Bennett Builders builds townhomes in a new subdivision just outside of Calgary. Land and labour are cheap, and competition among developers is fierce. The homes in the subdivision are identical to one another, but buyers can upgrade features by paying the difference. Bennett Builders’ costs per developed sublot are as follows: 

Bennett Builders would like to earn a profit of 15% of the variable cost of each home sale. Similar homes offered by competing builders sell for $200,000 each. 

Requirements

1. Which approach to pricing should Bennett Builders emphasize? Why? 

2. Will Bennett Builders be able to achieve its target profit levels? Show your computations. 

3. Bathrooms and kitchens are typically the most important selling features of a home. Bennett Builders could differentiate the homes by upgrading bathrooms and kitchens. The upgrades would cost $18,000 per home but would enable Bennett Builders to increase the selling prices by $35,000 per home. (In general, kitchen and bathroom upgrades typically add at least 150% of their cost to the value of any home.) If Bennett Builders upgrades, what will the new cost-plus price per home be? Should the company differentiate its product in this manner? Show your analysis.

Land......... $ 55,000