IRVINE, CA-The homebuyer's part in choosing design elements has come a long way from the 1970s, when the toughest decision was whether to go with avocado green or harvest gold kitchen appliances. Today's consumers (influenced heavily by beautifully designed images on HGTV, interior-design websites and smartphone apps, as GlobeSt.com recently reported) expect and are demanding more in home design: more choices, more customization, more price points and more convenience—and builders are beginning to deliver via updated, sophisticated design centers in locations that are convenient to the consumer.

“Buyers are starting to understand that one of the big value-adds between a resale and a new home is they can pick certain features and options they might not normally be able to do,” Rick Fletcher, VP sales and marketing for MBK Homes here, tells GlobeSt.com. “Builders get that. There are a lot of different things they look at, and that selection of finish is right up there.”

Fletcher adds that builders and their designer partners can address buyers' needs in many ways: the traditional design center, a centrally located facility where buyers within a 20- to 30-mile radius can come and look at all the finishes; and onsite design centers, which are located at the community where the consumer is buying. “If I'm selling homes in Gardena, buyers have to only walk about 10 steps to the onsite design center to make their design selections. That buyer never has to leave the community to have a great design experience.”

Other items builders are bringing to the design table are software platforms with online catalogs of appliance, cabinet, flooring and other finish choices. “The buyer can put together a wish list, log in with a password and user name and dream up how they'd like their homes to look,” says Fletcher. “This builds excitement and anticipation and improves the experience for buyers.”

Fletcher points out that builders have become more open-minded about custom options. “As long as it doesn't require a new permit, they will consider it because they do want to make it as pleasant an experience as they can.”

Just how this more-demanding consumer translates to the multifamily market has yet to be seen. But Fletcher points out that, in addition to options, buyers are also looking for maximum value at different price points. MBK offers three levels of design packages: preferred, premium and premier, each at progressively higher price points to satisfy all pocketbooks. Because the firm negotiates with its suppliers on a very low-cost basis, their suppliers' average profit margin is low, but “we can almost assure them a 90% to 98% capture rate on every project. The margins might be less, but if they're getting 98% as opposed to the typical capture rate of 40%, it's worth it to them.”

Offering buyers these options also solidifies their relationships with the builders. “It provides a more confident buying experience for our consumers, and it brings home the value we offer and increases the level of trust,” says Fletcher. “It also reduces the amount of negotiation and frustration for the designer and buyer. Our customer satisfaction went from the middle of the pack to fairly consistently in the top 10 and can be number one in the nation for experiences.”

Mass customization and personalization of all consumer goods has led to buyers not only wanting but expecting a multitude of choices in their home design, Jane Meagher, president of Success Strategies—a full-service design-studio creation, strategy and training company that is creating a unique design gallery for builder Coleman Homes—tells GlobeSt.com. “There are a million choices today compared to 10 years ago, and the customer has a baseline expectation of what they purchase to be a better fit for them; people aren't willing to settle.”

Meagher references a book by Daniel Pink, author of several bestselling books about the changing world of work, in which he talks about abundance. “Because manufacturing has progressed to the point of mass customization of consumer goods, design starts to really matter. When there's so much choice and everybody's on an equal playing field with technical capabilities, design becomes more important. You become more closely aligned with who you see as your personal brand. So, when customers go to buy the most expensive and personal purchase of their lifetime, that's what they're looking for.”

The economic downturn slowed that development within the homebuilding industry, Meagher adds. “Even though consumer need for customization amped up each year, most homebuilders weren't able to handle that because the market was just trying to survive. Now that the market is recovering, they're trying to meet that need.”

The design gallery that Meagher's firm is designing for Coleman Homes is building will be centrally located to most of its developments, Thomas Coleman, president of Coleman Homes, tells GlobeSt.com. He adds that the idea of consumers going from supplier to supplier to choose the custom finishes they want “is just not good enough. We have to provide them with better than that.”

Meagher says the studio will contain a variety of full-scale, operable kitchens—vignettes— “so we can host culinary and educational events for valued homebuyers. These are kitchens like you would see in a model home. This is a permanent retail showroom that will not only have all the products available, but there will be visual cues to inspire consumers and help them make quick and easy decisions.”

In addition to more choices, today's buyers also expect a “higher level of presentation,” Meagher adds. “Everything that's being done is to make sure our level of presentation of this amount of choice is on par with what the customer expects. It's everywhere you turn right now, and our industry has to hop on the train.”

She adds that in the past, many builders didn't see the value nor the profitability in thrilling and delighting the customer by offering so many choices—but that's changing. “It's a complicated process, but there's such a tremendous upside to embracing the consumer demand for true personalization of their home.”

On a similar note, Woodside Homes is offering homebuyers more home-finishing personalization options through its “Better by Design” philosophy. The firm started an “Inspiration Wall” that walks customers through a series of choices to determine their general style preference (e.g., eclectic, contemporary, etc.). “In the end, we give them a limited number of choices, but they're all pieces that go great together,” Joel Shine, CEO and chairman of Woodside Homes, tells GlobeSt.com. “It's like Garanimals.”

The goal of the Inspiration Wall is to help making all those selections fun, simple and stress free. “Going through a showroom with stuff that doesn't match your tastes is annoying,” says Shine. “This way, every choice in that palette works with each other and will work for that buyer.”

The process is very tactile, done hands on and right in the sales-office showroom. “The average person buying a house does want all their choices, but they don't want to spend all day driving all over the place looking at everything,” says Shine. “Buying a home is a pain. We can't change the paperwork, but we can control the sales environment and make it as fun as possible.”