Our Ideal Homes team immensely enjoyed the United Way Norman Day of Caring 2011. Our fearless group leader, Kent Dahl, rallied a crew of volunteers to assist with construction projects at the Center for Children and Families (CCFI). Kent Dahl and Dan Rice finished the demolition of a closet in the play therapy / observation room. This dynamic duo then rebuilt the closet to house a special two way mirror.

Joe Ochoa, Jeannie Hitchcock and Jenny Juvera constructed hospital light fixtures for the play rooms. They used the same design as the fixtures built by Ideal volunteers in 2010. The final product is a great example of what teamwork can accomplish in a short amount of time.

The final project included resizing an existing wooden stage platform with a hiding space and shelving. The stage was then placed back in the play therapy / observation room and painted. Joe Shore, Mark Vander Wal, Beckie Neff and I all worked on this project.

The projects allowed us to work closely together as a team, while helping support a wonderful organization. It was my first visit to the center. The CCFI staff was welcoming and appreciative. They repeatedly expressed their gratitude. Their explanations let us know how much of an impact these projects would have on the families who came to them for help.

To see a few photographs visit our Facebook page. There are also photographs from many other Ideal Homes events available to view.

Ideal Homes was ranked #10 on the Best Places to Work in OK 2011 roster. okcBIZ was a wonderful host nearly two months ago at the Skirvin Hilton June 16 during the awards dinner. okcBIZ and Best Places to Work OK began collaboration several years ago to select and honor those companies who provide exceptional workplaces for their employees. It is still a program both business owners and employees enthusiastically support. I have only been with Ideal for a little over half a year and am proud to unabashedly tout the outstanding company culture.

This post is an opportunity to share highlights which are not easily summed up by external sources. Those who know me well know my propensity to buck the system on occasion. A company in which creative solutions are encouraged and strategy is supported has the ability to even tame my spirit. Even as I was typing this, one of the owners came into my office to offer compliments on performance and feedback from people he knows. That courteousness causes me to work even harder.

It is a humbling experience to work as a respected professional next to leadership who practices everything they ask of employees. Ideal Homes believes in personal and professional growth. There is no harassment, no flagrant gossiping, no condescension and no disrespect. There is support, encouragement, appreciation and respect. The mission, vision and core values of Ideal are consistently put into practice.

Cumulatively Ideal Homes is involved in over 65 unique charitable organizations. The organizations range from American Cancer Society to OK Ethics Consortium to ReTHREAD OKC. Over $300,000 is reinvested in the community on an annual basis.  That is roughly $1,000 per home sold. This does not take into account individual donations given by the owners and employees.

“Inspired leaders and inspired organizations regardless of their size, regardless of their industry all think, act and communicate from the inside out.” Simon Sinek stated this in September 2009 during his ted talk. Ideal Homes is an inspired organization and the organization is run by inspired leaders. In turn they inspire employees, contractors, home buyers and other builders to remain accountable and energized. Thankfully they saw value in me and chose to add me to their team.

The Greater OKC Chamber staff spent several months coordinating the 2011 DC Fly-In agenda and speakers to address economic development, education, transportation, Tinker Air Force Base (TAFB) and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The staff arranged 30 minute sessions with Senators James Inhofe and Tom Coburn and Representatives Tom Cole, Frank Lucas, James Lankford, Dan Boren and John Sullivan in the Library of Congress, Members of Congress Room Wednesday June 22. Ideal Homes sent me as a representative of the company for this year’s trip. Interesting side note: It is rumored Twitter will turn over archives to the Library of Congress to help document for future generations how our current generations lived on a daily basis.

 “Doing more with less is taking its toll on our troops and their equipment.” – Senator Inhofe regarding defense budget cuts. TAFB employs more than 16,000 military, civilian and contract employees. TAFB Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center (OC-ALC) is the largest one of only three nationwide; it supports 93 Air Force bases. Defense budget cuts directly impact the OC-ALC’s ability to support military aircraft; Oklahoma City employees could potentially lose work.

