Building a Panelized Kit Home: Permits, Inspections, and Site Engineering

Show Notes:

If you are planning to build a custom panelized home, this episode breaks down the essential steps to navigating building permits, evaluating raw land, and protecting your construction budget. You will learn what permits and inspections are required before breaking ground, how to determine if a parcel of land is truly buildable, and why site-specific engineering is vital for meeting local snow, wind, and soil codes. By listening, you will discover how guaranteed package pricing safeguards your build against inflation, why pre-planned panelized designs dramatically accelerate framing timelines, and how personalized, ongoing support keeps your build moving smoothly from initial permit submission through final inspection.

Top Q&A Highlights from Episode 89

Q: What permits and inspections are required to build a custom panelized home?

A: To build a custom home, you typically need a main building permit, which requires detailed architectural floor plans, elevations, structural engineering, foundation designs, and site plans. Depending on your location, you may also need separate approvals for zoning, water connections, septic systems, and local review boards. During construction, standard inspections include foundation footers, structural framing, rough mechanicals (HVAC, plumbing, and electrical), and final occupancy inspections.

Q: How do I know if a parcel of land is actually buildable before buying it?

A: Never rely solely on a seller’s word or basic zoning footprint rules. A piece of land may fit a building footprint, but lack access to utilities, septic suitability, or proper soil conditions. Before purchasing, check with both the zoning and building departments, verify water and sewer connections at the lot line, review setback requirements, and inspect the land’s slope and soil stability to ensure unexpected site preparation costs don’t ruin your budget.

Q: What is site-specific engineering, and why is it necessary?

A: Site-specific engineering ensures your home is structurally designed to handle the exact environmental conditions of your specific property—not just a generic zip code. Snow loads, wind speeds, seismic activity, and soil bearing capacities can vary drastically even within the same county or mountain elevation. Having your plans engineered specifically for your lot prevents structural failures and avoids costly plan re-submissions at the building department.

Q: How does guaranteed package pricing protect an owner-builder’s budget?

A: Guaranteed package pricing locks in the cost of your preliminary designs, detailed permit plans, structural engineering, and delivered panelized home materials in your purchase agreement. This hedges against sudden spikes in lumber prices, inflation, or unexpected drafting fees, giving you full control over your construction budget from day one.

Q: Does a panelized home system really speed up the framing process?

A: Yes. Because every wall panel, roof truss, and structural beam is pre-designed and engineered in a factory setting, the components arrive at your site ready for immediate assembly. Framing crews can assemble a complex, multi-story panelized home in as little as five days, reducing labor costs, limiting jobsite weather exposure, and keeping your overall schedule on track.

Q: What kind of support does an owner-builder need throughout the building process?

A: Successful owner-builders need continuous, direct access to expert technical support before, during, and after their materials ship. Rather than navigating building department questions, subcontractor inquiries, or site adjustments on your own, having direct access to experienced home designers ensures that issues are resolved quickly without delaying construction or creating costly change orders.

Transcript:

Steve Tuma: With our system, everything’s pre-planned, it’s thought through, and it’s the exact house the customer wants. It’s just easier for everyone, and it controls costs and it controls headaches. That’s the nicest thing—it controls headaches.

Host: Howdy friends, and welcome to episode 89 of the Panelized Prefab Kit Home Building Show. With me today, as he never fails to be, is the president and founder of Landmark Home and Land Company, a company which has been helping people build their new homes where they want, exactly as they want, nationwide and around the globe since 1993, Mr. Steve Tuma. Steve, how go the battles, buddy?

Steve Tuma: Oh, it’s actually great. It was a very interesting day today. It’s… a lot of people are starting to build. You know, sometimes our calls come in, there’s waves where sometimes it’s a little slower, sometimes it’s a little busier. But it’s building up again, and I think what’s happening is people are looking at different interest rates, land, how they really want to build. We’re getting a customer base of people that are very interested in working with a very knowledgeable group of people, people that respond, understand the right design, understand how to work with the land to develop a complete set of plans. So it’s pretty cool to see that the people that are contacting us take an interest. They each have different levels of information or knowledge that they have, but they’ve taken an interest in really knowing how to build it. They’re just not like buying a gallon of milk off a shelf. This is their home. It’s an heirloom for their family, it’s a place for birthdays and stuff. So today it was just amazing to hear all the different inquiries that came in. It’s really cool.

Host: Another beautiful day in Landmark Paradise.

