Global Customer Experience Management Firm, Eliant, Announces Winners of the 29th Annual HomeBuyers’ Choice Awards

Olson Homes and Chesmar Homes receive top honors with ‘The Eliant,’ and Dalia Diaz of Landsea Homes named Customer Experience Leader of the Year during Eliant’s 40th Anniversary Celebration

Aliso Viejo, CA – The winners of Eliant’s acclaimed 29th Annual HomeBuyers’ Choice Awards – held during the firm’s 40th Anniversary Celebration in Newport Beach – were presented on April 11, 2024. Powered by Eliant’s best-in-class technology, reliable data, and actionable insights, award winners are selected based on the ratings, opinions, and experiences of more than 190,000 recent homebuyers from 225 major new home builders across the U.S.  

The top honor at the HomeBuyers’ Choice Awards, The Eliant, is presented to the highest-rated single-division home builders and the highest-rated multi-division home builders for the best overall purchase and ownership experience. This is based on customers’ ratings of key measures in the Eliant Home multi-stage survey series, captured at move-in, mid-year, and year-end. Olson Homes received this prestigious award in the single-division segment, and Chesmar Homes in the multi-division segment. 

Olson Homes has now won The Eliant for the fifth time in a row (and a total of 8 times since 2015). Olson Homes was also honored with eight other awards, including five first-place wins for First Year Quality, First Year Customer Service Experience, and Best Customer Communication. Liza Guidotti and Matt Smelser of Olson Homes earned first place for Sales Representative of the Year and Customer Service Representative of the Year for medium-volume surveys, respectively. 

“We’re honored and overjoyed to once again receive this extraordinary acknowledgement,” said Scott Laurie, CEO of Olson Homes. “Our mission has always been to create the best possible experience for homebuyers – and this award exemplifies our team’s commitment and efforts to make that a reality.” 

Chesmar Homes was honored with 13 awards, with seven awards recognizing individual reps for Sales Representative of the Year, Customer Service Representative of the Year, and Construction Representative of the Year. In addition to The Eliant, Chesmar Homes also received awards for Purchase Experience, First Year Quality, and First Year Customer Service Experience.

“We’re in the business of making homeowners’ dreams come true,” said Don Klein, CEO of Chesmar Homes. “This recognition is a testament of our team’s unwavering commitment to ensure an exceptional journey for homebuyers, every step of the way.” 

Dalia Diaz from Landsea Homes was named Customer Experience Leader of the Year, an accolade recognizing exceptional leadership in customer experience excellence across all qualifying builders.

Premier Awards Winners

Recognized for their excellence in customer satisfaction throughout the home buying process, Olthof Homes (Fort Wayne), Wheeler Home, Tri Pointe Homes (Washington), and Irvine Pacific were awarded first place in their respective builder segments for Purchase Experience. Label & Co, View Homes (San Antonio), and Century Communities (Atlanta) won first-place honors for Design Experience. Grand Homes (West), Olson Homes and Century Communities (Austin) earned top marks for First Year Quality, while Grand Homes (South), Boone Homes, Olson Homes, Tri Pointe Homes (Orange County-Los Angeles) took home first-place awards in First Year Customer Service Experience. Olson Homes received first place for Best Customer Communication. The award for Most Improved Builder was presented to Trumark Homes (Northern California), with Century Communities (Arizona), and Century Communities (Bullhead City), receiving second and third place, respectively. 

Percent of Sales from Referrals Award

Eliant’s experience management solution helps builders improve their customers’ purchase and ownership experiences, resulting in greater sales from homeowner referrals. When analyzing top builders, the percentage of sales from referrals has increased from 42% to 56% —indicating that top-performing builders have increasingly implemented Eliant’s referral driver recommendations and insights. First place for Percent of Sales from Referrals went to in GL Homes (Pasco Family) in the high-volume division, McCaffrey Homes in the large-volume division, and National Home Corp (Florida) in the medium-volume division. 

Individual Representative Awards

The Eliant HomeBuyers’ Choice Awards also recognize the nation’s top-performing sales, construction, design, and customer service field representatives as voted by homebuyers who purchased new homes in 2023. The Sales Representative of the Year award went to Joey Mann of Tri Pointe Homes (Houston) in the high-volume division, and Liza Guidotti of Olson Homes in the medium-volume division. Melissa Rasmussen of Robson Resort Communities, and Angel Carrasco of Tri Pointe Homes (DC Metro), were named Top Design Representatives in their respective volume categories. Tim Bland of Minto Communities – USA, placed first for Top Construction Representative in the high-volume division, while the medium-volume division was a three-way tie between Seth Nguyen of Green Brick Partners (Trophy Signature Homes-Dallas), Brian Freeman of Minto Communities – USA, and Ryan Blaine of Minto Communities – USA. Customer Service Representative of the Year was awarded to Matt Smelser of Olson Homes for the third year in a row, and Zolti Csanyi of Tri Pointe Homes (Orange County-Los Angeles).

“Over the last four decades, we’ve all witnessed incredible technological advancements across all areas of our lives,” said Fernanda Luick, President of Eliant. “But in today’s digital world, one thing remains unchanged: everyone still wants positive, high-quality customer service experiences. As we celebrate our 40th year, we’re especially thrilled to honor the exemplary builders and representatives who demonstrate their ongoing commitment to elevating customer experiences.”

The 2024 HomeBuyers’ Choice Awards was sponsored by Koru Risk Management (the exclusive Trophy Sponsor), as well as HomeHubb, JWilliams Staffing, Century Communities, First American Title, Shinn Builder Partnerships, Kovach Marketing, Builder Media, and Impact Signs & Graphics LLC. For a complete list of winners and detailed selection criteria, visit Eliant.com/choice-awards/.

The 2024 HomeBuyers’ Choice Awards was held during Eliant’s 40th Anniversary Celebration, an invitation-only conference created exclusively for Eliant clients and sponsors in Newport Beach, California. The two-day agenda featured a notable list of speakers and panelists.

About Eliant 

Since 1984, Eliant provides solutions for customer and employee delight by offering tools and guidance to homebuilders, developers, vendors, trades, lenders, and more, to deliver memorable experiences. Established as the original homebuyer survey company, Eliant has evolved into a full-service experience management firm and partner to the homebuilding industry. Powered by superior assessments and best-in-class technology, Eliant offers its clients reliable answers to their most critical homebuilding and home buying questions. Headquartered in Aliso Viejo, CA, Eliant is the parent of the annual HomeBuyers’ Choice Awards, an arbiter of homebuyer satisfaction in the homebuilding industry.