Lenar home sales....

[MianoSM]

are down 44% according to NBC news this morning....

....as they break to commercials they say, "and when we get back from these words we'll talk about how poor the rest of the real estate market is doing"......

:lol:

[fencerider2]

They posted a loss of $513 million for the qt, sales down 41% and 35% work force cut. Yes sir, things are looking up.

http://money.cnn.com/2007/09/25/news/companies/lennar/index.htm?postversion=2007092506

[TampaDude]

They posted a loss of $513 million for the qt, sales down 41% and 35% work force cut. Yes sir, things are looking up.

http://money.cnn.com/2007/09/25/news/companies/lennar/index.htm?postversion=2007092506

Yeah, better jump all over that stock while it's hot! :lmao:

[MianoSM]

Yeah, better jump all over that stock while it's hot! :lmao:

In about 7 to 9 months when it bottoms out, if they can keep the company together, I'd probably buy into them - they just have to make it through this tough time. :)

[Scott]

They build a shitty product in most cases too. Wonder if that has anything to do with it ?

[Joe]

They build a shitty product in most cases too. Wonder if that has anything to do with it ?

Really? The 3 lennar homes I bought were well built and they had a solid building team. They were one of the FEW homebuilders that did not make it a huge pain in the ass to have your own inspector come in and inspect at each milestone of building process.

Most builders would look at me with a "oh shit!" face when I said I wanted my own inspector to review the home at each building phase... Lennar didn't even bat an eye and simply had the inspector fill out one form and fax it in.

[Scott]

Then you got lucky because the few Lennar sales I have been involved in and have heard of from other agents have not been good. Lots of shitty building practices and overall bad experience.

[Young,Fablous,&Broke]

dont they own US Home? I heard some bad stories about them. I dont know if they were true or not.

[fencerider2]

I have a friend who is a contractor who worked several years for them, oh the stories he can tell, ouch.

[nipster]

They build a shitty product in most cases too. Wonder if that has anything to do with it ?

absolutely positively

Lennar homes suck, they bought US home which sucks too

They use the absolutely bottom rung contractors and material

[Mullins2]

I'm posting under my husbands name..........

Well to let you know I work for Lennar and no US Homes was a part of Lennar, but we are now just Lennar. No Lennar does not sell crappy homes I have worked there for years and know all the construction guys/girls and all the building partners we deal with. I have been out to the field to get a better understanding of the homebuilding process as well as just completeing my testing as a SWPPP's inspector which for those of you who do not know what that is, I go out and inspect the ground and everything before the home is built and there is alot more to it but I do not feel like getting into all that right now. All our homes are built solid and have 3 plus year warranty on everything, you try and find a home builder that will warranty everything for that long. Along with you having your own inspector to come out rather than using one they appoint you like other companies do. We have looked into buying homes from differnet home builders and none have met the standards like Lennar has. Now don't get me wrong everyone has there flaws and they do as well but we will fix everything that is wrong before anyone moves into or purchases a home. Yeah the market is not good right now but everything fluxuates look at other homebuilders..... There are 2 homebuilding companies that went under. The stock always goes up and down this is not the first time this has happened, but we always come back on top. We are the fourth ranked company in the state of Florida in per Fortune 500/Forutne magazine as well as number 1 in homebuilders in Fortune 1000/Fortune magazine. It is a great company to work for as well. I can not complain, I still have my job and stay very busy.

[Greed is Good]

http://www.irvinehousingblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/05/protestors.jpg

:lmao: :lmao: :lmao:

[MianoSM]

:lol:

[Love Doctor]

LOL owned

PEACE-

[fencerider2]

Some people drank what they though was Koolaid.

[Joe]

What's the story with that black dood and the sign?

Personally I'd like to read what happened to him.

Anyone have a link?

[fencerider2]

www.iberippedoff.com

[Young,Fablous,&Broke]

i right clicked the pic and the link is http://www.irvinehousingblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/05/protestors.jpg

so i guess if you hunt around on http://www.irvinehousingblog.com you might find something

[Scott]

www.iberippedoff.com



:lmao: :lmao: :lmao: :lmao:

[Joe]

"protestors were local 2361 carpenter union members"

Told me all I needed to know...

[Greed is Good]

:lol:

http://www.irvinehousingblog.com/tag/lennar
Protestors trouble Liarnar Homes
May 2nd, 2007 by graphrix

Saturday I received a phone call from a friend that went like this: “Hey do you know why there are people protesting Liarnar at Riverbend? They have a big ole sign that says buyer beware of Liarnar Homes.” I said, “Probably because they build crappy homes.” Now I wasn’t sure that was going to be the case because it is a much better story when it’s the FBer’s protesting the price reductions. Like a good blogger I decided to go check it out for myself and here is what I found.



