Top two issues for Consumers-energy efficiency and sense of community

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.