D'Ann Mabray
The Victoria Advocate
January 17, 1993

If Steve Klein Custom Builder built your home, you live in a house designed and constructed by one of the top 11 homebuilders in the nation.

The Victoria builder was named one of America's best homebuilders in the January issue of Builder magazine, a monthly publication by the National Association of Home Builders.

One of the real credits to Klein's operation is the fact that he's only been building homes since 1989.

"It is very unusual. Usually what the judges look for is someone who has a long record and history, but Klein did so well so quickly that they really couldn't ignore it," said Gerry Donahue, business editor for Builder .

"I would say it is pretty extraordinary. There's 100,000 builders in the country. We set up a pretty difficult program to get in. I would not want it to be considered an endorsement by Builder to say this guy was good if he wasn't. Klein is a leading builder, not only in Victoria, but in the nation," Donahue said.

When Klein received a letter from Donahue informing him of the honor, Klein's initial reaction was one of disbelief.

"I called him up and said 'You've got to be kidding,'" said 33-year-old Klein.

"You feel like you're running a good business and you treat everybody right, but until you're judged with the best in the country, you don't know. It's kind of a like a report card," Klein said.

Klein had to be nominated to enter the magazine's competition, and even then it took two calls from the magazine in mid-1992 to convince him to get the paperwork together.

"I didn't pay very much attention to it because I didn't feel like we would merit consideration," Klein said.

The 80 builders who competed in the magazine's contest were judged on product design, marketing, customer service, community and industry service, and overall financial performance.

And each builder competed against builders with operations of the same size: those who produce fewer than 25 homes per year, builders who produce 25 to 100 homes per year, and builders who produce more than 100 homes per year. The magazine awarded medals to 11 companies in the three categories.

Steve Klein Custom Builder competed in the fewer-than-25 category, and only one other builder in the nation received higher marks than Klein in that category.

What makes Klein's company worthy of national recognition?

Klein said it's his 14 employees, including an inhouse accountant, a full-time estimator, and an on-site custom superintendent with more than 17 years experience in the building business.

"We have our own trim crew. We have our own paint and finish crew. We use the same people for every single house. That's very untypical for builders to have in-house people," Klein said.

"Normally, they hire contractors who have the lowest bid, and this means the quality on every house is different. We get the same quality house after house. If you use the same person over and over, you don't have to re-educate them house after house."

And Klein's push for perfection is another reason more than 65 percent of his business comes to him from client referrals.

"I'm restless. I'm never satisfied. I'm extremely demanding."

He said his ability to recognize changes in today's buyer also has put him ahead.

"Today's buyers are very discriminating and very demanding. Quality is making a comeback in this country. People are sick and tired of getting all sizzle and no steak," he said.

"You don't want to be trendy. You want to build a quality product that 20 years from now will be recognizable as quality."

Klein said each room in each home he builds is designed around the buyer's personality.

"We optimize every room to fit the individual's needs. Our homes come out of the lot and out of the person's soul."

He said customers can bring photographs of woodwork designs they prefer, and his employees can build the cabinetry, staircases, custom molding or mantelpieces from the photographs.

When completed, a Steve Klein home sells for between $100,000 and $400,000, and those who buy the homes vary greatly in age, job description and lifestyle.

"We do a lot of 'this is it' housing, for the people who have had one or two previous cookie cutter production-type homes."

So what's ahead for Steve Klein, custom builder?

Klein told Builder magazine that over the next two to three years, he wants to grow to about 50 custom homes annually.

In his first year of operation, he built eight homes. In 1992, he started 23 homes, and he plans to build 24 homes this year.

"The number of homes we do is dictated by the difficulty and the size of the homes. We're only going to do so many a year to maintain quality, but you have to keep up a certain number to command the best labor force in town."

He also told Builder that he'd like to start a development company this spring and a light commercial operation by 1995.

No matter the challenge, Klein said he's definitely ready and willing to tackle it.

"I love to get up and go to work each day. It's a tough business, but it's a lot of fun."

The Victoria Advocate