Steve Tuma: Exactly. Well, it’s just neat because over 32 years of helping people, we’d like to say, hey, we are the best panelized home company, not just because of the product of the panelized home, but I think three times I heard today that people say, “Steve, it’s the design. It’s the help upfront. It’s the what-ifs. It’s that question that you get, you know, you’re sitting there scratching your head saying, ‘How does this affect that?'” We give a call, we help our customers, we design the home so it works. And they’re saying it’s our knowledge base, responsiveness, understanding. What’s cool about it is we’ve worked with… you know, our company, Mike and I founded it, and it’s a lifelong pursuit of experience, and we work directly with the customers on each and every project, so it’s firsthand information. It’s very helpful for customers on navigating permits, how to build, and just general questions of what if, what if, how does this work, can you clarify this for me? So it was a really interesting day. It’s kind of amazing.

Host: Well, that’s good. I always like your enthusiasm, man. I came into this podcast, the years we’ve been doing it, and I knew nothing about home building. Now I consider myself something of… well, less than a dunce in the corner, you know, just from listening to you and getting all these questions together and researching everything so I make sure that I’m on top and I can ask you the questions that I think are relative to the listeners. So, always good. Today I want to get into some Landmark Home and Land Company business specifics, but first off, we ran a little short on time during the last episode, and there were still a few questions I wanted to ask in our topic of the top 10 searches on the internet concerning panelized home building and other aspects of homeowner buildership in general. So would you mind indulging us and just picking up a few remaining points before we get into other things?

Steve Tuma: Yeah, let’s get… Last time it was amazing, and I think it was one of the longer podcasts because it was just… I think we were able to give customers a lot of information that helped them understand the process of what it takes to be an owner-builder.

Host: Right, and there were so many… there were so many aspects of this top 10 sort of thing we wanted to do, you know, going onto the internet and just seeing what the searches were, what people were searching out to find more about panelized homes and home building in general. So, yeah, well, let’s get into it. One of those top 10 remaining search questions regards permits, and that is, people are asking: what permits and inspections do I need and in what order?

Steve Tuma: That’s a really interesting one because we work nationwide and also have some international projects. So each building department is a little different. There are still places, amazingly, in the country that don’t have building departments, and others that are very sophisticated. So the permits that you will need for building are the actual building permit, where they’re actually looking at, you know, what does the house look like: floor plans, elevations, roof plans, foundation plans, plumbing, and electric. And sometimes they get more sophisticated. Generally there’s also a zoning department, maybe you have a water department, a sewage department, whether it’s septic or an actual sewer connection. We’ve had where there’s homeowners associations, architectural review departments, historic committees. So I don’t want to confuse it that much because it can get deep and overwhelming, but the reality is we’ll take care of the details on the plans for the building permit so that someone could go into the building department and do it. The best thing to do is contact us, because there is a variance between building departments on what they need. Sometimes these building departments don’t always give a complete list. So if you call one of these agencies, they might be like, “Yeah, this is what you need for a building permit,” but they may not tell you that, hey, you also need a water connection or a septic or zoning approval or any other types. So since we have this experience, we could work with the customers on the range of what they’re possibly looking for, help them search it, and then help them understand what applies to them, and then how we help them make sure that those items are taken care of. Now, we’ve been doing this for almost 33 years, so we have a strong understanding. Even customers that have built four, five, six homes with us, ten homes with us, sometimes they’re in a different jurisdiction and different building departments will ask different questions. The nice thing is we can help them through it. So I’d say the best thing to do is find out where you’re building your land, find out what the name of the building department is. We can help get through it and kind of take it from there. The actual inspections, generally there’ll be inspections for the foundation, generally the footers, the foundation rebar and different things before they pour it. They’ll ask for a framing. Then after framing, you can move on with roofing and mechanicals. Generally there’s an HVAC, plumbing, and electric inspection, and then some building departments might do additional inspections beyond that as it goes along. But the key to it is the plans that Landmark Home and Land Company supplies will be good for permitting and building, and there’s a big importance to that because everything will line up, and our panelized home package will be built to the exact set of plans that are approved. That’s a key element, that’s very important, because it makes the process easy for you, makes it much easier, and also cleaner for the inspections. It’s just cleaner overall, helps you stay to budget, helps you stay to schedule.

Host: Yeah, that’s pretty concise. I don’t know what else you could add to answer that question. Let me follow that up with another one of these searches. People are wondering what questions they should even be asking before they get started as a new owner-builder. That’s kind of a broad statement, but I’m guessing you have an answer to that.

