LGI Homes (LGIH) Risk Factors

The employment agreement with our Chief Executive Officer, Eric Lipar, provides that if his employment with us terminates under certain circumstances, we may be required to pay him a significant amount of severance compensation, thereby making it costly to terminate his employment. Furthermore, these provisions could delay or prevent a transaction or a change in control of our company that might involve a premium paid for shares of our common stock or otherwise be in the best interests of our stockholders, which could adversely affect the market price of our common stock.

The residential construction industry experiences labor and raw material shortages from time to time, including shortages in qualified tradespeople and supplies of insulation, drywall, cement, steel and lumber. These labor and raw material shortages can be more severe during periods of strong demand for housing or during periods following natural disasters that have a significant impact on existing residential and commercial structures. Our markets may exhibit a reduced level of skilled labor relative to increased homebuilding demand in these markets. It is uncertain whether these shortages will continue as is, improve or worsen. In addition, pricing for labor and raw materials can be affected by the factors discussed above and various other national, regional, local, economic and political factors, including changes in immigration laws and trends in labor migration. Labor and raw material shortages and price increases for labor and raw materials could cause delays in and increase our costs of home construction, which in turn could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, liquidity, financial condition and results of operations.

Risks inherent in controlling, purchasing, holding and developing land for new home construction are substantial. The risks inherent in purchasing and developing land parcels increase as consumer demand for housing decreases and the holding period increases. As a result, we may buy and develop land parcels on which homes cannot be profitably built and sold. In certain circumstances, a grant of entitlements or development agreement with respect to a particular parcel of land may include restrictions on the transfer of such entitlements to a buyer of such land, which would negatively impact the price of such entitled land by restricting our ability to sell it for its full entitled value. In addition, inventory carrying costs can be significant and can result in reduced margins or losses in a poorly performing community or market. Developing land and constructing homes takes a significant amount of time and requires a substantial cash investment. Land development is a key part of our operations and we develop land in most of our markets. The time and investment required for development may adversely impact our business. We have substantial real estate inventories that regularly remain on our balance sheet for significant periods of time prior to their sale, during which time we are exposed to the risk of adverse market developments. Our business model is based on building homes before a sales contract is executed and a customer deposit is received. Because interest and other expenses are capitalized only during construction, we recognize interest and maintenance expense on unsold completed homes in inventory. As of December 31, 2019, we had 1,947 completed homes in inventory and 1,768 homes in progress in inventory. In the event there is a downturn in home sales in our markets, our inventory of completed homes could increase, leading to additional financing costs and lower margins, which could have a material adverse effect on our financial results and operations. In the event of significant changes in economic or market conditions, we may have to sell homes at significantly lower margins or at a loss, if we are able to sell them at all. Additionally, deteriorating market conditions could cause us to record significant inventory impairment charges. The recording of a significant inventory impairment could negatively affect our reported earnings per share and negatively impact the market perception of our business.

We are subject to a variety of local, state and federal statutes, rules and regulations concerning easements, land use and the protection of health and the environment, including those governing discharge of pollutants to soil, water and air, the handling of hazardous materials such as asbestos, and the cleanup of contaminated sites. We may be liable for the costs of removal, investigation or remediation of man-made or natural hazardous or toxic substances located on, under or in a property currently or formerly owned, leased or occupied by us, whether or not we caused or knew of the pollution. The particular impact and requirements of environmental laws that apply to any given community vary greatly according to the site, its environmental conditions and the present and former uses of the site. We expect that increasingly stringent requirements may be imposed on land developers and homebuilders in the future. Environmental laws may result in delays, cause us to implement time consuming and expensive compliance programs and prohibit or severely restrict development in certain environmentally sensitive regions or areas, such as wetlands. Concerns could arise due to post-acquisition changes in laws or agency policies, or the interpretation thereof. Furthermore, we could incur substantial costs, including cleanup costs, fines, penalties and other sanctions and damages from third-party claims for property damage or personal injury, as a result of our failure to comply with, or liabilities under, applicable environmental laws and regulations. These matters could adversely affect our business, prospects, liquidity, financial condition and results of operations. As a homebuilding and land development business with a wide variety of historic ownership, development, homebuilding and construction activities, we could be liable for future claims for damages as a result of the past or present use of hazardous materials, including building materials or fixtures known or suspected to be hazardous or to contain hazardous materials or due to use of building materials or fixtures that are associated with mold. Any such claims may adversely affect our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations. Insurance coverage for such claims may be limited or nonexistent. We have provided unsecured environmental indemnities to certain lenders and other contractual counterparties. These indemnities obligate us to reimburse the guaranteed parties for damages related to environmental matters, and generally there is no term or damage limitation on these indemnities.

