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BrokerIPTV: Today we are talking with Steve Brooks, owner of Brookstone Builders and Steve, welcome to the show.

Steve Brooks: All right.

BrokerIPTV: Glad you are here. Yeah.

Steve Brooks: I am glad to be here.

BrokerIPTV: Tell me about Brookstone Builders?

Steve Brooks: Well, I started about 10 years ago converting apartment building into condominiums and about four to five years ago, I decided to get into new construction. So, I started out with multi-family, duplexes, four-plexes those kind of things and now I've moved into custom single-family homes.

BrokerIPTV: Tell us about your design and your approach to custom homes?

Steve Brooks: Well, I spend a lot of time on design. To me, thats one of the most important features in a new home. You walk into a lot of homes and right away you just feel like a bad floor plan or just doesn't flow well or things like that. I personally I like to think of the home as if I was going to move into it myself. So, every feature, everything, every decision I am putting into that house, I have to look at it as if I am going to move into that house. I think in the end, you show a better product, if you think of that throughout the process of building a house, so,

BrokerIPTV: What sets you apart? How do I know I am walking into a Brookstone home?

Steve Brooks: Good question. First of all, I am proud to say that all my houses are built green, which we will talk a little about later in the interview, but secondly, I try to use very unique materials. I think a lot of homes you walk into you see the same materials. I like to say my homes are rustic contemporary; rustic meaning more like a Colorado field, slate instead of travertine, natural stained woods, wood beams, large timbers, use of interior stone, contemporary meaning like clean lines, clean trim, contemporary kitchen cabinets, those sort of things, so you get kind of a Denver feel, but also a mountain feel in the homes; thats really what I am looking for in the homes I build.

BrokerIPTV: The other thing is I really love your floor plans. I mean I am personally, somebody like me, I like an open floor plan. It's very open, very inviting. It flows very easy. I am sure you have gotten some of those comments from people who bought your homes and so forth. So, well done there. Is there anything new that people are talking about as far as floor plans these days?

Steve Brooks: Well, obviously new trends in building - outdoor kitchens are big. I put outdoor fire places, grills, those sort of things in all the homes I do now, because I think thats in high demand. As far as new trends in floor plans, I think definitely most people like finished basements. I finish all the basements that I do and its a great second area for people to recreate in and use. So, I have always done that, but like you said before, open floor plans are big. I like have the kitchen, the nook, family room, all those areas open to one space; sometimes you will see them kind of close off. I personally dont like that. I think it's more of a trend to do an open area. I also put wine rooms on all the main floors, which I think is kind of nice and in this price point, people like to have that sort of thing, so.

BrokerIPTV: We should mention, the price point is?

Steve Brooks: They range from 1.3 to 1.8, depending on which house it is, so.

BrokerIPTV: How do people find out more information about your homes?

Steve Brooks: Well, until I finish my website, which has been under construction for a while, they can email me at steve@brookstonebuilder.com or phone me at 303-709-2400.

BrokerIPTV: Steve, thanks.

Steve Brooks: Thank you Dan. I appreciate it.

BrokerIPTV: I appreciate having you.

Steve Brooks: Thanks for the opportunity.

BrokerIPTV: We are talking with Steve Brooks today from Brookstone Builders. Steve, welcome.

Steve Brooks: Thanks.

BrokerIPTV: Thanks for being here.

Steve Brooks: Thank you, Dan.

BrokerIPTV: We had you on earlier segment talking about your homes, but refresh that, refresh us a little bit. Brookstone Builders builds where and what?

Steve Brooks: Well, at the moment custom, single family homes in most of the downtown area; when I say downtown, Observatory Park, Hilltop at this point.

BrokerIPTV: Got you. What I want to talk about in this segment is you mentioned you like to build green, and a lot of people say that, but I dont think everybody understands what build green means. So, can you explain?

Steve Brooks: Well, first of all, most states have put together their own green building programs, Built Green Colorado is Colorado's specific program for this state. It has been around, it is one of the oldest programs in the nation. It's very reputable. A lot of other programs around the nation have really duplicated what we have done here in Colorado. Basically, what Built Green is, is its a way for builders to come up with a system for water efficiency, energy efficiency, natural resource efficiency in their building process. The way they do that is they award points for all sorts of different categories and they require a minimum of 75 points to be considered Built Green.