Steve Tuma: Well, that’s a very broad scope, because there’s questions as far as, “Hey, how do you design, how do you build?” What we’re finding in the market, and I think what people really appreciate, is—I could tell you why people appreciate working with us at Landmark Home and Land Company—they initially look for a panelized home. That’s the product that they believe that they’re looking for: “Hey, how do I get the panelized home system? How do I know my trusses are designed right? How do I know the structure’s right? How do I know that my home’s going to be built right and then get inspected and approved?” The thing that we always point out to people is it’s the homework that you do upfront that really puts you in that position. There are options in the panelized world, as well as other building methods. The first is, what questions… you should ask yourself, what do you want? Do you want a simple, inexpensive house? Do you want something big, a big mansion? Where are you building, and then what type of building system works? So in the owner-builder world, you can always go places and buy things, but where do you get the customer support? When you’re sitting here going, “Hey, this showed up,” or “Hey, I have a question about this,” or “Hey, the building department’s asking about some structural engineering details, how do I get it done?” Because there’s a lot of theories out there. There’s a lot of stuff floating around on the internet. Sometimes I look at it, and it’s kind of humorous to see the tales that are out there online and people perpetuate them. But the reality is, how does it apply to me? If I was building a weekend home in the Colorado mountains, it’s going to be a little different than if you’re building maybe your main home in the Midwest, or your winter home in Florida, whatever it may be. So the key to it is, how do I know this is getting designed right? Because the reality is, you can buy a 2×6 anywhere, okay? They’re anywhere. It’s how are the materials used right to achieve the goal that you want. So my answer to what should an owner-builder be asking… my answer is, how do I get support? How do I know I’m doing this right? What if there’s a question that comes up? What if my foundation guy has a question about something, how do I answer it? I think that’s the key thing, because an owner-builder, some of them are very, very knowledgeable, they’ve built multiple homes, and some of them have never built. So the situation is, where’s the real support so you can get answers? Because I know a lot of people go online and they look for answers, and I’ve done it myself just to humor myself, and it’s amazing how much conflicting information is out there. So how does it apply? What I think is you need to know that there’s a quality panelized home package that’s designed exactly for your building site, to the requirements of your building department, and also to the design that your family wants. But also, the biggest component of what an owner-builder needs to know is: how do I get help to make sure that this moves along? In a sense, the assistance that Landmark Home and Land Company supplies, I think is the most valuable support system out there. It’s the best support system as far as I’ve been told and I understand. So we’re able to help a customer navigate the building process. It’s not just like one of the big box stores where you buy materials and you’re on your own. With us, we’re helping you through the process, and you know what? That’s free, part of our process, part of our package. That’s just the pride that we take in our own company. This may sound kind of weird, but even though it’s another family’s home, I still kind of consider it to be ours. It’s a representation of us, it’s a representation of our work, it’s a representation of the effort that we put in to make sure that someone’s got a very high-quality home. I call it kind of doing the homework upfront. It’s actually an extremely fun part of the business.

Host: I can imagine. A lot of people when they’re in business say that one of the worst things is having to deal with the public, but your public’s coming looking for you, and they have a definite plan about… they’re building their home. Like you said, it’s not just a house, it’s their future, it’s birthdays, it’s family gatherings, it’s breakfast around the table kind of thing.

Steve Tuma: It’s an investment, it’s part of their retirement plan, it’s quality of life. That’s the thing about it, and that’s what we’re able to help people with. Where if you go buy a standardized product or something off a shelf, yeah, it might work, but do you have the plans for permits, do you have all these details, does it actually work together? A lot of people have the opinion you just go buy a set of plans. They’re like, “Well, I’ll just go buy this set of plans cheap at, you know, whatever.” And they don’t realize that the details are missing. So we’re here to fill in the details that they don’t understand and help them through the process.

Host: And we have one more of these top 10 search engine inquiries, and that is: people are wondering how do they find land that’s actually buildable? And that’s something we’ve talked about a little bit on the show, but finding the land and knowing that it’s going to suit your needs, that’s a big deal.

Steve Tuma: That’s a very interesting question. The question of how do you know that your land is actually buildable? So I had an interesting situation… this is a live situation that’s going on right now with a person in Southern California, a referral from a family member that’s built… from his family member, a brother that’s built with us three or four homes. So he calls the zoning department… this kind of ties back to the building department and what’s required for permits… he calls the zoning department and says, “Hey, what can I build here?” And they said, “You can build an X, you know, 3,000 square foot home here.” Well, they were working off the available footprint, but they didn’t actually check to make sure it’s buildable for other concerns. So he bought this piece of land off of what the zoning department said. Well, the zoning department’s concerned with like setbacks, how tall your home is. They’re not sitting here looking at geotechnical reports: is there water service there, is there sewer service there, is the slope of the land there? So you can end up in a relatively tricky situation on if it’s buildable. So sometimes you have to check with zoning, sometimes you have to check with building requirements, sometimes you have to check with details that they can’t answer, but you have to check yourself, like if it’s an area with septic, is there septic there? Or is the soil condition right so septic can be installed? In some areas, like Colorado, with a well, can you actually get water? And sometimes there’s a little bit of the roll of the dice with it. In areas with water and sewer, you want to check to make sure that it’s a connection in front of the lot. People will say water is available. Well, what does available mean? Does that mean it’s in front of the lot, or does that mean it’s at the end of the block?

