I'm Carlos Puente. I spent the past eight years in executive leadership at Neal Communities, one of Southwest Florida's most respected homebuilders—first as Vice President of Sales & Marketing, then as Division President of its luxury division, with full P&L responsibility and oversight of operations and strategic growth. Those roles gave me a unique perspective across every stage of the business, from driving revenue and sales performance to operational execution and profitable growth. Today, through Amorini Advisory, I help homebuilders apply that same executive leadership through fractional executive and advisory services—bringing experienced guidance, strategic insight, and operational discipline without the overhead and commitment of a full-time executive.
My homebuilding career spans 17 years, starting in sales with Pulte Group across the Tampa and Ocala markets and rising through Selling Sales Manager to General Sales Manager — a run that included ranking 3rd among 28 general managers nationally, growing same-store sales 50% in a single year, and landing sales engagement scores in the 87th percentile company-wide while holding a 0% sales-team turnover rate.
That chapter was inside a large publicly traded homebuilder — a different operating environment than what came next. In 2017 I joined Neal Communities, a privately held, family-owned builder, as VP of Sales, overseeing sales for our market. In 2021 I was also tasked with marketing, which I directed across more than 25 communities and sales outlets spanning Neal Communities, Neal Signature Homes, SimplyDwell and our South Florida (Naples/Ft. Myers) region. In 2023, when our Division President (and my mentor) retired, I was entrusted to take on the role of Division President of Neal Signature Homes, holding full P&L responsibility for a $70MM+ luxury division and leading a cross-functional team of 30+ across sales, marketing, land, construction, and purchasing.
Having led inside both a public homebuilder and a privately held one, I've seen how differently each operates — public builders bring institutional reporting rhythm, capital discipline, and corporate process; private, family-owned builders move faster but carry different land, capital, and succession dynamics. Knowing both worlds is part of what I bring to an engagement, along with fluency in Spanish, which matters daily in much of homebuilding, given how a large part of the trade and construction workforce can be Spanish-speaking.
Along the way, I led the go-to-market launch of SimplyDwell, Neal's entry-level brand, oversaw marketing agency partnerships, and directed the rollout of cloud-based platforms including Salesforce, Pardot, and DocuSign for CRM, marketing automation, and e-signature — cutting contract approval workflows significantly and improving business intelligence company-wide. I completed a dual MBA/MS from Indiana University's Kelley School of Business alongside the day job.
After nearly eight years across both roles, I stepped away for a year to fulfill a family dream: a literal around-the-world trip, visiting 26 countries across 4 continents. I'm back, and now working with a small number of builders as a fractional executive or advisor — bringing division-level thinking to teams that need it, without the overhead of a full-time senior hire.
Architects design plans that photograph well — open kitchens, dramatic islands. Fewer are built around daily life: a laundry room sized for two in a five-bedroom family community, or a walk-in closet with no dedicated lighting or A/C run to it. I review plan sets and options lists for daily livability, not just curb appeal.
Engineers optimize for lot yield and setback compliance. Livability, sightlines, amenity placement, and how a community actually feels to walk through often lose. I sit in on layout and amenity programming before it's poured in concrete.
A sales team can hit the number and still be quietly falling apart. I diagnose culture and process issues on the sales floor — not just the scoreboard — because the scoreboard is usually the last thing to show a problem.
Most builders can tell you their marketing budget. Fewer can tell you cost per qualified lead by community, or which channel actually produces buyers versus clicks. I bring that discipline without a big agency retainer attached to it.
Cycle times, trade turns, and variable spend are where margin quietly leaks. I've run production accountability at the division level — I know which bottlenecks are real and which are just the trade everyone likes to blame.
A deal can pencil on paper and still be the wrong product for the site, the buyer, or the market cycle. I evaluate acquisitions the way a division president has to — because I'll own the outcome, not just the spreadsheet.
Full oversight of a division's P&L, land, construction, purchasing, sales, and marketing — senior leadership for a division that needs it, without a full-time hire.
Ongoing, part-time leadership over your sales team, process, and marketing spend — set days or hours per month, focused on your highest-leverage priorities.
Partner agency oversight and review, marketing material and branding/logo review, community launch strategy, and go-to-market planning for new brands.
Project-based engagements — plan and community layout review, CRM and digital tool review, sales process and sales center flow, production cycle-time audits, or land deal evaluation.
Division-level operating experience applied to a specific decision — a land deal, a new community launch, or a build partnership.
Engagement structure varies by scope — some work is billed flat-fee, others hourly or day-rate. Structure and terms are agreed before any engagement begins.
Most engagements start with a short conversation about what's actually going on — not a sales pitch. If it's a fit, we'll scope something specific from there.
Contact Carlos today.