Continued from page 20 by more than one panelist.
Mike Dishberger, chief executive officer of Sandcastle Homes in Houston, said he joined a 20 Club in 2007. The Houston market was still going strong at the time, and Dishberger thought it would be a good place to meet people and see what was happening in other markets around the country.
"All we heard was doom and gloom," he said. "We came back from that meeting stunned, but happy we'd heard the information."
Dishberger immediately re-engineered his business to prepare for the coming downturn. He stopped buying land, unloaded excess spec inventory and in his words, "got lean and mean."
NAHB Chairman Bob Nielsen first brought together a panel of successful builders at NAHB's spring board meeting in May in Washington, D.C. The session was so well-received that it was held again at fall board with a different group of builders.
Watch video excerpts from the spring board panel here: www.
nahb.org/springboardbuilderpanel.
Other panelists participating on the fall panel included David Main, owner of Creative Home Partners in Enumclaw, Wash., and Sandra Steele, president and co-owner of Enfinger Steele Development in Huntsville, Ala.
Main, a member of the Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish Counties since 1977, said he's been able to leverage the business connections he's made over the past 34 years to secure capital to finance his projects.
"I've never thrown away a business card," he said. "I went to these contacts and asked them, 'What kinds of things would you look for if I came to you to borrow money?'"
Main then identified the best local markets, brought in new partners and developed a business plan that involved acquiring capital through sources other than financial institutions or banks.
Steele looked to ease the financial burden of land acquisition with a program she named "Share the Land," in which her business worked out an arrangement with land owners that didn't involve buying the land up front.
"We paid the landowners with each lot sale," she said. "It helped launch our company without having to make a big land purchase."
To view the complete presentation, go to
www.nahb.org/ fallboardbuilderpanel. For more information, email Gwyn Donohue at NAHB, or call her at 800-368-5242 x8447.
Water Play Equipment, Playground Equipment, Skate Parks, Site Amenities, Fabric Shade Covers, Park Pavilions, Sporting Equipment, Safety Fall Surfaces, Design Assistance Services, Equipment Installation
www.kppe.com 1-800-451-4869
KRAFTSMAN
800.451.4869 281.353.9599
www.kppe.com
Houston Dallas Austin
San Antonio Corpus Christi
Proudly serving Texas & Louisiana GREATER HOUSTON BUILDERS ASSOCIATION – BUILDING A BETTER FUTURE | HOUSTON BUILDER | JANUARY 2012 23
K
R
A
F
S
T
M
A
N
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48