Sure enough the protestors were local 2361 carpenter union members letting people know that Liarnar builds crappy homes. Unfortunately the gentleman in the picture wouldn’t say much but he did give me the flyer below and the business card for an attorney. He said the attorney would be more than willing to give me more information. I called the attorney late yesterday and I will try again today to get some more info. I know it is not Irvine but he did say that there are others protesting at Liarnar projects. If anyone else has seen something like this in or around Irvine please let us know.



Now I am not sure how many people read Mish’s blog but he has been following Mike Morgan’s fight against Liarnar in Florida for their faulty construction. Mike Morgan is in so deep that Liarnar is even suing him over his website. If you have not read some of the stories on his site and Mish’s I highly recommend that you do. Some of the stories are so disgusting that you may never look at Liarnar the same again. As you can tell from the flyer it sites an OC Register article that can be found here. As with most in the MSM the Register has not done any follow up. I checked www.occourts.org and searched for Liarnar but nothing came up. It will be interesting to see how Liarnar handles these types of things because they have a majority of the units in the pipeline for OC. They have a big pipeline in Irvine with the Great Park project of 9500 homes and 1400 homes at Central Park West. Of course Liarnar touts its commitment to quality.

For the record I have nothing against Liarnar nor are they the homebuilder that I used to work for. I just do not know of any other major homebuilder who receives as much negative news about faulty construction as Liarnar.



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lennar news
Posted in News | 24 Comments »

Is Lennar Really Taking a loss on La Casella???
Feb 5th, 2007 by irvinesinglemom

I visited La Casella again today, at lunch. Gotta feed the obsession every now and then, ya know. I liked the models a lot more than I liked them the first time through, for some reason. Even Residence 1 with the casita – that could be my home gym!

I engaged the sales person in questions and she was very friendly and attentive. I was quite surprised by much of what she said, though. So surprised, in fact, that I expected my BS meter to be ringing in alarm. It was not, however. Was she just that good at smooth-talking? Or have I lost my ability to smell BS? Or could what she told me have possibly been, in fact, true????

1. Lennar has “paid the bank” for every La Casella unit sold thus far. In other words, they have sold every unit at a loss after taking into account the cost of land and construction costs.

2. During their most recent phase release, every single unit sold out in one day.

3. Lennar has only purchased less than half of the land shown in their plans for final build-out at La Casella. The sales person said it was very likely the remaining units would not be built (by Lennar, anyway. She said Lennar would sell the plans and models to some other company who would take over the development). She said that they are in a “pissing contest” with TIC over final sales cost of the land, and TIC is not willing to come down enough to make it worthwhile for Lennar.

I asked, if by some chance TIC does reduce land prices, what would happen to the units’ asking prices? She said there was no way the prices would be reduced, as evidenced by the quick sell-out of the most recent phase release. She said Lennar would need to maintain or raise prices just to make up for all the losses incurred so far.

I then probed about who exactly has been buying these units. She said many single people have been buying them, with average incomes of 175k to 200k. She also told me that I needed to “change my lens” with respect to monthly carrying costs, and that if I wanted to own in Irvine, or anywhere in SoCal, then I needed to accept the fact that I would be paying 60-75% of my take-home pay on mortgage and HOA. I suggested that in fact most people were not using 30 year, fixed-rate mortgages, but she disagreed and said that most of the La Casella buyers had in fact used the standard, fixed mortgages, and were just paying big monthly payments.

So, your thoughts? Anyone care to comment? Clearly, La Casella is slightly less expensive than other options in Woodbury. But still. Sold out in one day? A loss on every unit? Mostly 30 year fixed mortgages? What is up with this story???



3 1 4 1

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la casella lennar woodbury
Posted in Uncategorized | 51 Comments »

News: “Lennar seeks cuts from subcontractors”
Jan 26th, 2007 by zovall

I found this gem thanks to Saving in LA on Lansner’s Blog. Full article at:
OC Register
Here are some snippets:

“The builder, one of the biggest developers in Orange County with 8,000 to 14,000 homes on the drawing board, began circulating letters and meeting with subcontractors earlier this month, seeking cuts that reflect lower home prices, said Jeff Roos, Lennar’s Southwestern U.S. regional vice president.”

“Lennar’s demand is the latest example of how falling home prices are sending ripples through the entire housing economy. The missive is at least the second Lennar has sent out since June seeking price cuts. And industry officials say most homebuilders are pressuring contractors for reductions in future bidding.”

