Timberhawk News
Featured in the September Issue of Builder Magazine
OFF THE FENCE: EFFICIENCY RULES by: Jenny Sullivan, Pat Curry • Builder Magazine • September, 2008
Cost controls allow one builder to offer three-bedroom townhomes for the same price as the competition’s two-bedroom units.
About four years ago, Chris Jaussi figured out that he could make more money building affordable townhomes than high-end custom houses. “I could build a four-plex of row homes for the same cost as one custom home,” says Jaussi, CEO of Timberhawk in Mount Pleasant, Utah.
Photo Credit: Megan Bradley
Affordable didn’t have to mean shoddy, either. “Just because someone can’t afford a half-million-dollar home, they should still get good quality,” Jaussi says.
His product is a three-bedroom townhome that he sells for $129,900. The product itself is widely available in Rexburg, Idaho, but most other townhomes at his price point are two bedrooms. “This is the best deal in town,” he says.
Jaussi achieved his combination of quality and price by focusing on efficiency. He only builds two floor plans to control pricing on supplies and labor. And his trade contractors give him discounts because he pays them every week. “They give us better deals because they know they don’t have to chase money. … It allows us to keep building where many other people are not.”
Jaussi also invested in a wall panel component factory, which resolved a critical issue with framing costs and quality that had been vexing Timberhawk. “If you don’t have your framing quality up, it messes up all your other subs,” he says. “It’s had a huge impact on our business.”
It’s also helped him cut material costs, both by reducing waste and by keeping track of supplies, which can be tough on a winter jobsite.
“We had to order 60 extra sheets of plywood once,” Jaussi recalls. “We couldn’t figure out where it had gone. We found it in the spring when the snow melted.”—P.C.
- Location: Rexburg, Idaho
- Community: Rexburg Meadows
- Total acreage: 10.5
- Date opened for sale: November 2006
- Product: Townhomes of 1,400 square feet
- Price range: $129,900 to $145,000
- Sales to date: 90
- Total number of units at build-out: 128
- Builder: Timberhawk, Mt. Pleasant, Utah
- Architect: Jessop Design Group, Salt Lake City
- Interior designers: Joelle Einerson and Jamie Jaussi, Rexburg, Idaho