Norris Homes: Two decades at the top

Source: Construction Digital

Date :21/07/2008 17:13:04

Norris Homes has been providing buyers of new homes in the Seattle area with the best value for their money for nearly 20 years.

Written by Kevin Doyle and Produced by Alexander Hortaridis

From the time she was in grammar school, Courtney Norris was pretty certain where her career path would lead. The progression from boss’s daughter hanging around the office to part-time summer employee and then company vice president seemed natural.

Located just outside of Seattle, Norris Homes was established by John Norris in 1991. Today, as a general contractor and developer, the company oversees construction of more than 200 homes a year. “I’ve always been around the industry and on job sites,” says Norris. “My dad started the company when I was about 10 and I’d occasionally help out in the office writing invoices because I had better handwriting than him. Then I’d work summer hours as I got older.” Upon graduating from high school in 2000, Norris attended the University of San Diego for one year. She returned home to finish college while working part time for the company. After graduating with her business degree from the University of Washington, she joined the company full-time, and was able to carve out her niche.

“I was handling finances and marketing right before the big boom for us. I implemented programs and databases that gave us the ability to become as big as we are. We went from 60 homes to 220 homes a year in a four-year span; it was a huge growth spurt for us,” she said.

Norris thinks she and her dad, who has been in the business for more than 35 years, make quite an effective team. The company used to purchase only finished lots but now develops complete projects and currently has upwards of 20 projects running with more in the development stages.

“We finished one project and dad thought we should develop a bunch more, so he created the second side of the business. Once we started growing he started spending more time focusing on development. I focus on the homes, although it is truly my dad’s eye for design that makes our product so successful,” she says.

Something for everyone

Norris Homes provides buyers with three product lines and nearly 40 models ranging in price from US$350,000 to US$700,000. “We’ve stuck ourselves right in the middle of other builders’ offerings and it’s really paid off. We build homes based on what we would want. Our buyers see the difference in standards immediately,” Norris says.

The company strives to produce a product that, when compared to competitors, leaves the buyer with no decision. “We’re trying to give the homeowners a lot of value for their dollar. When it comes down to it, we want them to walk in and leave with no decisions remaining other than what model or in which community to purchase,” she says.

Norris Homes builds homes that have that big grand street appeal with many amenities included so customers wishing to upgrade aren’t slammed with exorbitant additional costs. “When a person does upgrade, I would say the numbers are along the line of US$10,000, not US$50,000. We don’t want upgrades to be a second business; we’re willing to work with our clients to make changes they need so this really becomes their home and perfect for their family,” Norris says.

This approach produces a steady flow of referrals and word-of-mouth advertising. The company is actively cultivating a new market, building spacious homes the for empty-nesters now flocking to the Pacific Northwest. The Bridge Collection is an efficient home with a smaller footprint and minimal wasted space. “It offers first-time buyers a first-time floor plan with all the upgrades at a lower price,” Norris says.

Industry obstacles

Norris says the developing process in the Seattle area is becoming increasingly difficult and adds that affordable housing is becoming obsolete.

“We work with jurisdictions that sometimes don’t think about affordability. They require developers to go well above and beyond what is really needed, and add great expenses to the land that drives the price up. It’s truly unfortunate. These jurisdictions are part of the problem in not having affordable housing available,” she explains. Escalating across-the-board costs make it difficult to hold attractive pricing to buyers. Despite this, the company is very good at working with its vendors to keep costs as low as possible.

“Our vendors know that they will always have a place with Norris Homes as long as they stand behind their product and maintain the same level of quality and pricing. We are very loyal to those companies, and I believe they are also proud to be a part of our finished product,” Norris says.

Norris believes the industry is fighting overstated media portrayals that the housing market is in complete disarray. Still, she acknowledges the general slowdown has had an impact. “We’re feeling the pain to a certain extent. It’s been a rollercoaster ride lately, and the market doesn’t seem to be following historical data, although we do know people are migrating to the Seattle area, and they need homes.”

Employees and strategies

Norris Homes uses sub-contractors for 95 percent of its work and stays local as much as possible. The company has 42 full-time employees working in its main office on Mercer Island, a satellite office, and at its sites.

“Loyalty is major and goes a long way for us. We are a family business, and our vendors and employees are just an extension of our family. Many of them have grown larger with us and we love watching all of them succeed at what they do. Family businesses seem to be more focused on the personal touch and take more pride in their work because their name is attached to their work,” Norris says.

The company is keeping a close watch on green building, although associated costs seem to scare off buyers. “In the Northwest it seems that people would consider green products a desirable quality. However, our customers have not made any requests for those products yet. I imagine green is inevitable one day, but until many of the costs come down or the customers start asking for green products, I don’t see us making drastic changes to incorporate them.

Our focus is on affordability, efficiency and overall value to the customer. We build our homes with efficiency in mind. This produces direct cost savings for our buyers when it comes to their utility bills, and they do pay attention to these things. Instead of marketing green, which buyers often associate with higher prices, our focus is on overall home efficiency,” Norris says.

“When those costs are in line with their counter products, there is no doubt that we will use the more green products. In the meantime, we will continue to pay attention to the green movement and always offer green products to those who wish to pay a higher price for them,” she says.

In addition to word of mouth referrals, the company relies on a well-designed and highly informative website and strategically placed off-site signage. It will be the subject of an upcoming half-hour program on a Seattle television station. The message is simple:

“We build beautiful homes with plenty of value for the buyer. There is not another builder in our area who can provide a similar product at a similar price.”