Item 1. Business
Item 1. Business
The Company
Meritage Homes Corporation ("Meritage Homes") is a leading designer and builder of single-family homes. We primarily build in historically high-growth regions of the United States and offer a variety of homes that are designed for the first-time and first move-up buyers. We have homebuilding operations in three regions: West, Central and East, which are comprised of nine states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Texas, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. These three regions are our principal homebuilding reporting segments. We also operate a financial services reporting segment. In this segment, we offer title and escrow, mortgage, and insurance services. Carefree Title Agency, Inc. ("Carefree Title"), our wholly-owned title company, provides title insurance and closing/settlement services to our homebuyers. Managing our own title operations allows us greater control over the entire escrow and closing cycles in addition to generating additional revenue. Beginning in the fourth quarter of 2019, we commenced operations of a wholly-owned insurance broker, Meritage Homes Insurance Agency (“Meritage Insurance”). Meritage Insurance works in collaboration with insurance companies nationwide to offer homeowners' insurance and other various insurance products to our homebuyers. Our financial services operations also provide mortgage loans to our homebuyers indirectly through an unconsolidated joint venture.
Our homebuilding activities are conducted under the name of Meritage Homes in each of our homebuilding markets. At December 31, 2020, we were actively selling homes in 195 communities, with base prices ranging from approximately $191,000 to $921,000. Our average sales price on both home closings and orders was approximately $377,000 for the year ended December 31, 2020.
Available Information; Corporate Governance
We commenced our homebuilding operations in 1985 through our predecessor company known as Monterey Homes. Meritage Homes Corporation was incorporated in the state of Maryland in 1988 under the name of Homeplex Mortgage Investments Corporation and merged with Monterey Homes in 1996, at which time our name was changed to Monterey Homes Corporation and later ultimately to Meritage Homes Corporation. Since that time, we have engaged in homebuilding and related activities and ceased to operate as a real estate investment trust. Meritage Homes Corporation operates as a holding company and has no independent assets or operations. Its homebuilding construction, development and sales activities are conducted through its subsidiaries.
Information about our company and communities is provided on our Internet website at www.meritagehomes.com . The information contained on our website is not considered part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Our periodic and current reports, including any amendments, filed or furnished pursuant to section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”) are available, free of charge, on our website as soon as reasonably practicable after they are electronically filed with or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”).
Meritage operates within a comprehensive plan of corporate governance for the purpose of defining responsibilities and setting high standards for ethical conduct. Our Board of Directors has established an audit committee, executive compensation committee, nominating/governance committee, environmental, social, and sustainability committee and land committee. The charters for each of these committees are available on our website, along with our Code of Ethics, Corporate Governance Principles and Practices, Conflict of Interest Policy and Securities Trading Policy. All of our employees, officers and directors, are required to comply with our Code of Ethics and to immediately report through the appropriate channels, any known instances of non-compliance. Our committee charters, Code of Ethics, Corporate Governance Principles and Practices, Conflict of Interest Policy and Securities Trading Policy are also available in print, free of charge, to any stockholder who requests any of them by calling us or by writing to us at our principal executive offices at the following address: Meritage Homes Corporation, 8800 East Raintree Drive, Suite 300, Scottsdale, Arizona 85260, Attention: General Counsel. Our telephone number is (480) 515-8100.
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Strategy
All facets of Meritage's operations are governed by our core values that define our culture and operational parameters, ensuring that our actions are aligned around our brand promise of delivering to each of our customers a LIFE. BUILT. BETTER. ®
Our six core values include:
• Start With Heart
• Integrity Above All Else
• Develop to Empower
• Think Strategically
• Build Value, and
• Play to Win
These values combine our entrepreneurial spirit, cutting-edge innovation and organizational agility to strive for industry-leading results in all of our functional areas, including: land acquisition and development, finance, marketing, sales, purchasing, construction, customer care and information technology. The main tenets of these core values are:
• Value, recognize and appreciate our employees, trade partners and customers;
• Provide the highest level of customer service by bringing passion and care to every customer interaction and make a difference by giving back to the communities we serve;
• Always act with honesty, character and integrity by demonstrating openness and transparency with our internal and external customers;
• Strive to have the best team available through investing in our people and fostering an environment that embraces continual growth and learning;
• Continuously and purposefully renew, rethink and innovate with the customer in mind by supporting and encouraging new ideas and recognizing efforts that grow shareholder value;
• Lead with action, be relentless in our pursuit of excellence and never settle;
• Commitment to drive diversity, equity, and inclusion throughout our organization and industry by partnering with organizations that support and promote diversity and by providing an inclusive environment by applying such standards in our everyday hiring, promotion and operational activities; and
• Create an inclusive and positive culture focused on cultivating an environment where every team member can be highly engaged in embracing opportunities to develop and grow in their careers.
These core values are evident in the operational decisions we make in each of our divisions and communities, all of which contribute to the successes we have achieved with our customers, within the marketplace and within the homebuilding industry.
