Discover how Baessler Homes is revitalizing Colorado’s homebuilding industry and making homeownership accessible for all
Deeply embedded in Northern Colorado, Baessler Homes is a 56-year-old employee-owned homebuilding company. Over the course of its existence, it has built a reputation for championing service-driven values and fostering local relationships and trade partnerships, thereby ensuring each home embodies its dedication to service and community betterment. Committed to building more attainable homes for first-time buyers, Baessler Homes not only focuses on pricing, but also on simplifying the homebuying process and delivering exceptional value without compromising quality. By streamlining processes and leveraging its expertise, the company can build homes featuring best-in-class materials and innovations. Tracing the organization’s evolution, Steve Bricker, President at Baessler Homes, explains why this mission is so important.
“Baessler Homes was founded by Ted Baessler in 1968, serving as a custom-builder to its community. His son, Jamie Baessler, took over stewardship of the company in 2012. Over time, he recognized the need to address the lack of affordable housing in the US, and in Colorado in particular. So, in 2019, we completely changed our product to specialize in attainable homes, catering to the first-time homebuyer market. There is an alarming disparity in the US between what median household incomes can afford, pricing and interest rates. In Colorado, for instance, the majority of homes are starting at a $450,000 price point, with some even exceeding $550,000. Adding to this already challenging situation is the rise of build-to-rent units, with many investors recognizing the opportunity to capitalize on the shortage of attainable housing,” says Steve.
To address this issue, Baessler Homes collaborated significantly with architects and engineers. “We created new product lines, offering both single-family homes and townhomes with slab foundations. In fact, most builders in Colorado customarily integrate basement foundations in their homes, even if it is not necessarily needed. By shifting away from basements and working on our efficiencies, processes, and products, we were able to have a breakthrough, increasing our output from roughly 170 homes prior to the pandemic to over 300 homes in 2022. Undoubtedly, this growth was fueled by our success in the first-time homebuyer market, where there was less competition in building homes under the $450,000 mark,” Steve says. Baessler Homes townhomes are currently starting from $305,000, while its single-family homes are in the $363,000 range. “I believe we tapped into this market at the right time as the pandemic caused many builders to haphazardly react; we were able to manage through the challenges the pandemic placed on the housing industry thanks to our approach,”
Successfully targeting such a specific audience requires a well-thought-out strategy. To keep costs down for first-time buyers, Baessler Homes places a great emphasis on building homes in the right locations, while also recognizing the value of a reliable supply chain in achieving this goal. “Relationships and fostering open dialogue with our trade partners and suppliers is critical to us. At Baessler Homes, we consider them as part of our team. Indeed, our work starts with our trade partners and helping them understand what we strive to accomplish. By sharing our vision with them, our trade partners are able to give us ideas on improving our efficiency, eliminating waste, and bringing down costs,” explains Steve.
Relational excellence 
Throughout the year, Baessler Homes recognizes its trade partners by hosting an awards luncheon and providing a scholarship program, along with multiple other forms of appreciation. “Our trade partners truly value working with us for reasons beyond just receiving a paycheck. They enjoy being an integral part of our culture and our team, which is why we often say we have over 500 team members, as we include our trade partners in that total,” Steve adds.
Indeed, the company’s commitment to relational leadership is also embedded in its culture. “We take care of our team members and operate on a foundation of love and service to all, which has a ripple effect throughout our operations. If there’s one thing that sets us apart, I’d say it’s our culture. We’ve spent a lot of time focusing on getting our culture right and ensuring our actions reflect that.” At Baessler Homes, every leader has a weekly meeting with each of their team members to take the time to listen to and care for them. “When people feel cared for and valued, it filters through into every aspect of our culture and operations. We’ve seen a big shift in our company; we’re unified and in alignment with the same vision, with a strong focus on relational excellence as well as operational excellence,” explains Steve.
This relational culture, coupled with harmonious partnerships, empowers Baessler Homes to deliver a variety of projects facilitating homeownership. Steve sheds light on one of them: “Liberty Draw is one of our most significant projects, as it is our largest master-planned community that we will develop over the next three-to-four years. This development is particularly exciting as it will showcase a total of four different product lines, each with its own unique features and price points. A model home will be built for each line: single family slabs, single family basements, townhomes, and alley-load homes. By building housing in multiple price points, we believe we will attract more buyers, thus realizing our goal of getting more people into homeownership.”
Giving back
Baessler Homes’ commitment to improving the lives of others goes beyond its work with first-time homebuyers. In fact, the organization is heavily involved with the community, as well as local and international non-profits, since giving back is a fundamental part of its mission. “Since Jamie took over stewardship of Baessler Homes, we have been committed to donating ten-to-15 percent of our profits. Boys & Girls Club of America and Habitat for Humanity are two voluntary organizations to which we actively donate. We also have colleagues who serve as members of the boards. Our work with Habitat for Humanity has been particularly rewarding. This non-profit builds three-to-four homes a year in a specific county for people who could not normally qualify for a traditional mortgage or afford a down payment to buy a home. Habitat for Humanity’s work is unique and helps communities across every US county where they are active. Our relationship with Habitat for Humanity’s Weld County branch is so strong that they have asked us to partner with them and build more houses per year to help meet the demand for affordable housing. Through this partnership, we will be constructing 50 homes for Habitat for Humanity over the next year, making a substantial impact in the community,” he ends.
Through innovation, collaboration, and a commitment to improving the lives of those within its community, Baessler Homes continues to break down barriers to homeownership. By expanding its product lines to serve first-time buyers and move-up clients alike, the company is well-equipped to fulfill its mission of building affordable homes and fostering local prosperity for years to come.