Note 5 - Variable Interest Entities

6 Months Ended

Apr. 30, 2024

Variable Interest Entities

Variable Interest Entities

5. Variable Interest Entities

 We enter into land and lot option purchase contracts to procure land or lots for the construction of homes. Under these contracts, the Company will fund a stated deposit in consideration for the right, but not the obligation, to purchase land or lots at a future point in time with predetermined terms. Under the terms of the option purchase contracts, many of the option deposits are not refundable at the Company's discretion. Under the requirements of ASC 810, certain option purchase contracts may result in the creation of a Variable Interest Entity ("VIE") that owns the land parcel under option.

Although the Company does not have legal title to the underlying land, we analyze our option purchase contracts to determine whether the corresponding land and lot sellers are VIEs and, if so, whether we are the primary beneficiary. The significant factors we consider in determining if the power to direct the activities of a VIE that most significantly impact the VIE's economic performance are shared include, among other things, our ability in determining or limiting the scope or purpose of the VIE, selling or transferring property owned or controlled by the VIE, changing the terms of the contract or arranging financing for the VIE. As a result of our analyses, we have concluded, there are no VIEs that required consolidation at either April 30, 2024 or October 31, 2023 because we are not the primary beneficiary of the land or lots under option purchase contracts.

We will continue to secure land and lots using options, some of which are with VIEs where we have determined power is shared among the partners and we do not have a controlling financial interest. Including deposits on our unconsolidated VIEs, at April 30, 2024 and October 31, 2023, we had total cash deposits amounting to $192.4 million and $192.3 million, respectively, to purchase land and lots with a total purchase price of $2.5 billion and $2.2 billion, respectively. The maximum exposure to loss with respect to our land and lot options is limited to the deposits plus any pre-development costs invested in the property, although some deposits are refundable at our request or refundable if certain conditions are met.