John Laing Homes' Sacramento Division says the style and originality it brings to each of its projects makes it 'Northern California's most-groundbreaking homebuilder.'

Kevin Carson says John Laing Homes' Sacramento Division is an ideal place for homebuilders. "It's the best place [where] you can do your best work," the division president declares. "If you love homebuilding, this is the best place to do it, 'cause there are no constraints."

Carson says the division is the best place because it gives its staff the flexibility and opportunity to grow. "We promote from within," he states.

Based in Roseville, Calif., the division builds many types of community housing, including condominiums, villages and luxury residences. "We'll be delivering over 700 homes [in 2005]," Carson adds. "Every John Laing Home collection is carefully researched and designed to bring something new and exciting to the surrounding community. Our neighborhoods' unique home styles, floor plans and architectural details consistently offer opportunities that quite simply cannot be found in anything the competition has to offer."

The Sacramento Division is part of John Laing Homes, which came to the U.S. market in 1984.

According to the company, John Laing Homes had already established itself as one of the most respected builders in Great Britain.

In 1998, the company merged with Watt Homes and formed WL Homes LLC. Since the merger, John Laing Homes says WL Homes has become the one of the largest homebuilders in the nation.

"When faced with the option to become a publicly traded company, we chose to remain private," the company states. "And, as one of the largest, privately held homebuilders in the United States, we possess both the resources and flexibility to respond precisely to the particular needs of our customers, our markets and our industry, with greater agility and insight than our more institutional counterparts."

Under the name John Laing Homes, WL Homes operates nine divisions in California and Colorado.

"We consistently earn top industry rankings in architectural design, construction excellence, customer care and, most importantly, overall homebuyer satisfaction," the company declares.

In 1999, John Laing Homes established the Sacramento Division. "We were the first startup division," Carson recalls. In 2005, John Laing Homes started a Bay Area Division in California, and will establish a Central Valley Division in 2006.

John Laing Homes' Strada community in Roseville received a Major Achievement in Marketing Excellence (MAME) award for the Community of the Year from the Building Industry Association (BIA) by winning the Community of the Year in 2005. Carson notes that the division has won the MAME award for the Community of the Year award six years in a row from the BIA, for other communities.

"We take pride in our portfolio of unmatched diversity, imagination and marketing flair," the company declares. "Although our home designs are as individual as our homebuyers, every John Laing community exhibits the same unprecedented style and sophisticated originality that makes it [the area's] most groundbreaking homebuilder."

Carson says that the division does not use a lot of advertising. "We really rely on word of mouth," he says. The company also utilizes direct marketing with individual buyers.

In addition, the company has benefited from referrals from past buyers. "Our buyer referral rate is at 30 percent in 2005," Carson adds.

Trade Partners
John Laing Homes puts an emphasis on people, including its relationships with its subcontractors. "We call them our trade partners," Carson says. "Subs are sandwiches."

To strengthen the relationship between the division and its subcontractors, John Laing Homes conducts a business alliance group meeting every month. There, issues and concerns are addressed.

"It's an open forum," Carson declares, noting that the trade partners can speak openly, without fear of reprisal. "If we have a problem, we sit down and talk about it, like true partners would."

Balance of Life
John Laing Homes encourages its staff members to have a life outside of the workplace.

"You don't get extra stripes on your shoulder or brownie points for staying late and working on the weekends," Carson says. "You need to have that balance in your life to be as productive as you need to be [and] as competitive as you need to be to be a homebuilder."

John Laing Homes also fosters an attitude of team cooperation. "It's a mentality of 'roll up your sleeves and let's work something through,'" Carson explains.

Team Booster
In addition to building homes, John Laing Homes states that it contributes to communities through volunteering, charitable giving and social involvement.

Through this work, Carson says the company has earned recognition and support for its involvement and willingness to help.

"We have a Civic Pride program that is based upon employee participation rather than dollars given," Carson says. Within the program, John Laing Homes' employees can participate in the volunteer activities during the normal work hours. Carson adds that the Civic Pride program not only gives its employees breaks from their jobs, but helps brings co-workers closer.

He adds that the division has previously sponsored and supported a summer carnival for the Sacramento Children's Home.

"It's a great activity for the kids," Carson says, adding that it has also worked as a morale booster for his staff.

Another recent booster for the staff was its project building a home for the Tom family, led by Susan Tom. Over the years, Tom has adopted children with special needs. The building of the house was profiled by the television show "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition."

"Helping the Tom family was a natural extension of our commitment to reach out and support worthy causes in all the communities in which we build," said Larry Webb, chairman and CEO of John Laing Homes, in a statement.

"Community involvement is one of our core values and just as Susan Tom's selfless dedication to her children will continue, so will our commitment to doing what's right."

Carson adds that the project was an "absolutely wonderful morale boost with our division" and helped bring the company "close with our trade partners."

On the Lips
Carson states that all of its building competitors are improving, which drives John Laing Homes to improve itself. "Five years [ago], I think customer satisfaction wasn't on the lips of all builders," he says. "It is now."

Although John Laing Homes' competitors may be getting stronger in that respect, Carson says the company still sets itself apart with its customer service. "It starts at the top with our CEO, Larry Webb," he says.

He explains that the company sets itself apart by a "constant driving focus to do the right thing and build a quality home the first time around."

He adds that the company talks with its buyers at all levels throughout their buying experience, and after they have moved in.

"I also think that we're willing to explore the different opportunities and not just build the same plan, over and over again, because it's been successful," he declares, noting that the company was the first in the current wave to build attached condos in Sacramento.

He says that John Laing Homes now is looking to "meet a need that's not being met." Carson adds that these needs include "affordability, lifestyle [and] different housing opportunities at premium locations."

Fully Committed
John Laing Homes was recently named at the Big Builder's third annual APEX awards as the Most Admired Builder of the Year.

According to the company, it was selected from a pool of the largest residential homebuilders in the nation. To win the award, the company says it needed to demonstrate its business growth and commitment to its community and employees.

"Our company's core values - community involvement, employee development and delivering the best new home experience for our customers - mirrors the criteria of the APEX award," Webb said. "Maintaining these values as we continue to grow is a real challenge, so this award has added significance to our company [and] is a tremendous honor."