End is near for home bargins
BY _PETE SKIBA Florida Weekly Correspondent

COURTESY PHOTO Engle Homes' Tuscany model at Reflection Isles in Fort Myers.

"The End is Near" and that is a good thing, according to Engle Homes management.

The message comes in loud and clear - Engle Homes' inventory is almost depleted and prices won't get lower.

"The end is near is not about doom and gloom," said Bruce J. Hershey, the company's vice president of sales and marketing. "It means the investors who pushed up prices are gone and now real customers can take advantage of lower prices to move in homes and build value in the community."

The company with seven projects in Lee and Collier counties boasts that its sales are bucking the down trend across Florida and the country.

Engle sold 50 homes in March during its "50 homes in five days" promotion. In April it sold about 30 and 25 closed in May and June, Hershey said.

Considering that when Hershey came on board with the company late in April the inventory stood at 200 homes, the sale of more than half the inventory seems phenomenal.

COURTESY PHOTO Engle Homes offers the Berkley model at Cape Royal in Cape Coral, a gated, golf community.

"July and August were just as good," Hershey said. "Homes prices aren't going to go lower. The time to buy is now, because in a year prices will begin to go up."

That's why the billboards went up and the television commercials are running. When the inventory ends, it's gone. Engle plans to build homes only on order after that.

"We came up with the idea "The End is Near" at one of our meetings," said Chris Spiro, Spiro & Associates chief executive and creative director. "When I was a kid I used to see these people in New York with signs, 'The End is Near- Save Yourself.' So my team thought, 'the end is near- save yourself some money.'"

Engle lists town homes at Cape Coral's Coral Lakes off of Del Prado Boulevard extension starting at $139,900. Other homes in Lehigh Acres, Fort Myers and Bonita Springs price in the mid-$100,000 to the high $100,000 range.

More on the higher end, the company also offers homes in Fort Myers, Naples and Cape Coral from $300,000 to more than $400,000.

With credit approvals and the use of its own mortgage bank, Preferred Home Mortgage, the developer can offer incentives to buyers.

"We can give 3 to 6 percent off the base purchase price, or apply it to closing costs or the Homeowners association fees," Hershey said. "We have 5 7/8, 30-year fixed mortgages, with no increases or balloons, to qualified buyers."

Engle has also started a "value-engineered" program for its built to order models, Hershey said.

The company looked at how existing models were designed. Through market research the company came up with things that weren't high on buyer's desire lists. Engle changed the models.

If there was a triple window, a double wide window looked and worked just as well. If there were three outdoor spigots to hook hoses up to, the company reduced plumbing to two spigots.

Other changes such as making a kitchen wall straight, rather than curved, all saved construction costs. It all added up to lowering the price of homes.

"If we can build what is essentially the same model for less, then we can sell it for less," Hershey said.

The company sells condos, single family homes and villas.

Engle Homes Welcome Center is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Sunday hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. It is on the south side of Daniels Parkway east of Six Mile Cypress.

Information: 888-879-1319. The Web site: Engletheendisnear.com.