Rochester Homes was recently featured in Modern Home Builder magazine. Here is the full article:
"Rochester Homes has been building homes all over the Midwest for more than 42 years, and the company has been under the leadership of the Anderson family the entire time. As Vice President of Sales Alex Berlin explains, the family involvement in the company's day-to-day operations has been one of the key elements of its success as it works to provide families with their own homes. "Hands-on leadership from the family has been a big deal for us from day one," Berlin says.
Founded in 1972 and operating out of Rochester, Ind., Rochester Homes specializes in building modular homes for builders and homebuyers. The company's original focus was in manufactured homes built for dealers, but over time it evolved into a modular product. Owner Kenny Anderson says the company's niche is in providing a systems-built modular home with proprietary options that serve higher end tastes than the manufactured home industry provides. "It used to be in this industry that it was known for building cheap, basic boxes," Anderson says.
Rochester Homes has built a strong position in the marketplace first and foremost because of the advantages modular homes provide for homebuyers and builders. In addition, the company's reputation for high quality construction and unique features unlike any found in the modular or manufactured home industries further distinguish it. Although Berlin says the company still has to counter the preconceived notions people have about modular homes, Rochester Homes' work speaks for itself.
NUMEROUS ADVANTAGES
Rochester Homes specializes in manufacturing modular homes ranging from single family ranch to two story homes to multifamily buildings. These products are sold by dealers and independent home builders in Indiana and neighboring states.
Berlin says choosing modular homes over traditional stick-built homes present homebuyers with numerous advantages, the most prominent of which is the quality control that comes with a product manufactured under controlled conditions. By manufacturing the modules in a factory instead of building the home on site from the ground up, Rochester Homes saves time and money, Berlin says.
Rochester Homes also offers homebuyers a high degree of customization. The company’s Rochester Series homes are available in widths of 26, 28 and 30 feet, and are fully customizable to homebuyers’ preferences. Customers can choose from one of the company’s many floor plans, make adjustments to an existing floor plan or develop a completely new one based on their own preferences.
Along with the customizable options Rochester Homes offers homebuyers, Berlin says the company also provides them with components from some of the biggest and most trusted names in the homebuilding industry. The company provides products with long-term warranties from brands such as Kohler, Trane, Owens Corning, Rheem and Andersen, among others. “Having strong partners in this business has been incredibly important,” he says.
Offering high-quality components from big-name partners such as these has become an increasingly important advantage for Rochester Homes in recent years. This is because the Internet has made it possible for homebuyers to become more educated about components and construction than ever before, Berlin says. Rochester Homes has a highly qualified staff of consultants and knowledgeable salespeople to help customers find the right combination of features and products for their homes, Berlin adds.
Another advantage that isn’t apparent in the finished homes but is essential for Rochester Homes nonetheless is its financial flexibility, Berlin says. Being entirely debt-free provides the company with greater freedom than many of its competitors to build as much as it can without having to worry about interest payments.
<strong>GREAT REPUTATION</strong>
As the company continues to grow, Rochester Homes’ greatest challenge is overcoming the stigma that many associate with modular and manufactured homes. Berlin says that although the trends are changing, there remains a sizable portion of the market that associates modular homes with trailer parks. “We’re just a totally different animal from that,” he says.
Slowly but surely, Rochester Homes is dismantling that stereotype with every home it builds, Berlin says. Thanks to its attention to quality and long history in the industry, Rochester Homes has adapted itself to meet the needs of the housing market and expects the future to bring with it more growth. “We’re here now, and we’re positioned to stay,” Berlin says. “We’ve built ourselves a great 40-year reputation for quality.””
Source: http://www.mhb-magazine.com/index.php/sections/builders/1926-rochester-homes