Host: Carrying buckets on your head.

Steve Tuma: Right, right, exactly! And those are sometimes the games that are played when people are selling you a piece of land saying, “Hey, it’s available.” And someone might say, “Well, available’s free connection in front of my lot.” Well, that may not be true. So there’s a lot of details there that you’ve got to take a look at. Generally if you’re building on flat land, it’s a little bit easier. If you’re building on sloped land or the sides of hills, it can get a little more complex. The key thing to this is, you know, contact us. We’re here to help our customers understand what it takes to find out if a piece of land is buildable. So we can work with them on the guidance of: check with their zoning department, find out the details from the building department. Do you need a grading plan, do you need a drainage plan? What are the setbacks, access to the land, access to utilities, different things like that. It’s a very important situation. What people should realize is: yes, people will sell you land that is unbuildable and represent that it’s buildable. You just have to find out how expensive it is, and if those expenses can work within the budget that you are. So just like we work with plans for the house, you want to do your homework upfront to make sure that the house you’re building makes sense for your budget, schedule, and needs. You have to do the same thing with a piece of land to make sure that the piece of land is usable for what you want to build and the price range that you want to stay within. Again, I don’t want to scare people by it, I’m just trying to say, hey, these are things that we can help people guide through. But amazingly, it’s pretty cool. A lot of our customers already check this out. They’re researching the land, they’re looking at it, they understand. They’re already owner-builders, but they’ve gotten themselves to step two. But if for some reason someone needs a little additional help or understanding how or why or something applies to them, we’re always available to help them sort out the possibilities of buildable land.

Host: You know, there’s that old saying “buyer beware,” but I think that’s a little negative. But there’s another saying that I’ve heard you say: it’s “trust but verify.” And I think that’s the way to go through life.

Steve Tuma: Well, that’s exactly it, because a lot of places will sell you a piece of land and, you know, make a representation, but it’s always good to know. Because in some places there’s just limited land, so with limited land, sometimes you have to take what’s available, and maybe that piece of land has a few more challenges. But if you want to live in that area, it’s an important part. We’ve done a lot of houses in like Silicon Valley, near San Francisco Bay, Colorado in the mountain areas, or where there’s just beautiful views, and there’s only so many lots with beautiful views, or access to the right school or right job, or whatever it may be. Sometimes you have to work with what’s available for your family’s goals.

Host: Well, that was painless. Thanks for clearing up those last few questions. I’m really sorry to the listeners that we didn’t get them in before, but I’m glad we managed to make it work this time. So thanks for doing that, and we can move on to what I actually wanted to start with today. I’d like to get to some other top 10 searches, but they’re searches that are Landmark Home and Land Company specific, so just questions about the company. So if you’re all set for that, let me get going.

Steve Tuma: Yeah, yeah, I should be pretty good at answering these.

Host: I was just going to say, if anybody can answer these questions, it’s you! So to start off with, let’s go over what Landmark is always talking… not always, but Landmark talks about the panelized package guaranteed pricing, and I think people are interested in knowing exactly what that means.

Steve Tuma: Well, the guaranteed pricing that we supply is for the preliminary plans and the customer changes, you know, the little detail changes that they want on plans, the final plans for permits, and delivery of the panelized home package. We do supply a price lock in the purchase agreement, and what that does is it hedges price increases and other details so a customer can have a better control of their budget. And I think people will greatly appreciate that. At first, some people don’t realize that lumber price changes, inflation, different things happen, but it can fluctuate considerably. But the key point again, where people don’t realize the cost it can go, is if you go to an architect, they might charge you like a lawyer: you call them, you talk to them for 5 minutes, they send you a bill for 15 minutes or a half hour, and that all racks up. Where we have a system set up to get you taken care of where we can lock the price in, so it’s controlled. So if you call me with 20 questions, 100 questions, whatever it is, it’s all the pride that we take in making sure that our customers understand the project. We want to work with good customers. So that’s why we have the guaranteed price, so that customers can get the help they need for the house they want to build on the land that they want, but they can also work through the permitting, any other of the processes of building, and still know that the price of their home package is the same. It’s not something where you’re going to go down two or three months down the road and suddenly there’s a big spike in the lumber market and suddenly your package price goes up. So we want to add the stability and just good feeling that our package price is locked in so people can control their budget and know how they’re spending the money. We work with a good customer base of people that want to know what’s going on in their life, what’s going on with their house, what’s going on with the schedule of the house, what features are in the house, what the budget is. So we return that favor by giving a guaranteed price, and I think knowledgeable buyers will greatly appreciate that.

