Building homes, businesses is longtime interest

Patrick Franciscy, president of Homes by Patrick, has entrepreneurial blood running through his veins.

His decade-old custom home-building company, based in North Aurora, is the third business Franciscy has started in his lifetime, and he is only 42 years old.

"When I was 16 I bought two arcade-style games and convinced a local pizza place to let me put them in their place and we would split the earnings," Franciscy recalled. "Those machines did great, so the next summer I set up an arcade with my machines at a nearby campground."

Money from that little business gave Franciscy spending money while he attended Northern Illinois University to earn a degree in marketing.

But by the time he was ready to graduate, the canny young businessman could read the writing on the wall. The home versions of video games were getting so good he knew people would be less willing to pay to play them in an arcade. So he sold his games and got out of the business.

After college Franciscy did a short stint as a stock broker before working for a credit card processor for 21/2 years.

Then he struck out on his own again and started his second business - a credit card processing and check verification business. Franciscy continues to verify checks for clients today, even though his primary business, since 1999, is building custom homes in places like Yorkville, Plano, Sycamore, North Aurora, Maple Park, Geneva, St. Charles and Batavia.

"I had been thinking about building houses as a business ever since I met a general contractor during a court case that I was observing for my Business Law class in college," Franciscy said.

"He really impressed me, so I started talking to a guy who was building a house around the corner from my parents' house," he continued. He kept the idea in the back of his mind for years while he pursued other opportunities.

Then a good friend in Memphis began building a home for his family. He had no trade experience, but decided to act as his own general contractor nevertheless. But as luck would have it, the friend's family never moved into the home. Someone came along and offered to buy it, and since they offered $70,000 over cost, the friend sold the home and decided to build another one for his family.

Franciscy was impressed that someone with no experience in the building trades could do this and make so much money, so he took a gamble and purchased a lot in Yorkville, hired an architect to draw up house plans and acted as general contractor on the construction.

"I liken it to being a conductor," Franciscy said. "A conductor may not be able to play a violin, but he can conduct a bunch of violinists and get them to play beautiful music."

What is your dream house?

"A French Country cottage with a fairy tale look on a lake in Colorado or Western Michigan. I like homes that are interesting looking with lots of windows and an expensive roofline."

What is your favorite amenity?

He has two favorites. The first is home theaters with staggered-height seating, a built-in audio system and wall lighting. The second is extensive finish work like multiple-piece crown molding, wainscoting, built-in bookcases and so forth. "That type of finish work can turn a plain house into a total work of art."

The details: Franciscy builds between four and eight custom homes each year on scattered lots. Some have been teardowns, but the majority of his projects have been built in new home subdivisions.

"This is a creative outlet for me. Each house is a unique structure, a work of art," he said.

The homes he builds generally range in price from $250,000 to $1.2 million.

"Right now I am helping a couple design a home in the $800,000 range," Franciscy said.

His buyers: Most of Franciscy's buyers are move-up buyers who are informed enough to understand the extras Homes by Patrick includes, like high-efficiency furnaces, high-grade carpet and windows with argon between the panes.

What is your business philosophy?

"I strive to always get better at what I do and whenever possible, to give people more than they expect. When you give clients little extras, they are happy and they will tell other people.

"There is so much more to building a house than money. It is all about pride."

What's the best part of being a builder?

"I enjoy the whole process. It is cool when I sit down with prospective buyers and the architect and bounce ideas off each other. Working together to create a plan and then turn it into reality is a lot of fun. And then turning over the keys to that creation five or six months later is great."

Franciscy also said he is looking forward to taking his young twins driving around to see the houses he has built when they are old enough to understand.

What are the biggest changes you have seen in the business?

"When I started ten years ago there was an attitude of 'Build it and they will come.' Houses would take six months to sell, at the most."

Today you must build a product that distinguishes itself from the crowd and you must also offer incentives, he said. In fact, Franciscy is now offering to build custom homes for just $15,000 "over cost" on any of the lots he owns in Tanner Trails in North Aurora.

"I just want to keep my guys working and make a small profit. Besides, Tanner Trails is close to where I live so I don't have to spend a lot of time driving. The days of builders making a profit of 15 to 20 percent on a house are gone."

Future plans: Franciscy said that he is considering building ranch homes in 55-plus communities since so many people have reached the age where they want to downsize.

"I am looking at a lot in just such a community in Algonquin right now."

Eventually he would also like to build an entire subdivision. "I would like to build a small, heavily wooded development of 50 or 60 lots some day."

Franciscy can be reached at (630) 688-6367 or at homesbypatrick.net.