Homes Now: Modular Movement
by Elizabeth HymanSince the company moved to New Orleans from Arizona following Hurricane Katrina, it has helped increase the presence of modular homes in the area, taking pride in its ability to control every aspect of the manufacturing process.
"We're experts at what we do in our company," Foster says. "We do everything ourselves. I think that's a value to the customer."
Foster has his own contracting license — so customers don't have to hire an outside company — and he helps prospective buyers locate financial assistance. ”I hold their hands through the whole process," he says.
In his job as office and sales manager, Foster does all the leg work to keep Homes Now going, and he also works with local nonprofit groups to help secure grant money for low-income clients.
Foster transferred to New Orleans from Arizona with Homes Now, and he doesn't anticipate leaving. He says that he would continue to live in the city, even "if the owners of the homes decide to pack up and leave." It's not something Foster anicipates, however, as the company is dedicated to making each customer's modular home experience a good one. Always looking to expand his customer base, Foster says he is keen on the concept of diversifying. He recalls that, when the company first relocated to New Orleans, he imagined the business would focus almost entirely on lower-income residential homes, but that that has not been the case.
"We have homes that can go in Uptown; we have homes that can go in shotgun-sized lots in the Ninth Ward," he says, adding that Homes Now has higher-priced models available with more interesting architectural details and that the company has built modular offices as well,
But Foster stresses that even though the company is diversifying, Homes Now is still dedicated to assisting all of its customers in every way.
"We do everything up to the point we hand them keys and they move in."
