There’s an old saying about salesmanship, about how a smooth talker can sell someone a snowflake in the middle of a blizzard. Lately, with foreclosures and distressed homes flooding the market, many homebuilders find themselves in much the same situation—trying to sell homes in a market that is drenched in product, and in which the price of their new construction puts them to an apparent disadvantage against clearance-priced existing homes. Many builders have thrown up their hands, helpless, wondering how they can possibly succeed in this type of economic environment.
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Yet, somehow, in this very environment, LGI Homes has managed to break some of its own sales records, placing more owners into our communities this year than we ever have before. Is it purely the work of salesmanship? Undoubtedly, our well-trained sales staff and our unique marketing techniques have lent a hand. But ultimately, up against a housing market as rife with homes as a blizzard is with snowflakes, it takes much more than eager sales staff or glossy brochures. It takes commitment to a simple but seemingly radical idea: offering quality homes and sound value at an affordable price.
This idea isn’t truly revolutionary, yet it represents a fundamental approach to homebuilding that seems to have been lost over the past few decades. These basic principles of value, quality and affordability are something that any salesman can present with pride, and which any consumer can understand on a deep and meaningful level. The gilded excesses of the past few decades may be wearing away, and underneath homebuilders like LGI Homes are finding that the core values haven’t changed much in the meantime. Our customers want, as they always have, to enjoy owning their own homes. They want to know that their home is built with quality materials and by skilled workmen, and that it will retain its value both as a singular structure and as a component of a larger attractive and desirable community. And they don’t want to pay more than a fair price for any of it.
Luckily LGI Homes is (and always has been) poised to cater to the needs of these customers. Our commitment to our core values begins at the beginning—when we buy our own land, and design our communities and homes for maximum efficiency—generating savings along the way that we can then pass on to our customers. LGI Homeowners reap the benefit of affordable homes that are peerless in design, quality and value, and LGI Homes enjoys a sustainable business success that is founded on solid principles—not snakeoil salesmanship. We don’t have to depend on construction short-cuts, inflated prices, or even free puppies to sell our homes. We merely operate on a level defined by our core principles, which in and of themselves bring consumers out to communities, and turn them into buyers. We don’t have to differentiate ourselves from used or abused existing homes, because our homes and the distressed homes market are worlds apart.
So, in some ways, LGI Homes communities could probably sell themselves. But the same pride in our principles that has grown our company and garnered us recognition for quality in the Houston market dictates our relationship with our employees. LGI Homes was recently named one of the best employers in the state of Texas by Texas Monthly magazine, and the honor of being a top employer is derived from the same strength that has made us one of the nation’s Top 100 builders: commitment to basic guiding principles, and the knowledge that one doesn’t have to be elaborate to be successful. Just true to the idea that a homebuilder can build great new homes and sell them for a decent price, without sacrificing on quality (or integrity) to do so. No smoke and mirrors, no gimmicks. Just a warm fire and some refreshing principles in the middle of an economic snowstorm.
I am a Managing Partner, Internet Marketer and Blogger at New Homes Section. Follow me on 
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