Layla Zulfa
The housing industry, often perceived as a cyclical beast subject to the whims of economic tides, presents a unique challenge for leadership: how to fundamentally transform a business when external conditions offer little reprieve. View Homes CEO Natasha Gandhi, six months into her tenure, has adopted a decidedly counterintuitive strategy, choosing the current subdued market as the opportune moment to undertake a comprehensive organizational restructuring. Rather than waiting for a more favorable climate, Gandhi believes the present slowdown is the ideal runway to reinvent View Homes, positioning it for significant growth when demand inevitably rebounds. This proactive approach is central to the ongoing “Built for This” series, which examines how homebuilding leaders are proactively strengthening their businesses amidst a challenging market.
Gandhi’s conviction stems from a pragmatic assessment of business dynamics. “I would have had to do this either way: good market, great market, bad market,” Gandhi stated. “I’d rather do it now, John, when the market is soft and the sales are slower than in a busier time, when we are missing out on opportunity.” This perspective frames the current economic climate not as a period of mere endurance, but as a strategic window to build a more robust and scalable enterprise. The goal is to emerge from this period of recalibration not just intact, but fundamentally better equipped to handle substantially greater business volume than its previous operating model could support.
This philosophy aligns with a recurring theme in the “Built for This” series: while homebuilders possess limited control over macroeconomic factors such as interest rates, consumer confidence, material costs, and land prices, they retain significant agency over their internal organization and operational capabilities. Gandhi’s leadership at View Homes exemplifies this principle, focusing on cultivating a culture of capability, implementing smart systems, and refining organizational structures, regardless of prevailing market conditions.
From Family Enterprise to Scalable Builder: A New Chapter for View Homes
View Homes, a company with a 35-year history that once ranked among the nation’s top 35 builders, is not undergoing a typical turnaround. Instead, it is embarking on a strategic evolution under the ownership of Hunt Companies, which acquired full control last October with the explicit aim of transforming View Homes into a larger, regional homebuilding powerhouse. Gandhi, a seasoned executive with prior leadership roles at Pulte Homes/Del Webb, Century Communities, and Richmond American Homes, was brought in through a nationwide search to spearhead this ambitious expansion.
The company Gandhi inherited, while possessing a strong 35-year legacy and a solid foundation, operated in many respects like a loosely affiliated network of entrepreneurial ventures, a reflection of its origins as a family-owned enterprise. “The company has been very successful over the 35 years,” Gandhi acknowledged. “There’s definitely a good foundation and bones to the organization. It’s just not set up to go to the next level.”
Gandhi’s strategic playbook centers on establishing clear accountability and consistency across the organization. Previously, disparate divisions had developed unique operating procedures, and reporting mechanisms were insufficient, raising questions about data integrity. Critically, the enterprise technology infrastructure had not kept pace with the scale envisioned by Hunt Companies and Gandhi. The current phase is characterized by stabilization, which involves rebuilding the corporate leadership team, making strategic adjustments to division and middle management, and establishing standardized processes to replace historically independent practices. A key focus is defining ownership of outcomes and implementing robust performance metrics.
“It’s actually all levels,” Gandhi emphasized regarding the leadership transformation, noting the assembly of a “new corporate team.” The imperative for standardization is driven by the ambition to grow across multiple markets. The objective is to ensure that View Homes’ five divisions function cohesively, rather than as five independent entities. However, Gandhi is careful to preserve the local market intelligence essential for a regional builder. Her approach involves setting clear operational parameters within which local teams can exercise judgment and agility.
This shift is evident in sales processes. Previously, sales teams had considerable discretion in utilizing incentive pools, often without sufficient visibility into the ultimate margin impact. The transformation involves implementing a more structured approval process for concessions, requiring a thorough understanding of the buyer’s situation, competitive landscape, and proposed offer before management approval. This creates defined boundaries, allowing for flexibility and nimbleness within a standardized framework, thereby enhancing the quality and consistency of decision-making.
Leveraging the Soft Market for Strategic Advantage
The timing of this extensive organizational overhaul, amidst a softer housing market, presents a unique set of challenges and opportunities. Implementing changes in leadership, systems, and expectations is inherently difficult, even in a robust market. View Homes, however, is using this period of reduced demand and increased competition to its advantage. Gandhi argues that a booming market would have amplified existing operational deficiencies, potentially leading to lost market share as sales accelerated. The current environment, conversely, allows for focused attention on rebuilding without the immediate pressure of missed growth opportunities.
“I think this is the perfect time for us to rebuild this organization because of the market conditions and to be ready when the market is ready to come back,” Gandhi asserted. “If we were in a booming market, we would be losing significant market share across all our markets because we’re not positioned for that next level of success.”
