WEBVTT 00:00:00.200 --> 00:00:03.359 I was telling Krista, it's got to be in the Geneva 00:00:03.359 --> 00:00:05.219 Convention somewhere to listen to this. It's 00:00:05.219 --> 00:00:07.280 got to be a crime against humanity to make somebody 00:00:07.280 --> 00:00:10.140 listen to me talk for 45 minutes about home building, 00:00:10.759 --> 00:00:13.619 but clearly enough people like it. Real builds, 00:00:13.960 --> 00:00:17.440 real decisions. You see the finished houses and 00:00:17.440 --> 00:00:20.379 we uncover the steps it took to get there. I'm 00:00:20.379 --> 00:00:23.300 Krista here with Michael, and this is Trust the 00:00:23.300 --> 00:00:27.260 Process podcast. We talk construction, real estate 00:00:27.260 --> 00:00:29.929 and development. In today's episode, we're going 00:00:29.929 --> 00:00:32.869 to do a quick reintroduction on who we are, how 00:00:32.869 --> 00:00:35.490 we got here, and why we do what we do. You'll 00:00:35.490 --> 00:00:38.130 also hear how we have more than 100 homes out 00:00:38.130 --> 00:00:41.490 in the next two years, what it really takes to 00:00:41.490 --> 00:00:44.390 keep a project moving in a choppy market, and 00:00:44.390 --> 00:00:47.630 why small teams can make a $200 ,000 decision 00:00:47.630 --> 00:00:50.829 on the fly. If you're building or just curious, 00:00:51.329 --> 00:00:54.210 this one's for you. So let's jump in. Welcome 00:00:54.210 --> 00:00:59.270 back to season two of trust the process podcast 00:00:59.270 --> 00:01:02.909 I'm Krista and I'm joined here by Michael and 00:01:02.909 --> 00:01:07.409 we have grown a lot our first season Was really 00:01:07.409 --> 00:01:10.109 well received and so thank you guys for finding 00:01:10.109 --> 00:01:13.290 us and for enjoying what we're doing here But 00:01:13.290 --> 00:01:15.849 we thought it was important to kind of recap 00:01:16.200 --> 00:01:19.959 Who are we? What are we doing? Why is what we 00:01:19.959 --> 00:01:23.379 bring a value? And for those people who did find 00:01:23.379 --> 00:01:26.959 us later into the season, seems like an opportune 00:01:26.959 --> 00:01:29.519 time to start over and do a little reintroduction 00:01:29.519 --> 00:01:31.739 on who we are and what Trust Home Builders is 00:01:31.739 --> 00:01:35.060 about, how we spend our time, and how we have 00:01:35.060 --> 00:01:37.200 the knowledge and resource to be able to share 00:01:37.200 --> 00:01:39.980 this information with you guys. So I'll start 00:01:39.980 --> 00:01:44.480 with myself. I am Krista, and Michael and I met 00:01:44.480 --> 00:01:49.260 going on 18 years ago now. A long time ago. Many 00:01:49.260 --> 00:01:51.500 years that we have been friends and that we have 00:01:51.500 --> 00:01:54.959 collaborated over our love for new home design 00:01:54.959 --> 00:01:59.319 and construction interior design. We have a lot 00:01:59.319 --> 00:02:01.780 of interest in that world and we have collaborated 00:02:01.780 --> 00:02:05.159 numerous times over the years on different projects, 00:02:05.340 --> 00:02:09.500 flip projects, custom home projects. So finally, 00:02:09.599 --> 00:02:13.419 in last year, I officially joined the Trust Home 00:02:13.419 --> 00:02:17.000 Builders team as the Director of Marketing, Client 00:02:17.000 --> 00:02:20.500 Relations and Sales. So that's my role here. 00:02:20.650 --> 00:02:24.030 I come from a background in new home sales. I've 00:02:24.030 --> 00:02:26.949 done general home sales and then marketing with 00:02:26.949 --> 00:02:31.909 other builders. So I bring, I don't know, 15 00:02:31.909 --> 00:02:34.289 years of experience. Is that even possible? Oh 00:02:34.289 --> 00:02:36.469 my gosh. When I say it out loud, I'm like, I 00:02:36.469 --> 00:02:40.009 feel like I just got my license. I bring 15 years 00:02:40.009 --> 00:02:43.550 of sales and marketing to the Trust Home Builders 00:02:43.550 --> 00:02:46.270 suite of offerings and I'm really proud to be 00:02:46.270 --> 00:02:48.789 able to do it. Trust Home Builders is a custom 00:02:48.789 --> 00:02:54.539 builder and Michael is our owner. As many of 00:02:54.539 --> 00:02:57.020 you will have heard me say before, he's our resident 00:02:57.020 --> 00:03:01.259 experts. He started in real estate. He's been 00:03:01.259 --> 00:03:05.240 a broker. He is now a builder and a developer. 