SCH IAVI HOM EBU I LDERS

CUSTOM IZEDMODULAR HOMES FOR

THE PEOPLE

SCHIAVI HOMEBUILDERS IS A SMALL

company with big ideas. Headquar-tered in Oxford, Maine, with a

satellite office in Bethel, the companyemploys a mere 28 people. Originallyfounded by John Schiavi and his fatherin the 1950s, the company operatedas a mobile home sales company for

the next 30-odd years until Schiavidecided to sell and move on to other

ventures. After changing hands severaltimes the company ended up in bank-

ruptcy, whereupon Schiavidecidedto buy it back. The new company,Schiavi Homebuilders, reopened in

January 1997, \vith Scott Stone at thehelm. Stone, who is now President

by Heleigh Bostwick

90 I AMERICAN BUILDERS QUARTERLY FAI.L 200]

of Schiavi Homebuilders, was brought

in to manage property while Schiavi

remained a silent partner.

Schiavi Homebuilders has since

expanded into the modular housing

market and is slowly moving out ofthe mobile home business. "Modu-

lar homes were only 30 percent ofour business when we first started

selling them. Today 85 percent ofour business comes from modular

homes," remarks Stone. He says thereare several reasons for this. "The first

is that the market is very soft formobile homes. The second is that it

doesn't fit into our company vision

anymore. And third, I'm a builder-

not a salesperson." Stone explains thatmobile homes, unlike modular homes,

are more about selling than building.

There's also a demand for this type

of housing in Maine. "Modular andmobile homes account for 30 to 40

percent of all housing starts for newhomes in the 5200,000 and under

range," states Stone. "There are

eight other modular home builders

in the area and four modular housing

factories," says Stone, who proclaims,

"our industry owns that segment of themarket."

How did Schia\'i Homebuilders rise to

the top? "There are two ways to grow

this business: undercut the competi-tion or find a new niche." Stone chose

SCH lAY I

HOMEBUILDERS

the latter and climbed up the ladder

into modular housing. His strategy has

paid off. Stone anticipates that Schia,'iHomebuilders \\ill build ]] 5 to 120

homes in 2007, a 15 percent increase

o\'er 2006, when Stone built 97

homes, achie\'ing 513 million in sales.Most of these new homes will be in

the s300,000 to S500,000 price range

and about 35 percent of them are sec-

ond homes. "It's the best year we'\'e

had in a softer market," says Stone

with a mixture of pride and awe.

One of Stone's biggest frustrations is

the way people ,iew modular housing.

After all, isn't a modular home just a

step up from a mobile home? "They

couldn't be more wrong," exclaims

Stone, whose passion for the topic is

clearly e\'ident. "The precision and

"THE PRECISION AND EFFICIENCY OF FACTORY BUILT,

MODULAR HOMES CAN T BE BEAT. "

AMERICAN BUILDERS QUARTERLY FALL 2007191

SCH IAYIHOM EBUI LDERS

" CUSTOMIZED MODULAR HOUSING ALLOWS

US TO MARRY THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS. "

efficiency of factory built modularhomes can't be beat," says Stone. "Itallows us to build customized homes

for less money, about 5100 persquare foot."

Stone spends a significant portion of

the company's advertising budget on

spreading the word about customizedmodular homes like the ones Schia\;

Homebuilders builds. Twenty percent

of his budget is dedicated to produc-

ing seven-minute infomercials thatair on local tele\;sion stations, while

another large chunk of money is spenton his Web site.

"We're turnkey builders, which meanswe do it all. We have a number of re-

liable subcontractors that we've used

for many years," Stone says. Heating,

plumbing, electrical, foundations, and

excavation are subcontracted out, but

Schiavi handles general contracting

and carpentry. In fact, subcontrac-tors at Schiavi are treated almost

like employees. Instead of providingtheir own estimates, subs are issued

a work order for the project, which

they can choose to accept or decline.

Stone explains that Schia\; has its own

construction management software

program that enables their estimates

to be so precise-in most cases within

a couple of dollars-that there areno cost overruns. "The bank that we

do business with doesn't even require

921 AMERICAN BUILDERS QUARTERLY fALL 200]

us to pro\;de contingencies an)more,"chuckles Stone.

designed home, but at an affordable

price. One of the services Stone offers

potential home owners is a three-hourconsultation with an architect who

shows them how they can customize a

typical 20 x 40 ranch modular home

to make it uniquely theirs. As Stone

says, "Customized modular housing

allows us to marry the best of both

worlds. " He might just be right. ABQ

Although Schiavi Homebuilders has

four customized high-end modular

homes in the works that are priced at

5750,000 and up, Stone's goal is notto create modular mansions. Stone

prefers to think of himself as "Your

Homebuilder," catering to the average

home owner who's looking for all

of the elements of an architecturally