On a personal level the DC Fly-In was exciting. Upon arrival at the airport a couple of us had the privilege of riding with Representative Lankford into the Cannon House Office Building parking garage. June 21, 2011 I stepped onto DC streets for the first time exiting this building. That evening included dinner in Georgetown and time spent down by the Potomac River.

June 22 began with a personalized tour of the United States Capitol entering through the Senate Russell Office Building. That evening afforded me the opportunity to personally extend “thank you” greetings to Lieutenant General Loren M. Reno, Major General P. David Gillett Jr. and Secretary of the Air Force, Michael B. Donley,  at the Reception on the Hill.

After our morning agenda on June 23 a few of us ended our trip with a tour of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. We went straight from the museum to the airport. My heart ached from the blatant disregard for humanity and the perpetuation of that disregard by media and propaganda in Hitler’s time. Conversely I felt encouraged by having met powerful leaders and humble servants of our country knowing they choose daily to sacrifice for our greater good.

Realtors have many new home construction options for their buyers, so what makes Ideal Homes a great fit for them and their clients? Wendy Foreman and Charlotte Greganti, Realtors at Keller Williams in South Oklahoma City, share their positive Ideal experience.

Charlotte says that Ideal Homes treats her new home buyers like royalty, and she’s a big fan of the company’s “awesome systems for the process.”  She adds that Ideal’s energy efficient homes and customer service set them apart from other builders.

“They care,” Charlotte said.

Wendy appreciates Ideal’s company structure, their respect for Realtors and customers and their outstanding customer care department.

“I think the best thing about Ideal Homes is their desire to continue to be better,” Wendy continues. “They are always stepping up to improve their products by building greener, more efficient, and healthier homes while continuing to be competitive in their pricing. When you look at the country overall, Oklahoma is cutting edge as far as efficiency and green building, and I know it is in large part because of Ideal. The other companies follow suit.”

Charlotte says her Ideal buyers love their new home communities and the service after the sale. Wendy’s buyers, who frequently choose to build another Ideal home when moving up or down, love the monthly energy bill savings due to the home’s well-built construction.

An Ideal homeowner since 2005, Wendy summarizes her admiration for the company. “All you need to know about this company can be found in the Extreme Makeover Home Edition house they recently built,” she says. “They care about their employees, they care about the environment, they care about their community, they care about customers, they care about the product they put out and stand behind it, and they care about the real estate community as a whole.”

During our monthly staff meetings, I am reminded how much this company cares about customers and employees. We start our meetings with deposits. ‘Deposits’ are accolades given to one another to show appreciation for going above and beyond scope of responsibilities. It is enjoyable to hear how the different departments both relate to one another and respect the work accomplished by individuals within the departments.

This month one of my deposits given was to our Customer Care team. There is a woman, Angie, who called me and stated she had been unable to open one of her bedroom windows since she purchased her home over 15 years ago. Her daughter’s window became impossible to open as well. Angie mentioned her home is located in an Ideal Homes community.

I sent an email to Customer Care. They researched the address and found the home to have been built by another builder in 1997. Our Director of Customer Care still elected to dispatch someone from the team to look into the issue.  They were able to use Teflon spray and dislodge both windows, which now work fine.  Angie was thrilled and I felt proud of our team.

Ideal Homes Core Values are Integrity, Quality, Leadership and Relationships. This instance as well as the deposit routine at the open of all staff meetings are examples of how Ideal Homes enforces their Core Value of Relationships. Not only do they treat every home buyer the same, they extend courtesy and responsiveness to vendors, employees and individuals in the community.

Email any positive stories you may have about an Ideal Homes experience to kboone@ideal-homes.com. We can blog about it!

The Ideal Homes power team of Kristy Dean, Operations & Communications Coordinator, and Suzanne Vicsek, Director of Accounting Department, successfully co-chaired the 2011 Relay for Life Norman and gathered over $101,000 for the American Cancer Society. They have run the Relay for Life Norman for the past three years with Kristy serving as chair for the prior two years and Suzanne serving as accounting chair.

