At RNL Homes in College Station, Texas, building extraordinary custom homes is a family affair. In fact, “extraordinary” is the company’s guiding principle, and it infuses every aspect of their building process, from design, to construction, to customer service. After recognizing an opportunity for improving the home supply in their community, Ricardo Reyna Sr. chose to leverage his years of experience in residential, commercial and industrial development and construction to found the company in 2010.
After a modest first year that saw the company build three custom homes, RNL Homes has seen tremendous growth, building 32 houses in 2018 and projecting 50 for this year. They’ve hired additional staff to support their endeavors, and the firm sees a bright future ahead — thanks in large part to their membership in CBUSA.
The initials “RNL” refer to Ricardo’s three children — Ricardo Jr., Nora and Luis — each of whom has played a pivotal role in the company’s success. After graduating from Texas A&M University with a BS in Construction Science and a minor in Business, Ricardo Jr. began his career in the building industry in Austin. He worked for one of the top 50 commercial builders in the nation and a top 20 residential builder in Texas before returning to College Station to join RNL Homes, where he focuses on land acquisition and development, and sales. Nora, a graduate of Arte A.C. University’s Interior Design school — one of Mexico’s most respected interior design programs — uses her expertise to ensure that each of RNL’s homes has the design features of their client’s dreams. Luis graduated from Texas A&M University with a degree in Construction Science. He started his career with Pulte Homes, one of the top three largest homebuilders in the country, before joining his family at RNL in 2014. Luis’ focus is on marketing analysis and construction operations; he works with suppliers, contractors and project managers to ensure that each project runs smoothly from start to finish.
Their experience working for national builders early in their careers helped Ricardo Jr. and Luis understand the advantage large companies have over independent firms like RNL when it comes to purchasing power. Simply put, they knew that on their own, there was no way they could get the same pricing from manufacturers and suppliers as the big boys. CBUSA entered the College Station market in October 2017, and once the brothers learned about the collective buying power, networking opportunities and beneficial programs the organization provides, Ricardo Jr. and Luis were quick to hop on board the following year. Given the recent increase in the cost of construction supplies, their timing couldn’t have been more perfect, as RNL began to reap the rewards of their membership almost immediately.
“The lumber tariffs negatively impacted our business for the first half of 2018, Luis explains, “but then we realized great savings through CBUSA’s Committed Purchase program during the second half of the year. Our market will attack a different scope each quarter, like roofing and trim. We’re already saving $250 per home on certain appliances and have seen a 2-3% overall cost savings per house. That’s huge for us.”
And while networking was something the RNL Team were reluctant to do with their competitors initially, every builder-member including RNL have realized there’s strength in numbers and have begun to meet on a regular basis.
“We sit down with other CBUSA builders to talk about how we can combine our needs to get better pricing from suppliers and service providers, from shingles and lumber to plumbers and numerous other trades,” says Ricardo, Jr. “Local suppliers are very interested in getting these combined purchases.”
The brothers also cite the leadership of CBUSA’s South Central Regional President Darrel Weidner as pivotal in helping RNL get the most from their membership.
“Darrel has been instrumental in our success,” Ricardo Jr. emphasizes. “Luis leans on Darrel for advice, consultation, and recommendations. Here’s an example of how Darrel and the CBUSA family of builders really stepped in to help us. We wanted to build a state of the art design studio, but we didn’t have trusted and reputable contacts to consider, so we turned to Darrel for his input. We talked with him about the pros and cons and decided to move forward. Darrel came through with contact information of four vetted, trusted and experienced CBUSA builders. This saved us so much time, money, and energy! It’s a true testament to the incredible network CBUSA has built and the commitment their team has made to our success.”
Nearly two years after CBUSA entered the College Station market in October 2017, the local network currently stands at nine member builders and counting, as interest from other independent firms continues to swell. With premiere independent builders like RNL Homes among its ranks, there’s no doubt the group is headed full-steam for continued growth and success.
Interested in joining the ranks of premiere independent custom home builders like RNL Homes and reaping all the benefits a membership in CBUSA has to offer? Get in touch with us today. And to keep up with the latest CBUSA happenings, follow us on LinkedIn.