ALIVE AND KICKING

Two of the three builders profiled kept their scores high in 2005.

The real challenge for the builders profiled here is not so much scoring well on the J.D. Power ratings, but keeping up stellar performances.

For 2005, Keller Homes in the Denver/Colorado Springs, Colo., region and Venture Homes in Atlanta kept pace with their 2004 J.D. Power scores. Tucson, Ariz.–based A.F. Sterling Home Builders was the only one of the group that didn't score as well, mainly because J.D. Power did not receive enough responses from A.F. Sterling customers in 2005. Venture Homes president Bob White says his company has scored either first, second, or third in the Atlanta region for the fourth year in a row. The company ranked second, behind Ashton Woods, in 2005.

“If you look at the data, we don't score as high on amenities as the companies building master plan communities because we can't build to that scale. We do 100 to 150 lots at a time,” White says, pointing out that where a smaller builder such as Venture Homes really shines is in its scores for home readiness before the sale and service after the sale.

Tom Adams, vice president of operations at Keller Homes, admits that Keller's score did slip from 131 in 2004 to 128 in 2005, but that, overall, he was pleased with the 2005 score.

“After being in the program for the past five or six years, I think we've hit a plateau,” says Adams, adding that he's not too concerned because the three-point drop is not dramatic, and Keller's scores are still among the top five in its trade area.

Randy Agron, COO of A.F. Sterling, just dismissed this year's scores as an off year. “We had enough closings to qualify, but J.D. Power didn't get enough responses back,” says Agron. “I'm sure if you look at the responses we did get, we did fine.”