Over the last several years we made a strategic shift in our business, focusing on the growing demand for entry-level and first move-up homes. Our LiVE.NOW ® communities are targeted to the entry-level price point combining nicely appointed affordable homes with a simplified and streamlined construction and sales processes aimed to create a stress-free buying experience for our customers while also allowing our trade partners and suppliers to work more efficiently and cost effectively, which allows us to pass resulting savings on to our customers. Our strategy shift also encompassed a simplification of the home buying process for the first-time move-up segment, a demographic we have historically had a significant presence in. For our first-time move-up product, our design center called "Studio M" provides an experience that simplifies the sale and design center processes and provides an efficient and less stressful way for homebuyers to personalize their new homes through design center collections versus the traditional a-la-carte design center offerings. We believe our strategy addresses the need for well-appointed yet lower-priced homes, while allowing us to simplify and maximize the profitability of our business.
We continue to focus on innovation in every new home we build, employing industry-leading building techniques and technologies aimed at setting the standard for energy-efficient homebuilding. Accordingly, at a minimum, every new home we construct meets ENERGY STAR ® standards, with many of our communities greatly surpassing those levels, offering our customers homes that utilize, on average, half of the energy of a typical U.S. home of the same size. In 2020, we introduced MERV-13 air filters in our homes, one of the most advanced air filtration systems offered today for residential construction, which controls and improves air exchange within the home. As a result of our commitment to interior air quality with these new filters, we now carry the Environmental Protection Agency’s Indoor airPLUS certification. Our commitment to incorporate
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these energy and healthy living standards into all of our homes has resulted in our achievement of design, purchasing and production efficiencies that have allowed us to offer these as standard features to our home buyers for nominal additional cost while providing significant additional value to our customers. In addition, all homes we build include home automation features through our M.Connected Home Automation Suite ® . This technology includes features that allow homeowners to monitor and control key components of their homes, such as Wi-Fi enabled thermostats, garage doors and smart door locks.
Year after year, the homes we design and build help deliver energy savings to our homeowners. As a result, we have earned various national and regional awards, including:
• 2013 - 2020 ENERGY STAR ® Leadership in Housing;
• 2013 - 2019 ENERGY STAR ® Partner of the Year for Sustained Excellence, awarded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency;
• 2020 Builder of the Year for Green Home Builder; and
• Various AVID Diamond, Gold and Benchmark awards across multiple categories and divisions.
We believe responsible corporate governance and social responsibility is important for the long-term sustainability of the business. We are committed to sustainability through the homes we build, the communities in which we live and work, and the ways we conduct ourselves every day. We provide information regarding these topics on our website and within publicly filed reports, including our Corporate Sustainability Report which is located within the Investor Relations area of our website.
Markets
We currently build and sell homes in the following markets:
Markets Year Entered
Phoenix, AZ 1985
Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX 1987
Austin, TX 1994
Tucson, AZ 1995
Houston, TX 1997
East Bay/Central Valley, CA 1998
Sacramento, CA 1998
San Antonio, TX 2003
Inland Empire, CA 2004
Denver, CO 2004
Orlando, FL 2004
Raleigh, NC 2011
Tampa, FL 2011
Charlotte, NC 2012
Nashville, TN 2013
Atlanta, GA 2014
Greenville, SC 2014
South Florida 2016
Recent Industry and Company Developments
The housing market was exceptionally strong in 2020 despite a short pause in March and April due to COVID-19-related shutdowns. Post COVID-19, demand was driven by favorable market factors including historically-low mortgage interest rates, a limited supply of existing homes and an increased demand for healthier, safer homes. We believe the strengthening demand experienced throughout the year reflects the sustained positive macroeconomic factors in the economy allowing more people to own their own homes. We believe demand for affordable new homes will at least keep pace with demand for other home offerings for the short to mid-term. Accordingly, homebuilders with attractive, lower price-point product in desirable locations with inventory available for quick move-in should be poised to capture this demand for nicely appointed but affordable homes.
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Over the last couple of years, we have executed a strategy to address the demand for more affordable homes by acquiring and developing communities and designing homes that can be delivered at a lower cost. We are achieving our goal by simplifying our product and construction processes, switching to an all spec home sales program for our entry-level communities, which allow buyers to move in quicker, and by enhancing and making the entire home buying experience easier for our customers. We are confident in our strategy and continue to demonstrate our commitment to first-time and first move-up buyers through our land acquisitions, our Studio M streamlined option and upgrade offerings for our move-up product, and our focus on delivering affordable homes through simplification of the design, development and construction processes. We also remain committed to our key financial goals such as home closing gross margin improvement and controlling selling, and general and administrative costs, both of which are benefiting from our strategic product switch and simplification initiatives. We are now fully operational with these strategies, which will enable us to continuously improve profitability and turn our focus to expanding our market share as we pursue long-term community count growth. Approximately 94% of our active communities are targeted to first-time and first move-up buyers and who collectively represented approximately 95% of our orders in 2020.
We had a 42.7% increase in orders in 2020, translating to a 27.7% higher closing volume than in 2019 thanks in large part to our shortened construction and sale to close timeline for our entry-level and first move-up product. Home closing revenues grew 23.9% for the year ended December 31, 2020 despite a decline in average sales prices compared to the prior year. Home closing gross margin improved by 310 basis points to 22.0% in 2020 compared to 18.9% in 2019. Our 2020 net earnings increased by 69.6% with a 71.3% increase in diluted EPS compared to prior year.
