Home Builders

Abv Arm Betong Vaeg American Homestar Corporation Asakawagumi Co., Ltd. Asanuma Corporation Banner Homes Group Plc Beazer Group Plc Beazer Homes USA, Inc. Beechcroft Plc Bellway P.l.c. Bellwinch Plc Ben Bailey Plc Berkeley Group Holdings Plc (the) Block Watne A/s BOVIS HOMES GROUP PLC Bredero N.v., Verenigde Bedrijven Breedon Plc Bryant Group Plc Cala Plc California Coastal Communities, Inc. Calprop Corporation Capital Pacific Holdings, Inc. Centex Corporation Choheung Chemical Industrial Company Limited Cityland Development Corporation Consorcio Hogar S.a. DE C.v. Construcciones Lain S.a. Continental Homes Holding Corp. Corporacion Geo, S.a. DE C.v. Crest Nicholson Plc Cussins Property Group Plc D.R. Horton, Inc Daiwa Construction Co., Ltd. Dominion Homes, Inc. Dynamic Homes, Inc. Edmond Holdings Plc Emerald Homes L.P. Empresas Ica Sociedad Controladora Fairview Holdings Plc First Cincinnati Inc. Fortress Group

Fujiko Co., Ltd. Furlong Homes Group Plc Garboli-Conicos S.p.a. Impresa Generale General Homes Corporation GEORGE WIMPEY PLC Grassetto Spa Grinaker Construction Limited Higashi Nihon House Co., Ltd. Hosoda Corporation (hosoda Komuten) Hovnanian Enterprises, Inc. Hunet Inc. Hung Sheng Construction Limited Ihlas Holding A.s. Iida Home Max Jennings Group Limited John Maunders Group Plc Jutajaya Holdings Berhad Kaufman & Broad SA KB Home Key Company KOKUNE CORPORATION Kudo Corporation Lennar Corporation Liberty Homes, Inc. Linden Plc M/I Homes, Inc. Manufactured Homes, Inc. Meritage Corporation Metropolitan Construction Company Limited MISAWA HOMES CO LTD Misawa Homes Hokkaido Co., Ltd. Misawa Homes San-IN Co., Ltd. Misawa Resort Co., Ltd. MITSUI HOME CO., LTD. Ncc AB NVR Inc. Oriole Homes Corp. Pacific Greystone Corporation Persimmon Plc Proprietary Industries Incorporated

Pulte Homes, Inc. Redrow Plc Rottlund Company Ryland Group S X L Corporation Sanyu Construction Co., Ltd. Schuler Homes, Inc. Seed Co., Ltd. (1739) Sekisui House Hokuriku, Ltd. Sekisui House, Limited Siab Ab Sn Holding A/s Soc. De Construcoes Amadeu Gaudencio, Sa Societe Auxiliaire D'entreprises Sa Standard Pacific Corporation Star Block Group Public Company Limited Starrett Corporation Ste. Financiere Et Immobiliere Longchamp Stocks & Stocks Limited Sumitomo Forestry CO Ltd T.j.t., Inc. Tada Corporation Tay Homes Plc Tohoku Misawa Homes Co., Ltd. Tokai Kogyo Co., Ltd. Toll Brothers Inc. Toshin Housing Company Limited Toyota Woodyou Home Corporation Tsuchiya Home Co., Ltd. Tsuchiya Twoby Home Co., Ltd. Turriff Corp Plc VAHOSTAV AS Wainhomes Plc Walter Industries Inc. Walter Lawrence Plc Westbury Plc Wilson Bowden Plc Woobang Housing & Construction Company Limited Zueblin [ed.] AG

Guide to Home Builders

By Amy Hunter
Home Builders Face Shrinking Profits and Tighter Cash Flow

The construction of new homes is a tough business. Builders of new homes face high expenses, a low profit margin and a shrinking market for their product. To develop a healthy business, residential home builders need to use business skills as much as construction skills.

During tight economic times, new home builders, in particular, custom home builders, find clients drying up, homes selling slower, and banks less willing to lend money. To ensure the health of their business, residential home builders should take proactive steps:

1. Manage your cash flow.
2. Develop an emergency fund.
3. Constantly evaluate your relationship with your suppliers.

Action Steps

The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Develop a winning bid The goal of all residential home builders when bidding on a project is to get the job. An effective bid should start with your analysis of the building plans. Decide what the home should sell for, and then work backwards. Break each part of the home building process down. Determine how much you should spend on the foundation, kitchen and other components to reach the final price. Be sure to factor in your profit.Bidding in this way makes it easy to set aside some money for a high impact but low cost upgrade, such as crown molding in the living areas. It is often a small touch like this that will make the sell for you.

I recommend:  Finding out what homes in the area are selling for. You can get some idea by visiting Multiple Listing Service, or MLS listing sites, but you can get a more accurate price by visiting your courthouse to see the recorded sales. Many communities allow online access to these records, contact the local county clerk's office to see if yours does.

Use technology to and track expenses There are a variety of programs available that allow the custom home builder to manage building projects efficiently.

I recommend:  Buildlinks is a web based tool that has a real time calendar, integrated email and documented storage, an online tool that allows home builders and owners to view and manage change orders and option packages as well as many other features. Ezhomebuild is a software program that permits cutting and pasting from spreadsheets, has the ability for the contractor to import price databases and generate reports. It also integrates with a variety of software, including Quickbooks and MS Outlook. The construction of new homes is a numbers game, and to remain profitable you must keep an eye on expenses.

Be the ideal home builder New home builders often look upon their work as a way to pay the bills, but to stay in business during lean times word of mouth is everything. This may be the only home your client ever builds, and they will remember everything that went right, and everything that went wrong. Particularly in the case of custom home builders, the customer expects personal service, timely response to questions, and, above all, to feel that they got their money's worth.

I recommend:  Starting with a basic checklist and customizing it to fit your business. The final step in new home construction is to walk through the home with your buyer and complete the checklist. This is also the time to ask some exit questions to assess their satisfaction with your performance. If they feel negative, it may be too late to change their mind, but use the criticism constructively.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• Start each bid from scratch. Do not depend on numbers or quantities from previous bids to come up with your numbers.
• Include more than price in your bid package. An attractively presented package, with photographs of your previous work, common upgrades and even a handwritten cover letter will make you stand out.
• The market share for custom home builders is tight , by projecting a professional image and managing the business side of your company effectively, you will be ahead of much of your competition.