Philadelphia-based Orleans Homebuilders, one of the largest homebuilders on the East Coast. Fitzsimmons says the acquisition was a blessing for Masterpiece, because of the added resources and experience it gained by being brought under Orleans' umbrella.

“[It] gave us the ability to really begin much more rapid expansion than we were able to,” Fitzsimmons says. Masterpiece currently accounts for nearly 10 percent of Orleans' total revenue, and Fitzsimmons says the company hopes to raise that to 13 or 14 percent in the coming year.

Relationship Builders
Working with first-time homebuyers requires that a builder be honest and work carefully with them to ensure that they are not overwhelmed or confused. Fitzsimmons says this approach is paramount to the success of Masterpiece Homes Florida. “We're relationship builders before we're home builders,” he says. He says that attitude translates into the company following the golden rule when dealing with customers: treat others the way you would want them to treat you. Masterpiece doesn't want customers to feel as if the company is trying to push unnecessary features on them as they choose their new home. Instead, Fitzsimmons says, the company is more concerned with the satisfaction of its customers than with its own bottom line, even if it means customers end up choosing a bare-bones model.

“My concern with someone who comes in looking for a home is that they buy the home that's best for them,” Fitzsimmons says. The role of the builder in these cases should be more supportive of the buyers and focus on helping them make the right decision for themselves, he says. “What I'm doing is counseling and helping [the customer] make the right decision,” Fitzsimmons says. When the buyer is happy with the home he or she has purchased, that will be reflected in how the customer feels about the builder.

Fitzsimmons says a large part of the reason why Masterpiece grew so much during the first few years of its existence was the fact that satisfied customers were spreading the word about the company. Referrals from happy homebuyers helped boost Masterpiece's sales and eased the company's entry into new communities.

The positive word-of-mouth that Fitzsimmons says fuels Masterpiece is also evident in the company's ranking as Orlando's top homebuilder in customer satisfaction by J.D. Power and Associates for three straight years, from 2001 to 2003.

Masterpiece also strives to be fair with its employees, vendors and subcontractors. Fitzsimmons says a company cannot profess to be honest and fair with its customers if it doesn't extend the same treatment to its workers, as well.

“That goes hand-in-hand with the people in the company,” Fitzsimmons says. “It's not just something we do with our contractors or our suppliers or our customers.” Such an approach ultimately ends up benefiting the company by inspiring employees to devote themselves to the job more completely. “When people like where they work and it's a great work environment, they do their best work,” Fitzsimmons says.

Holding Hands
With Masterpiece's reputation among first-time homebuyers secure, Fitzsimmons says the company began looking into expanding its horizons. Prior to the acquisition by Orleans, Masterpiece began building homes for more-experienced buyers.

These homes came with greater features and higher price points, but Fitzsimmons says the transition between working solely with first-time buyers to seasoned customers wasn't an especially difficult one.

The key differences between first-time homebuyers and second- or third-time buyers are found in how the builder counsels the customer and the differences between the homes, Fitzsimmons says.

With an inexperienced homebuyer, the builder has to do a lot more handholding and be more patient with the buyers. Fitzsimmons says the company's policy of building solid relationships with buyers is what grants Masterpiece the edge in this scenario. For example, financing the home can be a nightmarish situation for a new homebuyer.

“They've never been through the process before, so they have no idea how to get the mortgage,” Fitzsimmons says. He says the company and its preferred lender, Alambry Funding, have a variety of programs in place designed to help ease buyers through their first mortgages.

New homeowners are also, not surprisingly, much more cost-conscious than those buying their second or third homes. Fitzsimmons says Masterpiece's earliest communities were designed to be quality homes, but without many of the frills that experienced house hunters look for. “It's not going to be loaded with the latest high-tech amenities,” he says. On the other hand, experienced buyers are more likely to be hands-on about the design process when building a new home, and Masterpiece had to adjust to accommodate them.

“They've owned a home for a while, so they understand what's important to them,” Fitzsimmons says. “They now have an opinion about certain aspects of the home.”