We carefully manage our liquidity and balance sheet, particularly during times of limited economic visibility. Our improved earnings are generating cash that is allowing us to reinvest in our business through acquiring and developing land while also repurchasing our common stock. Throughout 2020, we repurchased 1,100,000 shares of our common stock and we ended the year with cash and cash equivalents totaling $745.6 million as compared to $319.5 million at December 31, 2019. Our debt-to-capital ratio was 30.3% and our net debt-to-capital ratio was 10.5% at December 31, 2020, down from 34.0% and 26.2%, respectively, at December 31, 2019.
Land Acquisition and Development
Our current land pipeline goal is to maintain an approximate four-to-five year supply of lots, which we believe provides an appropriate planning horizon to address regulatory matters, perform land development and manage to our business plan for future closings. We are aggressively securing new land positions to replace communities as they sell out and to expand our business and grow our footprint. During the year ended December 31, 2020, we invested approximately $1.3 billion in land acquisition and development and secured more than 27,200 net new lots, a 60% increase as compared to approximately 17,000 new lots in 2019. We grew our lot supply with 55,502 lots under control at December 31, 2020 versus 41,399 in 2019. We are currently focused on adding to our current lot positions and expanding our market share in our existing markets and their surrounding submarkets while also exploring opportunities outside of our existing markets, when available, with a target of 300 actively selling communities by mid-2022. As of December 31, 2020 we have a 4.7 year supply of lots, based on 2020 closings. We continually evaluate our markets, monitoring and adjusting our lot supply through lot and land acquisitions to ensure we have a sufficient pipeline that is in sync with local market dynamics as well as our goals for growth in those markets. Approximately 81% of the lots placed under control in 2020 are designated for entry-level communities.
We are currently purchasing primarily partially-developed or undeveloped lots as the opportunity to purchase substantially finished lots in desired locations is limited. Finished lots are those on which the development has already been completed by a third party, and which are ready for immediate home construction. Undeveloped land and partially developed lots require a longer lead time to allow for development activities before our new communities are able to open for sales. Typically, undeveloped and partially developed lots will have a lower all-in cost than finished lots as we are responsible for improvements on the land, rather than paying a mark-up on improvements by a prior developer. When evaluating any land acquisition opportunity, our selection is based upon a variety of factors, including:
• financial feasibility of the proposed project, including projected profit margins, return on capital invested, and the capital payback period;
• suitability of the land for our product offering of entry-level and first move-up homes;
• management’s judgment as to the local real estate market and economic trends, and our experience in particular markets;
• existing concentration of owned and contracted lots in surrounding markets, including nearby Meritage communities;
• timeline for development, generally within a three to five-year time period from the beginning of the development process to the delivery of the last home;
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• surrounding demographics based on extensive marketing studies, including surveys of both new and resale homebuyers;
• the ability to secure governmental approvals and entitlements, if required;
• results of environmental and legal due diligence;
• proximity to schools and to local traffic and employment corridors and amenities;
• entitlement and development risks and timelines; and
• availability of seller-provided purchase options or agreements that allow us to defer lot purchases until needed for production.
When purchasing undeveloped or partially developed land, we strive to defer the closing for the land until after entitlements have been obtained to eliminate or minimize risk and so that development or construction may begin as market conditions dictate. The term “entitlements” refers to appropriate zoning, development agreements and preliminary or tentative maps or plats, depending on the jurisdiction within which the land is located. Entitlements generally give the developer the right to obtain building permits upon compliance with conditions that are ordinarily within the developer’s control. Even though entitlements are usually obtained before land is purchased, we are typically still required to secure a variety of other governmental approvals and permits prior to and during development, and the process of obtaining such approvals and permits can be lengthy. We may consider the purchase of unentitled land when we can do so in a manner consistent with our business strategy. Currently, we are generally purchasing and developing parcels that on average range from 100 to 200 lots.
Once we secure undeveloped land, we generally supervise and control the development of the land through contractual agreements with subcontractors. These activities may include site planning and engineering, as well as constructing road, sewer, water, utilities, drainage, landscaping improvements, recreation amenities and other improvements and refinements. We may build homes in master-planned communities with home sites that are adjacent to or near major amenities, such as golf courses or recreation facilities.
The factors used to evaluate finished lot purchases are similar to those for land we intend to develop ourselves, although the development risks associated with the undeveloped land—financial, entitlement, environmental, legal and governmental—have largely been borne by others. Therefore, these finished lots may be more attractive to us, despite their higher price, as we can immediately bring the community to market and begin home construction as well as mitigate potential cost and time risks that can occur during the land entitlement and development process. We develop a design and marketing plan tailored to each community, which includes the determination of type, size, style and price range of homes. We may also determine the overall community design for each project we develop including street and community layout, individual lot size and layout, and common areas and amenities to be included within the community. The homes offered depend upon many factors, including the guidelines, if any, of the existing community, housing available in the area, the needs and desired housing product for a particular market, and our lot sizes, though we are increasingly able to use our standardized home design plans in most of our communities.