There is a growing concern from advocacy groups and the general public that the emissions of greenhouse gases and other human activities have caused, or will cause, significant changes in weather patterns and temperatures and the frequency and severity of natural disasters. Government mandates, standards and regulations enacted in response to these projected climate change impacts could result in restrictions on land development in certain areas or increased energy, transportation and raw material costs. A variety of new legislation may be enacted or considered for enactment at the federal, state and local levels relating to energy and climate change. This legislation could relate to, for example, items such as carbon dioxide emissions control and building codes that impose energy efficiency standards. New building code requirements that impose stricter energy efficiency standards or requirements for building materials could significantly increase our cost to construct homes. As climate change concerns continue to grow, legislation and regulations of this nature are expected to continue to be enacted and become costlier to comply with. Similarly, energy-related initiatives affect a wide variety of companies throughout the United States and because our operations are heavily dependent on significant amounts of raw materials, such as lumber, steel, and concrete, they could have an indirect adverse impact on our operations and profitability to the extent the manufacturers and suppliers of our materials are burdened with expensive cap and trade or similar energy-related regulations.

Residents of communities we develop rely on us to resolve issues or disputes that may arise in connection with the operation or development of their communities. Efforts made by us to resolve these issues or disputes could be deemed unsatisfactory by the affected residents and subsequent actions by these residents could adversely affect our sales or our reputation. In addition, we could be required to make material expenditures related to the settlement of such issues or disputes or to modify our community development plans, which could adversely affect our results of operations.

As discussed under "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations-Seasonality," we have historically experienced, and in the future expect to continue to experience, variability in our results of operations from quarter to quarter due to the seasonal nature of the homebuilding industry. We generally close more homes in our second, third and fourth quarters. Thus, our revenue may fluctuate on a quarterly basis and we may have higher capital requirements in our second, third and fourth quarters in order to maintain our inventory levels. Accordingly, there is a risk that we will invest significant amounts of capital in the acquisition and development of land and construction of homes that we do not sell at anticipated pricing levels or within anticipated time frames. If, due to market conditions, construction delays or other causes, we do not complete home sales at anticipated pricing levels or within anticipated time frames, our business, prospects, liquidity, financial condition and results of operations would be adversely affected. We expect this seasonal pattern to continue over the long term but we can make no assurances as to the degree to which our historical seasonal patterns will occur in the future.