Host: Of course they will. I mean, people like to be told the truth, especially when they find out that the truth actually happens! Makes sense. The other thing is, Landmark has always been careful to say that building a panelized home will surprise you how fast a home would come up, but you guys always make sure you say, “Hey, speed is not the thing we’re looking for.” But there are people out there talking about companies like Landmark and the framing speed. It’s hard to believe it until you see it. How do you address that, people asking about how fast will my Landmark Home and Land Company panelized home go up?

Steve Tuma: Well, this is the interesting thing, because a lot of the framing speed is determined by how we design this. So our better design, our understanding of the process, the way we deliver, we put the customer in the best position to make sure they get the materials when they need it, they can unload it off the truck, start framing, and move along. So it’s in the efficiency of the design that we put together, the panel design, the truss designs, and the clarity in the plans and the assembly plans in the structural design that we supply, where it’s easy and sensible for someone to put together. So it’s all the work and knowledge that we’ve put into making it easy. It’s kind of weird: we know it’s a good home when we’ve simplified even a very complex home so people understand it. And what’s kind of interesting about it is I take care of all the customer service calls. So if someone calls saying, “Hey, how does this beam need to go here?”, it’s on the plans, we can help them find it, put it together, but it’s because we have a good set of plans, it allows people to frame the house quicker, the framing crews understand it, and it moves along quicker. So that’s it. So, for example, we have a house being framed right now, it’s a very complex about 3,000 square foot home, big walkout basement, floor trusses, big huge wrap-around porch, second floor, complex design, a lot of beams, a lot of details going on to do this, and the framing crew is saying that they’re going to have it completely done in 5 days, which for this type of home is exceptionally fast! Now, our customer hires the framing crew, and every framing crew works at a different speed, but we put our customers and their framing crew in the best position so our package is the one helping them move along quickly.

Host: Yeah, that’s amazing when you think about it. I mean, how long does it… I’ve seen houses, I’ve driven by houses even in my own area, and you go, “Man, that’s taking forever to get that house up!” It’s noticeable.

Steve Tuma: Yeah. Well, chances are they’re making a lot of decisions on site, saying, “What goes on here? What’s happening here? Oh, I didn’t know that,” and it creates problems. Where with our system, everything’s pre-planned, it’s thought through, and it’s the exact house the customer wants. It’s just easier for everyone, and it controls costs and it controls headaches. That’s the nicest thing—it controls headaches.

Host: Yeah. Let me talk about the website library of plans. There are something like over 1,600 plans, and most of them are fully, you know, easily customizable. How did you guys come… how long did it take you to build that library, and how does one navigate that when they go onto the website?

Steve Tuma: Well, we work with a really quality plan service. And it’s actually interesting, the 1,600 plans, I actually think it’s over 6,000 plans! And yes, every single one is customizable. So if someone sees a house and it’s got a two-car garage, we can likely make it a three-car. If they say, “Hey, I like the floor plan, but we want a wrap-around porch, or a different front elevation, or add a gable,” or whatever it may be, we’re able to do that. And that is part of our service and the pricing that we supply. So that’s the key element, and it’s not like a lot of designers where they’re just drawing a plan, we’re actually checking the structural design, the energy efficiency, and other concerns when we’re doing those changes so that we’re not backstepping. We’re doing the design so it can flow through so a customer can understand it as we go through, and we’re always available if they have questions. But yeah, we’ve got a good base of plans there. What’s amazing is we have a lot of these plans, and people always change them. I think in 32 years, we’ve had one person say, “I want that exact house.” Everyone does changes, and we’re a believer you should live in the house you want, you know? And sometimes it’s little changes, sometimes it’s a lot of changes. So the plan options are there so people can get ideas, and they can email us and say, “Hey, what’s up with this plan? How much does this cost? Is this a good house for Florida, is this a good house for Colorado?”, whatever it may be, and we can help them.

Host: And we should explain to people that it seems daunting, that there’s such a lot of plans, but really the website is not all that hard to navigate. It’s pretty easy to get around that design library.