As a means of accessing parcels of land with minimal cash outlay, we may use rolling option contracts. Acquiring our land through option contracts, when available, allows us to leverage our balance sheet by controlling the timing and volume of lot and land purchases from third parties. These contracts provide us the right, but generally not the obligation, to buy lots at predetermined future intervals and are usually structured to approximate our projected absorption rate at the time the contract is negotiated. Lot option contracts are generally non-recourse and typically require the payment of non-refundable deposits of 5% to 20% of the total land purchase price. The use of option contracts limits the market risks associated with land ownership by allowing us to re-negotiate option terms or terminate options in the event of market downturns but also include a fee to the counterparty. In the event we elect to cancel an option contract, our losses are typically limited to the forfeiture of our option deposits and any associated capitalized pre-acquisition costs. The cost of obtaining land through such option contracts is generally higher than if we were to purchase land in bulk, although the financial leverage benefits they can provide can outweigh the financing costs associated with them. During periods of gross margin contraction, it is more difficult to achieve financial feasibility through option contracts and we will generally only contract for lots in this manner if we are still able to achieve desired margins. Land purchases are generally financed through our working capital, including corporate borrowings.
At December 31, 2020, in addition to our 32,768 owned lots, we also had 22,734 lots under non-refundable purchase or option contracts with a total purchase price of approximately $867.3 million secured by $56.7 million in cash deposits. We purchase and develop land primarily to support our homebuilding operations, although we may sell land and lots to other developers and homebuilders from time to time where we have excess land positions or for other strategic reasons. Information related to lots and land under option is presented in Note 3 in the accompanying consolidated financial statements.
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All land and lot acquisitions are reviewed by our corporate land acquisition committee, which is comprised of certain members of our executive management team and key operating executives. All land acquisitions exceeding a specified dollar amount must also be approved by our Board of Directors' Land Committee.
Investments in Unconsolidated Entities — Joint Ventures
We may enter into joint ventures as a means of accessing larger parcels of land, expanding our market opportunities, managing our risk profile and leveraging our capital base. While purchasing land through a joint venture can be beneficial, we do not view joint ventures as critical to the success of our homebuilding operations. We currently have only one such active venture that is only selling a limited portfolio of land to third parties. In addition to the land development joint venture, we also participate in one mortgage business joint venture. The mortgage joint venture is engaged in mortgage activities and primarily provides services to our homebuyers.
In connection with our land development joint ventures, we may also provide certain types of limited guarantees to associated lenders and municipalities.
Construction Operations
We typically act as the general contractor for our projects and hire experienced subcontractors on a geographic basis to complete construction at fixed prices. We usually enter into agreements with subcontractors and materials suppliers after receiving competitive bids. In certain markets at high risk for construction or development cost increases, we enter into fixed-fee bids when it makes economic sense to do so. We also enter into longer-term and national or regional contracts with subcontractors and suppliers, where possible, to obtain more favorable terms, minimize construction costs and to control product consistency and availability. Our contracts require that our subcontractors comply with all laws and labor practices pertaining to their work, follow local building codes and permits, and meet performance, warranty and insurance requirements. Our purchasing and construction managers coordinate and monitor the activities of subcontractors and suppliers, and monitor compliance with zoning, building and safety codes. At December 31, 2020, we employed approximately 731 full-time construction and warranty employees.
We specify that quality durable materials be used in the construction of our homes and we do not maintain significant inventories of construction materials, except for work in process materials for homes under construction. When possible, we negotiate price and volume discounts and rebates with manufacturers and suppliers on behalf of our subcontractors so we can take advantage of production volume. Our raw materials consist primarily of lumber, concrete, drywall, roofing materials and similar construction materials and are frequently purchased on a national or regional level. Such materials have historically been available from multiple suppliers and therefore we do not believe there is a supplier risk concentration. However, because such materials are substantially comprised of natural resource commodities, their cost and availability is subject to national and worldwide price fluctuations and inflation, each of which could be impacted by legislation or regulation relating to energy, climate change and tariffs. We typically do not enter into any derivative contracts to hedge against weather or materials fluctuations as we do not believe they are particularly advantageous to our operations, although we do periodically lock in short and mid-term pricing with our vendors for certain key construction commodities. We experienced building material cost pressures, particularly for lumber, and in some instances, limited production capacity issues with some of our main product suppliers, including supply chain constraints in 2020 largely associated with COVID-19 responses. These upward cost trends may continue in 2021.
We generally build and sell homes in phases within our larger projects, which we believe creates efficiencies in land development, home construction operations and cash management. We also believe it improves customer satisfaction by reducing the number of vacant lots and construction activity surrounding completed homes. Our homes are typically completed within three to five months from the start of construction, depending upon the geographic location and the size and complexity of the home. Construction schedules may vary depending on the size of the home, availability of labor, materials and supplies, product type, location, municipal requirements and weather. Our homes are usually designed to promote efficient use of space and materials, and to minimize construction costs and time.
