Brother Act

Bob and Rich Ohmann

Dad is a vintage movie theater proprietor in upstate New York, whose six-day workweeks in the 1960s and 1970s rub off directly on his two sons, who work for fun and laugh a lot on the job.

Meet the Ohmanns. Bob Ohmann founded Raleigh, N.C.-based St. Lawrence Homes on a bank loan that allowed him to do one spec and two pre-sales. Rich, his kid brother, joined him as head of marketing.

They built their company into a $191 million power-house, closing 489 homes in 2006 and peaking at about 600 in 2007. Then time warp. The Carolinas, like Texas, withstood the worst of housing's dislocation just about all the way through 2007 before the market—and their company—succumbed to gravity.

“We started to feel it go a little soft around August [2007], but then we had a great November—sold about 50 houses that month—and we thought then that it was going to be a good snapback, but then everything collapsed,” says Bob.

The elder Ohmann sought protection under Chapter 11 in early February. Within five days after filing, the Ohmanns had secured debtor-in-possession financing from community lender Capital Bank.

“We're not blaming anyone for what's happened, but the business just doesn't work the way it used to when it comes to home building finance,” says Bob.

Today, the company has cut 75 percent of its staff, turned to real estate brokers as its sales force, renegotiated as many deals as it can with trades and materials suppliers, and introduced new entry-level product under its BroadStreet Homes line. It's doing its damnedest to build and sell 150 homes in 2009 to pay the bills.

“Bankruptcy isn't giving up,” says Rich. “It's a way to get enough time to reorganize and save the business.”

How do they rate their odds of getting to the other side? Rich's opinion on the matter: “My brother Bob is like a guy up in the bridge of a ship, and he doesn't care if there's rocks, or icebergs, or tsunamis ahead; he'll still say ‘full speed ahead.' Me, I'm just really good at steering.” —John McManus