When giants unite, there's usually a pressing and formidable need for it. It could be said, however, that not much in the world of commerce and industry has historically posed a more pressing and formidable prospect than the Internet and finding ways to do business on the larger-than-life World Wide Web.

In an announcement yesterday, the nation's five largest homebuilders outlined plans to study and someday launch a new business arena in which to stretch their future growth muscles using the Internet as their platform. The five publicly traded builders, Centex, D.R. Horton, Kaufman & Broad, Lennar, and Pulte Corporations, will use a strategy designed to establish a premiere Internet destination for new home listings and related product sales and services. Combined these giants sell approximately 100,000 new homes per year, figuring prominently in the current economic boom.

This new venture will be a separate entity from the builders creating it, and a search is on to find an experienced e-management firm within the next 30 days. Financial advisor for the venture during the formation of the new company will be Salomon Smith Barney, who is quoted as acknowledging that this prospect is a "significant event highlighting the major builders' commitment to transitioning the industry into the new economy." They went on to say that with huge building entities such as these top five working together, an unmatched presence on the Internet could be established with the potential for high visibility in the e-commerce arena.

What may be even more significant is the positive impact this may have on the home buying public itself. With over 200,000 homes someday advertised through this new medium (and more builders expected to join in shortly thereafter), the Web site will provide the most comprehensive listing of new homes available anywhere in the country. It will separate itself from competing sites (such as HomeBuilder.com, NewHomeNetwork.com, Realtor.com, to name a few) through its immediate access to a huge, somewhat captive consumer base and a critical mass of content provided by not only the builders themselves, but also by their brand name suppliers. It is expected that the site will create the most powerful engine for collecting data and the marketing of new homes, far beyond the capabilities of multiple listing services and will simplify the home search process for the homebuyer as well.

In yesterday's Business Wire press release announcing the builder consortium's plan, mention was also made of another important element to the new and powerful Web site - provisions within the site for critical maintenance and construction-specific information, customized to the builder's product. It is estimated that consumers spend between $10,000 to $15,000 buying home-related products during the year following the purchase of their new homes. The builders' site is expected to supply detailed information about their construction methods, as well as provide timely information on suppliers and contractors whose warranties are customarily still in effect during that time. With these resources in place, homeowners will be in an excellent position to tap into the knowledge these entities provide, assisting them in long-term maintenance of their new homes. Builders, suppliers and contractors stand to also gain from the facilitated ongoing communication the site will encourage, supporting a strong e-commerce opportunity.

It is, perhaps, inevitable that so many mega-factions would someday unite to combine forces of this magnitude, fueled by an economy whose downturn is fleetingly unpredictable and a technology whose scope is nearly limitless. It is, perhaps, a good sign of our times, however, that huge competitive entities such as homebuilders, can lock arms and admit that they must together dive into the heretofore relatively untapped sea of the World Wide Web for both future growth and for the benefit of their consumer base.

Published: March 24, 2000

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A veteran of the real estate and homebuilding industries since 1986, Dena Kouremetis first joined Realty Times as a new homes writer in 1998. Since then, she has authored four books, written consumer columns on new homes issues for websites and newspapers all across the country, contributed to builder trade magazines, appeared as a guest expert on several radio shows and even created a ten-chapter podcast for LendingTree.com’s homebuilder website, iNest.com, now available on iTunes, entitled Uncharted Waters; Navigating the Purchase of a New Production Home. Kouremetis recently joined her local Folsom, CA Coldwell Banker office as a broker associate while continuing to write for the real estate industry. For the past three years, she has been training real estate agents for both the resale and new homes industries, putting her experience, research expertise and gift of expression to work to help others entering the business.