Steve Tuma: Oh yeah, yeah! That was a question. You just hit the plan button, a little dropdown, it’ll go over our Special Select, our plan choices, plans for mountains, lake areas, but you can go through the plan search and just put in there and say, “Hey, I want a two-story, I want three bedroom, two bath, I want two-car garage,” and it’ll give you a selection. And then someone could send an inquiry in and ask about it, or they can call us directly and find out how that house would work for them.

Host: There are a lot of inquiries about when you guys talk about things like unified architecture and structural engineering and energy design. That’s a big thing these days. Can you go through that and how that applies with Landmark’s missions and goals in helping customers?

Steve Tuma: Yeah, what we realized way back is that a lot of people were of the opinion that you could just go get a set of plans, or have some designer or architect put a set of plans, and then if you need structural engineering, take it to a structural engineer and this person will come up with a design, then you can go do your energy calculations, your site plan, and they don’t realize that someone has to put that all together. So just because someone drew something doesn’t mean it matches. So let’s say, for example, just because someone drew an architectural set of plans doesn’t mean it works structurally, doesn’t mean it works with the energy codes, doesn’t mean it works with your site plan. So we get a lot of people that have worked with a local designer or whoever it may be in their community, or they bought a set of plans offline, and they’re like, “Yeah, they told me I could take them to the building department.” I’m like, yeah, I’m sure you can take them there. Is the building department going to give you a permit? That’s the question you should be asking! Because in a lot of these plans, there’s big disclosures saying, hey, you’ve got to get it checked, you’ve got to make sure of codes, you’ve got to make sure, you know, your building department will do it. Well, that’s what we wrap up by us having the full design, engineering, energy calculation, and site plan capabilities to make sure that those plans actually work. A lot of people think that just because you pay for a plan, all plans are the same. They are not the same. You know, that’s like saying every hamburger in the world is the same. They’re not. It might be a piece of beef on a bun, but there’s a whole range as to why a hamburger is different. And that’s what we try to do… well, I should say that is what we do and we’re very good at, is making sure that the plans match up. So the structural design matches the architectural design, as does the energy calculation, as does the foundation design, as does the site plan. And people don’t always realize of how those are all intertwined. So to do it right, you have to design it right, turn it into the building department, have them review and approve it, and then make sure it gets built that way. So again, it’s doing the homework upfront and making sure that all the details are put together. You can’t assume that if someone goes to an outside designer, structural engineer, energy code person, site plan person, that they’re magically all communicating and taking care of issues. I’ve never seen it happen, but we do it every day. It’s part of the overall service. And then in addition, we make sure that our panelized package is built exactly to the approved plans, which makes it easier for assembly and makes it much easier for the inspections. It’s very cool. It’s one fluid overall process.

Host: Stickin’ with engineering a little bit, so Landmark’s known for its ability to perform site-specific engineering for wherever you’re building. What exactly does site-specific engineering mean, and how does Landmark help you through that process?

Steve Tuma: Well, that’s the interesting thing, because a lot of people will say, “Hey, isn’t there a canned plan of a house that’s pre-engineered?” And I’m like, well, that’s kind of interesting, because way back, and I think even currently, there’s people saying, “Oh, this house is engineered,” or they represent it’s engineered, but it’s engineered for one town in America. Well, I don’t know how many towns there are in America, but all of them have different requirements. So what we do is make sure that the design is for their site, just for their specific building department, but also their site. So if you have a sloped piece of land, a flat piece of land, a very steep piece of land, a piece of land that has septic or sewer systems, or whatever it may be, we work to make sure that the house is designed for that exact building site. And what’s kind of interesting is we work in a lot of areas where there’s mountain ranges. So some people will say, “Hey, you know, I’m building in this zip code, I’ve got my roof design for this zip code which is 30 pounds.” Well, if you’re in a mountain area in the same zip code, you could have a 3,000, 4,000 foot elevation change, and your snow loads can go way up. So if you build in a lower valley in a mountain range, your snow load may be way less than if you’re a few thousand feet up. So that’s the importance, and in a lot of these places, the different wind speeds, seismic conditions can change considerably. Soil conditions can change considerably. And by doing all the work upfront, we’re able to design your house for your exact building site, so you don’t get the surprises later to say, “Hey, someone else designed my home for a zip code, not to realize that there could be a considerable change in snow loading or other conditions.” That’s what helps people control their project, control their budget, control their schedule, and most importantly, control their sanity!

Host: Right! All right, there was another thing I wanted to ask about, and that is… people say a lot of things about a lot of companies, but when it comes right down to it, I want everyone to know that Landmark doesn’t just put out sound bites and stuff. You guys stand by everything you say. So explain to me what it means when you guys talk about support that doesn’t disappear after the kit ships.

