Dakota Homes
In 1979, hardworking husband and father Ivan Krpan began investing in real estate and building his first houses; then ten years later, his housing projects seemed to keep growing. In 1989, Ivan decided to pursue his passion in homebuilding and created Dakota Holdings Inc.
Now standing proudly as Dakota Homes, a Vancouver-renowned premier luxury home builder, this organization has grown from its humble beginnings to having designed, constructed and happily served customers on over 200 home-building projects. Taking it one house at a time and focusing on high-end and high-quality homes, this business has built itself on its sterling industry-wide reputation and core pillar of guaranteeing customer success and satisfaction.
Ivan Krpan commented on the foundation of his business by saying, “Customer satisfaction was always at the top of my list; a promise to always provide the best service for our customer. Not only to make them happy, but to make them our friends at the end of the process.”
From the business’s inception, Ivan Krpan had his family and his customers in mind. In 2010, partnering with his son Jure Krpan, Dakota Homes runs as a lean father-and-son business, with Ivan and Jure as the two main employees, utilizing a successful network of general laborers and specialized subcontractors within the greater Vancouver area. These key industry relationships have proven essential to the company’s growth, with most relationships dating back at least 15-20 years.
Family business in a unique market
Headquartered in Richmond, British Columbia, Dakota Homes specializes in serving the ever-growing Vancouver and lower mainland region. Now standing as one of the fastest growing cities in the world, Vancouver has served as a goldmine of housing projects and the company has continued to capitalize on these emerging opportunities. This “real estate hotbed” as Jure Krpan calls it has resulted in the price for an empty lot of land to start around two million dollars; this fact alone speaks to why Dakota Homes has chosen to focus on the upscale luxury real estate market and why the business has continued to grow.
Jure Krpan commented on the family-driven mindset of Dakota Homes by saying, “Once we begin the construction process, it’s the two of us onsite every day. Our clients are dealing with us personally every single day of the process, seeing us in action on the job and this is a lot of work for us, but we take pride in it. It’s a seven-days-a-week type job, and we work around the clock. When our customers are available, we make ourselves available, and that has proven to be very successful for us.”
Coupling this emerging market with the high demand for Dakota Homes’ services, this company has set itself up to be a long-lasting player in the Vancouver construction market. They’re focus on fine details, high quality materials and craftsmanship helps guide their pursuit of excellence. At Dakota Homes, they encourage a personal experience in building a home through: leading edge technology which keeps customers updated on their home’s progress, embracing design trends and high-end products and materials, and not only focusing on making the clients’ happy, but becoming great friends once the project is completed.
Jure Krpan continued on the company’s success by saying, “That’s a big reason for our growth. It’s all about a personal experience and an extremely high level of trust. The customers are dealing directly with myself and Ivan from the very beginning, and with all of the amenities once we get into the design and construction process. All of these services are done with us personally.”
Breaking the mold with a tailored experience
By being able to break out of the typical “cookie-cutter” type design, Dakota Homes brings the focus back to the individual taste and lifestyle of the client and carries out a unique, customizable and innovative design process from the façade of the house to the landscape and interior design details. This company has partnered with industry leaders such as Sub-Zero Wolf, Control4 and utilizes social media sites like Instagram and Skype to communicate with their customers. State-of-the-art monitoring technology from any handheld device for remote surveillance and 24/7 accountable service that will be there at any time the client is in need. These listed features are not add-ons in Dakota Homes’ offering, but come standard with the promise of providing the best possible construction and design experience, with the end result of a home that both the client and Dakota Homes can be very proud of.
Now with several completed projects over the five million mark, Dakota Homes has demonstrated its ability to work across the board from small budgets to large budgets. This company is constantly upping the standards preset by the construction industry, and in doing so, has raised the bar for clients everywhere who are looking for that tailor-made experience in designing their dream home.
The future at Dakota Homes
After the success of numerous past projects, its sterling reputation within the Vancouver community, its family-oriented values and its customer-driven mentality, Dakota Homes has built itself to last within Western Canada’s competitive construction market. It is an exciting time to be a member of the Dakota Homes team, as the company considers possible expansion opportunities and identifies room for growth.
Jure Krpan commented on the future of Dakota Homes by saying, “We are currently looking at possible ways of expanding right now, since the demand is so high and we can only do so much as two. Whether or not we want to expand, that is something we are currently looking at right now.”
Regardless of the clients’ budget, timeline or location, Dakota Homes has proven that it will rise to the demands of any potential home-building project in order to provide the best possible service in a budget-friendly, innovative and personal way.