Talk to anyone who has built or remodeled a home and you’ll hear stories about delays, cost overruns, mistakes and more. Yet, living in a home built with your taste and needs in mind is so satisfying. Is it worth the risk?
Etra Build has a solution. Daniel Wetrin and Mark Mermelstein can practically read your mind—and build the house you knew you wanted. “Most builders look to sell early in the construction but we’re taking the risk to finish the house in a way we hope people will like,” said Mermelstein. “You just have to bring your furniture and artwork. We’ve thought of everything the homeowner will need.”
Etra has built and sold two homes in Teaneck and has two just-completed homes on the market, with plans for several more homes in the area. “People have had bad experiences buying from builders,” Mermelstein said. “They are happier moving into a finished home.”
Wetrin, an Israeli native, has lived and worked in construction all over the world including Israel, Taiwan and England. He had been working on apartments in Tel Aviv when he married and moved with his wife to Teaneck to be near her sister, and looked for someone to build his home. A mutual friend introduced him to Mermelstein—who was born in Teaneck and has never left. Mermelstein built the home and then the two men launched Etra Build together. Mermelstein is in charge of construction, with 20 years of home-building knowledge. He understands the community and what people want in their homes. Wetrin oversees design, finishes and interiors, using influences he has gathered from his international life. Etra Build homes are designed to accommodate the lifestyle of shomer Shabbat, kosher owners although anyone would love the many touches Etra brings to a home.
Etra is meticulous about engineering plans, and building above code, to avoid problems like flooding basements and electrical current that can’t handle multiple appliances. Generators are installed in all their homes to guard against electrical outages. Wetrin makes the point by saying, “What use is a sump pump if there’s no power?”
Etra doesn’t advertise a home until it’s completed, so a prospective buyer doesn’t have to use imagination to visualize the final result. But they do talk to realtors who sometimes know when a client can make that leap. “We got a call from a broker when our last house was nearly done,” said Mermelstein. “She asked if she could come over with a customer in 20 minutes. They walked in and the buyer said ‘This is the house I want.’ Within 30 days, the family was all moved in.”
Visit Etra Build at www.etra.build� or on Instagram and Facebook at @etrabuild to see current and completed projects.
By Bracha Schwartz
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