Home Builders Branch Out to Survive Lean Times

[See 10 Places with the Oldest Population.]

While buying land may be more profitable, it's surprisingly not that plentiful, even in this market. "You'd think for how bad things are that there would be a whole bunch of distressed land out there," Yearley says. "There haven't been as many of those opportunities in this downturn. Banks seem to be more patient with their borrowers, so builders are collectively looking for ways to diversify."

Diversifying means different things to different builders, but the ability to think outside the box when it comes to home building may determine who rides out this long housing depression and who gets bulldozed.

Twitter: @mmhandley

Reader Comments Read all comments (1)

Add Your Thoughts

Comment Name State Select One AL AK AZ AR CA CO CT DE DC FL GA HI ID IL IN IA KS KY LA ME MD MA MI MN MS MO MT NE NV NH NJ NM NY NC ND OH OK OR PA RI SC SD TN TX UT VT VA WA WV WI WY International Email

Please enter the two words below into the text field underneath the image.

Incorrect please try again

Enter the words above: Enter the numbers you hear:

Your comment will be posted immediately, unless it is spam or contains profanity. For more information, please see our Comments FAQ.