Southern Crafted Homes - Building Better Lifestyles

Land O Lakes, Florida – December 19, 2011

On January 11th, 2011 Southern Crafted Homes signed a partnership with the United States Department of Defense Employer Partnership of the Armed Forces. US Army Major General Keith Thurgood and Chief Operating Officer, Jim Deitch entered into the agreement to find ways to support returning veterans looking to transition back into the civilian work force. The company has a long standing tradition of supporting the military and almost 30% of its employees are veterans. Deitch served 12 years in the Marine Corps and is a veteran of the first Gulf War. In 2011 Southern Crafted Homes built a home for free for an Afghanistan veteran who is a paraplegic and the company has provided ongoing support to Homes For Our Troops and Support our Troops. On January 5th 2012 Mr. Deitch will join about a dozen other employers in Texas for the All American Bowl where they will meet with the Secretary of the Army, John McHugh, the US Army Chief of Staff, General Chiarelli and several other top Generals to discuss and formulate plans to help transition the thousands of returning veterans into civilian jobs. With the unemployment rate for veterans aged 20 to 24 years at 30%, they are more than double the unemployment rate for non-veterans. This is a leading issue in our country and Southern Crafted Homes is partnering with other like minded companies in trying to find a private solution to this crisis. “These men and women have served us selflessly in this long period of war. It is our duty to help them transition into the private sector,” said Deitch. “The construction industry has a long history of being military friendly and giving preferential hiring status to our veterans. We just want to do our part.”

Tampa, Florida – December 7, 2011
Southern Crafted Homes won big at the 2011 Awards of Excellence Banquet taking home Best Web Site and Best Social Media Program. But the real news was in their sales. Jimi Gillespie, sales counselor for their Stonegate community took the Gold Medal award in the Gold category for top sales with almost $10 million dollars in sales. Ron Schulte, sales counselor for Devonwood won an award for the Million Dollar Circle award with $2 million dollars in sales. Significant was that this accounted for only the first five months that Ron was with the company. “We realized a 33% growth in sales volume based on units in 2011 over 2010,” said Jim Deitch, Chief Operating Officer. “Much of that has to do with the talent of our team and our marketing efforts combined with a great product. ” The company saw an almost 9% growth in their average sales price as consumers continued to make changes and add options to their homes. The company is known for its flexibility in customization and thousands of design option choices. Southern Crafted Homes builds in three North Tampa communities and also will build on buyers own lots.

September 11, 2011
By Kenneth Hall
- September 11, 2011
Southern Crafted Homes makes customer expectations a key focus By KENNETH HALL Published: September 11, 2011 For a homebuilder to be successful in this sluggish economy and volatile housing market is quite an accomplishment. Yet in 2011, Southern Crafted Homes has seen its sales increase 33 percent over 2010 sales. Those figures don’t surprise Jim Deitch, chief operating officer for Southern Crafted Homes, who cites the company’s focus on exceeding customer expectations as a primary reason for its continued success. “Southern Crafted Homes has been in business for 21 years, and despite the downturn in the housing industry, we have been successful due to our customer-centric approach to quality and service,” Deitch explained. “We are able to offer a wider variety of floor plans that meet the diverse needs of today’s homebuyers. Our in-house ability to customize homes in a very short time frame allows us to create customized floor plans and unique options that most homebuilders cannot accommodate.” Quality construction is a priority for Southern Crafted Homes, but the company incorporates the latest technology to ensure that the homes are not only built to last, but also are built to provide a healthy living environment and save the homeowner money as well, according to Deitch. “Our Eco-Crafted homes feature Florida Green Building Coalition’s green certification and ENERGY STAR Certification from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.” Deitch explained. “The homes are designed and built to conserve water, provide clean interior air quality and to reduce utility bills. Southern Crafted Homes are 47 percent more efficient than homes built before 2006 and 29 percent more efficient than homes built after 2006 that were not built to ENERGY STAR standards.” Customers are not the only ones who appreciate Southern Crafted Homes’ commitment to providing healthy, energy efficient and environmentally friendly housing. In June of this year, the company received the ENERGY STAR Leadership in Housing Award for 2010 from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as well as the Builder of the Year Award from the Florida Green Building Coalition (FGBC). Since early 2009, 100 percent of the company’s homes have been ENERGY STAR certified, and Green certified according to the FGBC standards. “We have one of the best, if not the best, warranties in the industry, and a $1 million Taexx termite guarantee,” Deitch added. “We are the only builder in the Tampa Bay area to offer a four-year systems guarantee as well.” Southern Crafted Homes is currently building in three Tampa Bay area communities. “Our communities are conveniently located to downtown, the airport and the beaches,” Deitch said. “We have no CDD fees and all of our communities are gated.” The Preserves at Quailwoods, in Wesley Chapel, features oversize home sites and ten floor plans. Homes in The Preserves range in size from 1,700 to 3,400 square feet and are priced from the high $100,000s. More than half of the community is preserved natural wetlands and conservation areas, which Southern Crafted Homes used to create more open space between homes in the community, which features a park and playground. Devonwood Luxury Villas in North Tampa features six floor plans to meet the needs of buyers, with home sizes ranging from 1,461 to 2,023 square feet, and prices starting in the high $150,000s to over $300,000. Exterior maintenance is provided by the community, which gives homeowners more time to enjoy the resort pool and cabana. Five distinct villages and a wealth of amenities highlight Stonegate in North Tampa. Southern Crafted Homes has three product lines available in the community, with homes ranging in size from 1,700 to 4,500 square feet and priced from the $180,000s to over $500,000. The amenities include a clubhouse, lap pool, resort pool, playground, park walking trails and a fishing pier. “Southern Crafted Homes is very military friendly and has supported many local military charities such as Support our Troops,” Deitch added. “We are currently working with Homes for Our Troops to deliver a specially adapted home for Sgt. Austin Burchard, who became a paraplegic after being shot through the chest by automatic weapons fire in Afghanistan. This month the home is being given to Sgt. Burchard at no charge, through the donations of Southern Crafted Homes and their contractors and suppliers, in honor of his service and sacrifice.” For more information, visit southerncraftedhomes.com, or call Preserve at Quailwoods at 813-973-8914; Devonwood Luxury Villas at (813) 949-9273; or Stonegate at (813) 242-7817.

Tampa, Florida – August 30, 2011
For the last four months Southern Crafted Homes has been posting record sales figures and is poised to surpass all of their 2010 sales figures with over four months left to go in the year. Sales are up 33% in 2011 over the same time period in 2010. At the same time they have seen an almost ten percent increase in their average sales price despite having dropped their prices in April of this year. The company which has continued to add features to their homes focuses on bringing value to their customers and the customers are seeing it. “We have done our best to listen to not only what the customers are telling us but also the Realtor community”, says Jim Deitch, Chief Operating Officer for Southern Crafted Homes. This is despite the doom and gloom being reported on the news daily. Deitch explained that the Tampa Bay area continues to thrive and is a desired destination for second homeowners, retirees and for medical professionals transferring in to all the new hospitals and medical facilities being built. They are also seeing more military personnel transferring into MacDill Air Force Base. “Our buyers are better educated and discerning. They know they can get a house for less money elsewhere but price per square foot satisfies for only a short period of time. Then you have to live in it.” The company which celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2010 was also recognized in 2011 as Builder of the Year by the Florida Green Building Coalition, Leadership in Housing Award by the EPA Energy Star Program and the Spring Parade of Homes for their home designs and decorating. The company’s gated communities are known for not having any CDD fees and all homes are both FGBC Green and Energy Star certified.