Three production home builders deal with handling options and change orders as their markets become more active

Builders polled say integrating software into a single database can be a daunting prospect, a frustrating project, or an initiative that is producing rewards.

Builders need to prepare and face a challenge that they haven’t seen in many years—rising material and labor costs and shortages. Passing the costs along by simply raising prices won’t be enough to solve the problem.

Now that new-home sales have nearly doubled from their 2010 low, we are facing the challenges of a recovering market

On the long road back toward sales levels rivaling the best years in the industry, are similar profit levels still available? Where will we find profit?

For this issue Pat O’Toole, our venerable publisher, asked me to write about the best business models among those home builders in what is often termed the second tier of the industry, or those companies ranked in the top 25 to 100.