Gena Godinez doubled the membership of the West Texas Home Builders Association during her 18 years in Lubbock, but she couldn’t get to Dallas fast enough.
Godinez took over last week as executive officer of the Dallas Builders Association, succeeding Phil Crone, who left in July to serve as vice president of Leading Builders of America.
An Arlington native, Godinez told daltxrealestate.com that her return to North Texas is a homecoming of sorts.
“I am blessed to still have both of my parents, and they now live in a small town north of Denton,” she said. “I have three sons, and two of them live and work in the Dallas area. We are working on the third, who still lives in Lubbock for now. I also have my first grandbaby here in Dallas, so now you know the real reason that I was drawn to Dallas.”
Teamwork Makes The Dream Work at The Dallas Builders Association
Dallas has more appeal than family, Godinez added. She’s received a warm reception from Crone and his “cronies,” including Dallas Builders Association president John Porizek.
“We are excited to have Gena join our team,” Porizek said. “Her vast knowledge, past experience, and positive attitude allow her to step in and keep the Association operating at the highest level. We look forward to being able to learn from her past successes, and Gena, in turn, having the opportunity to learn from our staff’s accomplishments in their individual roles.”
Godinez said Crone reminded her that everyone, including him, wants her to succeed and take the association even farther than he did.
“He told me to rely on the resources around us, the expertise and experience of the staff, and the collective willingness of the membership to strengthen our industry and continue to build the nation’s best housing market,” Godinez said.
Dallas BA Director of Government Affairs David Lehde counseled Godinez to be herself and lean on her experience and network.
The new executive officer does have plenty of experience. During her tenure with the West Texas Home Builders Association, it became the third-largest home builders association in the state.
Home Building in Dallas
In addition to serving almost two decades with the WTHBA, Godinez is one of the founders of West Texas Hero Homes, which builds mortgage-free homes for wounded veterans and first responders.
The Texas Tech University graduate told daltxrealestate.com that being selected as executive officer of the Dallas BA is the pinnacle of her career.
While there’s a lot to look forward to, Godinez acknowledged that Dallas is facing a housing affordability crisis.
“At the heart of every affordability crisis is a shortage,” she said. “This is the issue nationwide, and particularly the case in Dallas. These shortages are in most cases self-inflicted by permitting delays and onerous and confusing zoning and development regulations and fees. While there are parts of the demand side that have costs we can’t necessarily change, we can focus on those areas where our advocacy and education can have the best impact.”
Building relationships with elected officials and city staff can help immensely with such issues, Godinez added.
An interesting local trend is how the impact of higher mortgage interest rates and inflation have driven buyers to new homes, she said.
“There are fewer existing homes on the market because those homeowners have decided to stay put and keep the lower interest rates that they received when they bought or from refinancing their homes,” Godinez said. “Part of this is home builders offering incentives that, in some areas, have made new home prices lower than existing homes.”
