Relocation Spotlight: Toll Brothers honored
As a leading builder of luxury single-family homes, Toll Brothers continues to expand its reach into some of the most sought-after communities in the Houston area.
Toll Brothers was named the 2018 Texas Builder of the Year by the Texas Association of Builders, which was the seventh time for the company to receive this honor.
During a recent interview with Houston Division president, David Assid, he discussed what this recognition means to Toll Brothers and their customers, and offered a sneak peek into new communities and product lines coming in 2019.
Following are excerpts from our conversation:
MS: What does it mean for Toll Brothers to be named as Texas Builder of the Year multiple times?
DA: It is a huge honor. We all work very hard at what we do, and receiving an award like this, especially multiple times, is a true testament to the people on the Toll Brothers team in the State of Texas. The award is given out for a myriad of reasons, including everything from architecture to operations, to management, to marketing, and to the customer satisfaction scores that we receive. The award is really about the business and the way we choose to operate it.
MS: What sets Toll Brothers apart as a luxury home builder?
DA: A lot of what Toll Brothers wants to achieve every time we sell a home, and every time we deal with a prospective homeowner, is to create a customer experience that is second to none. Much of the luxury buying experience is about the experience itself. We look out for that relationship with our home buyers, and we keep them engaged in the process from the very beginning to the very end and beyond when they move into their home.
MS: Since you are a national home builder, do you find that people who are moving to Houston are often already familiar with Toll Brothers?
DA: People who are moving here from a market where Toll Brothers operates know the brand. We have repeat local buyers, and also family members of homeowners in other markets who seek us out when they come here, simply because of our brand and what our brand means.
MS: How does Toll Brothers work with the local real estate community in serving new home buyers?
DA: We value our relationships with the individual agents and brokers, not only in Houston, but across the country. So, we do a lot of outreach to the Realtor community. We just had our annual Realtor appreciation dinner, where we invite every Realtor who was involved in a transaction with us and their client.
MS: How would you describe the new construction market in Houston today?
DA: Our fiscal year just ended, and Toll Brothers had a record-setting year. The Houston market is the number two market in the country for new home construction, and it is anticipated that this will continue.
MS: What factors do you think most impacts the market?
DA: A couple of things are impacting the market today. Whenever mortgage rates go up, people start to pause and reevaluate. But, at the end of the day, there is a demand for housing that exists for both new and existing homes. So, history tells me that people are still going to buy homes, but they might do it at a different price point, or they might buy the home that they want and not upgrade it as much as they would have otherwise. It’s still a very vibrant market.
MS: I hear that Toll Brothers is coming back into The Woodlands. What can you tell me about these new homes?
DA: We are very excited about the opportunity to return to The Woodlands. Our first model home in the Houston market in 2009 was in The Woodlands. We will introduce a product line there that we introduced to Houston a year and a half ago. It’s a slightly smaller product overall, but still has some structural options available to increase sizes of patios and rearrange some of the rooms.
It going to be an exciting opportunity for us to show some new architectural styling that is in between a transitional and contemporary look.
MS: What will the general price point and size be for these new homes?
DA: The price is going to start in the upper $400,000s. Size-wise, they will be about 2,800 to about 3,700 square feet. We’re going to have a combination of singlestory and two-story homes.
MS: What other new
products or developments will you be launching in 2019?
DA: We have five different communities that we believe we will open on top of The Woodlands piece in 2019.