From transformer shortages and record-high interest rates to ongoing labor shortages and supply chain disruptions, 2023 was a challenging year for homebuilders and land developers. As you plan for 2024, we're here to offer some helpful tips to help you ensure a successful and profitable year.
Tip #1: Evaluate Efficiency
In this fast-paced industry, time is indeed money. Inefficiencies are not only costly, but can also quickly lead to missed opportunities, schedule delays, mistakes, and added stress. Many tasks once considered indispensable, like frequent meetings and on-site visits, can now be much more efficient with the help of technology.
Here’s proof that inefficiency is eating away at your profit margins:
- You waste several hours each week driving from job site to job site to obtain information.
- Tasks like moving dirt and having lots surveyed are repeated multiple times.
- You rely on expensive consultants to verify work completed.
- You spend weeks waiting for information, and once you receive it, it’s outdated.
Enter TraceAir, your solution for extreme efficiency. With the ability to monitor progress, quantify dirt movement, obtain measurements, and keep your projects moving remotely, TraceAir significantly reduces the need for on-site visits and costly third-party consultants. From land acquisition to final sale, TraceAir helps you make faster, smarter decisions. Use this newfound time to focus on more important aspects of your projects.
With TraceAir's remote progress tracking capabilities, I have significantly reduced on-site visits, saving at least one full day per month. I can now use this time to focus on the crucial aspects of our projects, ensuring better productivity and higher-quality results." — Cody Simoneaux, Vice President of Land for M/I Homes’ Charlotte Division
Tip #2: Boost Your Proactivity
Everyone tries their best to be proactive. If you know a mistake is about to happen or a hurdle is up ahead, of course you try to avoid it. The problem is that land developers deal with unique challenges that no other phases of construction face, and they lack tools that help them actually be proactive. This is especially true for developers managing multiple projects.
Are you unknowingly using a reactive approach?
- You have no way to quickly compare your project to design grade.
- Change orders and rework are something you commonly experience.
- If you had better information, you could have avoided mistakes.
- You have no historical project documentation.
These challenges are no fault to land developers, historically, they lacked effective tools to address these issues. Purpose-built to solve the unique challenges of land development, TraceAir uses advanced technology to regularly compare your project's current status to the design grade, enabling early detection of potential issues before they escalate into costly problems.
Our recently introduced Schedule tool provides a quick, comprehensive view of all your projects, allowing you to easily spot any schedule delays or problems. Furthermore, TraceAir maintains a historical record of scans that can be referred back to at any time. This feature repeatedly proves immense value, whether for demonstrating compliance or discussing a past project status.
TraceAir has saved us hundreds of thousands of dollars by catching potential issues early. It’s a more powerful tool than I ever imagined. To be honest, every developer should be using TraceAir.” — Tom Woliver, Founder and Co-President of Oxland Group
Tip #3: Connect Your Jobsite to the Office
Most companies struggle with a major communication gap between the field and office, leaving enormous room for error. Often, it can feel like field and office teams operate in different worlds. Office personnel can find it challenging to grasp the daily nuances of land development – equipment issues, weather-related setbacks, and the interconnected nature of tasks. Conversely, field staff may struggle to comprehend the difficulties of financing, entitlement, supplier management, and the array of corporate or future homeowner demands.
Here’s what a gap between the field and office looks like:
- Contractors are overpaid for work not properly completed.
- Field staff are unequipped with quick methods of viewing project plans, leading to frequent miscommunications and errors.
- Communication between the field and office often feels like a game of telephone.
- Weeks go by between your site visits, and once on-site it’s hard to see everything.
Many companies have tried and failed to bridge this gap by implementing department-based software, or software that’s too complex. TraceAir goes above and beyond to eliminate frustrations between the field and office with dead-simple software backed by unbeatable support. Accessible on any web-based device, TraceAir uses visuals and simple tools that anyone can use.
Our contractors are using TraceAir out in the field. It helps them solve problems and confirms that progress aligns with schedule goals. TraceAir’s user-friendly interface and unlimited license sharing have greatly facilitated cross-functional collaboration, streamlining our workflows and enhancing overall efficiency.” — Cody Simoneaux, Vice President of Land for M/I Homes’ Charlotte Division
Tip #4: Embrace Project-Wide Transparency
It’s one thing to keep your team informed. But on land development projects, with a multitude of projects happening simultaneously, each with different teams, goals, and timelines, ensuring everyone is informed and working towards the larger goal is a major challenge. Without the right tools, miscommunications are inevitable and can result in costly consequences.
Do these sound familiar to your team?
- Transitioning between phases is difficult.
- Clarification is needed after meetings and mistakes are made in the field.
- You spend hours gathering information for meetings and to solve problems.
- Stakeholders and constantly asking for progress updates.
Implementing project-wide transparency is not easy. First, it requires a shift in mindset, followed by implementing the right tools. With unlimited licenses, TraceAir creates a single source of truth. Embracing transparency is a win-win for everyone - work gets completed faster, less mistakes are made, meetings are more productive, stakeholders are informed and engaged, and everyone can perform better.
We like to engage all of our consultants, civil engineers, geotechnical engineers, structural engineers, general contractors with TraceAir for full and complete transparency on our projects. It’s been extremely helpful.” — Stacia Bloom, Land Development Manager, Century Communities
Tip #5: Combat Labor Shortage with Tech
Technology is your ally in both attracting and retaining top talent. The new workforce has been around technology their entire life. They not only have a natural affinity for technology, but also high expectations for integrating it into their professional lives. Even the more experienced members of your workforce are eager to embrace cool, brag-worthy tools that enhance efficiency and reduce stress.
The key to success lies in implementing simple tools tailored to your team's unique needs. For land development teams, there is no better choice than TraceAir. Through active conversations, project visits, and observations, TraceAir solves problems that land developers didn't even know they had. We take great pride in ensuring that our software is easy for everyone, even the least tech-savvy.
Discover how a Land Development Manager at Lennar used TraceAir to double the number of projects he could manage, while improving efficiency and reducing site visits.
A Proven Solution
TraceAir is your partner for a successful and profitable 2024. With a turnkey solution, dedicated customer support, and user-friendly tools, TraceAir has earned the trust of top homebuilders and land developers. To explore how TraceAir can benefit your organization, schedule a demo today.