So there is no exaggeration that those deals on average were more than six months and oftentimes as much as 12 months earlier when they were identified. A lot of the price activity that happened after we tied them up has either been given back or might be given back. So I don’t dispute that, but I’m not so worried about that generation of deals having subpar margins. Now the experience that we’ve had so far, we did walk away from one deal in the quarter and it was $150,000 abandon charge approximately. So we had one where we just couldn’t see a path and we walked on it. But we’ve had pretty good success as you pointed out with takedowns. We’ve also had some of the land banking relationships where we’ve renegotiated the rate the interest rate, which affects the carrying cost, which ultimately is a part of what our finished lot cost will be.
So I think we’ve had a measure of success on terms. And on other deals, we have been able to renegotiate prices downward by millions of dollars. Is it capitulation? No. But if you take a $6 million asset for $4 million, it’s only $2 million, but it’s a third off. So I would tell you, I think there is a little bit of price that is available in the market. It’s not dramatic, it’s not 30%, 50% and obviously it depends on cities. I think some markets that are a little more challenging right now from a sales and pricing perspective, I do expect there to be more price movement ultimately on the land side and I’d call out Phoenix. I think Phoenix is a market where there needs to be. There was a fever in Phoenix. We did not participate. Our lot position in Phoenix diminished.
€˜21, €˜22. Frankly, people are trying to get $3,000 a front foot for lots. We just didn’t see it. It wasn’t real. A lot of people contracted at those prices. Some closed, some didn’t close. I don’t think that’s where value is. So I think if we sort of peel the onion a little bit deeper and sort of go market by market, it’s going to be different outcomes. But I’m not very concerned about having subpar margins, your phrase from the deals that we tied up in €˜21.
Alan Ratner: Well, thank you. That was certainly a nice epilogue to my book a question. So thank you.
Allan Merrill: Well, I feel like I’ve got to keep up on the page count.
Alan Ratner: There you go. Thanks a lot guys. I appreciate it.
Allan Merrill: All right. Thanks Alan.
Operator: Thank you. And our next question is from Alex Barron with Housing Research Center. You may go ahead.
Alex Barron: Yeah. Thanks, gentlemen. Yeah, I wanted to, I guess, better understand the guidance of 1,000 closings for next quarter and just kind of the acceleration on the backlog conversion rate. Does that imply you guys have a lot of I guess canceled houses on the sidelines that are going to be able to get delivered that quickly? And going forward, my second question is, what was the starts in the quarter and how are you guys thinking about shifting towards specs and sets what the market seems to want right now?