An epidemic, pandemic or similar serious public health issue, and the measures undertaken by governmental authorities to address it, could significantly disrupt or prevent us from operating our business in the ordinary course for an extended period, and thereby, and along with any associated economic and social instability or distress, have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition, results of operations, cash flows, strategies or prospects. On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared the current outbreak of COVID-19 to be a global pandemic, and on March 13, 2020, the United States declared a national emergency. In response to these declarations and the rapid spread of COVID-19, federal, state and local governments imposed varying degrees of restrictions on business and social activities to contain COVID-19, including business shutdowns and closures, travel restrictions, quarantines, curfews, shelter-in-place orders and "stay-at-home" orders in certain of our markets. State and local authorities have also implemented multi-step policies with the goal of re-opening various sectors of the economy. However, certain jurisdictions began re-opening only to return to restrictions in the face of increases in new COVID-19 cases, while other jurisdictions are continuing to re-open or have nearly completed the re-opening process despite increases in COVID-19 cases. The COVID-19 outbreak may significantly worsen in the United States during the upcoming winter months, which may cause federal, state and local governments to reconsider restrictions on business and social activities. In the event governments increase restrictions, the re-opening of the economy may be further curtailed. We have experienced some resulting disruptions to our business operations, as these restrictions have significantly impacted, and may continue to impact, many sectors of the economy, with various businesses curtailing or ceasing normal operations and subsequently attempting to resume operations. In March 2020, certain markets in which we do business temporarily stopped our construction of homes. Beginning in April 2020, we resumed construction of homes in those markets. Although we continued to build and sell homes in all of our markets, the pace of sales declined and we experienced an increase in the rate of contract cancellations. Since May 2020, the pace of sales has rebounded and we have experienced a sustained increase in demand in our markets. However, as a result of reducing starts in March 2020 and April 2020 to preserve cash, our availability of completed homes was reduced, which slowed the pace of our home closings in the second and third quarter. Further, our inventory of owned or controlled lots decreased during the first half of 2020 primarily due to certain cash management policies we implemented beginning in March 2020, which included delaying or canceling land acquisitions to manage our overall inventory. From time to time during the COVID-19 outbreak, we have had to close individual sales offices for a limited period of time, as a result of potential or actual exposure to COVID-19 by one or more of our employees. The economic impact of COVID-19 may be reduced by financial assistance under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act or other similar COVID-19 related federal and state programs; however, such programs may not have a positive impact on our business. While we continue to assess the COVID-19 situation, at this time we cannot estimate with any degree of certainty the full impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on our financial condition and future results of operations, although we expect the COVID-19 situation to impact future quarters. The ultimate impacts of COVID-19 and related mitigation efforts will depend on future developments, including, but not limited to, the duration and geographic spread of COVID-19, the impact of government actions designed to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the development and availability of effective treatments and vaccines, actions taken by customers, subcontractors, suppliers and other third parties, workforce availability, and the timing and extent to which normal economic and operating conditions resume. Our business could also be negatively impacted over the medium-to-longer term if the disruptions related to COVID-19 decrease consumer confidence generally or with respect to purchasing a home; cause civil unrest; negatively impact mortgage availability or the federal government's mortgage loan-related programs or policies; delay mortgage originations; tighten mortgage lending standards; or precipitate a prolonged economic downturn or an extended rise in unemployment or tempering of wage growth, any of which could lower demand for our products; negatively impact general consumer interest in purchasing a home compared to choosing other housing alternatives; impair our ability to sell and build homes in a typical manner or at all, generate revenues and cash flows or access the Credit Agreement or the capital or lending markets (or significantly increase the costs of doing so), as may be necessary to sustain our business; increase the costs or decrease the supply of building materials or the financial viability or availability of subcontractors, including as a result of infections or medically necessary or recommended self-quarantining, or governmental mandates to direct production activities to support public health efforts; and result in our recognizing charges in future periods, which may be material, for inventory impairments or land option contract abandonments, or both, related to our current inventory assets. The inherent uncertainty surrounding COVID-19, due in part to rapidly changing governmental directives, public health challenges and progress and market reactions thereto, also makes it more challenging for our management to estimate the future performance of our business and develop strategies to generate growth or achieve our objectives for the remainder of 2020. Should the adverse impacts described above (or others that are currently unknown) occur, whether individually or collectively, we would expect to experience, among other things, decreases in our net orders, homes closed, average sales prices per home closed, revenues and profitability, and such impacts could be material to our business, financial condition, results of operations, cash flows, strategies or prospects in future quarters. In addition, should the surge in COVID-19 cases or the public health effort related thereto intensify to such an extent that we cannot operate in most or all of our markets, we could generate few or no orders and deliver few, if any, homes during the applicable period, which could be prolonged. Along with a potential increase in cancellations of home purchase contracts, if prolonged government restrictions on our business and our customers return in response to increases in COVID-19 cases, or if there is an extended economic recession, we could be unable to produce revenues and cash flows sufficient to conduct our business; meet the terms of our covenants and other requirements under the Credit Agreement, the Senior Notes and the related indenture, and/or mortgages and land contracts due to land sellers and other loans; or service our outstanding indebtedness. Such a circumstance could, among other things, exhaust our available liquidity and ability to access liquidity sources or trigger an acceleration to pay a significant portion or all of our then-outstanding debt obligations, which we may be unable to do.

As a homebuilder and land developer, we are subject to the risks associated with numerous weather-related and geologic events. These weather-related and geologic events include but are not limited to hurricanes, tornadoes, droughts, floods, brushfires, wildfires, prolonged periods of precipitation, landslides, soil subsidence, earthquakes and other natural disasters. The occurrence of any of these events could damage our land parcels and projects, cause delays in completion of our projects, reduce consumer demand for housing, and cause shortages and price increases in labor or raw materials, any of which could affect our sales and profitability. In addition to directly damaging our land or projects, many of these natural events could damage roads and highways providing access to those assets or affect the desirability of our land or projects, thereby adversely affecting our ability to market homes or sell land in those areas and possibly increasing the costs of homebuilding completion. There are some risks of loss for which we may be unable to purchase insurance coverage. For example, losses associated with hurricanes, landslides, prolonged periods of precipitation, earthquakes and other weather-related and geologic events may not be insurable and other losses, such as those arising from terrorism, may not be economically insurable. A sizeable uninsured loss could materially and adversely affect our business, prospects, liquidity, financial condition and results of operations.