Transferees already stimulating new area development
Sunday, January 08, 2006
Garber Construction has sold a house and a lot to BRAC transferees now living in Virginia, heralding the start of the much anticipated military realignment bringing hundreds of home buyers to the Madison County area.
Company owner Harry Garber says he purchased and is developing a 71-lot garden home community called Somerset Lake , aimed at attracting BRAC buyers. Eighteen houses have been built or are under construction. They are single level, low maintenance, three- to four-bedroom houses with small yards.
"We're very optimistic about it," Garber says of BRAC boosting the market. "The next three to four years are looking very bright as far as a builder is concerned. We're expecting to have at least three to four excellent years. I think this is probably the biggest influx of people coming to Alabama probably since the '60s. We've had a BRAC before but it wasn't nearly this size."
Garber, whose companies also do commercial work, anticipates commercial growth, as well.
The Huntsville-Madison County Homebuilders Association's subdivision guide is being sent to Virginia to BRAC people. Garber Construction has an advertisement in the guide, along with other builders.
Garber is so optimistic about the impact of the relocations that he may invest more if he can find reasonably priced land. As other builders have also invested to attract BRAC people, he says it is getting harder to find reasonably priced land in Madison County.
"We're growing," he says of his two companies,Garber Construction and Garber and Steele Inc. Garber has been in construction about 15 years.
"We're just kind of trying to take it one day at a time. We haven't hired additional people yet, but that could happen in the immediate future if business picks up like we anticipate."
John Dollison, who as owner of John B. Dollison Inc. builds custom houses and remodels existing ones, is also optimistic about what BRAC means to him as a small custom builder. BRAC is expected to generate 1,800 to 3,000 new jobs, as well as hundreds of spin-off jobs.
Dollison says Huntsville's cosmopolitan area already offers a healthy mix of existing and new houses to BRAC people. BRAC buyers, relocating from higher-priced house markets, are expected to benefit from Madison County's more affordable housing.
However, they will still have to contend with an increasing per-square-foot cost in house construction. Garber says that depending on land cost, location and amenities, custom homes he builds currently average around $110 per square foot in Madison County. The figure for houses he builds in surrounding areas can range from $80 to $200.
Rising fuel costs and reconstruction from hurricanes Katrina and Rita are among the majopr factors increasing cost and demand for materials, Garber and Dollison say. Dollison says timely work will require careful planning that includes advance notice to suppliers, but delays in completing jobs are still likely.
"I'll find a way to deal with it," Dollison says. "I have a good relationship with my local suppliers."
In house design, he says they'll let the BRAC buyers choose the configuration. BRAC transferees from an earlier St. Louis, Mo., move wanted a house with a basement, which he also foresees as a potential high priority with this move. A basement can add an estimated $25,000 to the house price.
Typography also factors in the availability of houses with basements in North Alabama, Dollison says. Many areas will not accommodate one because of either a high water table or rocky terrain. He advises BRAC people to enter the market with an open mind, first choosing their lot and then configuring the house to that lot.
Garber says he doesn't anticipate construction obstacles on the government level, as Huntsville and Madison County governments have been proactively working on streamlining processes to facilitate growth.
However, Dollison warns that incoming buyers should carefully choose a builder. Previous large influxes of people have also attracted unscrupulous builders, some from out of town.
He says he has heard horror stories of home buyers discovering liens had been placed on their recently completed houses, as the builder left town owing money on materials and labor. Some unwary buyers ended up paying as much as $30,000 to $40,000 to clear the debt.
Those types of fraud resulted in tighter restrictions on builders, Dollison says, that include local and state licensing that requires builders to produce financial statements, a profit-loss statement, a credit check and a business address other than a post office box.
© 2006 The Huntsville Times
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