2018 a significant year for Don Pitts, United Built Homes

2018 is a year of milestones for Springdale businessman Don Pitts. Pitts, who will turn 80 in December, is the chairman of Springdale-based United Holding Co., the family owned entity that owns United Bank and United Built Homes (UBH).

The bank, started by Pitts in 1978 after purchasing an Ashdown bank charter known as Little River Savings & Loan Association, is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. UBH is marking its 60th anniversary this year, and Pitts has been with the company almost from the beginning. He was hired in 1960 as a bird dog (finding sales leads) before starting an upward climb that eventually saw him become the homebuilding company’s controlling owner in 1988.

Pitts and his wife, Patty, will celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary this year, too.

With dual headquarters in Shreveport, La. — where it was founded as a spin-off of a lumberyard — and Springdale, UBH builds economical custom homes for a niche of first-time home buyers. With sales offices in Arkansas, Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Mississippi, the company is regarded as one of the top regional home builders in the country. UBH totaled $75.78 million in housing revenue and 400 house closings last year, according to industry publication Professional Builder magazine.

To help celebrate the company’s 60th anniversary, UBH is giving away a new home later this year to a lucky contest winner. Pitts discussed that topic and a few others in a recent interview with Northwest Arkansas Business Journal editor Paul Gatling.

Paul Gatling: What does it say about United Built Homes that you are celebrating 60 years in business? That’s a milestone not many companies can reach, especially in the homebuilding business.

Don Pitts: You just do it one day at a time is the way I guess we get there. We started in 1958 and started out building fairly small homes, but over the years, they’ve gotten much larger. We started out in the beginning building in the rural areas. We build in town now, as well, but we have always tried to take care of the folks in the rural market because many times loan companies didn’t want to go out there and make the loans. But with that said, we have always built a quality product, and referral business is the thing that keeps us in business.

Gatling: How did you all make it through the housing bubble and the Great Recession, and what lesson did you take away from that?

Pitts: Well, of course, there have been several years of those [recessions]. But the thing that I think sets us apart in most of those cases is we have our own financing. The fact that the market went south and a lot of loan companies backed off, we continued to finance.

Gatling: In-house financing is certainly not the norm for most homebuilders. How important has that been in driving your growth and creating a niche for your company?

Pitts: It certainly helps us in times when it’s tough to get financing. Now, we have to work to be able to keep funds lined up, and we’ve been very fortunate to have good support from lenders that continue to give us financing.

Gatling: What is your assessment of the housing market in Northwest Arkansas, and how is that affecting United Built Homes?

Pitts: It’s certainly a hot market. It probably doesn’t affect [United Built] as much as it does the tract builders because they are in a boom right now. Our market is good, but it’s not up and down like theirs is as much. Many of the builders have been living on these existing lots of old inventory, but that’s about gone.

Gatling: What home features have become essential for new homes today?

Pitts: [Homeowners] want more every day than they did in the past. For example, we never had anyone expect to get granite [countertops]. And then, of course, everyone wants something that’s low maintenance, so we try to build a house that’s low maintenance. People want to spend more time doing something besides maintenance on a house.

Gatling: How are builders dealing with the labor shortage? Is that having an effect on your business?

Pitts: There are some craftsmen that are difficult to get. When the market fell, a lot of those people left, and they didn’t come back. There’s not an abundance of people out there that are skilled. The people that do the kind of quality work you want are hard to find.

Gatling: What is best career advice or business philosophy you’ve been given?

Pitts: You always want to practice the Golden Rule, but also you need to build relationships. That’s key. And to build relationships, you’ve got to do what’s right. Long-term relationships with your customers are very important. We’ve got third generations buying from us.

Gatling: To help commemorate the company’s 60th anniversary, you will be giving away a new home later this year. What was the thinking that went into that decision as a way to celebrate?

Pitts: Some of our people had been working with a media group, and they came up with the idea and approached me with it. My initial reaction was “That’s pretty steep, giving away a house.” But then I thought about the people who have been helping us for 60 years. And this would be something that could possibly help someone who might otherwise have difficulty [buying] a house.

Gatling: Is retirement on the horizon or is that an unthinkable concept for you?

Pitts: I enjoy what I do, and retirement has never entered my mind much. I am probably not as productive as I should be, but I probably don’t plan on retiring anytime soon.

Gatling: Two of your three sons, Donnie and Darrin, are part of the company’s leadership team in Springdale. How special is it to work closely with them every day?

Pitts: You have to be careful when you work with your family. You can be harder on them than you can other people. Or at least I’ve found that. I expect more. So you try to govern that just a little bit.

Gatling: You were born in Goshen and graduated from Fayetteville High School in 1955 when you were 16, then tried to enroll at the University of Arkansas. What were you told?

Pitts: They told me they thought it’d be good if I laid out a year or two. I had gone to a country school, and not that I was smart, but they moved me from grade to grade a little fast. So when I started [Fayetteville] high school, I was 12. I was a little young and immature. Certainly couldn’t have played sports because everybody was bigger than me. But, the man I talked to at the university said he thought I should lay out a year or two and get back with the class that I should have been with. I didn’t necessarily disagree, but I hadn’t gone back yet.