When was kb home founded

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A new password has been sent to your email inbox. Search Submit Search Close. We use cookies to offer you a better, more personalized browsing experience. A total of 40 percent of its sales was secured through referrals from satisfied customers. In , it became the first housing builder to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Following the purchase of Sun Life, the company reorganized its onsite housing activities as a new entity, Kaufman and Broad Development Group. By , Kaufman and Broad was America's largest multinational housing producer and the largest single-family home builder in Paris.

The company operated onsite divisions in more than five states, as well as Canada, France, and West Germany. In , the company entered the pre-cut Custom Home market with plants in Denver, Colorado, and Minneapolis, Minnesota, and the high-rise condominium business with its construction project in New Jersey.

As a result of high interest rates and a national recession--and the concomitant soft new home sales in the company experienced its first full year net loss. Despite the loss, Kaufman and Broad maintained its new market growth and customer service efforts strategy to assure long-term profitability.

In , it expanded into new markets such as Brussels, Belgium, introduced new products, and offered new services such as the industry's first ten-year homeowner warranty. By , the recession had subsided and the housing market had rebounded; the company celebrated the sale of its ,th home, which was an industry first.

Sales in Europe were growing as well. By , under the direction of Bruce Karatz, president of the French division, the company celebrated the sale of its 4,th home overseas. Under Karatz, the division staged one of what industry analysts said was the most creative advertising campaigns in home building: construction of a model home on the roof of an eight-story department store in downtown Paris. More than a half million people toured the home, which featured, among other things, a car inside the attached garage.

As the company entered the s, its growth was again threatened by high interest rates and an industry recession. In an effort to better align its diverse business interests and to improve operations, the firm was reorganized into four operating groups: Kaufman and Broad Development Group for home building; International Mortgage Company for mortgage services; Home Systems for manufactured housing; and Sun Life for life insurance.

A change in executive management also occurred in Bruce Karatz, president of the French division for the past four years, returned to the states and became the president of the Kaufman and Broad Development Group.

His strategy for continued growth in home building was to concentrate on select regional markets that offered strong economic fundamentals. His long-term strategy to become the top producer in those areas that had solid growth potential and exit those markets that did not resulted in Kaufman and Broad phasing out its divisions in Illinois, New Jersey, Germany, and Belgium by The recession of the early s and the new management's corporate strategy resulted in the company exiting other markets over the next several months, and by the following year Kaufman and Broad had reduced its onsite activities to California, France, and Canada.

Market consolidation also was evident in the French division, where management focused its efforts within a mile radius of Paris and exited areas outside the metropolitan area.

While the company was revising its operating strategies, management improved the quality control and customer service programs to increase referrals and maximize customers' perception of improved value. Following the recovery of the national economy, Kaufman and Broad concentrated its building efforts in key markets, including the manufactured homes business segment, improving housing revenues by 55 percent in In addition, the corporation set company records for year-end financials in both revenue and net income.

With the improved sales, the company had become the largest single-family home builder in California. The following year, Kaufman and Broad Land Company was formed to manage property purchasing. Home building in California continued to be strong, with communities such as East Hills in Anaheim, which sold 52 of the 54 homes available in the first weekend. In , the company acquired Bati-Service, an entry-level home builder in France.

This purchase made Kaufman and Broad's French division the third largest builder in the country. That same year in California, the two regional offices each divided into two new divisions. The four divisions allowed the company to address the specific needs of the local community.

Corporate management efforts decentralized the divisions, so each division was held responsible for its own construction, planning, and local operations.

Marketing and purchasing, however, remained a corporate focus. For the entire California market, the company introduced "The California Series," a marketing strategy that allowed all divisions to achieve cost efficiency in advertising and promotional programs.

The concept was developed to improve economies of scale, to achieve a consistent single corporate image, and to increase brand awareness of Kaufman and Broad homes throughout the state. In , the corporation again reorganized. All onsite housing activities, with the exception of manufactured housing, transferred to the new organization to focus on real estate development.

Within two years, this new division had completed a senior citizen apartment complex and 12 office buildings in Paris. The Renovation division was established to refurbish older office buildings in the downtown area.

Management expanded into this new business because it felt that it provided a new growth opportunity given the scarcity of land in that area. By , due in large part to the division's commercial development activities, French revenues more than quadrupled from four years prior.

That same year, Kaufman and Broad Home Corporation split into two companies, each worth approximately a billion dollars: Broad Inc.

Bruce Karatz led the latter as chief executive officer. Despite a slowing U. Lower sales in California were more than offset by strong French division operating results, which was led by a 57 percent increase in commercial revenues.

For , Kaufman and Broad's net orders worldwide for new construction increased from the previous year, and included California, where the nation's recession continued. Sales in California were positively impacted by the company's expansion into the Sacramento market. In , Kaufman and Broad had record deliveries in California, up 27 percent from the previous year. The company also increased its overall percentage of the new home sales market statewide to 6 percent, the highest of any builder in the state and up from 4 percent in Market penetration in the state was solid, with the company marketing homes in 72 communities.

Also in , the company continued its market expansion and established a new division in California and one in Las Vegas, Nevada, bringing the total number of divisions in the region to Management attributed the company's success in to its extensive use of television advertising targeting renters, an audience that was not being reached in the real estate sections of newspapers.

This was a marketing technique that few home builders had used, and it was coupled with an "off-site" telemarketing program designed to reach potential buyers who did not visit sales offices. According to company executives, the advertising spots generated more than 75, sales leads and resulted in approximately incremental sales.

In the mids, sales continued strong in the California region despite a recession, although profits fell as the company enticed buyers with free upgrades and waived down payments. The company increasingly focused on first-time buyers, reducing its higher-priced home inventory; the average price for a Kaufman and Broad new home was typically thousands of dollars below the statewide average.

Moreover, its mortgage subsidiary financed more than three-quarters of the company's California home purchases by offering competitive mortgage programs designed for first-time buyers. To boost profit margins, Kaufman and Broad sought to reduce costs through increased centralization.