Steve Tuma: Yeah, well, what happens… I’m a consumer as well, you know, like you go buy something, the salesman’s all interested, but the reality is if you have a question afterwards, no one’s there. It’s just the way some businesses run. Landmark does not run that way. We look at a customer as someone that we want to work with, you know, help them before, during, and after our package is shipped to make sure that the house comes out well, make sure the customer has the support that they need, and help them move along. And a lot of times customers will come back or they’ll recommend a friend years later to build. So we realize that owner-builders, and that whole process, there’s always situations that can arise. So we want to help people as they move along through the process. Say even after the house is framed, and theoretically we’re not really involved anymore, we still want to be there just in case they have questions. If they’re sitting, you know, they’ve got a question about mechanicals or processes or occupancy permits or whatever it may be, that we can be there for support. So we’re supplying much more than just a panelized home package. We’re helping with the design, as we’ve talked about a lot, but also just the support and knowledge base and help so that customers can understand what it is that’s going on with their project, and if they need help, we’re here. We’re proud of what we do. We want to help customers, we choose to be in this business, so we want to be available to help someone build their house.

Host: Yeah, Landmark’s always been known for its customer service, but I think the word “support” really hits with you guys. I mean, it’s more than just customer service. You guys, you’re hanging with your clients and customers all the way.

Steve Tuma: Right, and that’s the key thing. I mean, I talk to the customers a lot, we communicate a lot. It’s kind of like your friends, you’re helping through. You want to know how the project’s coming along. We want to know that the house is built right. We want to know if a customer has a question that we can help them through it so they can keep their project moving. And sometimes these questions are about financing, or permits, or, you know, other things that may come up along the process. We just had a situation right now, a real situation where the building department approved the septic, they’re about to start excavation, and the building department came up last minute and said, “No, we need to change it,” even after they approved something! So it’s like, “Hey, what’s going on?” So I was able to talk to them about the situation and help them understand what was going on so that we can… you know, the project can keep moving forward. And I think that’s just because we’ve helped so many people in so many places around the country, we have the knowledge to help people, and we choose to help them. It’s the fun part of this, helping people move along. It’s the relationship, the support. That’s very important to owner-builders. They may not realize it upfront when they’re calling saying, “Hey, tell me about a panelized home.” It’s really the process of helping an owner-builder use our panelized plans and home packages that’s important. Very important, people don’t think of it until they need the help.

Host: The phrase “personalized and project-specific support,” it’s more than just a passing word for you guys. You guys live it.

Steve Tuma: Right! The perfect example is if you have a problem on your computer, you go online, you search, you say, “How do I do this and that?” You get some answer, but it’s like you go through the steps, it just never works! It’s like there’s always something missing, or you watch a video of, “Hey, how do you do this and how do you do that?”, and it just doesn’t work. So when someone calls up and says, “Hey, I’m Joe Smith, I’m building in Ames, Iowa,” and I understand their project, I’ve worked with them, it’s easier to understand the situation, give them an answer as to how it applies for their project, instead of a generic answer that may not really hit the answer that they need. And by understanding the project, helping them with the design, we’re able to help them. The reality is, by good design, working with the customers, a lot of customers understand the situation, and they’re able to move along on their own because of the support we supply. It’s pretty cool.

Host: And I want people to know that Landmark Home and Land Company has an absolute proven nationwide and international reach. You guys are everywhere, you’re everywhere!

Steve Tuma: Oh yeah, we’ve built all over the US. The interesting thing is, you know, the geographic reach is important, but the conditions of the geographic… you know, below sea level, the highest… I think Leadville, Colorado is the highest populated town in the United States at 11,000-some-odd feet. You know, we’ve helped with waterfront, we’ve helped in the cities, we’ve helped on mountainside, we’ve helped in open fields, we’ve worked with infill lots, and that’s the thing where we’re able to help people through the process. So we’ve worked in building departments that are very simple, we’ve worked in some that are extremely complex. It’s just our forte and the enjoyment we get out of helping anyone in the country. And yeah, we have done international projects, and that’s as cool as well. So it’s kind of neat. We’ve also helped people that live in one city and build in, you know, two, three, four states over. So we’re able to help people with the process, and that’s just something that, you know, we’ve evolved over time to understand how the different code applications are for different building sites, different designs, and it’s just knowledge that we’ve acquired over time. I think it’s extremely unique, and that’s why I think Landmark Home and Land Company is the best panelized home package company, the best designers as well, because of our real experience with customers over more than three decades. That’s the cool thing. Customer service is part of what we help people with.

