SAN CLEMENTE, CA -- (Marketwire) -- 02/13/13 -- U.S. and Canadian homebuilders who provided their customers with the best purchase and ownership experiences -- according to surveyed homebuyers -- have been honored in the 2013 Eliant Homebuyers' Choice Awards competition.

The winning builders were chosen based on the results of more than 76,500 surveys which were administered in 2012 to all recent home owners from over 148 major homebuilders across the U.S. and Canada.

The Eliant awards are presented annually by San Clemente, CA-based Eliant (www.eliant.com), a customer experience management company that has been surveying buyers of new homes for 27 years. This year's awards are sponsored by two firms widely acclaimed for delivering an extraordinary customer experience to their homebuyers: Real Estate Temps, headquartered in Newport Beach, CA, and imortgage, headquartered in Scottsdale, AZ. Each of these firms has earned the prestigious "Eliant Certified" designation as providing top-of-class customer experiences and being the highest rated firms in their industry segments.

For the fourth consecutive year, Rosewood Homes (Scottsdale, AZ) is the recipient of the "The Eliant" award for the Best Overall Purchase and Ownership Experience category for single division builders in the North America. This is the first time that a builder has won "The Eliant" in four successive years. Rosewood Homes' First Year Quality rating was the highest of any of the 126 participating North American builders receiving a sufficient number of surveys to qualify for this 16th annual competition. Rosewood Homes was also honored with a Second Place award for Customer Service among all qualifying builders.

"Once again, Rosewood Homes is the undisputed leader in the delivery of an extraordinary customer experience," declared Bob Mirman, founder and Chief Executive Officer of Eliant.

The New Home Company (California) was the recipient of "The Eliant" for Best Overall Customer Experience in the multi-divisional builder segment. In the Medium Builder segment, The New Home Company was also ranked No. 1 by homebuyers for Design Selection Experience and Construction Experience. The firm also earned the Second Place award for First-Year Quality. The New Home Company received a total of 11 Homebuyers' Choice Awards.

Of all builders, one of the clear customer favorites was Newport Beach-based William Lyon Homes. The company won 10 "Premier Awards" (1st, 2nd, or 3rd Place in each category), plus 10 Honorable Mentions for a total of 20 Homebuyers' Choice Awards.

Ryland Homes (Tampa, FL) confirmed its reputation as one of America's top home builders, with four Premier Awards plus 11 Honorable Mentions.

In the Large Builder segment, McCaffrey Homes' was ranked No. 1 in the all-important category of "Percent of Sales from Referrals," with an impressive 47.5% of its sales sourced from home owner referrals and local word-of-mouth.

Castle & Cook (Hawaii), in the Medium Builder segment, scored the highest "Percent of Sales from Referrals" with 48.2%.

The Olson Company (California) continued its strong performance among large builders with First-Place rankings for Construction Experience and Customer Service.

In its first year of being rated in the Eliant system, TRI Pointe Homes (California) managed to impress by earning a First-Place ranking in homebuyers' satisfaction with their Purchase Experience.

Eliant's builder clients are improving their customers' experience to such a degree that home owners are not only more willing to offer a referral, but more and more prospects are buying new homes due to these referrals. Each year, Eliant analyzes the "Percent of Sales from Referrals" from the 10 highest rated builders: In 2009, 32% of sales were sourced from referrals, while in 2012, 43% of sales were from referrals, a 34% increase in just 3 years.

A total of 42 different builders were recognized for their excellence in one or more customer-experience categories, including Honorable Mentions. Builders with exceptional levels of customer satisfaction included: Robson Communities (Sun Lakes, AZ, with communities in Arizona and Texas, 7 awards); Minto Communities (Coconut Creek, FL, 7 awards); MBK Homes (California, 6 awards); Brookfield Homes (California, 6 awards); and Grand Homes (Texas, 5 awards).

Information on the survey methodology and a complete list of winning home builders is available at www.eliant.com.

About Eliant
Founded in 1984, San Clemente, CA-based Eliant has long been recognized as the nation's leading provider of specialized consumer research services for U.S., Canadian, and Middle East building industry firms. The firm's world-class customer experience monitoring, management training, and consulting services are considered to be the gold standard in the industry.

About RET Staffing (Real Estate Temps)
Founded in 1990, RET Staffing (Real Estate Temps) -- an Eliant Certified company, was the first company to exclusively specialize in providing licensed real estate sales agents for home builders on an hourly basis, thereby reducing builder overhead costs. Additionally, RET has placed more sales professionals with homebuilders for regular permanent employment than any other new home staffing company in Arizona, Nevada, and California.

About imortgage
Founded in 1999, imortgage -- an Eliant Certified company -- is one of the fastest growing privately held mortgage companies in the Western United States, serving homebuyers in CA, NV, AZ, CO, OR, and TX. In 2012, imortgage was the second largest provider of mortgages to California new-home buyers, and the third largest in Nevada. imortgage also has an Eliant satisfaction rating over 92%, the No. 1 ranking of all the major lenders evaluated by Eliant.

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