by Cori Hilsgen
news@thenewsleaders.com
The Central Minnesota Builders Association Home Show, will be noon-8 p.m., Friday, March 9, 9 a.m.-7 p.m., Saturday, March 10, and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. March 11 at the St. Cloud River’s Edge Convention Center and will again feature the Forever House. This evolving house has four rooms that visitors can walk through to see new home products and styles each year.
The home show features a number of seminars to helps visitors with financing, buying, landscaping, building a new home or remodeling an older home.
Home show visitors can meet with area builders to discuss remodeling projects, design ideas and other questions.
At the Central Minnesota Builders Association Tour of Homes from Feb. 23-25 and March 2-4, visitors were able to view new housing trends such as accessibility, plans for aging, white cabinets and luxury vinyl flooring.
Area builder Elite Development had a St. Joseph house featured on the tour. Other area builders Avalon Homes, Berscheid Builders, Heritage Homes of Minnesota, Infinity Homes, Lumber One Avon, Noble Custom Homes, Werschay Homes and Wollak Construction had homes in the Sartell area featured on the tour.
Tyler Keller of Elite Development said he is seeing more of a demand for nicer and more expensive homes. White painted cabinets, neutral grey colors and luxury vinyl flooring instead of wood flooring are recent trends customers are requesting. Luxury vinyl flooring has been a hot product the past couple of years.
Keller said more people are requesting larger lots in the St. Joseph area. The average traditional lot used to be about one-fourth acre, but lots are now averaging just under one-half acre.
Elite Development has built patio, two-story, rambler and other homes in the Grace View Estates development. Keller said there is currently one lot left for sale which backs up to Kleinfelter park.
Owners of Elite Development include Tyler Keller, Al Keller and Rich petty.
Rick Dingmann, owner of Berscheid Builders, said they featured a patio home in the Arbor Village in Sartell, as well as a two-story home in Arbor Trails.
They have 35 lots which are patio homes in the Arbor Village area. A unique feature of these homes is the distinct rear-alley entry garage concept. The Arbor Village area offers yard maintenance and snow removal, a waterfront walking trail, street lighting and a community garden for residents.
Berscheid Builders built 30 homes last year, six in the Arbor Village. Twenty-six of the 30 homes the company built last year were patio homes.
Dingmann said their patio homes feature current trends such as wheelchair accessibility with no steps, wide doorways, walk-in tile showers with no lifts and higher counters for higher stools.
The Central Minnesota Builders Association Tour of Homes in the spring and fall are where Berscheid Builders does most of its marketing.
Dingmann said it is a good way for his business to showcase its quality and workmanship styles. Many new home construction leads are generated from the tours.
The home show after the tour often generates more remodeling projects for Berscheid Builders.
Berscheid Builders has been in business for 40 years and Dingmann has been with the business for 29 of those years. Several employees including Jerry Welinski, John Schmiesing and Harvey Jarnot have worked with Dingmann during those years.
“We are blessed with the best foremen, job supervisor and carpenters in town,” Dingmann said.
This year’s recent tour included 37 homes, most of which were located within 10 miles of St. Cloud.
The interior of this St. Joseph home built by Elite Development features some of the new housing trends customers are requesting. Luxury vinyl flooring has been a hot product for a couple of years.
This St. Joseph home built by Elite Development was featured on this year’s recent Central Minnesota Builders Association Tour of Homes and showcases some of the new housing trends customers are requesting.