New Home Concepts into malls

     Special to Real Estate
      When New Home Concepts opened its first real estate office in a Phoenix-area mall in 1984, no one in the industry knew if the innovative idea would succeed.
      The objective was to offer a service in malls -- where the people are.
      Fifteen years later, any skeptics have been silenced, according to Robert Joffe, president of the company. New Home Concepts now has nine offices -- seven in Phoenix and two in Southern Nevada. The local offices are in The Meadows mall in Las Vegas and the Galleria at Sunset mall in Henderson. The company sold more than 2,000 homes in Arizona and Nevada last year.
      The company recently merged with Chicago-based One Stop Shop Inc. and its subsidiaries. Together, the companies opened two offices in Salt Lake City in February with one more office on the way in the next quarter in the same area. New offices will spring up in Illinois, Colorado, Michigan, New England and Texas in the next 12 months as a result of the merger, according to Joffe.
      "Our goal is to expand this concept throughout the country rapidly," Joffe said about the mall concept. "The idea of a real estate company that offers one-stop shopping has been very successful in the West, and we believe it will be just as successful in other areas of the country. We provide a great service to our clients. Since we operate under mall hours, we offer availability and expertise that is not limited to the traditional 9-to-5 real estate agent and there is always a knowledgeable agent on hand to answer questions relating to any aspect of the home-buying process."
      New Home Concepts opened its Henderson location in October 1996, and its Las Vegas office the following March. Joffe said because of its similar demographics to Phoenix, the Las Vegas Valley was an obvious choice for expansion.
      "They are very similar markets," he said, pointing to the amount of new residents monthly, the number of large-scale builders and the climate. "Las Vegas is one of the top new-home markets in the country. We saw a great opportunity there with the booming growth of the population and the proximity to Phoenix; it just seemed like the logical place to start our expansion."
      When a potential client walks into New Home Concepts for the first time, he may be surprised at the wealth of information that is available, according to Elaine Heitz, broker/sales manager for Southern Nevada who has 22 years' experience in real estate.
      "Buying a new home can be very frustrating, especially if it is a first-time home buyer," she said. "In our offices, we have a questionnaire that helps narrow down their search and ours. We narrow down the search in a variety of areas -- from price range to area of town to monthly financing. Based on that information, we can offer the client several options that fit their needs. New Home Concepts believes the home-buying process should be fun and easy."
      In addition to the 26 preferred builders the company works closely with in Southern Nevada, Heitz said the agents have extensive knowledge of all new-home neighborhoods in the valley.
      She said they also offer convenience to clients with their mortgage services by prequalifying individuals before they take time looking at homes not in their price range.
      "There are 523 new-home communities and 1,400 models in Southern Nevada," Heitz said. "It's nice (for clients) to be able to narrow down their search -- it saves them quite a bit of legwork. And New Home Concepts costs the buyer nothing: it's a free service."
      Builders' representatives regularly attend the company's weekly sales meetings to keep agents informed on changes and incentives. Agents also tour the models so they will have firsthand knowledge of the neighborhoods.
      "We work with them because they believe in the same thing we do -- customer satisfaction is their No. 1 goal," said Joe Whatley, vice president of sales for Pulte Homes. "We have worked with them for many years in Phoenix and that successful relationship has continued in Southern Nevada. They always employ professional sales agents who look out for the best interest of the customer. They are always up-to-date on our new communities and pricing specials."
      Computers give clients detailed information about floor plans and neighborhoods to help narrow their search for the perfect home.
      "We are experts and can help with the entire process," said Amy Joffe, vice president of marketing. "Words like `escrow' and `mortgage' can be very scary to the first-time buyer. We make sure they are educated and feel good about their purchase."
     
      Preferred builders are American Communities, Beazer Homes, Canterbury Communities, Celebrate Homes, Champion Homes, Christopher Homes, The Custom Home Group, Del Webb Communities, Environment for Living, HBR, Financial Investment Services, Horizon Communities, The Horn Co., Kaufman and Broad, Pacific Homes, Pageantry Communities, Pearson and Pearson, Primack Homes, Pulte Homes, Richmond American, Templeton Development, Trophy Homes, U.S. Home, Viking-Twain LLC, Watt Homes and Wheeler Development.
      Office hours are from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday at The Meadows mall; and from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday at the Galleria at Sunset mall.