Lexar Homes: Assessing the health of any job in a few clicks with construction reporting software
How smart reporting helped one franchise homebuilder gain insight for better consistency and growth.
Their success story – financial transparency with custom home builder software
Lexar Homes can see into the future.
No, this franchise homebuilder doesn’t have a crystal ball. They have Buildertrend.
The No. 1 construction project management software helps Lexar Homes forecast their revenue through real-time reports and financial features. Now projects can be properly budgeted and pricing adjustments are easier. This data helps Lexar Homes make informed decisions and better prepare to adapt to an ever-changing market.
Industry
Energy-efficient custom homes
Location
Pacific Northwest
Established
1993
Winning solution
Work in progress reporting
Ready to strengthen your business?
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Their story
A big small business: Building homes across four states
Lexar Homes has conquered the Pacific Northwest – and beyond.
From Bismarck and Burlington to Spokane and the San Juan Islands, this custom homebuilder operates 18 offices across Washington state, Oregon, Idaho and North Dakota. While each office is independently owned and operated, founders Bob Hollis and James Moen work with franchisees to employ a common set of design and construction methods that ensure each job meets projected timelines and budgets while exceeding client expectations.
As one of the largest green homebuilders in America, Lexar Homes aims to build beautiful, environmentally conscious, energy-efficient custom homes in an affordable manner.
“We are committed to building healthy homes for healthy living,” James said.
Their goal
Upgrade their construction software and not break the bank
Before Buildertrend, Lexar Homes was no stranger to construction project management software. In fact, a little over a decade ago, they had their very own system built from the ground up.
This custom platform could handle contracts, scheduling, bank draws, sub communication and more. However, it was costly to maintain, difficult to update and not always the easiest to use. Lexar Homes knew a custom home builder software could better align all of their offices with tools for every step of the construction process.
“Our system was pretty state of the art, but Buildertrend is head and shoulders above with its capabilities,” Bob said. “You guys do this for a living. Building is not your first priority and software isn’t ours. Buildertrend has so many more bells and whistles, and I like how mobile friendly it is.”
Their solution
New functionalities – like reporting and client management – that empower franchise owners
With 25 features, Buildertrend delivered on bells and whistles – and then some. Even better, the program is always developing new tools, too, like Work in Progress reports. Although it only debuted earlier this year, it’s already become a feature favorite for some of Lexar Homes’ offices.
WIP helps teams efficiently create the real-time reports they need to keep projects in check, giving them access to data for total billings, profit margins and cost to complete. With reporting in Buildertrend, Lexar Homes is better able to assess the financial health of any project and forecast future cashflow.
The franchisees who already jumped on board with this feature love the efficiency with which they can pull numbers and the direction it provides.
“To empower an owner to look at the health of a project and see its financial status before finish, that’s huge,” James said. “The better reporting for our franchisees, the more we’re able to help them grow and adapt to shifts in the market.”
The Customer Portal is another feature their old system didn’t have but is used daily across their offices. One of their biggest challenges prior to Buildertrend was maintaining constant good communication with the customer. This tool helps immensely.
From a unique login, their clients can now receive updates on their projects, view the schedule, send messages and more. Not only does this lead to happier clients and more referrals, but it simplifies communication and helps reduce excessive emails and phone calls.
“Customers love the ability to constantly look in on a project,” said Matthew Hollis, IT manager. “And we appreciate the ability to keep them up to date while staying focused on the work ahead.”
As a builder with 18 offices across four states, 5,000 homes built since 2001 and over 75 floorplans offered, this is a team that takes productivity to the next level. So, they need next level construction software to keep jobs moving in a streamlined and succinct way – even if some offices are hundreds of miles apart.
Having a uniform process in all their building markets ensures the high-quality promise Lexar Homes stands by with every home. That is where the project management within Buildertrend plays such an integral part of their business. This helps ensure the operations for each Lexar Homes location is consistent with the good reputation they have built as a company.
“The user friendliness of Daily Logs is a huge win,” Matt said. “Our old process involved project managers writing down notes and then ending each day coming back to the office and uploading those notes to the computer. How much simpler is it to be on your phone, just hit upload and right into Buildertrend it goes? It’s simple, straightforward and effective.”
It is not just the Daily Logs that better connect Lexar Homes’ offices with their job sites. The Schedule is another tool that improves project visibility across crews. Timelines are created in Buildertrend, shared with multiple users and any adjustments are communicated to everyone involved with a build.
Lexar Homes takes scheduling a step further by adding To-Do’s.
“Attaching To-Do’s to the Schedule is pretty powerful,” Matt said. “Whether scheduling a meeting with clients, ordering materials or making a punch list, it’s all contained in one place and holds each user accountable for their actions.”
Their success
Better transparency leads to better decisions
James and Bob can’t be in 18 different offices at once. Their work is rooted at the Lexar Homes corporate office in Olympia, WA. However, with Buildertrend, they can still assess how business is doing across a wide geographic region.
That’s because of powerful features like WIP reports. These tools give franchisees the capability to measure a current project’s financial health and then better calculate what comes next. Using tools like this, Lexar Homes can now easily analyze the profitability of each job and then adapt accordingly.
“This home builder software gives us a real transparent view,” Bob said. “We can login, pull specific projects and see how healthy that job is. We can see the interactions with clients, the back and forth, the hitches and holds. That transparency is a massive benefit to a company like ours.”
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