00:03:05.560 --> 00:03:08.780 Learned a lot in his time as a builder and so 00:03:08.780 --> 00:03:12.159 has tons of experience, tons of knowledge, and 00:03:12.159 --> 00:03:15.400 so much know how to be able to share with you 00:03:15.400 --> 00:03:18.460 and with me as we go through these podcasts. 00:03:18.719 --> 00:03:20.680 So Michael, I'll let you take it. Our resident 00:03:20.680 --> 00:03:25.120 expert. So take it from here and give us a little 00:03:25.120 --> 00:03:28.020 intro on yourself and an opportunity to get to 00:03:28.020 --> 00:03:32.840 re -know you and what all we get with you here 00:03:32.840 --> 00:03:35.199 on the podcast. I don't know how I follow that 00:03:35.199 --> 00:03:38.379 introduction, but I appreciate it. It's all fact. 00:03:38.680 --> 00:03:41.400 Yeah, you own it. Yeah, I should own it. Yeah, 00:03:41.719 --> 00:03:45.419 there's no lies told, no lies detected. So yeah, 00:03:45.659 --> 00:03:48.740 first of all, Again, thank you for that. And 00:03:48.740 --> 00:03:51.199 welcome back to season two, everyone that's stuck 00:03:51.199 --> 00:03:54.520 with us and our large following and large for 00:03:54.520 --> 00:03:56.319 us and more than we ever thought it would be. 00:03:56.780 --> 00:03:59.879 And very humbled and flattered by it that people 00:03:59.879 --> 00:04:02.360 want to sit and listen to what we have to say 00:04:02.360 --> 00:04:05.360 or what I have to say. And I was telling Krista, 00:04:05.539 --> 00:04:08.180 it's got to be in the Geneva convention somewhere 00:04:08.180 --> 00:04:09.879 to have to listen to this. It's got to be a crime 00:04:09.879 --> 00:04:12.020 against humanity to make somebody listen to me 00:04:12.020 --> 00:04:15.360 talk. 45 minutes of a home building, but clearly 00:04:15.360 --> 00:04:18.860 enough people like it. So many people have houses 00:04:18.860 --> 00:04:21.220 and know houses or sell houses or are in the 00:04:21.220 --> 00:04:24.420 industry, but they don't know how you get from 00:04:24.420 --> 00:04:27.839 raw land to to a home that somebody's actually 00:04:27.839 --> 00:04:30.160 living in and enjoying. So I think we all have 00:04:30.160 --> 00:04:33.160 a are an anomaly for many. And that's I agree. 00:04:34.269 --> 00:04:37.149 And we all have a domicile. We all live somewhere, 00:04:37.350 --> 00:04:38.930 even if it's in our mom's basement, right? We 00:04:38.930 --> 00:04:41.870 all live somewhere. And that had to be developed 00:04:41.870 --> 00:04:45.589 and built and codes in it. They're a relic of 00:04:45.589 --> 00:04:47.829 the years they were built. And I've been drawn 00:04:47.829 --> 00:04:50.389 to the real estate houses for that reason, is 00:04:50.389 --> 00:04:52.910 that they're little time machines in their own 00:04:52.910 --> 00:04:55.490 way. They provide memories. They have... There's 00:04:55.490 --> 00:04:57.610 just so many, right? There's so many things that 00:04:57.610 --> 00:04:59.990 they do. They make the city. The city's nothing 00:04:59.990 --> 00:05:02.230 without their houses and their residents in them. 00:05:02.930 --> 00:05:06.939 And to me, I just find that... It was a huge 00:05:06.939 --> 00:05:10.199 draw for me and it was a fire I couldn't put 00:05:10.199 --> 00:05:12.779 out. My degrees are in biochemistry and pharmacology. 00:05:12.839 --> 00:05:14.639 They're not even in any way related to business 00:05:14.639 --> 00:05:16.839 or real estate development or anything along 00:05:16.839 --> 00:05:18.980 those lines. Construction, nothing. It's all 00:05:18.980 --> 00:05:21.879 self -taught and just from a pure passion that 00:05:21.879 --> 00:05:23.779 I was never able to turn off and I thought would 00:05:23.779 --> 00:05:26.339 go away and wasn't sure how to, even what to 00:05:26.339 --> 00:05:28.620 make of it and what to do with it. Sure enough, 00:05:28.639 --> 00:05:31.879 I ended up becoming a general sales agent about 00:05:31.879 --> 00:05:33.899 12 years ago. I did that for only about a year 00:05:33.899 --> 00:05:36.759 and a half and took my advanced degrees in the 00:05:36.759 --> 00:05:38.379 state, allowed me to become a broker with those 00:05:38.379 --> 00:05:40.259 advanced degrees without the experience needed. 