Marketing and Sales
We believe that we have an established reputation for building attractive, high quality and efficient homes, which helps generate demand in our communities. Our communication and marketing plans are tailored to target and reach our different customer segments. Part of these plans involve reaching new customers through a combination of advertising and other promotional activities targeting key consumer segments through online advertising, online listings, social media, email, articles and posts to drive consumers to our website at www.meritagehomes.com . During 2020, we accelerated various company-wide digital initiatives that were in progress to provide a contactless customer experience, including:
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• Offering virtual tours in all of our communities to realtors, customers, and prospective buyers;
• Offering extensive online tools such as 3-D tours and dynamic floor plans to mimic the live experience of walking through a model home;
• Pre-qualifying buyers for mortgages through digital solutions on our website;
• Collecting earnest money payments remotely through third-party hosted money-transfer solutions; and
• Offering drive-through and partial or fully virtual closings in states where such services are permitted.
In addition, our local marketing efforts are focused to drive consumers to visit specific communities in the market via incremental online promotions, direct mail, grass roots marketing campaigns and events, as well as strategically placed signs in the vicinities near our communities. Our marketing strategy is aimed at differentiating Meritage from resale homes, as well as new homes offered by other homebuilders. We market this differentiation by highlighting our industry leading energy-efficient features and benefits as part of a larger, integrated system that enables us to deliver on our LIFE. BUILT. BETTER.® brand promise to our customers, which means having a home that is quieter, cleaner, healthier, smarter and safer.
We sell our homes using furnished model homes as a marketing tool to demonstrate to prospective homebuyers the advantages of the designs and features of our homes. At December 31, 2020, we owned 251 completed model homes, had 31 models under construction and leased back 10 model homes previously sold to buyers. We generally employ or contract with interior and landscape designers who enhance the appeal of our model homes, which highlight the features and options available for the homes within a project. We typically build between one and three model homes for each actively selling community, depending upon the products to be offered and the number of homes to be built in the project. We strive to implement marketing strategies that will educate our buyers on how our unique building techniques and the energy efficient and home automation features in our homes differentiate them from other homes. In every community, we integrate interactive in-home displays in order to inform our buyers about our many energy-efficient and home automation features and help them understand how and to what extent a Meritage home can help them realize savings through reduced energy bills, and experience and enjoy better health, improved comfort and peace of mind.
For our move-up buyers, we offer home customization options through Studio M, a completely re-imagined design center experience. Rather than the traditional à la carte design studio process, Studio M offers option packages which we refer to as our "Design Collections". These collections offer a pre-selected combination of flooring, cabinetry, countertops, lighting and fixtures that are all professionally designed to work together to meet each buyer's preference. Our homebuyers meet with our designers to follow a streamlined process for personalizing their homes through a selection of these packages and enhancements, while benefiting from bulk-purchase savings that we attain from our national vendor relationships. Our concept for Studio M is a direct result of feedback from our homebuyers and, based on our core values of innovating with the customer in mind, we took action to completely rethink how the home buying and design process should work to meet the needs of today’s buyer.
Our homes generally are sold by our commissioned sales associate employees who work from a sales office typically located in a converted garage of one of the model homes for each community. We also employ a team of online sales associates who offer assistance to potential buyers viewing our communities and products online through digital offerings such as virtual tours and 3-D tours and dynamic floor plans. At December 31, 2020, we had approximately 466 full-time sales and marketing personnel. Our goal is to ensure that our sales force has extensive knowledge of our housing product, our energy efficient and innovative features, our sales strategies, mortgage options, and community dynamics, in order to fully execute our marketing message. To achieve this goal, we train our sales associates and conduct regular meetings to update them on our product, communities, sales techniques, competition in the area, financing availability, construction schedules, marketing and advertising plans, available product lines, pricing, and options offered, as well as the numerous benefits and savings our energy efficient product provides. Our sales associates are licensed real estate agents where required by law. We may offer various sales incentives, including price concessions, assistance with closing costs, and landscaping or interior upgrades, to attract buyers. The use, type and amount of incentives depends largely on economic and local competitive market conditions. Third-party brokers may also sell our homes, and are usually paid a sales commission based on the price of the home. Frequently, third-party brokers bring prospective buyers to our communities. We have a robust loyalty program for these brokers and we aim to regularly educate them on the benefits of owning a Meritage home and our community offerings, which we believe helps enhance the impact of our marketing message.
We differentiate ourselves from our competitors with our highly desirable and affordable community and plan offerings and our simplified home buying process to effectively meet the needs of today's homebuyers. We also differentiate ourselves through the superior design and value of our communities and homes and our energy-efficiency features and home automation packages. We believe our commitment to design and build energy-efficient homes is aligned with buyer sensitivities about how eco-friendly designs, features and materials help impact the environment and the livability of cleaner, healthier homes, as well
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as their pocketbooks. As evidenced in our strategic shift to focus primarily on first-time and first move-up buyers through our LiVE.NOW ® and Design Collections offerings, we are committed to continually evaluating buyer preferences and making adjustments to the homes we offer and the targeted price points in accordance with buyer demand. We believe these efforts set us and our homes apart from both other new homes available for sale and the re-sale home market.