HOPE for Those Affected by Cancer

There were over 350 participants in this year’s relay, which was held May 20, 2011 at the Norman High School gymnasium.

During the Luminaria Ceremony over 300 small bags with glow sticks donated from ROBYN promotions were arranged to spell, “HOPE”.

400 plus names were read during the ceremony paying tribute to those who have lost their lives to cancer as well as to those who have survived the battle with cancer.

Ideal Homes has been a part of the Relay for Life Norman for 11 years. Two live auctions are held annually to drive fundraising efforts. One of the live auctions is held at a monthly staff meeting for Ideal Homes employees. The employees during the live auction held at this year’s April staff meeting raised $3,200, which is close to the amount raised during the live auction held the night of the relay.

The corporate citizens and eleven committee members who provided support during this year’s relay are greatly appreciated. Corporate sponsors include East Side Wal Mart, Chick-Filet, Office Max, Ideal Homes, Mercy Oncology, Home Creations and Citywide Mortgage. They significantly contributed to the fundraising dollars through generous donations. “We would not have had the level of success we experienced without all of the committe dedication and the sponsor support.” – Kristy Dean.

Funds are still being accepted for the Relay for Life Norman ; you can visit www.relayforlife.org/normanok for more information.

Contact Kristy Dean kdean@ideal-homes.com or 405-219-1344 if you are interested in being involved with the American Cancer Society Relay for Life Norman 2012.

This post co-authored by Kristy Dean of Ideal Homes.

I am fascinated with clocks. This was a fascination even as a young girl. The time keeping aspect didn’t intrigue me as much as the inner workings of the clocks’ functions. From early remembrance it was imperative to know exactly what made those hands move, from where the steady “tick, tick, tick, tick” noise derived and how the numbers were prompted to change on the digital clocks. This curiosity is still prevalent as an adult. Even the clock widget on my Android myTouch 4G phone is fashioned after internal gears of a clock. Contemplation of a topic to share as a blog post for Ideal Homes brought clocks to mind for multiple reasons:                                                                                                                               

1 – Transparency: Similar to opening a grandfather clock

                How often do you encounter transparency in the inner workings of an organization? I had the privilege of attending the January 2011 kickoff staff meeting. It was my first and will happily attend many more. There is quite possibly no word that conveys my views of that meeting; “refreshing” bears the closest semblance. During the meeting Ideal Homes’ business standings were prominently displayed for the employees. Ideal Homes states one of their Core Values to be Integrity; openly revealing strengths and weaknesses is one way they exemplify this.

2 – Internal processes: Each department equals a gear

                There are many facets to both the development of an Ideal Home Community and the output of the final product, a new home. Ideal Homes has many departments internally that  operate in an autonomous manner, yet are bound together and driven by a desire to provide Ideal home buyers with an exceptional new home purchase experience. Development, Production, Accounting, Sales, Selection Center, Customer Care and Marketing produce a well designed and constructed new home; set in the best school districts; conveniently located near amenities and set apart by landscaping, parks and individuality.

 3 – Final product: Rhythmic production just like time

                Due to the teamwork encouraged and emphasized within the Ideal Homes corporate culture, the home buying process for an Ideal Homes’ new home buyer is as seamless as one could hope to have. 20 years experience would mean nothing if the owners and the Senior Management Team had not chosen to glean lessons and apply learned principles to ideal Homes’ processes. The adjustments over the years translate into a more thorough information share with individual home buyers, an advanced scheduling of necessary meetings, a more open and consistent communication with individual home buyers and a strong follow up process. As a home buyer this means one is able not only to express concerns and needs during the home building process, but also to be heard and have adjustments made as needed.

 There are other processes Ideal Homes has which can be stated as analogous of clocks. Continue visiting our blog and learn more about new home building processes, corporate culture, community involvement, employee highlights. Let us know your thoughts and share with us topics you would like to read here.

