Experience has never been more valued than right now, as builders deal with the double whammy of robust competition and weakening sales. In our eighth annual Fast Track list, we examine the secrets of fast-growing builders' success—and what they're doing to keep the pace.

Source: BUILDER Magazine Publication date: 2006-09-01 By Michele Mariani

Half of the companies on this year's Fast Track opened shop after 1993. More than one-fifth have started since 2000. That means many of the fastest-growing home building companies have known only good—or great—times. That's changing. In many parts of the country, traffic and sales are slowing. Both public and private companies are revising their projections for 2006 and 2007 downward, and some already are selling land and laying off employees to curtail costs.

It's times like these when experience counts. Even among recent startups, many executives of the companies on this year's list can boast of decades in the industry, often spent in the offices of the largest national builders. Few were CEOs during the bust of the late 1980s and early 1990s, but they learned important lessons about what to do—and what to avoid—while heading construction, sales, and land operations. They paid their dues, climbed the corporate ladder, and sometimes even tripped on their way to becoming their own boss.

These entrepreneurs know 2004 and 2005 might have been aberrations, and many seem prepared for a downturn. Their plans for surviving and even thriving, through a rough patch resemble what they did to leap on to the Fast Track in the first place, minus buyer frenzy and outrageous price appreciation. They say they're exercising caution on land deals, reining in overhead, and adjusting pricing and product to appeal to a wider cross section of buyers. If the industry instinct that's served them well for so many years holds true, next year's Fast Track may be slightly less speedy, but just as solid.

Bonterra Builders ranked #8 for Fast Track Builder of 2006!

• 221.46% Gross Revenue Change 2003-2005 • $31 Million 2005 Gross Revenue • 883.33% Closing Growth 2003-2005 • Formed in 2002.

Builder, The Magazine of the National Association of Home Builders. September 2006. By Michele Mariani. List Research By Loretta Williams.

Written By: Michele Mariana
Credits: Builder Magazine September 2006