Dana Skaff was one of the partners with Admiral Homes, which sold to Lennar Homes. She was with the company for four years as vice president of architectural design. Before Lennar, she worked with companies such as DS Ware, DW Hutson and Summerhomes in various positions, but always architecturally related.
Though she is not a licensed architect, she earned a degree in architecture and building construction technology from the local community college.
She opened her own company three years ago. The company builds single-family custom and production homes for first-time homebuyers. Price ranges for the homes starts in the $130,000’s and goes up to $200,000.
“When I left Lennar, I took three months off and decided there was still a niche in the market, even with the foreclosures coming forth,” said Skaff. “People still needed new homes, especially first-time homebuyers. The land was now priced where it should be, instead of being outrageous. You could pick up land at a good value. There are still a lot people out there so you can get labor at really good cost. You can build a really good product and get someone out of an apartment and into a new home for $130,000.
“We don’t have any overhead, so we take all of the profit from our homes and re-invest it back into the company to purchase more land and to get the buying power.”
“I’ve been in the building business since 1983,” said Skaff. “I worked very closely with Charlie Arnold, former president of Admiral Homes, and he gave me a lot of knowledge and background to be able to pursue this the proper way.”