High-end homebuilder watches his pennies

Economic hardship is a relative state.

Even some of the Valley's wealthier families are watching their expenses in ways they may not have thought necessary before the recent economic downturn.

Sage Lentz, owner of Scottsdale-based Sage Luxury Homes, said he has kept the high-end custom-home business successful by appealing to his customers' cost-conscious side.

Lentz said he has been saving each client about $40,000 per home just by monitoring daily shifts in the commodity pricing of various raw materials and buying low.

"The prices lately have been fluctuating a lot, so the potential for saving money has increased," said Lentz, who also owns a high-end production home business, Western Pacific Homes.

Competition from foreclosed homes has affected builders of 20,000-square-foot homes just as it has those building 2,000-square-foot homes, he said.

The difference is that buyers of a bank-owned mansion are likely to invest hundreds of thousands of additional dollars customizing the property to their specifications, Lentz said.

That leaves an opening for high-end builders that can offer a competitive price for an entirely new, custom-built home.

Construction costs are at an all-time low, Lentz said, to the point where it costs about 30 percent less to build a custom home than it did in 2007. That change does not include the massive decrease in land prices during the past three years.

While it's unlikely that cost savings ever will be the sole driving force behind customer decisions at the high end, Lentz said his clients appreciate that he doesn't treat them like they're made out of money.

"Regardless of the project, everybody I work with has a budget," he said.

by J. Craig Anderson The Arizona Republic Oct. 10, 2010 12:00 AM




High-end homebuilder watches his pennies