” “It’s almost like asking your employees after they’ve done the work … to take a pay cut,” said Brad Diede, executive vice president of the California Professional Association of Specialty Contractors, with 500 member companies in the state. “It’s kind of an unjust tactic to ask for retroactive concessions.”

http://www.irvinehousingblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/05/flyer3.jpg

[Love Doctor]

KB Homes? When I was looking into new constructions I found KB Homes in my area... The homes, although the least expensive than other builders at the time, had a very base model apartment feel to them.

Later I found a website called www.KBhomesuck.com and chose another builder instead...

PEACE-

[Scott]

So I see this has shed some light on some local / national builders. Good. Informed buyers make things better for everyone and it is a Realtors duty to keep them informed.

[Country Boy]

They build a shitty product in most cases too. Wonder if that has anything to do with it ?

For someone so based on Facts, where are the facts to back this up? Sorry for the ones who said they use shitty contractors and materials. They are one of the best builders Ive seen and all contractors use the same materials.

Lennar is our biggest builder and thats all I did cabinets for for a few years. Ive been in just about every cookie cutter builder there is in FL.

Its funny on a forum so based around "facts", noone has facts to back what theyve said.

[Scott]

Its funny on a forum so based around "facts", noone has facts to back what theyve said.


The facts were with my own two eyes.

I had a few customers buy from them and both houses had tons of problems and shitty fit/ finish.

Then I have 58 agents in my office and on more than one occasion I got to listen to stories along the same lines.

Don't get me wrong there are worse but there are many better too.

It is no coincidence that it is easy to find pissed off Lennar customers all over the web.

Are there maybe a few project superintendents for Lennar that do a better job ? I am sure there is but it seems to be the consensus that there rep is not to good.

[Country Boy]

Lennar is also one of the biggest builders. I can find pissed off people with Pulte Homes, MI Homes, Beazer Homes, Mercades, Morrison Homes, US Homes (they used to be the worst), and I can go on and on. All of which I do cabinets in. The same subs pretty much do all the builders so if one sucks, usually all of them suck also.

The ONLY way to get a "quality" home is to go completely custom, then its big money. I still would never make a permenant investment in a new home. Id rather live in a mobil home since they are built to the same restrictions and hurricane standards as a brick house.

I still dont see facts. I see opinions. I could say the stock market is over inflated because of our own government dumping money in it, but I would be banished a dumbass and a liar until I showed valid proof. :) ;)

[SSpiro]

Agreed with Country Boy.

When I was home searching about 6-9 months ago, I found negatives with EVERY builder. There is a complainer for everything.

I chose a Lennar home because the quality was there; and it was a good value. I've been in the house for about 6 months, and have had zero issues thus far. Very pleased; and they follow up with me monthly to ensure the same.

[Scott]

I still dont see facts. I see opinions.


So why is it others have opinions and yours is not one too ?

[Young,Fablous,&Broke]

Lennar is also one of the biggest builders. I can find pissed off people with Pulte Homes, MI Homes, Beazer Homes, Mercades, Morrison Homes, US Homes (they used to be the worst), and I can go on and on. All of which I do cabinets in. The same subs pretty much do all the builders so if one sucks, usually all of them suck also.

The ONLY way to get a "quality" home is to go completely custom, then its big money. I still would never make a permenant investment in a new home. Id rather live in a mobil home since they are built to the same restrictions and hurricane standards as a brick house.

I still dont see facts. I see opinions. I could say the stock market is over inflated because of our own government dumping money in it, but I would be banished a dumbass and a liar until I showed valid proof. :) ;)

Makes sense. Im sure contractors move frm place to place. and its up to the GC to make sure they dont do it half assed.

[Country Boy]

So why is it others have opinions and yours is not one too ?

You could see it as that. I never said that anything was a fact. Just like your "analysts" for the stock market and housing market. Construction is my job so I can give you the subs POV.

Corey, its not that they move from place to place, but no sub just does solely one builder. Look at CCA. They are the biggest framing company in FL. They do MANY different builders (but they would NEVER fame anything of mine). Same with our cabinet contractor, we do a ton of different builders.

[Young,Fablous,&Broke]

thats what I meant.

[Greed is Good]

In Wesley chapel in the bridge water community

http://money.aol.com/news/articles/_a/the-invasion-of-the-renters/20070921100509990001

The Invasion of the Renters
Housing Slump Spurs Rentals and Complaints; Bikes on the Balcony
By BEN CASSELMAN, THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
Posted: 2007-09-21 10:08:39
Mark Spector was happy with his new neighborhood. Then the renters started moving in.


