The New House by RSI: A New Homebuilder’s Answer to the Housing Crisis

Southern California homebuilder sells out 103 home community in 9 months. Now the region’s fastest growing builder

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif.--(EON: Enhanced Online News)--The New House by RSI, a new Southern California homebuilder has sold out of their 103-house inaugural project in less than 9 months, bucking the housing trend and establishing the company as a force in a new real estate world.

“Ron has continually had the courage to be truly new, it’s refreshing to see someone defy convention by taking a different approach. His timing is impeccable.”

The company is led by Ronald M. Simon, Founding Chairman of RSI Home Products, one of the nation’s largest, and the lowest cost manufacturer of kitchen cabinets, bathroom vanities, cultured marble countertops, medicine cabinets, and home organization cabinets. Simon conducted four years of R&D and allocated $100 million to drastically lower the cost of building new homes.

Their first neighborhood in Menifee, CA sold out of its 103 homes just nine months after opening in October, a blistering pace for the Riverside County town littered with foreclosures and competition from large public builders.

According to Richard M. Gollis, Principal and co-Founder of the real estate analysis firm The Concord Group; The New House is now the top selling neighborhood in California’s Inland Empire. From October 2010 to March 2011, the company closed 78 net sales; its top five competitors closed an average of 38 units during the 6-month period. In Menifee, the top nine competing communities averaged just 1.5 sales per month compared to 13 by The New House.

The reason for The New House by RSI’s success is innovation. “Our view of homebuilding is really different than traditional builders,” says Simon. “We view it as manufacturing even though the homes are stick built on site. To be a productive manufacturer you have to control the entire process from product design and engineering, thru the supply chain and to field construction. We approach building our houses like building cars, cabinets, or any other highly engineered products.” Extreme efficiency and consistency are gained through assembling important structural components in a manufacturing facility, then building the homes on-site with specifically trained construction teams. The result is a more efficient building process that substantially lowers costs and greatly improves quality.

Each house is delivered with granite counter tops, better insulated 2”x6” exterior walls with R-21 rating, tankless hot water heaters, low VOC carpets and paints, radiant barrier roof sheathing, dual-pane low-e windows, and dual flush toilets. With an eye toward environmental sustainability, their construction creates almost no scrap compared to nearly two truckloads created by traditional builders. What little waste there is comes from packaging materials, all of which is recycled.

Their houses are priced from $143,500 - $210,500, which according to The Concord Group is well below the competition, “The affordability of The New House in Menifee is unequaled,” says Gollis. “An average price of $170,000 is 37% below the weighted average base list price of $270,000 in South Central Riverside County.” Floor plans range from a 1232 square foot single story to a 2401 square foot two story home. Each home comes with a two-car garage.

Buying a home from The New House could not be simpler. Interested buyers are directed to an easy-to-use website where all the information—including the price—is right there. They can then make an appointment to come in and see the models, which are located off site. This strategy also allows RSI to service multiple communities from the same point of sale, another cost savings passed on to buyers. One buyer acknowledged on Facebook that she only pays $280 more per month for a 2400 sq. ft. house than for the 700 sq. ft. apartment she lived in previously.

There is also no standing inventory; all houses are pre-sold. They are built in less than 25 days, and even at that pace, explains Simon, “the houses are built with such precision and efficiency that there are rarely defects.”

“The New House is a remarkable company with a visionary at the helm,” says Kathleen Cecilian, CEO of Cecilian Worldwide, the company that worked with RSI to create the brand. “Ron has continually had the courage to be truly new, it’s refreshing to see someone defy convention by taking a different approach. His timing is impeccable.”

In the end, The New House by RSI truly believes in providing excellent houses to hard working families at a cost they can actually afford. The company has taken that a step further by committing to The New House Promise: a commitment to give away 1 house for every 100 the company builds and sells.

“Now we have proven that when houses can be produced and sold at prices people can afford, there are buyers for them even in this market. We are excited to move forward and build more neighborhoods in other parts of the nation,” concludes Simon. Visit www.TheNewHouse.com to learn more.

Interviews are available upon request