Dana DeTray Wins 2015-2016 MHRV Person of The Year & Outstanding Service of the Year

Posted on November 24, 2015 by Dana DeTray

Congratulations to the Dana DeTray for winning the annual 2015-2016 MHRV Person of the Year Award and for winning the Outstanding Service of the Year Award. DeTray’s Custom Housing Puyallup staff was honored to be present to watch Dana receive these awards. As everyone enjoyed the delicious food, the MHRV had guest speakers talk about the past year and the many exciting things that are about to happen this upcoming year. It was fun to spend time with other fellow business owners as we all prepare for 2016. We look forward to serving past, present and future customers throughout the NW.

Please enjoy some of the pictures from the event.

Man of The Year!

2015-2016 Man of Teh Year and Outstanding Service

Dana DeTray’s Award

Jonathon’s Big Smile

Linnette, Diane, MArlene

Linnette, Marlene

Buck Kit Homes

Mike Sapp Paramount Builders

Dana DeTray Accepting Award

Happy Thanksgiving!

Posted on November 22, 2015 by Dana DeTray

Whether you’re a customer, partner, friend or just a reader of our blog – thank you!
We are very fortunate and blessed to have served the Pacific Northwest for over 53 years and wish nothing but the best on this Thanksgiving holiday. Please be safe and enjoy this time with family, friends and loved ones.

DeTray’s Honors our Veterans…Thank You!

Posted on November 11, 2015 by Dana DeTray

Thank You Veterans

DeTrays’s would like to congratulate our veterans along with our nation for all the sacrifices made by the men and women who served and fought for our freedom. We thank them.

Please take the time to read the following famous quotes honoring our veterans.

“In the beginning of a change, the patriot is a scarce man, and brave, and hated and scorned. When his cause succeeds, the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a patriot.”
— Mark Twain

“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.”
— John F. Kennedy
“Neither a wise man nor a brave man lies down on the tracks of history to wait for the train of the future to run over him.”
— Dwight D. Eisenhower
“Peace is not only better than war, but infinitely more arduous.”
— George Bernard Shaw
“This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave.”
— Elmer Davis
“How important it is for us to recognize and celebrate our heroes and she-roes!”
— Maya Angelou
“Regard your soldiers as your children, and they will follow you into the deepest valleys. Look on them as your own beloved sons, and they will stand by you even unto death!”
— Sun Tzu
“Valor is stability, not of legs and arms, but of courage and the soul.”
— Michel de Montaigne
“History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid.”
— Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower
“There never was a good war or a bad peace.”
— Benjamin Franklin
“I believe it is the nature of people to be heroes, given the chance.”
— James A. Autry
“The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive veterans of early wars were treated and appreciated by our nation.”
— George Washington

Our veterans are our nation’s heroes. They stepped up to fight our nation’s wars without question or doubt.

Thank a Veteran!

Looking to Sell and Buy a Home? Expert Tips to Sell Your Home FAST for 2015 & 2016.

Posted on October 23, 2015 by Dana DeTray

Many people try to sell their home prior to purchasing a new one. Here are some helpful hints that should expedite the sale:
Fix It Up: Everyone has those small little repairs they keep putting off for a rainy day. Do them now. The small amount of money you invest today will pay off in the end, and can help you sell your home fast.
Clean It Up: You never know when a perspective buyer will come knocking on your door, so your home needs to be spotless at all times. Beds need to be made, dishes washed and put away, floors mopped or vacuumed, tile grout cleaned, faucets polished, sinks cleaned, windows washed, another words spotless. You also need to have clean air. If a client smells cigarette smoke or cat pee, they most likely will not buy your home.
Shelve The Personal Items: We all love to display our family pictures and treasures we have collected over the years. They are all meaningful to you, but not to a potential buyer. Remove all these items and put them in storage for your next home.
Stage Your Home: First impressions are extremely important when you are trying to sell your home fast. When you walk through the front door there should be a natural flow to the floor plan. Rearrange your furniture so you have a clear view of the selling points such as fireplaces. Make sure that none of the rooms in your home are overcrowded with furniture, this will make your home look smaller than what it is.
Home Inspection: Almost every sales contract requires a home inspection to be done. If you don’t want to have any surprises, it is a good idea to have a home inspection done prior to listing your home. This will give you the opportunity to fix any unforeseen problems. If you wait until after you have a contract on your home and there are problems, the buyer may want to renegotiate the contract price, or worst case decide not to buy your home.
Curb Appeal: With the Internet being one of the first places customers go to view homes for sale, you need to be sure that the photo of your house encourages them to come visit your home. Spend some time shaping up your yard or you may want to hire a professional landscaper to get your front yard in tip top shape.
Price It Right: We all want to get as much as we can for our homes, but if you over price you house you will be over looked. Research the selling prices of the homes in your neighborhood and come up with a fair asking price for your home to help you sell your home quickly.

