abrazo homes a home raffle
abrazo and a los lunas based non-profit organization work together to give back
Some lucky person will soon win a house in Rio Rancho’s Mariposa community built by Abrazo Homes. But the ones who really stand to benefit are the members of the El Ranchito de los Niños organization.
ABOUT THE ORGANIZATION
The Los Lunas-based non-profit organization helps provide a permanent home for sibling groups who were separated in foster care. “It’s a very important event,” said Abby Eden, El Ranchito events coordinator. “It provides about one-quarter of our annual budget.” Tickets cost $75 a piece with a maximum of 4,000 tickets sold and the winner will have the option of choosing $100,000 cash in lieu of the home, in which case, the home would be put on the market and the proceeds would go to El Ranchito. For information on buying tickets call 505-889-6040 and for complete rules see elranchitonm.org/2017-house-raffle. The drawing for the home will take place Nov. 18 and additional prizes include first prize: $7,500 cash; second prize: $5,000 cash; third prize: $2,500 cash. El Ranchito opened in 1990 and is set in a sprawling 7,200-square-foot ranch home on 23 rural acres, sharing space with numerous animals such as a horse, donkey, goats, chickens and others. Learning to care for the animals is part of the organization’s program.
ABRAZO’S HELP
Maintaining such an operation, however, takes significant resources and the folks at Abrazo said they were happy to help out when asked. “When they approached us about this year’s home for them, we didn’t hesitate,” said Mackenzie Bishop, one of Abrazo’s co-owners and founders, along with Brian McCarthy. “We love giving back. We make donations on every single one of our homes to local charities. One of the great things about being a local business is being able to give back.”
Both McCarthy and Bishop grew up in Albuquerque so maintaining a strong connection to the area is priority, Bishop said. “All of our money stays here, and it’s very important to reinvest our money at home,” he said. “Albuquerque is all we know and we can’t imagine being anywhere else.” While it’s Abrazo’s name on the home, it’s very much a cooperative venture, Bishop said. “We have an extensive amount of subcontractors and vendor partners and in many cases, many of them committed to doing all or a partition of the work at cost,” he said. “Some are large corporations with a local presence, and many are local businesses. It’s really cool that we could contribute from a wide variety of sources.”
CONTRIBUTORS TO THE ORGANIZATION
4 Sisters, LLC, contributed the building lot. The construction materials and labor is being donated by Abrazo Homes, Builders Source Appliance Gallery, Community Sciences Corporation Land Surveying and Planning, Interior Specialists, Inc., JLK Construction, Longhorn Construction, Otero & Sons Roofing, Pro-Build Builders, FirstSource, RAKS Building Supply, and United Stoneworks. “Their contributions are enormous and their generosity is hugely invaluable,” Bishop said. “We are a very small cog in the wheel, but whatever we can do to make this place grow, we’re happy to do it.” The more the different companies are able to contribute in terms of labor or inkind services, the greater the donation to El Ranchito, which is the ultimate goal.
The Anne floor plan covers 1,750 square feet and would normally sell in the $275,000 range. It is currently under construction and should be completed by early August. “We’re a little ahead of schedule. We don’t get that very often,” Bishop said with a chuckle of the home that also will be an entry in the Home Builders Association of Central New Mexico’s Parade of Homes.
ABOUT THE HOME
The three-bedroom, two-bath home will include a kitchen featuring granite countertops, maple cabinets, and stainless steel appliances. Abrazo Homes is adding a three-car garage with a workshop area, a complete home automation, networking, and wiring package, as well as covered patios for outdoor living space. “It’s a single story with an open layout,” Bishop said. “We tried to go with a house that we could build that was going to be very nice and command a good market price, while also building it as economically as possible to maximize the return for El Ranchito de los Niños.”
Bishop said this is one of their most popular floor plans. “There’s lot of windows and natural light.” It sits in one of the metro area’s most dynamic neighborhoods, he added, as Mariposa includes indoor and outdoor pools, a state-of-the-art fitness center, a four-acre park, and walking and biking trails. “We really want to highlight the community, as well,” Bishop said. “It really is a gem. Last year it was in the top five communities for new home sales. That will probably also be true this year.”
HOW IT ALL STARTED
Abrazo became a company Easter weekend in 2010 after McCarthy and Bishop had worked together at another local builder. “We were crazy but we really thought there was a different way of doing business, Bishop said. “We really listened to our customers and wanted to build what our customers wanted and tried to create a product, presentation and an experience that resonated with them.” The fledgling company started small, closing six homes that first year, but built to the point that it’s up to about 115-120 houses a year now.
“One of the big challenges was assembling a team of great people, but we’ve been named one of the best places to work,” Bishop said. “We’ve assembled a great team of folks with the same values and commitment to customer focus.” As the company has grown, it’s been able to utilize economies of scale to remain affordable. “We really try to leverage a lot of the tract-style scale, efficiency, repetition that allows you to get more economies of scale,” he said. “Our goal is to offer a more-tailored approach so customers get the experience where it’s not one size fits all.”