Backlog
Our sales contracts require cash deposits and may be subject to certain contingencies such as the buyer’s ability to qualify for financing. Homes covered by sales contracts but which are not yet closed are considered “backlog” and are representative of potential future revenues. Started homes are excluded from backlog until a sales contract is signed and are referred to as unsold speculative or “spec” inventory. A contract contingent upon the sale of a customer’s existing home or a mortgage pre-approval is not considered a sale and not included in backlog until the contingency is removed. All of our entry-level homes are started as spec homes whereas a signed sales contract is generally required to release a specific lot to start construction of a move-up home, although on a regular basis we also start a certain number of move-up homes for speculative sales inventory. We may also start construction on spec homes to accelerate or facilitate the close-out of a community. Our spec inventory per active community is consistent with prior year, at 12.9 as of December 31, 2020 as compared to 12.4 as of December 31, 2019. At December 31, 2020, 89.2% of our 4,672 homes in backlog were under construction.
We do not recognize any revenue from a home sale until a finished home is delivered to the homebuyer, payment is collected and other criteria for sale and profit recognition are met. At December 31, 2020, of our total unsold homes in inventory, excluding completed model homes, 91.1% were under construction and 8.9% were completed. A portion of the unsold homes resulted from homesites that began construction with valid sales contracts that were subsequently canceled. We believe that during 2021 we will deliver to customers substantially all homes in backlog at December 31, 2020 under existing or, in the case of cancellations, replacement sales contracts.
The number of units in backlog increased 67.9% to 4,672 units at December 31, 2020 from 2,782 units at December 31, 2019 with a 65.1% increase in the value of backlog to $1.8 billion from $1.1 billion.
Customer Financing
Most of our homebuyers require financing to purchase their home Accordingly, we refer them to mortgage lenders that offer a variety of financing options. While our homebuyers may obtain financing from any mortgage provider of their choice, we have a joint venture arrangement with an established mortgage broker that acts as a preferred mortgage broker to our buyers to help facilitate the financing process as well as generate additional revenue for us through our interest in the joint venture (See Note 5 in the accompanying consolidated financial statements for additional information on joint venture financial results). We also have referral relationships with unaffiliated preferred mortgage lenders. We may pay a portion of the closing costs to assist homebuyers who obtain financing from our preferred lenders.
Customer Relations, Quality Control and Warranty Programs
We believe that positive customer relations and an adherence to stringent quality control standards are fundamental to our continued success, and that our commitment to buyer satisfaction and quality control has significantly contributed to our reputation as a high-quality builder.
In accordance with our company-wide standards, one or more Meritage project manager or superintendent generally monitors compliance with quality control standards for each community through the building phase of our homes. These employees perform the following tasks:
• oversee home construction;
• monitor subcontractor and supplier performance;
• manage scheduling and construction completion deadlines; and
• conduct formal inspections as specific stages of construction are completed.
At the time a home is completed and delivered to a buyer, the continuing relationship is transitioned to a customer relations employee who manages our warranty and customer care efforts.
We generally provide a complete workmanship and materials warranty for the first year after the close of the home, a major mechanical warranty for two years after the close of the home and a structural warranty that typically extends up to 10 years after the close of the home. We require our subcontractors to provide evidence of insurance before beginning work and to provide a warranty to us and to indemnify us from defects in their work and the materials they provide and therefore any claims relating to workmanship and materials are generally the subcontractors’ responsibility. In certain markets and for certain attached product, we offer an owner-controlled insurance program to our subcontractors which, if accepted, is the insurance for damage resulting from construction defects in lieu of some of the insurance we require from the subcontractor. Although our
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subcontractors are generally required to repair and replace any product or labor defects (and for those operating in markets with our owner-controlled insurance program, pay a deductible as a condition to such coverage), we are, during applicable warranty periods, ultimately responsible to the homeowner for making such repairs. Accordingly, with the assistance of an actuary, we have estimated and established reserves for future structural warranty costs based on the number of home closings and historical data trends for warranty work within our communities. Warranty reserves generally range between 0.1% to 0.6% of a home’s sale price. Those projections are subject to variability due to uncertainties regarding structural warranty claims relating to the construction of our homes, the markets in which we build, claim settlement history, and insurance and legal interpretations and developments, among other factors and we are, therefore, constantly monitoring such reserves. Historically, these reserves have been sufficient to cover net out-of-pocket warranty costs.
Competition and Market Factors
The construction and sale of homes is a highly-competitive industry. We compete for sales in each of our markets with national, regional and local developers and homebuilders, as well as existing resale homes, condominiums and rental housing. Some of our competitors have significantly greater financial resources and may have lower costs than we do. Competition among residential homebuilders of all sizes is based on a number of interrelated factors, including location, reputation, product type, amenities, design, innovation, quality and price. We believe that we compare favorably to other homebuilders in the markets in which we operate due to our:
• streamlined construction processes that allow us to save on materials, labor and time and pass those savings to our customers in the form of lower prices while still offering a well-appointed home;
• simplified and less stressful home buying experience through LiVE.NOW ® and Studio M;
• experience within our geographic markets which allows us to develop and offer products that provide superior design and quality in line with the needs and desires of the targeted demographic;
• ENERGY STAR ® standards in all of our communities and incremental energy-efficient features that create a variety of benefits to our customers and differentiate our product from competing new and existing home inventories by providing cleaner, healthier and safer homes;
• inclusion of home automation through our M.Connected Home Automation Suite ® ;
• ability to recognize and adapt to changing market conditions, from both a capital and human resource perspective;
• ability to capitalize on opportunities to acquire land in desirable locations and on favorable terms; and
• reputation for outstanding service and quality products and our exceptional customer and warranty service.