Remember Halloween is around the corner…be safe and have a “Spook”tacular Time!

DeTray’s staff

50 Year Anniversary Comes to a Golden End

Posted on December 20, 2012 by Dana DeTray

2012 marked our Golden Anniversary for our family business. It is true; we started selling “trailers” in 1962. In the 1970’s the term “mobile homes” was popular, and in the 1980’s “manufactured homes” was our industries new label. Today “modular homes”, “pre-fab” homes, or “custom manufactured homes” are used to describe the homes that we provide to our customers. Whatever is comfortable for our clients, we feel we have the highest value in housing in the Northwest, and a lot of people must feel the same way. They prefer our homes over our competition, and that is proven by our steady growth of our business during the most challenging economy since the depression era. I set a modest goal to be the highest volume dealer and at the same time exceed our previous Customer Satisfaction Index levels, which were accomplished in 2012. In order to accomplish that goal, we absolutely needed the help of our “business partners”. From the builders of our homes, Skyline Homes, Kit Homebuilders, and Karsten Homes, the transportation company Westspan Haulers, the set up construction company Horsley Mobile Home Service, our site General Contractors, Paramount Builders and Sound Exteriors, the interior detail contractor Puget Sound Home Services, the flooring contractor Hannah’s Floor Covering, and of course our own sales representatives and office staff. It truly “takes a village” to pull off this endeavor, all with the best of intentions, a customer first philosophy, and great synergy by our “team”.

This time of year is for families to come together, and we hope the homes we have provided to all those folks over the years serve this purpose tenfold. It is with great pride that I can take the time to give the gratitude to all our customers, and team mates, wishing you all the Happiest of Holidays, and a Merry Christmas. We hope to see you soon, please visit our display center or web site at DeTraysCustomHousing.com

Respectfully submitted;

Dana DeTray GM

Aude Lang Syne; times long past and our 50th Anniversary

Posted on December 10, 2012 by Dana DeTray

As the Holiday Season shifts into high gear, DeTrays Custom Housing is pushing forward to finish the year strong. We had our “Holiday Open House” last weekend, and I want to extend a hearty “thank you” to all of you that came in and also contributed to the DeTrays Food Drive. We have filled two large boxes of goods that will help needy families in our area. Our Open House was December 1^st and 2^nd, and if you did not know those very same days were also National Pie Day and National Fritters Day. December 3^rd was National “Roof over your Head Day”. I would have preferred to have our Open House on that day, but I can’t control the calendar.

Now that we have completed our Open House, we can start our next project, updating our web site. When we last completed the main structure overhaul last January, we have added new content as necessary in 2012. The biggest challenge has been keeping it relevant and interesting. Our customers advocate that we expand our offering, which necessitates constant editing, adding pictures, dialog, and revisions. Our entire inventory is now totally decorated with new pictures, plants and furniture. Our customers will have all new interiors to look forward to viewing at their leisure. In addition to that, we are adding a furniture catalog so if you see furniture or décor that you wish to purchase that is shown; we can price it for you immediately. This will hopefully allow all our customers to envision how their new custom home can look, just request a quote, we are happy to help you.

Finally, the staff at DeTrays Custom Housing is looking toward 2013 with great optimism. We will be attending our annual Shows in the Spring and Fall, but this year we are adding a show in February. We want to take our “product to the people”, so to speak. I really enjoy going to the shows, as we get to speak to folks we otherwise may not get to see. It is always fun and interesting to hear comments about our homes like “wow, I had no idea these homes were this beautiful”; or “what is this? A manufactured home? I think my grandma had one once”; right, these homes aren’t your grandmas mobile home anymore. We build the most energy efficient, cost effective, innovative custom homes in the North West. Please check us out at detrayscustomhousing.com and I look forward to seeing you soon. For more information on the shows, check us out at MHRVshows.com until then, Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah, Happy Kwanza, Happy Boxer Day, and if I forgot someone, Happy Day to you too.

