In Memoriam:

What happened?
How can we fix it right now?
How do we stop it from happening again? ‍ ‍

Steve Maltzman always presented an upbeat and good-natured exterior, but in reality he was highly disciplined and laser-focused when dealing with the challenges facing SMA’s clients. He was also extremely knowledgeable, resourceful, and intuitive. Questionable figures on a builder’s financial reports jumped off the page at him like typos into a spell-checker, and his next move would be to challenge (in his friendly way) whatever was sending that builder down the wrong path, and then immediately start working to improve their situation.

Only What Was Best for the Clients:

Steve was also a force of nature with endless energy and an unwavering work ethic. He often started work in his west coast office at 4:30 AM so he could speak to the east coast clients directly before they started their day, and he would still be there late into the evening dealing with client issues.

Builder Site Visits…the Maltzman Way:

Buckle your seatbelt. A visit to a builder’s operation with Steve Maltzman also started at the crack of dawn: Breakfast with the leadership team, followed by a full day of meetings and jobsite visits, often with no breaks. (Lunch? Not today!)
That long “day one” was usually followed by a working dinner and serious soul-searching and shop talk with our client, often with his or her family at the table and joining in. Steve would ask them point blank “So what do you really want to be when you grow up?” Forget any previous proposal terms or consulting-speak. The 10 pm answer to that one tough question could be the turning point for our work with that builder.

No Stone Left Unturned:

15 hours after we started we still were not quite done. Steve expected a de-brief of today and re-focus on tomorrow, scheduled to be another full day of meetings, jobsite visits, and planning sessions. Except now we knew more than we did yesterday thanks to the time and attention given the client. Steve expected his team to be as prepared as he was (not easy) and that subtle competition became motivation to always keep our builders’ best interests front and center.

Steve’s Industry Contributions:

It is also honestly hard to overstate Steve Maltzman’s contributions to the building industry as a whole. Here are just a few examples:

• Steve volunteered an enormous amount of his time to the Business Management department at the National Association of Homebuilders (NAHB) and his influence is still strongly felt there today.

• Steve was instrumental in the development of what has become the de-factor accounting standard for homebuilders, the NAHB chart of accounts (COA) and reporting standards. Download here (Excel)

• For many years, SMA held the accounting contract for a number of the NAHB “Builder 20” peer-to-peer groups. Steve’s staff of accountants in Colton, CA prepared detailed reporting and guidance for group members, with SMA presenting results at the semi-annual dBuilder 20 meetings. SMA’s coaching groups are modeled after that experience.

• Steve was a gifted public speaker, ever-present at practically every major industry event, and his conference sessions were almost always “standing room only.” People genuinely loved to hear him talk about homebuilding.

• He was also a prolific writer, publishing thoughtful columns and feature articles on the business of homebuilding month after month in the leading homebuilding trade publications of the day. He continued to be published months after his passing because of the volume of instruction he had created.

Steven Barry Maltzman passed away unexpectedly at his Redlands, Calif., home Aug. 14, 2009. He was 54.