Our product offerings and strategic locations are successfully competing with both existing homes inventory and surrounding new-home communities as evidenced by our relative orders volume and market share in most of our markets. We expect that the strengths noted above will continue to provide us with long-term competitive advantages.
We have an extensive market research department that assists us in each of our markets to better compete with other homebuilders and the inventory of re-sale homes in surrounding neighborhoods. Our strategic operations team conducts in-depth community-level reviews in each of our markets, including a detailed analysis of existing inventory, pricing, buyer demographics and the identification of each location’s key buyer metrics. This analysis and resulting analytical tools assist in decision-making regarding product designs, positioning, and pricing and underwriting standards for land purchases and land development. Additionally, our market research department is focused on evaluating and identifying new market opportunities.
Government Regulation and Environmental Matters
To the extent that we acquire undeveloped land, we prefer to close the acquisition of such land after all or most entitlements have been obtained. Construction may begin almost immediately on such entitled land upon compliance with and receipt of specified permits, approvals and other conditions, which generally are within our control. The time needed to obtain such approvals and permits affects the carrying costs of unimproved property acquired for development and construction. The continued effectiveness of permits already granted is subject to factors such as changes in government policies, rules and regulations, and their interpretation and application. Government approval processes occasionally cause timing delays but have not had a material adverse effect on our development activities, although there is no assurance that these and other restrictions will not adversely affect future operations as, among other things, sunset clauses may exist on some of our entitlements and they could lapse.
Local and state governments have broad discretion regarding the imposition of development fees for projects under their jurisdictions. These fees are normally established when maps or plats are recorded and building permits obtained. Governing agencies may also require concessions or may require the builder to construct certain improvements to public places such as parks and streets. In addition, governing agencies may impose construction moratoriums and therefore we could become subject to delays or may be precluded entirely from developing communities due to building moratoriums, “no growth” or “slow
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growth” initiatives or building permit allocation ordinances, which could be implemented in the future. However, because most of our land is entitled, construction moratoriums typically would not affect us in the near term unless they arise from health, safety or welfare issues, such as insufficient water, electric or sewage facilities.
In addition, there is constantly a variety of new legislation being enacted, or considered for enactment at the federal, state and local levels relating to energy and climate change. Some of this legislation relates to items such as carbon dioxide emissions control and building codes that impose energy efficiency standards. New building code requirements that impose stricter energy efficiency standards could significantly increase the cost to construct homes, although our energy-efficiency technologies and offerings meet, and in many instances exceed, current and expected energy efficiency thresholds. As climate change concerns continue to grow, legislation and regulations of this nature are expected to continue and may result in increased costs and longer approval and development timelines. Similarly, energy and environment-related initiatives affect a wide variety of companies throughout the United States and the world, and because our operations are heavily dependent on significant amounts of raw materials, such as lumber, steel, and concrete, such initiatives could have an indirect adverse impact on our operations and profitability to the extent the manufacturers and suppliers of our materials are burdened with expensive carbon dioxide emissions control and other environmental and energy-related regulations.
We are also subject to a variety of local, state, and federal statutes, ordinances, rules and regulations concerning the protection of health and the environment. In some markets, we are subject to environmentally-sensitive land ordinances that mandate open space areas with public elements in housing developments, and prevent development on hillsides, wetlands and other protected areas. We must also comply with open space restrictions, flood plain restrictions, desert wash area restrictions, native plant regulations, endangered species acts and view restrictions. These and similar laws and regulations may result in delays, cause substantial compliance and other costs, and prohibit or severely restrict development in certain environmentally sensitive regions or areas. In addition, our failure to comply with such restrictions could result in penalties or fines. To date, compliance with such laws and regulations has not materially affected our operations, although it may do so in the future.
We condition our obligation to acquire property on, among other things, an environmental review of the land. To date, we have not incurred any material unanticipated liabilities relating to the removal or remediation of toxic wastes or other environmental conditions. However, there is no assurance that we will not incur material liabilities in the future relating to toxic waste removal or other environmental conditions affecting land currently or previously owned.
In order for our homebuyers to finance their home purchases with Federal Housing Administration ("FHA") insured or Veterans Administration ("VA")-guaranteed or United States Department of Agriculture ("USDA")-guaranteed mortgages, we are required to build such homes in accordance with the regulatory requirements of those agencies.
Some states have statutory disclosure requirements governing the marketing and sale of new homes. These requirements vary widely from state to state.
Some states require us to be registered as a licensed contractor, a licensed real estate broker and in some markets our sales agents are required to be registered as licensed real estate agents.