Host: That’s right, and I think people who’ve worked with you guys in the past know that to be true. There’s no call center when you reach out to Landmark! You guys are actually on the phone! It’s funny, but in this day and age, it’s such a rarity.

Steve Tuma: Right, there’s no dial 1 for this, dial 2 for that. When I work with customers, they have direct cell phone. It’s the same number my 80-some-year-old mom and dad and my family members call on. They call me, they text me, they email me, and I work with them directly. Like I say, I’m a customer myself, I don’t like sitting on hold for days or people telling me they’re getting back with me and they don’t, or, you know… it’s like, hey, if I want help, I’d like to get it right away. And that is what we provide to our customers. And since we’re on top of the projects, we’re very capable of providing answers right away, or if it’s something deeper, getting the answers and helping people move ahead. So we’re in a very good position to help people and make it convenient. Our customer base is a very broad slice of people: on the types of jobs, what they want to do, their backgrounds, their understanding, how busy they are, how available they are, and, you know, we’re able to work with them. So we’ve had customers that have jobs where they can’t answer a phone for 8 hours, they’re in secure areas or they’re just in areas where cell phones don’t work. We’ve had other customers that travel the world on their yachts and they’re calling us on satellite phones floating around the Mediterranean. So we make ourselves available because it’s very important. And a lot of customers, there’s limited time where the husband and wife or the family are together, so they call when they can, and we make ourselves available to help the people. The communication, the knowledge, the direct support for every customer and their exact design and their piece of land is unmatched. I think we’re the best at it. I don’t think anyone else even does it. But we’re the ones that take the pride in our work and we like to share it with customers. It just makes it a lot more fun and a better home for our customers, and it’s just what we do. We’re here to help our customers and make the best possible house. I think we’re the best panelized home company because of that. It’s… the panels are important, the design is important, the caring, the attitude, the knowledge, the proactiveness, that’s the important part, and that’s why people buy from us at Landmark Home and Land Company. It’s pretty cool, it’s a lot of fun.

Host: Enough said, I think! And there it is!

Steve Tuma: That’s a lot of stuff we went over!

Host: That’s right! I love when a podcast like this ends and we’ve covered so much ground, but it doesn’t ever seem boring. And I got to hand it to you, you have a way of explaining this whole process of building, especially panelized homes, that’s so accessible, even to a bonehead like me. So there it is, everyone.

Steve Tuma: Well, that’s what it is, and we’ve worked with all different types of people, and, you know, some people understand it, some people need a little more help, some people think they understand it and they don’t. You know, so we’re able to get something put together and kind of take all the noise of the opinions and focus it on how it applies to a customer, and that’s what we’re able to do. And I think that’s the most important part is really helping a customer achieve the goal they want. It’s pretty cool, it’s amazing.

Host: Excellent! So that’s going to do it for this edition of the Panelized Prefab Kit Home Building Show, but before we let you go, Steve, as we always do, let the listeners know how to find out more about Landmark Home and Land Company.

Steve Tuma: I think the best thing to do is check out our website at lhlc.com. That’s kind of the initials of Landmark Home Land Company: lhlc.com. And on our website there’s pictures, there’s videos, there’s these podcasts, there’s discussions on how we help, what we supply, and a lot of plans that people can look at. They can email us and check out… you know, say, “Hey, what about this house? I’m building in, you know, Rapid City, Iowa,” or whatever it might be, and we can kind of communicate with them and see how it goes. And then they’re also always welcome to call us at 800-830-9788. Again, that’s 800-830-9788. And they’ll work with Mike just to kind of sort ideas out, see what it is that they need, and then we can get the process going. And then at a certain stage, after they’re ready to go, Mike will transfer them over to me, and then I’ll work with them on the designs, the engineering, the building department details, and get it all wrapped up so that they’ve got a clean set of plans. I always invite people if they want to call me direct just to say, “Hey, I’ve got a couple ideas, can we review them?”, I’ll gladly help. My direct cell phone is 708-205-2043, and I’m Steve Tuma with Landmark Home and Land Company. We’re here to help and enjoy the process of helping our customers get a really cool home. That’s what we’re about.

Host: Well, all right! Thanks again Steve, and thanks to all of you for listening to the Panelized Prefab Kit Home Building Show. So for Landmark Home and Land Company President Steve Tuma and myself, have a great week and we will see you next time. Thanks as always, Steve.

Steve Tuma: Yeah, thank you. This was another… this was action packed! A lot of cool stuff here. One of the best. Well, thank you.