We are a new generation homebuilder focused on the design, construction and
sale of innovative and consumer-driven homes in major metropolitan areas within
select growth markets in California, including coastal Southern California,
the San Francisco Bay area and metro Sacramento. We also seek to create unique
communities via our significant land development expertise.
As a "new generation" homebuilder, we are focused on taking advantage
of opportunities in select growth markets in California. Our growth strategy
is focused on specific markets with high demand, favorable population and employment
growth as a result of proximity to job centers or primary transportation corridors.
Our business strategy is focused on creating lasting neighborhoods through
exceptional design, craftsmanship and homeowner experiences by people doing
the best work of their lives. Our operations are focused on major metropolitan
areas located in coastal Southern California, the San Francisco Bay area and
metro Sacramento. Our business strategy is driven by the following:
Disciplined Acquisition of Attractive Land Positions
We believe that we have strong land positions strategically located within our
core markets, many of which were acquired or that we acquired control over during
the downturn in the market. We believe our professional reputation and long-standing
relationships with key land sellers, including master plan community developers,
brokers and other builders, as well as our institutional investors and joint
venture partners, enable us to acquire well-positioned land parcels in our existing
markets as well as new target markets. The strength of these relationships often
provides us with a first look at acquisition opportunities and allows us to
negotiate terms based on our reputation for delivering on our promises.
In addition, we plan to continue to leverage the strength of our land planning
and land development expertise in each local market to position us to add value
to our land, capture incremental profit opportunities and provide a steady supply
of lots to support the significant planned growth of our homebuilding business.
The experience and extensive relationships of our land acquisition professionals
helps us to achieve entitlements in a timely manner in order to reduce market
risk. We only seek to acquire land where we believe our development and entitlement
skills can help us earn a risk-adjusted return that is accretive to our overall
return on land or that is in excess of existing market opportunities. Furthermore,
we have stringent underwriting return criteria that measure entitlement, development,
market and financing risks for each proposed acquisition. These risks are quantified
and a numeric risk value is determined, which is used to set our minimum required
internal rate of return for the proposed acquisition.
We further seek to reduce our exposure to land risk through the use of land
options, joint ventures and other flexible land acquisition arrangements. Our
joint venture strategy has been instrumental in allowing us to leverage our
entity-level capital and establish a homebuilding platform focused on high-growth,
land-constrained markets.
Deliver a Diverse, Consumer-Driven Product Offering and a Superior Home Experience
We consider ourselves a local market, consumer-driven homebuilder with expertise
across a wide variety of product types and customer segments, including the
entry-level, move-up, move-down and luxury-focused customer segments. In addition
to understanding the key economic drivers of demand in our markets, we focus
on understanding the pool of potential buyers, the product types sought by those
buyers and the proper price point for the product types in each market. We perform
extensive consumer research that helps us create land plans and design homes
that meet the needs and desires of our specific targeted buyers. Our homes are
competitively priced, but are not designed to be the lowest cost option in the
market. Our core operating philosophy is to provide a positive, memorable experience
to our homeowners through active engagement in the building process, tailoring
our product to the buyer’s lifestyle needs and enhancing communication,
knowledge and satisfaction. Our selling process focuses on the homes’
features, benefits, quality and design. Our customers’ experience is measured
by an independent survey company, beginning with the sales process. This customer
feedback continues to be measured well after the buyer closes on the sale and
is ultimately used to improve and differentiate the quality of our home products,
selling experience and service for our customers.