Lowell Sun - Building Homes and Relationships
Littleton-based builder Jim Basnett at a new house he built on Oak Ridge Road.
Basnett is holding an award he received recently from Remodeling magazine.
SUN PHOTO/BILL BRIDGEFORD
Thriving remodeler makes magazine's Top 50 list by prizing 'client comfort'
By MARIE DONOVAN Sun Correspondent
LITTLETON - The Bay State real estate market may be in a slump, but one local home remodeler has managed to thrive by focusing on customer service.
"In our core values, client comfort is number one - we use customer comfort to guide us in everything we do," said Jim Basnett, owner of 14-year-old J.F. Basnett Co.
The Littleton-based company was recently named to Remodeling magazine's "Big 50" list of the nation's top real estate construction firms for 2006, as determined by quality of workmanship and customer service.
In a recent interview, Basnett, 46, a Littleton native and longtime Ayer resident, expanded on his motto "cleaner than before you started" to describe just how central it is to his mission that clients achieve 100 percent satisfaction. That can involve everything from leaving a neat, finished work site to completing projects on time,on budget and consistent with a level of craftsmanship the client expects.
With a fixed-price contract, "they know what it will cost, so the project price won't change," Basnett added.
That was a big draw for Christine Nordhaus. After her Littleton house burned to the ground nearly four years ago, the first contractor she hired to rebuild declared bankruptcy - after pocketing $45,000 of her money - with no work done. She and her husband, Matthew, then found Basnett through friends - most of his business
comes via word-of-mouth - and said she could not be more pleased with the 2,300-square-foot contemporary-style home he built for them and their two young sons, Max and Peter.
"Jim kind of swooped in to the rescue. It's extremely energy-efficient, really well-built. I would never shop around for a contractor ever again," Nordhaus said.
She added praise for the project being $1,300 under budget and for Basnett's attention to detail on features like the home's cantilevered roof.
Basnett said he is glad to share his customer-service values with fellow builders and remodelers. He even wrote a chapter on the subject for a book called 101 Power Tips, released in paperback last month, that is geared toward the trade. (One tip: Hire professional cleaners after the remodeling job is done.)
After graduating from Littleton High School, Basnett briefly worked for his father at Jim's Auto Repair, then for various residential-construction contractors over a period of about 10 years until his father retired and put his business up for sale.
"I actually bought the property and I'm running my business out of it," Basnett said.
J.F. Basnett does about 25 projects a year, Basnett estimates. Most are in Greater Lowell, but he and his crew have traveled as far as Nantucket to remodel a traditional island-style Cape Cod house.
Basnett said the rising cost of building materials has caused a slump in large-scale projects, but he's stayed busy increasing the company's share of smaller home-improvement projects, which are still in heavy demand. He plans to rebrand the company as Basnett Design Build Remodel in early 2007 to reflect the refocusing of his efforts.
"With the economic conditions and interest rates, what is more popular these days is five-figure jobs ... kitchen remodels, family-room additions, porches," Basnett said.
Basnett has previously volunteered to build roofing on a Habitat for Humanity project and hopes to take the helm of his own charity sometime soon, with a goal of helping build homes for veterans or other low-income residents in the area.
"I have been very fortunate. The business has been good to me and I must now leverage that success to help others," he said.