The current labor market also presents an opening. Gandhi notes that View Homes has been able to attract experienced talent that might have had fewer alternatives during stronger housing cycles. Furthermore, Hunt Companies’ ownership provides a significant strategic advantage. As a private regional builder operating within a larger real estate enterprise, View Homes benefits from patient capital and a long-term investment horizon. Hunt’s guidance is clear: “When the market is back, you’d better be ready.” This patient capital provides the necessary runway for Gandhi to execute her ambitious transformation plan.
Addressing Legacy Assets While Underwriting Future Growth
Gandhi’s strategic overhaul extends to managing the company’s existing portfolio. View Homes is actively working through legacy assets that are unlikely to yield attractive long-term returns. The directive is to address these properties proactively, rather than holding onto them while incurring carrying costs, even if it means accepting lower margins or realizing losses on some homes. “We’re not saying we want to give it away,” Gandhi clarified, “We’re not saying we want to do a fire sale, but there’s a fine, happy medium.”
Crucially, this process of clearing legacy assets is not being used as a justification for imprudent new investments. View Homes is adopting a highly selective and strategic approach to new land acquisitions. “We are being very selective and very strategic in the investments that we’re going to make,” Gandhi stated. “We’re not just buying land to buy land to fill a pipeline because we don’t need to do that.” New land acquisitions must demonstrate strong investment potential, even in a deteriorating market. This separation between resolving past issues and establishing future investment discipline is vital to avoid compounding errors.
This disciplined approach is also being applied to product development. Gandhi and her team are reviewing the company’s existing plan library to identify revenue-generating designs and areas for improvement. While first-time homebuyers will remain a focus in relevant markets, View Homes is also exploring opportunities to serve move-up and second-move-up buyers, particularly in markets like Colorado. Collaborations with architects are underway to develop new product series for future communities. Ultimately, the operational, land, and product strategies are converging to answer a fundamental question: What kind of company does View Homes aspire to be, and what business is it preparing to scale?
Rebuilding the Operational Core: Technology and Systems
Technology is a critical component of View Homes’ transformation, though Gandhi is prioritizing a deliberate, diagnostic approach over a hasty adoption of the latest solutions. The company is conducting a comprehensive evaluation of its entire technology environment, encompassing CRM, financial systems, and broader enterprise software. Gandhi acknowledges that the current technology stack is inadequate for the company’s projected growth.
The implementation of new systems is anticipated to take 12 to 18 months, following a thorough diagnostic phase. “We are taking our time to do a full-on diagnostic of where we currently are, where we want to go,” she explained. Initiating this extensive systems implementation during the current market slowdown means that much of the new infrastructure could be operational around the time Gandhi aims for the company to accelerate.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is also factored into the long-term planning, with a focus on selecting enterprise systems that can accommodate future AI capabilities. However, AI is not the primary driver of the overhaul. Gandhi emphasizes that technology must support clearer business accountability, improved information flow, and repeatable processes. Otherwise, significant investments in technology risk automating existing inefficiencies.
The Enduring Importance of Fundamentals
With over two decades of experience in the homebuilding industry, Gandhi offers a nuanced perspective on the common refrain of “back to basics” that often emerges during challenging times. “I don’t think we should ever leave the basics,” she asserted. “I don’t think we should deviate from the basics.” She observes that prosperous markets can obscure underlying process deficiencies and costly decision-making, which become starkly apparent in tougher economic conditions.
“When the market is really good, human tendency is to deviate from the basics,” Gandhi noted. “We start cutting corners.” Her strategy at View Homes is to foster a results-oriented culture built upon individuals who possess a deep understanding of the business, embrace accountability, and are driven by a desire for growth.
This approach can be contrasted with that of Dwight Sandlin, Chairman of Signature Homes, another featured leader in the “Built for This” series and a fellow panelist at the upcoming HousingWire Homebuilder Summit. Signature Homes has cultivated a deeply ingrained operating system over decades, characterized by customer research, real-time data utilization, construction velocity, rigorous cost controls, product discipline, and accountability. Their renowned 100-day construction cycle, for example, is the product of continuous measurement and improvement.
Gandhi’s task at View Homes involves a different challenge: instilling robust organizational infrastructure into a successful, 35-year-old entrepreneurial builder to facilitate its next phase of growth. The example of Signature Homes illustrates the power of long-developed operational discipline, while View Homes demonstrates the intensive effort required to build that discipline while the company remains in motion.
“Change in itself is hard,” Gandhi acknowledged, particularly in a difficult market. “It comes with a lot of uncertainty.” However, she concludes, waiting for uncertainty to dissipate would fundamentally undermine the purpose and strategic imperative of undertaking this transformation now. By embracing the current market conditions, View Homes under Natasha Gandhi’s leadership is not merely weathering a storm, but actively charting a course for a more resilient and scalable future.
The HousingWire Homebuilder Summit, scheduled for October 19-21 in Dallas, will provide a platform for leaders like Gandhi, Sandlin, and Wade Jurney, Executive Chairman of National HomeCorp, to share insights and strategies for navigating the complexities of the modern housing market.
