Orginial article posted on The Columbian Homes Website. Until 30 years passes, you don’t realize how fast it goes. Nor do you realize how much change occurs. A Motorola cell phone “the brick” was the hot and exciting phone. A fax machine was new to everybody. Your computer system ran off MS-DOS with limited storage abilities. Today we have hand held phones with more computing power than our past desktops. We can communicate job documents digitally at a touch of a button. When we started building homes in 1989 our average home price including the lot was $79,900 for a 3-bedroom 2 bath single level home of 1089 square feet. Interest rates were about 11%. Today we average 2800 square feet and our average home price including the lot is over $650,000. Interest rates around 4%. The empty nester buyer is in our DNA. We used to focus on the empty nester buyer with about 50% of our sales. Today 100%. We have produced almost 3000 homes over the last 30 years. We have learned a few things that I would like to share. There is no substitute for great design. Details matter. Accurate plans and specifications are paramount. Every client desires some sort of customization.  You get what you pay for. Durable low maintenance products are worth it. Whole house water protection really matters. Pay on time and you get the best trade partners. Great trade partners allow for consistent quality. My passion for building has not changed. I love it. Our Model Home (7909 NE 78^th Street—across from Crossroads Church) is open Fridays-Mondays from 10a-4p. We will be holding one of our Quail Cottages at Quail Grove open on Sundays from 12-4pm. If you are thinking about downsizing…. Consider Quail…. you’ve earned it!!