In 2004, Mr. Spector and his wife, Deanna, paid $350,000 for a six-bedroom house in Bridgewater, a new development in Wesley Chapel, Fla., about 25 miles north of Tampa. They moved into their home and looked forward to meeting their neighbors.

Then Florida's once-feverish housing market started to cool. Investors who'd bought a large percentage of the properties in Bridgewater found they couldn't flip them for a quick profit, and brought in tenants, instead. By last year, Mr. Spector estimates, close to half of the residents in the subdivision of 750-plus homes were renters.'

The result, Mr. Spector says: overgrown lawns, drug deals in the park and loud parties in the "frat houses" down the street. "You'll see some driveways with a dozen cars parked in the driveway and on the grass," he says. Concerned homeowners, through the subdivision's community development district, have earmarked about $30,000 for beefed-up patrols by the sheriff's department.

The developer, Lennar Corp., estimates the number of renters in Bridgewater at about 30%. In an email, Mark Sustana, Lennar's general counsel, said, "We have no evidence that leads us to believe that rentals are the cause of the homeowner concerns."

In another manifestation of the housing slump, thousands of property owners across the country are now renting out homes they cannot sell. As a result, developments and condos that once were largely owner-occupied are filling up with renters who some neighbors say are less engaged in their communities and less concerned about maintenance.

Fearful of declining property values, some homeowner associations are fighting back -- targeting lax landlords and renters with "good neighbor" letters, limiting the number of units that can be rented at any one time, and, in some cases, banning investors from buying altogether.

"I like to know my neighbors," says Lyletta Robinson, who says she has had disputes with some of the tenants in her 18-unit condo complex in Chicago's Woodlawn neighborhood. "I like to know who's coming and going out of our building, and it's difficult to do that with renters."

Of course, plenty of renters cut their grass, take in the garbage cans and turn down the music at 9 p.m. And not all homeowners are model neighbors. Denise Bower, of Community Management, Inc., which manages 122 developments around Portland, Ore., says renters are often more responsive to complaints because they know they run the risk of losing their leases if they don't. "I have more problems with owners, by far," Ms. Bower says. "They get stubborn."

Home ownership in the U.S. has declined slightly since 2004, when a record 69.2% of households owned their homes, to 68.2% in the second quarter of 2007, according to the Census Bureau. More people who stretched to buy homes have returned to the rental ranks, while others, limited by tightening credit, have delayed jumping into the ownership pool. At the same time, after years of existing apartment buildings being converted into condominiums, the trend is reversing; according to Real Capital Analytics, a New York-based research company, "reversions" -- condo buildings that were turned back into rentals -- outstripped condo conversions in the second quarter of 2007, the first time that has happened since the 1980s. In Baltimore, for example, there have been 1,430 reversions since January, 2006, while only 430 rental units have been converted to condos.

[Treysdad]

So does this mean Lennar is doing away with it's "Everything's Included" slogan?

[Country Boy]

So does this mean Lennar is doing away with it's "Everything's Included" slogan?

I doubt it but they have cheapened up a lot. Now some of the secondary tub walls arent tiled, but plastic built ins, cheaper tubs, cheaper fixtures, cheaper doors. We did the models of some townhomes in south Lakeland on 98 and they tore out everything but the studs and re did it all. That building was a nightmare! They were cutting about $60k off the prices...

Whats funny about that article is that I installed about 98% of the cabinets in the Lennar homes in Bridgewater. That community was overrun with investors. It got so bad they had to start limiting them to 1 investment house per every 4-5 HO house towards the end. That place used to be shitty when it rained because of all the fill they brought in. Theres a work boot in someone front yard about 3 ft. down where I sunk one day... lol

[Scott]

I doubt it but they have cheapened up a lot. Now some of the secondary tub walls arent tiled, but plastic built ins, cheaper tubs, cheaper fixtures, cheaper doors. We did the models of some townhomes in south Lakeland on 98 and they tore out everything but the studs and re did it all. That building was a nightmare! They were cutting about $60k off the prices...

Whats funny about that article is that I installed about 98% of the cabinets in the Lennar homes in Bridgewater. That community was overrun with investors. It got so bad they had to start limiting them to 1 investment house per every 4-5 HO house towards the end. That place used to be shitty when it rained because of all the fill they brought in. Theres a work boot in someone front yard about 3 ft. down where I sunk one day... lol



Hold on here Carl, wern't you defending Lennar earlier in this thread ? :dunno:

[Young,Fablous,&Broke]

From everything Ive seen, Bridge water is a nightmare. The Air Force needs to drop a bomb on that place on their way back from Iraq.