The ultimate compliment, he says, for example, is when families return to Beverly Homes for their next home – three or four times. Another huge compliment would be a former homebuilder choosing you to build his home, like Sammy Collins and his wife, Jill.
“We bought our home in 2017,” says Sammy. “Beverly Homes bent over backwards to take one plan and make changes and tweaks for us. And, when we were picking out a lot for our home, they helped us secure the lot that I really, really wanted when it became available. Everything that we asked for in the house was done … and done on time. In fact, every single day we look at each other and say, ‘God, I love my home.’”
Forrest and his team of professionals at Beverly Homes pride themselves on providing that type of customer service, with versatility and flexibility aimed at making their homebuyers happy. He reports that about 60 percent of their homes reside in neighborhoods, where folks can visit model homes and choose floor plans and finishes, and 40 percent are custom homes, thoughtfully designed from raised beach style to Southern charm ranchers to grand manors and beyond in all sizes of floor plans.
“We’re very unique because we’re dabbling in both sides and we’re able to use that power to offer good value for what we build,” says Forrest. “If you walked into one of our neighborhoods and compare it to any of the other builders that have a similar product, you’re going to see the differences, the special touches, that eye for detail that we get from our custom houses. I think both of them complement each other very well.”
A few home construction trends Beverly Homes is incorporating into their builds are more energy-efficient, smart home elements and larger floor plans.
“We are seeing the sizes of houses expanding, with people spending more time at home working, instead of going to a job for 40 hours a week,” says Forrest. “Buyers need that extra space, so we’re really putting a lot of home offices in.”
And, because of our coastal location with mild, year-round climate, many home buyers that move from winter weather locations are also looking for more outdoor living spaces, which means Beverly Homes offers screened-in porches, decks or patios with outdoor kitchens and a TV to watch the game. They even have a wide range of lot sizes – from 1/10 of an acre to 4 acres, which is the perfect space for an outdoor pool.
“There’s no other builder that offers the product line that we do, and I think that’s why the Realtor community trust us,” says Forrest. “They know that they can get their buyers to us, that we’re going to find something that makes them happy and fits their family’s needs.”
Janice Ash Sialiano, a Realtor with Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Advantage for the past 32 years, will second that. She’s worked with Beverly Homes on countless transactions.
“They truly, hands down, deliver on integrity and quality. And that’s important to me,” says Sialiano. “When I’m selling clients a new built home, I have confidence that when I’m recommending Beverly Homes that my clients will be happy. It just makes everything so much easier when I’m working with them and when I have that confidence in a builder that stands behind what they do and the quality of what they build.”
Today’s trademark Beverly Homes quality craftsmanship was a regular practice that Forrest witnessed while growing up as a kid on construction sites alongside his dad.
“I got to see, hands on, how we actually buy land, develop land, build the houses, and do the vertical construction, along with sales and marketing – truly a turnkey, one-stop shop,” he says. “That’s what I grew up around: seeing how things were supposed to be done and how things have evolved over time. We found out some ways not to do things, but, more importantly, we found out the right way to do things. And I think that shows in our quality construction.”
The home buying process with Beverly Homes is face-to-face personalized and tailored to each client’s needs. From financing, to finding the right lot, to in-house drafting, to customized design.
“We’ll walk them through the whole process of construction,” says Forrest. “It’s really a hands-on deal.”
Denise Cunningham, a recent Beverly home buyer in the Woodland Lakes neighborhood, would agree. The former customer service representative takes that facet of homebuying seriously.
“From my initial contact with the sales rep all the way through to the closing, everything was done on time,” says Cunningham. “The little things that matter the most are really the ones that stuck out in my mind, like all of the people that bent over backwards to make sure that every single step along the way was to my satisfaction – even the construction supervisor went over and above. My kids were up in Connecticut and I had nobody here to help me out, so they would even help put containers up in the attic or put my lamps on the plant shelf, taking time out of their own time. They’re just super wonderful people and I love my home.”
According to Forrest, that has always been the mission of the Beverly Homes team.
“We have a lot of good, young professionals that are out there every day trying to make that experience better,” he says. “We’re trying to make it better for the realtors, for the homeowners, for the lenders, and for the attorneys. Everybody works together and we’ve gained a really good team over the years. I would put them up against anybody. And that’s what really makes it fun for me to get up and go to work every day.”
Forrest Beverly was born and raised here in Horry County, graduating from Conway High School and going on to play baseball for his alma mater of University of South Carolina.
“I take pride in my hometown area and want to see it grow and continue to be a great place for people to call home,” says Forrest. “We run into our homeowners at the grocery store, at the gas station, or dinner at a local restaurant. So we want to make sure that they’re happy and, when you’re actually seeing them, knowing we need to keep them happy. I mean, we’re right here in the community. We go to church with these folks. We’re not sitting in Charlotte or Atlanta just pushing buttons.”
When Forrest is off the job site, he loves to enjoy the coastal area where he lives and works outdoors and on the water or at the ballfield with his two children, who may just be the future third generation owners of Beverly Homes.
“My kids actually have their own office at our headquarters and we love when all the kids are around, to get involved and learn,” he says. “That’s probably one of the most rewarding things for me: seeing where some of our staff are from, where they were five, ten years ago. Everybody’s grown as a company, me included.
“This is home for us,” continues Forrest “We love the weather. We love the people. And we’re so glad that we get to share that with other people buying homes here.”
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