BrokerIPTV: Good. How many points typically is a Brookstone home?

Steve Brooks: You know I am always uping the ante. So, my most current home that I am about to complete will probably achieve about 250 points. So, but I am always looking for ways to improve that. Many of those points that I get dont necessarily cost more money; some of them do, but a lot of time it is just knowing how to put something in better or more efficient than what you have done before.

BrokerIPTV: Give me an example of a point in value, what you can you do to earn points?

Steve Brooks: Well, I will tell some of things I do in my homes, just so you have an idea. I put bamboo floors in all my homes; I get points for that. I use like you mentioned before recycled glass tile accents throughout the home. I put a 50 year roof on instead of a 20 year roof. Energy star appliances.

BrokerIPTV: The carpet?

Steve Brooks: There you go, yes, green labeled carpet. It can be recycled over and over again. I just started using that. I could go on, but those sorts of things are what you are looking for.

BrokerIPTV: Earn points.

Steve Brooks: Yes.

BrokerIPTV: Why go in this direction, because I imagine a builder out there could say, "Hey, listen, I am going to put this up is inexpensive as possible and sell it for the highest price as I could. Why go in this direction and the extra trouble"?

Steve Brooks: Right. Well, for me, I feel I have a moral responsibility. These homes that I am putting into service will probably be there for a minimum of 100 years and so in my opinion, you only have one chance to do it right.

BrokerIPTV: Lot of talk in the real estate industry about this LEED program, L-E-E-D; tell people what is LEED.

Steve Brooks: LEED is... well, first of all the home I am breaking ground on now would be LEED certified. LEED stand for Leadership in Energy and Efficient Design. Its a nationwide program. Up to now it has been mostly commercial, so you will see it in a lot of schools and city governments have headed that way into being LEED certified. This year, they just rolled it out for residential, so its a brand new program, very few homes in Colorado have even tried to be LEED certified up to this point. It actually is very similar to the Built Green program. In many ways, it overlaps that program, but in someway, this is more comprehensive. For example, they look at how far away are some of the materials you buy. They want it all to be within a 500 mile radius. They give you points for using recycled aggregate in your concrete. They put a lot of time and effort into how you dispose off your materials on the job site. You are going to divert a certain amount of those materials from the landfill. Those sort of things arent really covered in Built Green. LEED does do that. So, in many ways, it is a little more comprehensive, so.

BrokerIPTV: And its a little bit more difficult on you the builder?

Steve Brooks: Very much so; yes, it is going to be challenging.

BrokerIPTV: So kudos to you for tackling that.

Steve Brooks: Thank you.

BrokerIPTV: I love the information. I love your homes. Thanks so much for being with us.

Steve Brooks: Thank you Dan. Appreciate it.

BrokerIPTV: Today we are talking with John Keith, President of Harvard Communities. John, welcome to the show, thanks for being with us.

John Keith: You are welcome.

BrokerIPTV: I appreciate that. Now, I love what you guys are doing. You are building homes and one of them is called the near zero energy home, tells us what that is about?

John Keith: Well, I think to define a near zero energy home, you have to start with what a zero energy home is. There is lot of different definitions out there, but basically a zero energy home is a home that uses no energy from utility companies, you would have zero energy bills every month from the utility company. So, a zero energy home is basically a home that uses just a little bit more than that, so a very low utility bill every month.

BrokerIPTV: Now, what are some of the unique features we are talking about here that save energy? <more>

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BrokerIPTV: We are talking with Maritt Ellis today, Sales and Marketing Manager for MacKenzie House and welcome to the show. Glad you are here.

Maritt Ellis: Thank you so much Dan. 

BrokerIPTV: Tell me what consumers want because you are a builder and that is the topic of this segment. What consumers want? What do they tell you? 

Maritt Ellis: They tell me... they tell our company that they want efficiency. They want comfortable homes. They are looking for a neighborhood, a sense of community when they are shopping for their home. So, they are going to be looking for parks, walking trails, things of that nature. They also want to see efficiency in their homes, so I think that is a huge trend going into the future, home efficiency and energy efficiency.

BrokerIPTV: Yeah, that is true. Does MacKenzie House solicit feedback from other Realtors when they are getting ready to come up with a new design or a new plan or a new community?

