Cardel Homes survived Calgary's dollar-house recession by learning when to specialize, when to spread out and when to own more of the customer journey. Its 50-year playbook is useful far beyond homebuilding.
For 65 years the Hovnanian family has been putting keys in first-time buyers' hands and building 55-and-up communities where the lawn mows itself. Here is how a New Jersey homebuilder turned patience into a business model.
M/I Homes sells the house, helps personalize it, finances the buyer and stays on the hook after closing. Fifty years in, that unusually complete chain is being tested by the most stubborn problem in American housing: affordability.