Respectfully submitted; Dana DeTray GM

Happy Holidays Open House

Posted on November 20, 2012 by Dana DeTray

Year End, Holidays, Short Days, Family, & Reflection:

It is that time of year that we wake up and realize there is less time to get shopping, travel plans, and decorating completed. I love this time of year though, now more than ever. It wasn’t long ago that I would get stressed out and feel there are not enough hours in the day to accomplish all the things that was required to do, and to do everything that everyone demands get done. How do you balance the chaos? I found the simple solution: Just let life happen. Here at DeTrays Custom Housing, we will be hosting a Holiday Open House. It will be December 1^st & 2^nd. We have our new 2013 models completed, furnished with décor. We worked hard to get this together for everyone’s review and hope many of you will stop to tour the new models. These new manufactured homes can be built to manufactured home specifications or modular code, whatever is best for the customer. Please see our website for more details www.detrayscustomhousing.com

This is also the time of year we review our projections for 2012. I was recently provided with several interesting statistics regarding sales and service. I always have a personal goal to be number 1 in both sales and service, but now we really get to see where we stack up. DeTrays Custom Housing closed enough homes this year to currently be ranked the fifth overall manufactured home dealer in the state. With over a month to go, I feel we met our goals, as we increased sales over the last five years, year after year. At the same time, our overall service reports; or Customer Satisfaction Index, shows the level of performance increasing year after year. Last month we were offered a marketing venture by the Better Business Bureau to be on BBB TV advertising, honoring DeTrays Custom Housing with their “A+” rating. One of our home builders also rates us as the “top performing service partner” outperforming other dealers in the Northwest.

This is great stuff, but let’s all remember why we do this: Family, friends and a warm place to call home is the real goal. Many of our customers over this last year had terrible tragedies in their life, which in turn brought them to our place of business. We replaced several homes due to fire losses, and a couple from wind storm losses. Some folks lost a loved one or family member, resulting in the need to move into a smaller home. Economics circumstances played into many families’ lives over the last couple years, creating housing issues that made it necessary to change. The stories we are told by our customers sometimes break your heart, but when their new home is complete, and their lives return to some form of “normal”, we get to see and feel the gratitude of recovery. It makes you appreciate the fact we are providing a “home” and not just a place to live, and the “numbers” really aren’t that important any longer.

Happy Holidays and hope to see you soon.

Dana DeTray

Is 50 a big deal?

Posted on June 19, 2012 by Dana DeTray

Is 50 a big deal?

Well I guess it is when you share the date with the likes of the Space Needle, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Rolling Stones, and N.A.S.A.’s John Glenn orbited the earth. It makes my family’s business venture which began in 1962, no big deal. It is “Golden” of course, and very special to make this milestone. When I think back to our roots, my folks were just trying to make a living, and follow a dream. Serving those through adhering to what they were taught by their parents, the “Golden Rule of treating others with respect and the way you want to be treated” has always served our business philosophy as its base mission statement.

My wife and I aquired the business 10 years ago, and continue treating all of our customers, business associates, and employees in this fashion. I enjoy doing what I do as much today as when I started in this business in 1977. We enrich people’s lives, and affect so many in a constructive positive way; it truly is gratifying to help other achieve life goals and dreams. This part of the business has never changed for me and my wife. Helping others is a blessing, and we don’t take the task lightly. We put our heart and soul into listening, and understanding what our customers need, and do our part to fulfill this to the best of our ability.

In this respect, I guess what we do is a big deal; one only needs to ask our customers how their experience was in working through the details of completing the business venture of building a custom home. It is what we enjoy doing for others, and doing it so well, they will entrust sending friends or family as a referral to work with as well. This is what it is all about for us, exceeding expectations one customer at a time. Please see our web site at www.detrayscustomhousing.com for more information, ideas, and specials.

Thank you for your time,