Continuing the discussion about new-home design center experiences, this week it’s time for a look at the flexibility and choices buyers can discover through digital design programs. A relative newcomer to the new-home business, digital design programs allow buyers to create dozens of design scenarios on their own time and wherever they work most comfortably.
Vacaville-based Blue Mountain Communities recently announced its entry into online digital design. Using visualization technology prior to construction, buyers will be able to see their exact floor plan with multiple design selections on display, so to speak.
“We’re rolling out the program at our Provence community in Sacramento,” said Joe Klusnick, marketing director for Blue Mountain Communities, which has other Northern California communities in Hayward, Bethel Island, Fairfield and more. “This is a brand-new program for one of our design partners and we’re one of the first builders to implement it.”
Eric Kerl, purchasing director for Blue Mountain Communities, added that the program, Momentum Design, comes from Southern California-based Residential Design Services (RDS), which has showrooms around Northern California serving a number of builders.
“The Momentum program delivers the same efficiency to builders and buyers as packages do, but with higher buyer satisfaction,” Kerl said. “Buyers can pick out flooring, carpeting, cabinetry, countertops and backsplashes, and it all populates into a view of their actual home configuration. They can see the kitchen, the bathrooms, the entire space, including any structural options they may have chosen with Blue Mountain.”
He explained how it works. “When someone buys a house from us, they get a link to the Momentum program that is specific to their floor plan, kitchen, bedroom and bathroom configuration,” he said. “They can create multiple scenarios and get the cost of each scenario. If they need help, they can go back to the Blue Mountain sales team. They can also save multiple scenarios on their own.”
In fact, “multiple” can refer to as many as 99 scenarios, according to Brian Baratta, a builder account executive with Residential Design Services.
“The visualizer touches on the finer points of design and lets buyers experiment with options on their own,” Baratta said. “One of the benefits is that, for someone like me, who doesn’t like to be sold on anything, I could take my time and make up my mind by myself and with my own research. From the link they get from Blue Mountain, buyers can find all the information about each product and pricing.”
Although 99 scenarios may sound as overwhelming as the financial decisions behind buying a home, Baratta explained that some buyers enjoy sharing their design scenarios with family and friends all over the country, or the world for that matter, to get input on their choices.
“For many families, it’s important that several people weigh in on the design. Their new home is going to be a place where people get together for holidays and extended visits; they want the design to work with generations of traditions,” Baratta added. He noted that only the buyers themselves can see the pricing or make changes to the scenarios, but that anyone with a link to the visualizer can look up other design choices.
“It’s not only design center elements that are incorporated in the visualizer,” Baratta said. “The views include everything, like the placement of the Nest thermostat or custom lighting, where they want to place the wet bar.”
What if digital isn’t enough?The builder and the design company have you covered if you want to touch and feel your selections. Baratta said that samples are available in the design centers of each product on the Momentum visualizer.
“You can save your design and then come in to see and touch the products before finalizing with the sales office,” he said.
Residential Design Services works with vendors for flooring, tile and so forth who sign agreements that they will have enough of each selection in stock for the duration of the entire building process. A buyer who chooses a design before their house has broken ground won’t have to worry about the availability of their choices several months later when the home is being finished.
What’s next? A lot, according to Kerl from Blue Mountain.
“We’re starting with 2D, but we’ll move to virtual 3D down the road,” said Kerl. From physical design centers and visualization tools to virtual reality headsets one day? Now that’s innovation.
