Engaged couples are accustomed to making the registry rounds to pick out china patterns and cutlery sets, but Greenbelt, Md.–based Bozzuto Homes is asking soon-to-be newlyweds to think passed all that and consider where they’ll be housing that china—and themselves—with its new Bozzuto Bridal Registry.
Launched yesterday, the program allows engaged couples to pick out the Bozzuto home they want and create a registry with the builder for the home when they sign the purchase agreement. Friends and family can then contribute funds to be applied toward the home’s down payment. Bozzuto will match gifts received up to $15,000, with the builder’s contribution going toward closing costs.
“We recognize that today homeownership … isn’t quite as easy to achieve as it has been in the past,” says Cathy Leaning, Bozzuto’s senior director of marketing. “We wanted to get out there with a program that helps newlyweds get into a home of their own.”
The target is a good one for Bozzuto, for which 50% of its customers are first-time home buyers. Currently, most of the program’s promotion happens in sales centers when potential customers meet with a Bozzuto representative. “As part of the discovery process, [the representative] will ask if they’re engaged,” says Bruce Rosenblatt, Bozzuto’s director of sales.
Going forward, the builder intends to promote the program through local bridal magazines and other media outlets catering to espoused couples, as well as on its website.
Claire Easley is a senior editor at Builder.
Learn more about markets featured in this article: Washington, DC, Greenville, SC.
