The Communities Driving Sales For Fast-Growing Builders on the BUILDER 100

The Palms at Nocatee

Builder: Dream Finders Homes ► Headquarters: Jacksonville, Florida ► 2017 BUILDER 100 Ranking: 52 ► 2016 BUILDER 100 Ranking: 82 ► Percentage Change in Closings: 106%

Jenn Kjellman, marketing manager at Dream Finders Homes, says the Jacksonville-based builder thought The Palms at Nocatee looked like a success long before it started to sell homes within the master planned community.

“With Nocatee being known nationwide, it was a no brainer,” Kjellman says.

And, in fact, it was a success before Dream Finders even opened a model. The Palms at Nocatee, which offers both townhome and single-family units, was almost 50% full before Dream Finders even opened a model at the 276-home community.

Nocatee was built from land owned by the Davis family, which also owns grocery store chain Winn-Dixie, according to Anthony Crocco, Metrostudy’s Orlando and Jacksonville regional director. He says Nocatee, which opened in fall 2015, has become one of the leading developments in the Jacksonville community, contributing to about 15% of the area’s 7,000 home volume.

“It’s in the best location and has the best schools and access to the best jobs,” Crocco says. “The project has the momentum, massive infrastructure, big road improvements, major overpasses over existing interstates, town centers, and shopping.”

For Dream Finders, the community represented a departure from past developments on a number of fronts. Usually, the builder doesn’t combine townhome and single-family products.

The real game changer might have been the number of models that Dream Finders offered. “Having three models to showcase the different levels of features that we can offer was really something new for us,” Kjellman says. “Usually we only build one model because [from a cost perspective] it doesn’t make sense to have two models in most of our communities. Having multiple models was definitely something we attribute a lot of our success to because people got to see more of our product in one location.”

Pricing for the townhomes at The Palms at Nocatee started in the high $100,000s and will close out in mid $200,000s, while the single-family homes started in the mid $200,000s and will close out in the $600,000 range.

Dream Finders’ price positioning in The Palms at Nocatee ended up being ideal, according to Kjellman. “People are flocking there and we are the most affordable builder offering something beyond a box,” she says. “We offer semi customization so people just sort of gravitated toward us.” Dream Finders’ upgrades, like coffered ceilings, shiplap, and the ability to move walls, provided a boost.

Once buyers finished their upgrades, Kjellman said the average single-family home was in the $500,000 range. “We pride ourselves as being the best quality for the best price point in the Jacksonville market,” Kjellman says. “We have some great vendors for our price point and we’re able to offer incredible upgraded features.”

Beyond positioning, pricing, and features, Stewart says there was one other major factor in Dream Finders’ success at The Palms at Nocatee—the company’s home-field advantage.

“When the national builders come in, we find people kind of trust the local guy more,” she says. “Being a local builder helped us to be really successful in Nocatee.”