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Want more housing market stories from Lance Lamberts ResiClub in your inbox? Subscribe to the ResiClub newsletter. As ResiClub has closely documented, Florida has been the epicenter of U.S. housing market weakness in 2025. However, KB Home executives now believe the worst may be behind themat least for their businessin the Sunshine State. While giant homebuilder KB Homewhich has a $4.3 billion market capitalizationisnt ready to call it an inflection point for the entire state, it believes its price cuts in Florida were more than sufficient to stabilize demand for its business. In fact, it may have cut too deeply in Florida and could now need to raise prices in some communities. On the companys September 24 earnings call, chief operating officer Rob McGibney said its business in Florida appears to be stabilizing after the builder moved aggressively to cut prices earlier this year. In fact, KB Home now thinks some of those cuts went too far. We’ve actually found, in some cases, we’ve gone above what we needed to [and cut home prices too much in Florida]. So, in order to optimize those assets, we’re now increasing [the] price, McGibney said. The executive added that KB Homes new home sales in Florida in the third quarter were higher than in the second, a sign that the price adjustments worked to restore demand. He also pointed to a decline in housing starts across the state, which is easing pressure from supply. The good news for us is that [price cuts in Florida] worked, and now you’re seeing the orders come back up [in Florida] as a result of that. It’s also, as I mentioned earlier, one of the markets where we’ve seen the biggest decline in [housing] starts. So we’ve had some of our best results in cost reductions there, too. And now, as I’m calling, that is starting to stabilizewe’ve got that combination. I think we found that market [in Florida]. We’ve driven cost [in Florida] down, and now we’re starting to take it back the other way, McGibney said. !function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var e=document.querySelectorAll("iframe");for(var t in a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var r,i=0;r=e[i];i++)if(r.contentWindow===a.source){var d=a.data["datawrapper-height"][t]+"px";r.style.height=d}}})}(); McGibney stopped short of declaring a statewide turnaround but said the builder is encouraged by recent trends. I’m not necessarily calling it an inflection point for the whole state of Florida, but we’ve been encouraged by what we’ve seen recently. KB Home executives also noted varying conditions across other major markets. California’s Inland Empire, Las Vegas, Houston, and Charlotte, North Carolina, all posted solid demand in Q3, while coastal California, Seattle, and Denver remain more challenged. Still, for Floridathe market thats defined much of 2025s housing weaknessthe shift from deep price cuts toward selective price increases marks a notable change in tone. ResiClub PRO members can read our full report on KB Home here.
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Thinking forward is an automatic process. Cause, then effect. Input, then output. A to B. It feels logicaland normal to start with a conclusion, then find justification around it.But we can always take our thinking a step further. Sometimes, the best way to get the answers you want is to think backwards. Its called mental inversion. Turn the whole thinking process upside down. As the great algebraist Carl Jacobi said, Invert, always invert. Put another way, What would guarantee I fail at X?” is a better question than How do I achieve X? Most people focus on the obvious process because the brain doesnt like to think through ugly pitfalls. Starting from B to A helps you avoid the results you dont want. Its one of the most powerful tools I use to think clearly. To turn your decision-making process upside down, start from the back. Thinking backwards works because it forces you to reflect on what may be missing. The human brain is wired to save energy. It wants quick answers. Slowing down to see the full picture helps you cover all the basics of your decision-making process. Inversion helps you ask better questions. It can improve your clarity. Psychology research backs this up. A study in Cognitive Science showed that framing problems in reverse helps people make fewer errors in judgment. It works because it breaks default thinking patterns. It slows you down just enough to think more deliberately. The antidote to mental fog Clarity disappears in abstraction. If I try to think through every possible positive outcome, I get overwhelmed. But if I ask, Whats the dumbest mistake I could make here? I suddenly see the risk clearly. When I want to be productive, I dont just make a to-do list. I make a not-to-do list. Thats mental inversion. It opens up a whole perspective Im missing. Taoist philosopher Lao Tzu has said, To attain knowledge, add things every day. To attain wisdom, remove things every day. When I write, I dont just think about everything I should include. I also look for what to cut. What confuses the reader? What slows them down? I try to remove what makes the post unreadable. And try to get rid of that. Inversion works because subtraction is often more effective than addition. It applies to almost every area of life.In his book, The Bed of Procrustes, author Nassim Taleb writes, Knowledge is subtractive, not additivewhat we subtract (reduction by what does not work, what not to do), not what we add (what to do). Think like a contrarian Reversing your thinking also trains you