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Pulte Homes & Centex Homes to merge

4K views 14 replies 7 participants last post by  FloridaFuture 
#1 ·
Two of Bay area's biggest builders set to merge
Thursday, April 9, 2009

TAMPA (Bay News 9) -- Two of the Bay area's biggest builders are set to merge.

According to Bay News 9's partner paper, the St. Petersburg Times, Pulte Homes and Centex Homes are planning to merge in a billion-dollar deal. The new company will adopt the Pulte brand, and the Centex name will disappear.

Both companies have lost money in the housing slump, but they are weathering the recession better than most builders.

However, this move doesn't bode well for the Florida job market. The merger means some jobs in the state will be lost.

http://www.baynews9.com/content/36/...o+of+Bay+area's+biggest+builders+set+to+merge
 
#2 ·
You see in mathematics if you multiply a negative by a negative you get a positive. But when you take one negative and add another negative you just get a bigger negative. Somehow I doubt taking one sketchy builder of cheap ass, poorly designed houses and combining with another will add up to a positive. All it will mean is that they won't be around to compete against each other and keep their markup to around only 35%. Now its gonna be one big firm being able to first rape the environment with their burbs, then rape the general public who buy their product.
 
#3 ·
^^
True, in some cases mergers don't play out well. For example, American Airlines & TWA, the airline might have been slightly bolstered by that move back in 2001, but overall, things haven't gotten any better for them.

And when it comes to builders in particular, in such a recession, I don't see this merger playing out too well either.
 
#5 ·
And when it comes to builders in particular, in such a recession, I don't see this merger playing out too well either.
It was a move to lessen the damage, not create an empire. Centex was in a bit of a harder spot and agreed to an all stock deal... Would you want a bunch of Pulte stock right now? It was better than closing the doors, but looks like that was the other choice.
 
#6 ·
I know they weren't trying to build an empire. Its more like a case of two inbred hillbillies getting married. They sucked individually and now suck more collectively. Both companies love to brag about "luxury" this and "highend" that when in reality it was "Let's put in the absolute minimal electrical service because they'll never notice and the fewest number of outlets we can get away with, and make sure we are stocked up on Baltic Brown granite because that crap is like dirt cheap and goes with anything, and make sure the Price Pfister boxes aren't dropped because they are made with the thinnest gauge metal possible, oh and don't forget we can use the excuse that the HV/AC code only mandates a 20 degree difference so when they call and bitch on 100 degree days we have that to fall back on for undersizing the HV/AC system."
 
#9 ·
One thing any foreigner who worked on houses in another country vs working on a house here will tell you is house here are built like crap. You think its bad here? Atleast they use concrete here to build houses, in most places they use wood frame and that means your house was probably structurally built in a day and then finished in the next day or two. They also use the cheap shitty materials but the way things are built today they are only meant to look good while they are new. I laugh at the idiots who choose to use particle board as their sub-flooring, one leak and your floor goes bye-bye.
 
#12 ·
I'm also outraged at the shoddy building techniques that many of our builders use. Especially PARTICLE BOARD! They all must be nuts! If a collapsed floor isn't bad enough, a Cat 4/5 hurricane will easily wipe most of these homes from existence. :bash:

Take for instance, those condo/townhome complexes on Manhattan or MacDill in S. Tampa. I saw many of those things go up and to no surprise, the first level was usually concrete blocks. But the upper floors? ALL FREAKING PARTICLE BOARD!
 
#11 ·
We made the mistake of purchasing a rental property from Pulte. Never again. The kitchen area has ceramic tile and one of the tenants was walking on it one day and fell through. There wasn't even concrete underneath it in a couple of areas. That is just one of the many problems I had with Pulte. They like to tell you they'll come out and fix anything if you have a problem with it in the first year, but that is just a sales gimmick because they don't actually do it. I would recommend a mobile home before anything built by Pulte.
 
#14 ·
Its not that they aren't building to code or that its shoddy, its selling the minimum and acting like its a palace. 120mph wind code is a 120mph wind code, there are lots of ways to build to it. I have worked with structural engineers to design a fully framed home that will meet 120mph. I have also seen and lived in mid-70s era concrete block homes that would be hard pressed to make it past 100-105mph winds. Its all in how things are put together. There is a reason that when you submit for permits in Pinellas County anyway that you have to submit the state certified installation spec's for all components of the building envelope. This is to show that you know how you are supposed to be installing the various products.

You also have to remember that you live in a pretty special place climatically. Very few places in the US see the potential wind loads and driven rain possibilities you see. Here in the ATL there are plenty of 100 year old frame houses that are just as sturdy today as they were the day they were built. So Florida is special and should get special treatment. That's why you can't assume, concrete = good, frame = bad. I highly recommend checking out as many sites as possible like the american plywood association that have tons of free technical details.

My main problem with Pulte/Centex is the whole, "wow, look at this bargain basement granite we sold you at a 60% markup." Most custom builders in Florida are lucky to get a 15-20% markup, the big junk builders (and really I'm just pissing about their crap ass designs), frequently operate upwards of 35-40%. Just run the numbers on some of the communities they were selling before the whole thing imploded. Their buying power is staggering and as I've said they know where to cut and where not too. All the cool bells and whistles are in but its the little things that end up making a house liveable that get dumped, e.g. electrical outlets. No one notices that the "great room" only has four or five outlets until they start plugging in their TV, DVR, DVD, Stereo, lamps......, oh shit were out of plugs now. The other example is A/C, wow, 98 degrees in August, and the A/C can't keep up because the code said 20deg difference. They get a great deal buying 500 GE SS appliance packages to throw you off the shitty ass "plant shelf" they could design around.
 
#15 · (Edited)
TAMPA (Bay News 9) -- Two of the Bay area's biggest builders are set to merge.....

....Pulte Homes and Centex Homes are planning to merge.....

http://www.baynews9.com/content/36/...o+of+Bay+area's+biggest+builders+set+to+merge
Ouch. Shows you the quality (and style) of the average Bay area home. ;)

EDIT- I visited some Centex homes recently in the Stonebrier (sp?) development in west Lutz and the homes were way overpriced. That development I think has been ready to build homes now for about 2 years and has maybe 20 occupied homes.
 
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