From Deliberation to Development: A Cost-Smart Approach to Pre-Approved Plans

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Nearly every municipality 'wants' to launch a pre-approved plan program, or is at least toying with the idea.

A Pre-Approved Plan Program can only have an impact if it actually gets into the hands of your citizens.

What are some of the most common hold ups?

• • Municipalities are new to the process of developing a lineup of home designs, which is typically the domain of experienced private-sector developers. City and county staff are usually left to figure it out on their own.
  • Endless committee approvals. As a result of point number #1, there are no shortage of fears and hesitations about the impact of such program.
  • Difficulty obtaining approvals for the significant expenditure of funds. The concerns mentioned in point #2 are compounded by the high price tag associated with commissioning the creation of new home designs for such a program.

While there may be several other obstacles in play, the three mentioned above are sufficient to create a dead-end for many potential pre-approved plan programs. This situation can lead to months, or even years, of delays and significant public expenses— without a single new home being built.

Want to avoid...?

• Endless committee meetings to debate what type of homes to design
• Lengthy RFP processes to select designers and vendors
• More committees to approve the substantial budgets required for custom designs

Would you rather...?

• Minimal Upfront Investment: Transparent pricing, and no need for costly design commissions.
• Immediate Impact: Start seeing results in weeks, not years.
• Proven Process: Skip the endless debates and move straight to implementation.

What if a program costs less to implement than to deliberate about?

What if a program was flexible enough to allow you to swap plans in and out as needed?

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What if a program costs less to implement than to deliberate about?

With a reasonably priced program, securing funding approvals becomes significantly easier. Additionally, the time spent in labor-intensive committees, conducting market studies, managing public RFPs, and delivering public engagement presentations, along with the involvement of various consultants, piles onto the program's overall cost. However, when the program is highly cost-effective, you can confidently launch it and let the results speak for themselves.

What if a program was flexible enough to allow you to swap plans in and out as needed?

You no longer need to worry about perfecting every detail when selecting which plans to launch. Instead, let market forces reveal what's popular and in demand, and respond accordingly. Also, let's face it, the needs in your local market may change significantly over time so even the most perfect line-up of plans today will not necessarily be what your locale needs even 5 years from now. You need a program that enables you to respond to ever-evolving needs. It needs to be future-proof.

AHS has developed their Pre-Approved Plan Program in this exact manner. Instead of needing to commission costly designs, and hoping that your market will benefit from them, you get immediate access to a curated library of beautiful, build-friendly home designs—ready for your community’s needs. The program is designed to be so streamlined and affordable that it’s actually more expensive to keep talking about it than to simply take action.

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So how does AHS accomplish this?

We have successfully provided this service for decades! Naturally this service was focused primarily for developers. Now, with municipalities joining the development conversation, we have made the process accessible to them as well. However, the deliverable remains unchanged.

01 Experience in Supporting Developers

We have been producing home design series for developers for decades. In their competitive markets, they rely on us to provide design products that are both attractive and market-driven. The more appealing the designs, the faster they sell, allowing developers to quickly move on to their next community.

02 Extensive Home Plan Library

Our catalog of home plans numbers over 20,000 house plans, across all sizes, regional styles, and floor plan configurations. It includes single-family, duplexes, multi-plexes, backyard cottages (ADUs), townhomes, and spans an array of construction methods. Many of our plans also have several elevation styles to choose from, giving additional variety.

03 A Unique Combination of Design AND Construction Experience

Our senior designers possess extensive training in residential design, and uniquely, are also experienced builders, holding licenses as general contractors. This dual expertise ensures that all our designs are practical to construct and cost-effective in terms of materials and logistics. We address potential field issues proactively, having developed the designs with the mindset of building them ourselves. Homeowners and builders greatly appreciate this, as it is exceptionally rare in the industry. As a municipality aiming to create attainable housing, you should provide your citizens with not only beautiful home options, but designs that are also cost-effective and practical to construct. This approach results in a vastly superior product.

Common Concerns:

What if the lineup of designs needs to change later on? That's where the program's flexibility truly stands out. Instead of commissioning a new design from scratch, you can easily select a plan from our catalog and integrate it into your program. Even if you request modifications, the process can take less than a week to add a new design to your program.

What if I already have a program? You can use your existing plans with our program. You can also add plans from other sources at a later date. Like we said, flexibly is key to our program.

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Speak with our team about your local situation and get personalized details regarding how our program can work for you.

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