Forty Under 40 Spirit Evident Despite Martin’s Bumpy Ride

Jeff Martin knows all about the good times that came with the residential construction boom in Northwest Arkansas just before and after the turn of the century.

“Volume was at a max,” he said, “and walking into a bank was about like walking up to a vending machine.”

As a result of his success as co-owner and president of Martin Custom Home Builders, in fact, Martin was honored as a member of the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal’s 2003 Forty Under 40 class. The numbers supporting his nomination were staggering.

At the time, Martin told the Business Journal he was designing an average of 20 houses per year. They ranged in size from 3,000 to 10,000 SF, and the accompanying price tags went from $300,000 to more than $2 million.

“I think all of us who were Forty Under 40s back then had only experienced a really good economy,” Martin said with a sly grin.

Everybody knows what came next – a few more years of good times followed by some awfully bad ones. The real estate crash that gripped most of the United States found its share of victims in Northwest Arkansas, too.

Martin was among them. Having delved into land development – Read: building neighborhoods and spec homes – Martin got caught in the crunch. He said earlier this month that of the 20 homes he might have been building in 2003, as much as 60 percent were spec homes.

When the market stalled, so did many of Martin’s plans. He said he worked for years to get out of debt, but eventually was forced to file for bankruptcy after dealings with an unyielding national lender.

The experience changed his outlook.

“I’ve got a completely different perspective on our economy that’s more influenced by God’s economy,” said Martin, who now is a board member for Downline Ministries.

Asked to explain that statement, Martin said his primary focus now is on stewardship of resources.

His business, predictably, has changed, too. Martin said he was able to stay busy with a list of custom projects throughout his ordeal, but that empty lots and spec houses proved too big a weight to bear.

Now operating under the company name Martin Building Group, he is putting hard lessons learned to work. Martin does “three to five” custom builds per year and that’s been enough to sustain his business.

“I’m fortunate I haven’t had to rely on speculative building,” he said.

Martin said the majority of the homes he designs and builds now are in the 2,500- to 5,000-SF range. His company also is doing a healthy amount of custom kitchen and bath additions and redesigns.

Originally from Newport Beach, Calif., and a graduate of the University of Colorado – with a degree in finance and accounting – the 42-year-old still operates out of Fayetteville. He said most of Martin Building Group’s projects are located in Benton and Washington counties.

One thing that hasn’t changed since 2003 is what Martin views as one of the most rewarding parts of his job, which is “seeing that dream come true in someone’s life.”

 Martin also maintains an impressive list of credentials. He is a National Association of Home Builders Certified Graduate Builder and Certified Green Professional, and a member of one of its 20 Clubs. The latter are groups of similar type builders or remodelers from non-competing markets who meet several times a year to improve their operations and increase their bottom lines by sharing and comparing financial information, identifying trouble spots and offering advice on how to improve profit ratios and performance.

Martin wrote in a follow-up email he finds more “margin time” for his family nowadays. He and his wife, Wendy, have four children – Mason, 13, McKane, 12, Morgan, 10 and Maiya, 8. Much of their time together centers around outdoor activities, Martin said.

As for what he would tell potential clients, Martin mixes the past with the present.

“I’m going to be a better builder because of what I learned from all of this,” he said. “I’m going to provide a better product and services for my clients because of what we’ve gone through.”