VR Allows Homebuyers to Make Room and Option Selections

DALLAS—Despite COVID-19, residential sales remain strong due to virtual experiences and experts believe this trend will persist after the pandemic concludes. And, Dallas continues to be one of the nation’s high-growth markets.

Two DFW metro area communities, 114 homes at Gateway Parks in Forney, TX and 104 homes at Creeks of Legacy in Celina, TX, mark the introduction of Trendmaker Homes’ new line. With lower price points, these new designs are also helping to address affordability issues.

Sales and daily model home tours are underway, with customers also having a suite of online interactive home shopping tools to experience the new homes before scheduling an onsite or virtual appointment.

“We are very excited to bring fresh open-concept home designs at attainable price points to this high-growth market,” said Sean Ricks, Trendmaker Homes Dallas-Fort Worth president. “We are also intensely focused on enhancing the customer experience, starting from the moment someone visits our website and throughout their journey with us. The homes in the Discovery Collection and the virtual reality tools we have developed are strategically designed to stand out from the competition by providing a premium lifestyle experience, and will be an important building block as we grow our operations in one of the top homebuilding markets in the country.”

The Gateway Parks and Creeks of Legacy grand openings mark the launch of the Discovery Collection, which delivers open-concept designs with flexibility at attainable price points. Exclusive to Trendmaker Homes Dallas-Fort Worth, Discovery Collection’s unique VR tools offer a life-like experience of touring a model home. This VR experience has interactive features that allow customers to visualize a home by virtually making room and option selections, and changing combinations of flooring, cabinets, countertops, backsplash and paint colors.

“The Discovery Collection incorporates design features that are intended to meet the needs of today’s homebuyers,” said Peter Altuchow, vice president of community experience at Trendmaker Homes Dallas-Fort Worth. “With multiple floorplan options and design layouts that include flex spaces that can be used as home offices, gyms, study spaces or play rooms and a connection to outdoor living with large covered patios and expansive sliding glass doors, the Discovery Collection offers a new way of living. The VR tools take it a step further, letting customers explore design possibilities while helping inspire them and simplifying and guiding them on their homebuying journey.”

Located 30 minutes east of downtown Dallas, Gateway Parks homes start from the mid-$200,000s. These homes are designed to meet the growing demand in the Dallas-Fort Worth market for premium first-time and first-time move-up customers.

Creeks of Legacy is a short drive from the high-growth cities of Frisco and Plano. Starting from the low $300,000s, the new homes are close to the future PGA World Headquarters and a more than 2,500-acre mixed-use development in Frisco that will add another Omni convention center to the area.

Ricks recently shared some insights on the DFW housing market, COVID’s impact and how builders will address those issues.

GlobeSt.com: What is your outlook for the remainder of the year for the Dallas-Fort Worth area?

Ricks: This year has been anything but a normal selling cycle. Since May, the demand environment for new homes in DFW has been strong, and I expect that strength to generally continue through the balance of this year due to the historically low interest rate environment and low inventory levels. I think consumers will also continue to re-evaluate their living situations because many of us have changed the way we live and the way we think about our homes. I believe renters will consider home ownership, and existing homeowners will seek homes that better fit their needs. I am also encouraged by the bounce-back in employment in the DFW area. Many people are starting to go back to the office, and I continue to see headlines announcing new business relocations to the DFW area, so I think we’ll continue to see strong employment growth in the region.

GlobeSt.com: What challenges will builders like Trendmaker Homes need to address?

Ricks:  We face several headwinds going forward including supply chain and lot supply constraints, which will ultimately impact affordability. Supply chain has struggled to keep up with the increased demand, especially due to COVID-19 related impacts on production and availability of materials, and this is driving costs up significantly. Lumber is probably the most well-documented category, with cost increases of $15,000 to $20,000 per home year-to-date. Additionally, the strong rebound in demand has intensified the demand for new lot and community positions, and lot supply may not be able to keep up with that demand. With that potential undersupply, builders are willing to pay more for available lots. These cost increases both for materials and land ultimately impact affordability. This may not be a big concern in this ultra-low interest rate environment because consumers have greater buying power, but we will likely start pushing up against an affordability ceiling especially if rates see an uptick.

GlobeSt.com: How is COVID impacting your business?

Ricks: Consumers are certainly re-evaluating their current housing needs as a result of the pandemic, whether it be from a location, amenity or features standpoint. We see renters making the decision to buy because they want more space and to get away from apartment living. Existing homeowners are looking for a larger home or a home that is more conducive to working/schooling from home. People are relocating primarily for employment and affordability reasons. In addition, we have seen that people are doing a good amount of research online before they come out to visit our communities, so they have a good idea of what they want in their homes. Our recent launch of our Discovery Collection product with flex rooms that can serve as home offices, gyms or study spaces has been very well received. Many shoppers have viewed our virtual reality and material option visualizer tools online, and can visualize how our homes fit their needs. The customer gets an even more interactive experience in our new home galleries, where they can walk and make option changes using our virtual reality tools in addition to viewing our physical model homes, allowing customers to experience their home before it’s built.

Trendmaker Homes is a member of the TRI Pointe Group family of builders.