THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, February 1, 1997 TAG: 9701300237
SECTION: REAL ESTATE WEEKLY PAGE: 04 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JANET DUNPHY, SPECIAL TO REAL ESTATE WEEKLY
LENGTH: 126 lines
A California native is making a reputation for himself in the local custom home building market, focusing his efforts on several growing neighborhoods in southern Chesapeake as his business spreads by word of mouth.
Chris Sewell and his wife Linda moved their family to Great Bridge in 1992 following 17 years of building on the West Coast. Tired of struggling in overbuilt markets in Southern California and Seattle, Sewell came to the Tidewater area to start over.
Three years and more than 40 houses later, Sewell split from his partner and formed the Sewell Corp., a company that consists of himself, his wife and a family of subcontractors. Sewell, an experienced carpenter, also wears the superintendents hat and doesn't hesitate to haul his toolbox from his pickup truck to take care of problems if necessary.
So far, Sewell has built in the Suffolk neighborhoods of Brittney Farms and Horseshoe Point and in the Chesapeake neighborhoods of Chatham Woods, Cheshire Forest, Kemp Woods and Emerald Lakes.
The only home he has built in Virginia Beach is in Witchduck Point, but he hopes to change that during 1997. He is also buying lots and building in Chesapeake's Hickory area, a rural community with a new high school an unfinished middle school.
``I love the challenge of custom building,'' says Sewell. ``You're working with people who have high expectations. They're looking for something different. It's a very competitive business. The bottom line is dollars.''
``We talked to other builders and were kind of disappointed with those folks,'' says Danny Wong, who moved here from out of state with his wife, Cheryl, and family. ``Either they couldn't accommodate us or we weren't up to their price range.''
The Wongs contracted with Sewell, whom they found through a friend, to build their home in Cheshire Forest and have been in it less than two months.
``Chris was very helpful in many ways,'' adds Wong. ``He worked with us to find a lot and he helped us budget our plans. The workmanship is a little different that we've seen. There's a lot of attention to detail. The construction itself was pretty painless.''
``They're real honest and family oriented,'' says Frances DeVaughn, president of Title Associates of Tidewater Inc., of the Sewell team. ``I liked them the minute I met them. I can tell their customers are very comfortable with them.''
DeVaughn has handled many closings for Sewell and as a licensed real estate agent she marketed some of his properties as well.
Home builders are generally divided into two categories, custom builders and volume builders, explains Fred Napolitano, president of the Tidewater Builders Association and a volume builder himself.
Volume builders work in communities along with several other builders. Buyers have several model homes to choose from. Custom builders either buy individual lots in a neighborhood or build on a lot already owned by the customer.
``Their operations set them apart as well as price range,'' says Napolitano of custom builders. ``In a lot of cases a customer builder is a one-stop shop doing a half-dozen homes a year, often with a home office and doing various jobs themselves.''
In contrast, volume builders have a superintendent to oversee operations as well as a sales and marketing staff.
The cost of a custom home is generally higher because more expensive materials are used, such as ceramic tile and hardwood floors, and the square footage is greater, says Napolitano.
There's no way to weed out the number of custom homes built in the Tidewater area each year, but industry experts say anything priced over $200,000 is generally considered to be a custom home.
Statistics obtained from the circuit courts and compiled by Residential DataBank, a service of Rose & Krueth Realty Corp., show that the number of homes built locally for over $200,000 in the last five years has increased steadily with the biggest impact in Chesapeake (from 72 homes to 141) and Virginia Beach (from 53 to 209).
The numbers also show Suffolk is becoming a popular place to build with six homes priced over $200,000 in 1991 and 35 in 1996.
Sewell builds about 15 to 20 houses a year. ``I keep my volume down so I can personally ramrod these houses,'' he says, explaining that he visits each site once or twice a day instead of hiring a superintendent.
``It stretches me a little thin, but that's the way I prefer it. I have more control over the jobs. That way if there's a problem, I can take care of it right away.''
Sewell prefers to build in neighborhoods with restrictions, which can dictate anything from lot size to roof style to brick work. That way houses sell for comparable prices in the resale market down the line, he says.
Low overhead is key to a small operation like Sewell Corp. Sewell keeps only a few lots in inventory at a time. ``Obviously, when you have a lot of lots out there you have a tendency to get overextended,'' he says.
As he completes his work in Cheshire Forest, Sewell will concentrate his efforts in Emerald Lakes Estates and, further, in Hickory. Southern Chesapeake is becoming a popular residential area despite - and maybe because of - its rural atmosphere. Still, Battlefield Boulevard provides commuters with easy access to the highway system.
``We wanted to be in an area with lots of growth and this area is really flourishing,'' says Sewell. Also, ``there are very few new subdivisions coming on board. The development of land is quite expensive and it takes time. There's lot of land out here, but it's not available yet,'' he adds.
Sewell recently purchased two wooded lots in Phase 2 of Emerald Lakes Estates, an upscale, 1,000-acre development between Hillwell and Centerville roads with three man-made lakes. He's building a model home on one of the lots. The developer, D&L Enterprises, is only making 42 lots available each year to a select group of builders. Five phases are planned.
``We've closed the site and we only have preferred builders in their now. It's a little safer for us,'' says Diana Brinn Humphries, a D&L principal. ``We've tried to go back and get the hands-on builders. So many builders have gotten so big that they don't have time to spend with the clients. Chris has a good nature. I've seen him with clients and I've seen what he's built. I see him do repeat business.''
Sewell also purchased five lots in the Hickory area of Chesapeake, four of which are under construction. The lots there range from three to four acres.
In the future, Sewell hopes to move into the $300,000 to $500,000 range and into the Virginia Beach market as well. He also expects to double his revenues in 1997. ILLUSTRATION: Staff color photo on cover by TAMARA VONINSKI
Chris Sewell...
Staff photos by TAMARA VONINSKI
Chris Sewell built this house on Harwich Drive in Chesapeake, a city
with more opportunities for creativity than his native California
was.
Kitchens and dining areas usually get special attention from
custom-home builders.
Chris Sewell built this house on Harwich Drive in Chesapeake, a city
with more opportunities for creativity than his native California
was.