Maritt Ellis: We definitely appreciate any feedback from Realtors; for example, we just recently changed one of our floor plans based on Realtor and homeowner feedback; so, we definitely appreciate it. They are the ones that know what buyers want and they have the experience. So, we have done focus groups and we have talked to Realtors; so, yes.

BrokerIPTV: And it is a little bit more than I guess since you specialize in senior living and we all know that the seniors want a main floor mapping, right? Tell me a little bit more on that.

Maritt Ellis: Yes, yes. They are looking for open floor plans. They do not want to have to maintain a huge yard, so some of the common things you can think of for sure.

BrokerIPTV: How does MacKenzie House reach out to Realtors to get them to help sell your product?

Maritt Ellis: Interesting question. We recently had a raffle. We raffled off two opening day tickets to the Rockies season opener. So, that was hugely successful. We had about five calls a week, which is good in this market from Realtors and it was strictly for brokers. So, they were excited to put their card in the box and tour the homes. So, they just had to preview or show the home. We of course entertain any opportunity to speak to Realtors, which we have done a lot of and we also do the flyers, we do the pizzas, we do the Duffy rolls, you name it, we try and get in front of Realtors.

BrokerIPTV: All right. What is the signature of a MacKenzie Home? Is there one special feature?

Maritt Ellis: I think there is right now in our town home, product line in both Missouri and in Colorado. We have an open floor plan. We have got a column coming from the skylight that brings a lot of natural light down to the first floor, which is really needed and then if you look at the back of the town home, you have a spiral staircase that takes you up to the fourth floor, rooftop deck, which is amazing. So, on both town home product lines you have the spiral staircase.

BrokerIPTV: Maritt, thanks very much. Good information. Appreciate you being here.

Maritt Ellis: Thank you. Thank you for having me.

BrokerIPTV: Appreciate you being here. 

Maritt Ellis: Thank you for having me.

Maritt Ellis on the MacKenzie House, its history, and its homes

BrokerIPTV: Today, we are talking with Maritt Ellis, Sales and Marketing Manager for MacKenzie House and thanks for being with us.

Maritt Ellis: Thank you Dan [phonetic].

BrokerIPTV: Well, tell me a little bit about MacKenzie House, your history, your homes.

Maritt Ellis: We were founded by Donald MacKenzie back in 1999 and we are a privately owned company with 60 employees. We currently build in Colorado and Missouri, and we have four diverse product types. We currently build student housing, we build multifamily communities, we build senior living campuses, as well as urban infill town home projects. MacKenzie House currently has one billion dollars with the projects either under construction, currently being developed or completed.

BrokerIPTV: All right. Where in Colorado can I find these homes from MacKenzie House or where a future [phonetic] is that I can look forward to?

Maritt Ellis: Sure. We currently build along the Front Range. We have senior living communities in Colorado Springs, Fort Collins, and our flagship community is going to be located in Lone Tree, Colorado. It is adjacent to Sky Ridge Medical Center in RidgeGate. It is going to be called RidgeGate, excuse me, and we are going to start pre-selling in September. We just finished up a project. I have one left at 24 Walnut, which is downtown. Those are town homes located two blocks north of Coors Field, specifically those are the projects we are having in Colorado.

BrokerIPTV: All right. With so many builders out there, how does Mackenzie House differentiate themselves from every body else?

Maritt Ellis: We differentiate ourselves because we really think we have done our home work as far as choosing the locations in which we build. We have put a lot of research, a lot of time and hours into performers and taking a look at what works where, and we selected urban infill areas that we think are highly successful and we have been successful in those areas. So, just doing research. We differentiate ourselves also with our employees that we hire. When you walk in to a MacKenzie House development, hopefully, you are greeted with a smile on the sales rep's faces. You are immediately welcomed and we feel that we do a great job in hiring our employees. So, it is just a great environment to be in.

BrokerIPTV: You mentioned downtown and some other urban areas. I was going to ask you what neighborhoods do you like. I mean are you guys focused in on those downtown areas and do you like them and why?

Maritt Ellis: We were one of the original town home developers downtown and we were really successful in that area. We do like high barrier entry areas. We are looking for areas that are close to restaurants, are close to walking trails, and urban infill areas. We like those neighborhoods because we feel like they attract people that are active and that is who we build for.

BrokerIPTV: Good information Maritt. Thanks for being with us, appreciate that.

Maritt Ellis: Thank you. Thanks so much Dan.