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Kay Builders is a fully integrated company, performing all functions in-house – from property acquisition, land planning, and site excavation to architectural design, construction, and marketing and sales. Many years of owning and operating a site excavation company and a strong knowledge of engineering give the company a unique perspective on how to design communities. According to owner Rick Koze “We have a very good feel for how a community should layout given the specific topography and site conditions and we often make changes to our engineer’s designs. We will suggest where to add units to make better use of roadways, where to add walkout basements, how to re-orient the roads to provide maximum views, and where to add parks and recreation areas.”
Art of Site Development
With its in-house site excavation company and vision for the end product, Kay Builders can cost-effectively add character to its communities. It is this approach to sculpting the land, while also providing superior home designs and unique facades that makes the difference. This may include adding landscape berms or rock walls to just the right area, adjusting grades to save trees, adding water features, or adding elevation changes to the property rather than flat grading the property like most developers. Koze adds “We view site development and homebuilding as separate forms of art.”
Thinking Green
In an era of increasing environmental awareness, Kay Builders also is sensitive to building communities that buyers can feel green about. According to Koze “Most developers will cut all trees from the entire site; that’s never been our approach. We work as much as possible with the existing landscape,” Koze said. He said sensitivity to a property’s topography, as well as preserving trees, natural resources, and environmental elements, factor into the firm’s overall land development projects.
Creating Scenic Communities
A typical Kay Builders community will be close to streams or creeks and built into the hills that rise from the streams with walking paths and nature preserves along the streams, thus providing for some of the most scenic communities. Most builders look for property in flat cornfields with less character, but Kay Builders enjoys working with more challenging terrain.
Superior Curb Appeal
When you are driving through a new home community, have you ever noticed how all the homes seem to look the same? It seems as though over the past decade, the focus of homebuilders has been on cost savings which have translated to less interesting curb appeal and a rather uniform look as a result of production efficiencies. When the economy and housing industry suffered a downturn after 2008 builders also reduced the number of included features, both inside and outside of their homes, while using cheaper materials was a way to reduce costs.
For Kay Builders, the leading builder in Lehigh Valley, PA curb appeal is one of the main priorities along with quality construction, the best locations, and our CUSTOM-i-ZABLE trademark. Kay Builders has increased the number of features it includes and has added to its exterior features. Interior features include 9-foot first-floor ceilings, lofts and vaulted ceilings, tile floor and maple cabinets, 95.5 percent high-efficiency furnaces, and hand framing. Included exterior features such as brick and stone facades, architectural garage doors, metal accent roofs, and complicated roof lines add significantly to our curb appeal. We also advise customers very carefully on what color combinations look the best and we add significant amounts of landscaping. Most importantly each home is individually designed so that no two look the same.
Resale Value
One of the problems of not keeping specifications at a high level to reduce cost is that customers who have already bought at the higher specification years back will find it hard to get value back on resale. Taking masonry off and cheapening materials often can lead to a rundown look in the community after a short period and can mean higher maintenance levels for homeowners. Kay Builders has found other ways to reduce its costs by improving efficiency, reducing overhead, and shopping suppliers to provide more houses for the same price.
At Kay Builders we are concerned about your resale value. Because the Lehigh Valley is our primary market, we rely on repeat buyers, and what better way to ensure this than by focusing on resale value? Homes in Kay Builders communities typically have high resale values because of this commitment to quality, value, and curb appeal.
What Our
Homebuyers Are Saying
Kay Builders built the home of our dreams. They kept us informed of all the phases of development in a timely manner - we love our new home and all of our neighbors. Big shout out to the Kay Builders team for their help and guidance, and to their top notch construction staff.... Thank you!