I was asked to write a blog post as an introduction of my position. Those of you who thought you came to the Ideal Homes blog with expectation of reading enlightening industry related tidbits, please accept my apology. You will read instead a possibly boring post, but know it is written with love.

It is wonderful to report after over ten years experience in the Oklahoma City corporate realm my home has been found with a home builder committed to excellence. My passion is to build community among people and Ideal Homes passionately builds communities for people.

Ideal Homes was a builder / developer partner of mine when I worked with Cox Communications. During meetings their primary question was, “how does this help our home buyers?” Based on the parameters of our partnership, they executed all deliverables as needed and were more than willing to openly communicate. They definitely earned the 2010 Builder of the Year honor extended to them by Professional Builder Magazine.

Their Core Values: Integrity, Quality, Leadership and Relationships drive their interactions with purchasers of new homes as well as vendors, partners, local communities and employees. Their Vision: “Building the American dream through mutually beneficial relationships with customers, contractors and co-workers” sets the tone of their corporate environment.

It is an honor to have joined the Ideal Homes family. Serving in the capacity of Community Outreach Specialist will give me the opportunity to be an extension of Ideal Homes among local corporate entities, chambers, civic organizations and via online mediums. I look forward to writing future blog posts to further share both their story and the stories of their home buyers.

If you or anyone you know in Oklahoma City, Norman, Stillwater, Midwest City, Mustang or Edmond look to purchase a new home, please consider Ideal Homes. Their Mission: “Quality Affordable Homes, Today and Tomorrow” is even reflected in their Design Center options, quality and affordability of upgrades.

Remember, “Anything Else is Less than Ideal!” Thank you for perusing this post and your feedback is greatly appreciated.

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Next week Ideal Homes, along with our trade partners, suppliers, and thousands of community volunteers will work together to change the life of a local family.    For weeks, our team has planned and prepared for this monumental event.  The intensity around the Ideal Homes office is impressive.  This is an exciting time, but it comes with certain stresses. The weather forecast does not look promising next week.  Snow this week.  Rain next. If the forecast holds true, we have a tough week ahead. How do you pour concrete in the rain?  How do you lay sod, or move in furniture, or even park cars in the rain? Under normal circumstances it might be easy to become discouraged.  But these are not normal circumstances.

One of our core values is Leadership.  We define Leadership as, “Inspiring a higher performance by others through our actions.”   Every month at our Ideal Home staff meeting we look at this core value and reflect on it.  Now it is put to the test. There is a family in the Oklahoma City area who has endured many things with only their hope keeping them strong.  They have inspired those around them to keep going when faced with struggles.  Their actions, in the face of adversity, have kept the spirits of others positive.  Next week, regardless of the circumstances, we, our trades, and all of our Community volunteers will lead.

Oh…and we are also hoping the weathermen are just wrong.

Ideal Homes was recently named, “2010 Builder of the Year” by Professional Builder Magazine. We get a lot of questions regarding this award and how Ideal Homes was selected by the editorial staff. Feel free to read the article here – but there are three important things that make us really proud:

Leadership: Ideal Homes introduces leading building technologies into the Oklahoma City housing market. In 1998, we became the first builder in America to build affordable Energy Star homes. In 2005, Ideal Homes built the first affordable Zero Energy Home in America. In 2009, Ideal built the first National Association of Homebuilders Green Home in Oklahoma. All this to learn better ways, to build better homes for Oklahoma families.

Discipline: We want our customer to have peace of mind that we will be there for them for years to come. That’s why Ideal’s conservative approach has created a stability that instills confidence in our customers that the Builder who built their home will be around for a very long time.

Service: For years, Ideal Homes has used a third party to survey every customer on their homebuing experience. The owners of Ideal Homes read every comment, made by every customer, and constantly look for ways to build on our strengths and improve our weaknesses.

When considering a new home, regardless which builder you’re considering, we encourage everyone to never settle on these things.