Build Three

Apparently, the good Lord loves putting the less fortunate people of this world up in a new home, free of charge. Since our decision to move forward with our Home for Home Program, it's as if the market has changed. Today, we signed a contract on a presale of one of our spec homes in the neighborhood we developed. Chalk a new home up for someone in Mexico!

I used to think that putting a presale deal together was just another day at the office. I no longer take that kind of thing for granted and I'm well aware of all that one transaction does to help our company out now. The best thing though, is that my first thought was not of how it will benefit us. My first thought was "I am so stoked. I'm not sure how, but I need to figure out a way to make it to Tijuana for a third time before the year is up!"

So stay tuned. The meat of this blog will be our trips. October 1 marks the first one. October 22 marks the second. The third is up in the air. If you want to come, let me know. Maybe I can plan the next one around your schedule.

Builds One and Two

We sold two homes during the process of our decision to implement the Home for Home Program. We knew that there would have to be a line drawn somewhere because we would probably always have some home somewhere in the construction/sale process. So rather than wait for a clean cutoff, we decided to back-date it so that the two homes that sold during our decision making process would be part of the program.

So we get to build two homes for people that don't currently have one. I am in the process of setting up a trip for early October. There is also a definite trip set up for late October. These two trips will even up the score on our Home for Home Program.

Stay tuned for more information about names of recipients, dates, and times of the trips. Also, if you want to go with us, let me know. There is always space available.

You can contact me at chad@pillardevelopment.us

Baja Christian Ministries

Some of you are probably wondering what it is we'll be doing on our trips to Mexico. I was going to post pictures of our last trip and explain the homes in detail, but Baja Christian Ministries (BCM) has a great site dedicated to their program. I have included the link at the bottom of this post so you can familiarize yourself with their process, which will become ours.

For the foreseeable future, we will be working with them to make our Home for Home Program a reality. We are very excited about cultivating our relationship with not only BCM, but with Baja in general. There is need all over the world for healthy living environments for those less fortunate. Logistically speaking, Baja Mexico is a great place for us to maintain a steady impact on humanity. The homes can be built in a weekend, and the trip to San Diego and Tijuana is short enough for it to make sense. We're not sure where in the world (literally) our Home for Home Program will take us in the coming years, but for now, we will focus on Baja.

Go check out their website to get more acquainted with what we will be doing, and if you're on facebook, go to their site and become a fan.

Have a great day.

Website

www.bajachristian.org

facebook

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Chino-Hills-CA/Baja-Christian-Ministries-BCM/80424946106

Bank Error In Your Favor, Collect One Home For the Homeless

If you read my personal blog, then you've heard this story. It's a big story for us, though, and it directly relates to our Home for Home Program.

When my dad and I made the commitment to the Home for Home Program, we knew we wouldn't have the means to pull it off all by ourselves. We just knew we needed to commit to it. The basic thought, which was explained in the last post, was that if God wanted this to happen, He would figure out the details. Apparently, God was waiting for several months for us to make the commitment, because what happened the day after we made the commitment, blew us both away.

The back story.

Last Fall, our land development company had to renew a sizable development loan. It happened at the height of my panicked state, and it got somewhat ugly at times between me and the bank. We finally came to terms with new loan conditions and a successful renewal, but the fee that we incurred was hefty given the then current state of our finances. The only good part was that the bank allowed us to defer the payment of that renewal fee until the maturity on the loan.

So we did all this in November. We made our commitment to the Home for Home Program on June 29th of this year. Just over 24 hours later, the bank called me to tell me that they had made some errors on the loan paperwork and that they weren't going to charge us our renewal fee when the loan matures. Since there are three partners in the development company, the savings is split three ways. My dad and I are two of the principals, and the amount of the savings for us two is exactly the cost to build one Baja home.

You can take that in for a second if you want, or you can do what I did when I heard the news. I giggled and shook my head a little. Who was I to take so long questioning how I would make the program work? It was like God wanted to tell us so bad he has the whole thing covered, but was waiting for us to be obedient and just go for it.

I'm convinced this is only the first of possibly hundreds of amazing stories that come about from this program. I hope you follow along as I chronicle all of them. I hope in some way you benefit from this program along with the happy homeowners who buy our homes and the happy homeowners who get one for free because they had no home to start with.