HOUSING: Finish It Yourself

With only $1,000, borrowed on his car, young (27), hustling Leslie B. Nelson started building houses in Santa Barbara, Calif. after the war. With another loan, of $17,500, he built more than $4,500,000 worth of medium-priced houses, but he wasn't satisfied. He thought house prices too high. "No business," he complained, "has progressed slower than building."

In time, Nelson found a way to speed it up. Last July he began building a new house with three bedrooms and an attached garage that sells for $7,950 (a two-bedroom version costs $7,295), or about $2,500...