Company Constructs Custom Off-Site Homes

If you can’t find your dream home, then build it. “We want people to imagine and build,” said General Manager Andy Miller of R-Anell Housing Group in Denver. “We want to transform that image into reality.” R-Anell Housing Group in Denver, who has been in business since 1972, constructs custom homes, condominiums and townhouses. “The difference with our business is we make homes year-round despite the weather,” said Miller. “All of our houses are built inside, so we never have to worry about things getting wet or mold developing.” Three quarters of each house are fully constructed on site, including plumbing, all electric components and flooring. Miller said there are several advantages to building homes this way. “We buy the material in huge quantities, therefore it lowers the cost” Miller said. “The quality is also a factor because the people who build it are doing a very repetitious job, therefore they are good at it.” Dennis Jones, R-Anell’s President said there are several other positive factors for construction off site. One is that material cost is controlled, he said. “The overhead cost of a truck and driver is applied to one home when it is being delivered to an on-site location,” he said. “With an off-site location like us, the same overhead cost is spread over a dozen houses or more.” Jones said there is also more control of waste with an on-site location. “If there are any scraps, they use them over again,” Jones said. “It might be a small piece but it may fit in a certain place for the construction of the next house.” The product line in the plant area moves every 70 minutes and has 29 stations in order to make a home complete. The production line includes the interior wall construction, the exterior wall construction, as well as all the electrical and plumbing work, all the way up to the roof. The cabinets are also put in. Carpet can be installed if needed as well as the refrigerator. “We make 17 homes per week,” Miller said. “They build 9 floors a day and work a ten-hour schedule.” Miller said it takes three and a half days to complete a house through the product line. In a year, R-Anell builds between 750 and 800 homes. Inside the company’s manufacturing site, the sound of staple guns echoes through the facility. Most of the staple guns are used for putting the shingles on the roof. “Everything is built very strong and is either glued or staple,” Miller said. “It makes a better house.” R-Anell’s market is in North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, north Georgia and east Tennessee. Once the home is ready to be delivered, it is buttoned up with plastic so it will not leak upon delivery. Most of the houses they sell stay within a 300 mile radius. “It is easier to operate in that radius with deliveries,” Jones said. “We have not reached out to other areas because we have been reasonably happy with the amount of home sales in this area.” These types of homes reach all different types of target audiences. “Most of our consumers are the same consumers who look at on-site built houses,” Jones said. “The difference with our off-site home is the consumer can choose which land they want to live on.” Jones said a lot of the customers are first time homebuyers and for many it is their second home in addition to the house they already have. Miller said the houses attract all types of families. “We have people who are out buying their first home to people who are downsizing because of retirement,” he said. “We target everyone.”