As homebuilding continues to increase around the country, there are many homeowners who are looking for quality homebuilders who can help with their next home improvement project.
In Eynon, Pennsylvania, NEPA Builders owner Toby Grzenda has evolved into one of the most successful homebuilders in his local market.
Through the years, Grzenda has acquired a dearth of knowledge.
Grzenda’s experiences benefit not only aspiring homebuilders and roofing contractors, but also homeowners who may be in the market to hire a homebuilder.
Therefore, when it comes to choosing a homebuilder, the first thing Grzenda recommends is that homeowners develop a clear understanding about the type of person their prospective contractor is.
“You have to check a contractor’s references,”
Grzenda advises.
“You have to go see their work in order to get to know them as an individual and as a company.”
This is key because references and past work often determine the quality of a homebuilder or roofing contractor.
Grzenda also adds that the way a homebuilder answers your questions during the sales process can give you a very good idea about the type of contractor you may be prepared to work with.
Additionally, there are a few essential questions that homeowners should broach with past clients of a specific homebuilder.
“Did the contractor treat you right? Did they take care of your home? Did they clean when they left every night?” Grzenda says.
“Those things are important to ask because when you work with a contractor for nine to ten months, it’s almost like a marriage. As with any marriage, you’re going to have good and bad days. You have to make sure you can weather the storm on the bad days and handle the good days because they’re both going to happen. If anyone says otherwise, that would be misleading.”
But Grzenda is also quick to point out that it isn’t just contractors and homebuilders who share the blame for when things go wrong.
As a seasoned homebuilder, Grzenda mentions that there are a few customers he wishes he had not worked with, mostly because those customers were not willing to work towards an amicable partnership that was beneficial to both parties.
This is why Grzenda stresses the importance of contractors vetting homeowners in order to see if they’re worth entering into a partnership with.
“There are many homeowners out there who know how to manipulate, and over the course of time you can start to see them coming. But other times you can’t, and halfway through you start to realize this job wasn’t the most ideal, so you absolutely have to do your best to vet the homeowner,”
says Grzenda.
Beyond being diligent in choosing which homeowners to work with, Grzenda and NEPA Builders are doing an excellent job at generating online leads.
For example, Facebook and Houzz are two platforms that are great for generating business.
These platforms are another reason why Grzenda has found success in the homebuilding industry.
Grzenda says the benefits of being active on online platforms like Facebook and Houzz include being able to market to a wide audience, as well as showcase completed jobs.
As many homebuilders and roofing contractors know, building an online presence is essential to attracting customers, many of whom go online in order to find a local contractor.
If your business doesn’t have an online presence, then you’re missing out on being put in front of hundreds of customers every day who are searching for you.
Yet, one thing to realize about Facebook and Houzz is that while many homeowners visit these platforms, they aren’t necessarily logging on to find a contractor.
Says Grzenda of homeowners who visit these sites:
“I don’t think that they’re necessarily looking for the contractor as much as they’re looking on Pinterest for ideas, and then as they’re looking through ideas, they see that you’re a contractor in the area who does this type of work.”
In addition to having a presence on Facebook and Houzz, Grzenda also recommends that contractors run ads on Google.
Doing so will expose your brand to even more homeowners by enabling your company to jump in front of other companies who are active online.
Plus, as a contractor, it is important to recognize the value of home shows.
While home shows typically don’t produce as much revenue as they once did, due to the advent of online platforms like Facebook and Houzz, they are still valuable.
“Digital is really the way for homebuilders and contractors to go now, but with that being said, when we go to fairs, people will see us and call us later, even if they never visited our display,” Grzenda reveals.
To learn more about Toby Grzenda and NEPA Builders, visit their website today or give them a call at 570-521-4375!