to be mentally independent, assuming the opposite of what you believe and testing it. It reveals hidden assumptions. Dont just look for whats true. Look for what could be false. You dont always need a new good idea. Sometimes you just need to clear out the bad ones. Look at opposites. Always invert. Indeed, many problems can’t be solved forward, says philanthropist and investor Charlie Munger. By exploring the worst, you can unlock the best. When in doubt, reverse. Dont just pursue outcomes. Find the blind spots people normally ignore. Sometimes the fastest way forward is to look backward first. How to apply inversion in life If you are stuck on big, knotty questions, invert. How do I find happiness? is vague. Instead, ask, What are the specific, proven actions that make me miserable every single time? For me, its skipping quality sleep, isolating myself, and overthinking. If life satisfaction is what you want, dont just ask, How do I live a happy life?” The more helpful question is, What makes my life miserable? List those things, and get rid of them first. Is it a specific experience in your relationship? Poor health or lack of purpose? Be specific. Detail the things that make you unhappy. Now try avoiding them. Its a precise way to eliminate everything draining your soul. For good health, avoid everything that makes your body worse off over the long term. Bad sleep, ultra-processed food, no exercise, sedentary lifestyle. Think through how people ruin their health. Dont start with what should I do? Start with what habits destroy health? Get rid of those first. Subtraction before addition. To improve your social relationships, spend less time with your connections who drain you. Career benefits If you want to apply inversion to your career, think about what people do that hinders their careers. Complacency. Refusal to adapt or learn new skills. Over-promising and under-delivering. Avoid those traps. You dont need complex systems. You need fewer blind spots. Inversion applies everywhere. In business, you can focus on what would make your new project an absolute failure in record time. The answers will be clear. Ignore your customers. Spend money you dont have on things you need. Assume youre the smartest person in the room. Dont validate your idea. Be inconsistent. Start with your anti-checklist. Your actual plan becomes the inverse of that list. Listen obsessively. Be ruthlessly frugal. Test everything. Be more consistent on what moves the needle. Seek smarter advisors. The path forward becomes clear from the list of things to avoid. Inversion gets rid of mental traps, shows you what matters, and stops you from making the same thinking errors. If you want to think clearly, start thinking backwards.
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E-Commerce
Halloween candy shoppers who bought Reese’s pumpkin-shaped candy said they felt tricked when the picture on the outside packaging didn’t exactly match the treat inside. They were so upset, in fact, that they filed a lawsuit in late 2023 seeking $5 million in damages. Now a judge has dismissed their claims. At issue is Reese’s Peanut Butter Pumpkins, whose wrappers show an image of a pumpkin-shaped candy with a jack-o’-lantern face carved into the chocolate outer layer. In reality, the chocolate inside is faceless. In a class-action suit filed in the U.S. District Court in the Southern District of Florida, plaintiffs claimed Reese’s candy wrappers were deceptive. According to court documents, plaintiffs thought “the product contained a cute looking carving of a pumpkin’s mouth and eyes as pictured on the product packaging” and said they would not have made the purchase had they known the chocolates would not actually feature those decorative details. [Images: USDC/Middle District of Florida] Reese’s maker the Hershey Co. didn’t buy it. The confectioner noted the Halloween-themed packaging also included images of uncarved pumpkin chocolates and a disclaimer reading “decorating suggestion” to indicate the carvings were an idea to try yourself. The class-action suit claimed the “decorating suggestion” disclaimer was printed in tiny letters on the back and thus inadequate, but a judge didn’t agree and wrote that these consumers ultimately got what they were after: edible candy. “Plaintiffs paid for a consumable good, and in return, they received a delicious, edible Reese’s product,” Judge Melissa Damian wrote in her order granting a motion to dismiss on September 26. “Plaintiffs have failed to allege facts demonstrating a concrete injury.” It’s common for packaged foods to include disclaimers like “enlarged to show texture” and “product may not appear exactly as shown” for exactly this reason. No, your Cheerios aren’t actually that big, and no, your Reese’s pumpkin-shaped peanut butter cup doesn’t come pre-carved. For Hershey, which accounts for some 36% of the U.S. chocolate market, according to PitchBook data, these disclaimers are a way to guard against frivolous lawsuits when the company wants to use something other than ultrarealistic product images on its packaging. Like a box of cake mix that shows a picture of a finished cake on the outside, the Reese’s wrapper wasn’t showing what the candy looked like upon opening it, but what it could look like after some DIY carving. For those who can’t bear to eat a pumpkin Reeses without a jack-o-lantern grin, the message here is clear: You’re better off with a toothpick and some creativity than a multimillion-dollar lawsuit.
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E-Commerce
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