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Human Capital
At December 31, 2020, we had 1,570 full-time employees, including 326 in management and administration, 47 in our title and insurance companies, 466 in sales and marketing, and 731 in construction and warranty operations. We are committed to creating an inclusive and positive culture for our employees. Our culture is guided by our core values where every employee is strongly encouraged to embrace opportunities to develop and grow their careers. We have a robust talent recognition and succession planning model in place to help identify talent and provide a roadmap for promotion of identified individuals. Of our entire employee population at December 31, 2020, 41% were female and 25% were minorities. While we are proud of our current diversity, through a combination of targeted recruiting and talent development, we intend to expand the diversity of our employee base across the Company over the coming years. In 2020, we implemented trainings to educate our employees on unconscious bias in the workplace and identified an internal resource to lead our diversity, equity and inclusion ("DE&I") efforts. In addition, we donated $200,000 to established charitable organizations that support racial equity and inclusion initiatives. These efforts are integrated in a broader DE&I focus for the organization that will extend into 2021 and beyond.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we implemented a number of strategies, policies and procedures to allow our employees to work remotely, safely and effectively return to the office and address actual and suspected COVID-19 cases all in an effort to reduce the potential spread of COVID-19. The safety of our employees, customers and trade partners guided the decisions we made along with adherence to CDC guidelines and practices. We communicated early and often with our employees and provided several resources including a dedicated intranet site, webinars and trainings. We also provided employees with personal protective equipment, cleaning supplies and increased flexibility to work remotely.
Our operations are carried out through both local and centralized management. Our centralized management sets our strategy and leads decisions related to the Company's land acquisition, risk management, finance, cash management, capital allocation and information systems. Local operations are made up of our division employees, led by management with significant homebuilding experience and who possess a depth of knowledge in their particular markets. Our employees are not unionized, and we have a highly engaged workforce. We act solely as a general contractor, and all construction operations are coordinated by our project managers and field superintendents who schedule and monitor third-party independent subcontractors. We use independent consultants and contractors for certain architectural, engineering, advertising, technology and legal services, and we strive to maintain good relationships with our subcontractors and independent consultants and contractors. We maintain open lines of communication to support and develop our employees. We promote an open-door policy where individuals are encouraged to voice concerns which are promptly addressed. We recognize and emphasize the importance of a balanced work-life and offer our employees competitive and comprehensive compensation and benefits packages. We pay for a substantial portion of our employees’ insurance costs. We also offer a 401(k) savings plan, which is available to all employees who meet the plan’s participation requirements, as well as various other employment-related benefits.
Seasonality
Historically, we have experienced seasonal variations in our quarterly operating results and capital requirements. We typically sell more homes in the first half of the fiscal year than in the second half, which creates additional working capital requirements in the second and third quarters to build our inventories to satisfy the deliveries in the second half of the year. We typically benefit from the cash generated from home closings more in the third and fourth quarters than in the first and second quarters. In 2020, historical cycles were impacted by low interest rates and COVID-19. However, we expect our historical seasonal pattern to continue over the long term although it may continue to be affected by volatility in the homebuilding industry and in the overall economy.
Information about our Executive Officers
The names, ages, positions and business experience of our executive officers as of the date of this report are listed below (all ages are as of December 31, 2020):
Name Age Position
Steven J. Hilton 59 Executive Chairman
Phillippe Lord 47 Chief Executive Officer, Executive Vice President
Hilla Sferruzza 45 Chief Financial Officer, Executive Vice President
C. Timothy White 60 General Counsel, Executive Vice President and Secretary
Clinton Szubinski 44 Chief Operating Officer, Executive Vice President
Javier Feliciano 47 Chief People Officer, Executive Vice President
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Steven J. Hilton co-founded Monterey Homes in 1985, which merged with Homeplex in December 1996 and later became known as Meritage Homes. Mr. Hilton served as Co-Chairman and Co-Chief Executive Officer from July 1997 to May 2006, served as Chief Executive Officer from May 2006 to December 2020, has been the Chairman since May 2006, and became the Executive Chairman effective January 1, 2021.
Phillippe Lord was appointed Chief Executive Officer on January 1, 2021. Prior to his appointment as Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Lord was Chief Operating Officer, Executive Vice President from April 2015 to December 2020, Western Region President from 2012 through March 2015 and Vice President of Strategic Operations from 2008 through 2012.
Hilla Sferruzza was appointed Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President in April 2016. Prior to her appointment as Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President, Ms. Sferruzza was our Chief Accounting Officer and Corporate Controller since 2010 and has worked in other management roles at the Company since 2006.
C. Timothy White has been General Counsel, Executive Vice President and Secretary since October 2005 and served on our Board of Directors from December 1996 until October 2005.
Clinton Szubinski was appointed Chief Operating Officer, Executive Vice President on January 1, 2021. Prior to his appointment as Chief Operating Officer, Mr. Szubinski served as South Region President of Meritage Homes from 2018 to December 2020. Previously, Mr. Szubinski served in senior management roles at K. Hovnanian and CalAtlantic from 2014 to 2018 and from 2011-2014, was the Florida Region President at Meritage Homes.
Javier Feliciano joined Meritage in November 2015 as Chief Human Resources Officer (now "Chief People Officer"), Executive Vice President. From January 2013 through November 2015, Mr. Feliciano was employed by Apollo Education Group as Vice President, Human Resources and as HR Director from June 2010 through January 2013.
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