Homebuilders are banding together like never before, and not just to make their voices known on issues that have to do with urban and suburban growth and land development for their local homebuilder associations.

They are beginning to understand that if they are to build the homes of the future they’ll need to operate on much more sophisticated levels than in years past. Using the Internet for virtually every aspect of the home building process will no doubt become the rule instead of the exception to it, purchasing materials, scheduling labor, conducting marketing, offering homebuyer options, and originating mortgages online on behalf of their homebuyers, all thrown into the cyber-equation.

Even though builders’ new home communities compete with one another in any given area, they have always been keenly aware of the fact that there is literally a driver for every seat, and that they have a lot more in common than they do apart from one another.

Set to launch this spring is BuilderHomeSite.com, a Web site that is being designed and funded exclusively by some of the nation’s largest production homebuilders. Gearing up to feature 300,000 newly built homes throughout the United States, the site will also literally be a one-stop shop for the new homebuyers/homeowners for everything from new home warranty information to services, products, and even furniture for the newly-purchased home. In announcements put forth last March, only five major builders had thrown their hats into the ring for the site. The number has since doubled and continues to grow, according to the site’s sources.

Another new platform on which homebuilders can gather on a twice-yearly basis is Hanley-Wood LLC’s iHousing conference, sponsored by industry bible BUILDER magazine. The seminars, designed to give builders a forum in which to share information and learn about how the Internet can revolutionize their industry, had its debut in June, 2000 in Washington, D.C. to standing-room only crowds. The second such event yielded similar results, held in San Francisco in December, 2000. Hanley-Wood LLC’s two brand new magazines, ihousing and PROSALES came together to create the conferences for housing’s top management. For more information on future seminars, visit www.builderonline.com.

Just as the re-sale housing industry has begun to embrace their business in e-commerce terms with the upcoming eRealtor.com venue, homebuilders must face the inevitable revolution taking place in the almost limitless medium created by the World Wide Web. Homebuilders realize more than ever that the clock never spins backwards and that the cyber-world may indeed hold the key to higher profits and more efficiency in homebuilding for the 21st century.