Twilight Home's owners describe their main product as in "the step-up market." Co-Presidents Tim McNaney, Vincent Pizzonia and Mike Fietz said their offerings are geared toward those that are interested in moving into bigger houses, often after a life change.

But the Albuquerque-based Twilight is stepping into a new product and tapping into a new market — semi-custom homes that start at $79,000.

Twilight created a new subsidiary — EOS New Homes — to provide entry-level homes just outside of the Albuquerque area. EOS New Homes has several home lots in Los Lunas and north Rio Rancho. The homes are about 1,000 square feet with two bedrooms, two bathrooms and a one-car garage.

Pizzonia said the partners decided to offer the product after identifying a gap in the market.

"A lot of homebuyers were looking at purchasing resale homes because the price of new lots have been pushing up the price of new homes," Pizzonia said. "We saw these folks going this way and thought to offer a better alternative to them."

Pizzonia said the product is especially good for first-time homebuyers, because the homes in Valencia County qualify for financing through the USDA Rural Loan program.

"So not only a low price, but zero down payment to get into the home. Coming up with a down payment is one of the barriers for a young person buying a home," Pizzonia said.

How does a homebuilder construct a $79,000 home in a metro market where most homes start at about $120,000?

McNaney said the key was purchasing home lots in cost-favorable areas. "A lot of these lots have been sitting on the ground for a while and the sellers are becoming more motivated. There's also a lot of savings in Valencia County than other communities on impact fees and other cost barriers," McNaney said.

Fietz added that historically, Twilight has made its name by going into stagnant subdivision communities. Click here to read entire article.