00:05:40.759 --> 00:05:42.959 So right off the bat, I was jumping in head first 00:05:42.959 --> 00:05:44.920 to say, oh, I'm not only just going to go into 00:05:44.920 --> 00:05:46.399 real estate, I'm going to own my own brokerage. 00:05:46.439 --> 00:05:48.639 I'm going to have agents that work for me. Because 00:05:48.639 --> 00:05:50.939 naturally, why wouldn't you? You've been in the 00:05:50.939 --> 00:05:52.800 business for 14 months. Yeah, you should own 00:05:52.800 --> 00:05:56.259 your own office. And that's a little side note 00:05:56.259 --> 00:05:59.589 about Michael. He doesn't really have any end 00:05:59.589 --> 00:06:03.449 point. He's willing to try anything and ready 00:06:03.449 --> 00:06:05.730 to go out on the skin branches to learn something 00:06:05.730 --> 00:06:09.410 new and push his boundaries. That's right. Gets 00:06:09.410 --> 00:06:12.129 me into hot water sometimes. Definitely get over 00:06:12.129 --> 00:06:16.779 my skis. Yeah, exactly. The one time you said, 00:06:17.040 --> 00:06:19.819 that was so perfect, you said, I'll jump. I don't 00:06:19.819 --> 00:06:21.220 even need to know there's a parachute there. 00:06:21.379 --> 00:06:24.379 I'm ready to jump. Yeah. I mean, midair, I'm 00:06:24.379 --> 00:06:27.740 like, oh, there's still parachutes. How do you 00:06:27.740 --> 00:06:29.680 guess I better nail the plane? You should have 00:06:29.680 --> 00:06:34.420 caught that or should have checked. So yeah, 00:06:34.459 --> 00:06:36.319 that does get me into hot water sometimes. I 00:06:36.319 --> 00:06:38.579 definitely get over my skis, but you know, like 00:06:38.579 --> 00:06:41.050 a... piece of carbon being crushed into a diamond, 00:06:41.290 --> 00:06:43.269 you kind of either under that pressure, you crack 00:06:43.269 --> 00:06:46.370 or you become a diamond. And, uh, it's, it's 00:06:46.370 --> 00:06:48.230 a choice that I think it's an internal choice. 00:06:48.410 --> 00:06:50.129 You say, Ooh, this is really challenging. It's 00:06:50.129 --> 00:06:52.149 really trying. I'm either going to make this 00:06:52.149 --> 00:06:54.610 make, you know, this be a learning experience 00:06:54.610 --> 00:06:56.990 and develop new skills, develop just how to deal 00:06:56.990 --> 00:06:59.990 with stress, develop business acumen off of your 00:06:59.990 --> 00:07:01.889 instincts and hope that it's the right call. 00:07:03.340 --> 00:07:05.319 It's thankfully worked out. I mean, I don't know 00:07:05.319 --> 00:07:07.600 if I'm living on borrowed time. All I know is 00:07:07.600 --> 00:07:09.199 that it has worked out to this point because 00:07:09.199 --> 00:07:12.540 I'm very happy with where we've landed as a company 00:07:12.540 --> 00:07:13.879 and where I've landed, you know, personally. 00:07:14.399 --> 00:07:17.439 And so that having been said, we felt that there 00:07:17.439 --> 00:07:21.620 was enough there to, on our day to day, start 00:07:21.620 --> 00:07:23.800 a little podcast. And what we basically do is 00:07:23.800 --> 00:07:25.439 have our work conversations and every now and 00:07:25.439 --> 00:07:27.939 then turn on the camera and start recording. 00:07:28.920 --> 00:07:30.579 And it's been - These are conversations that 00:07:30.579 --> 00:07:33.750 we're having either way. Discussing how things 00:07:33.750 --> 00:07:36.990 get done, we spend a lot of time discussing the 00:07:36.990 --> 00:07:39.850 market and the industry and the marketing pieces 00:07:39.850 --> 00:07:41.689 of it. How are we going to price this new community 00:07:41.689 --> 00:07:44.029 that we're looking at? And land that Michael's 00:07:44.029 --> 00:07:45.810 looking at. What type of product? Jets coming 00:07:45.810 --> 00:07:49.230 onto the community or into the company. And so 00:07:49.230 --> 00:07:52.290 we, you know, bounce ideas and workshop and brainstorm 00:07:52.290 --> 00:07:56.410 together anyway. So it was a simple thought to 00:07:56.410 --> 00:07:59.129 imagine. What if the camera was rolling and if 00:07:59.129 --> 00:08:02.019 somebody's interested? Great. And if not, we're 00:08:02.019 --> 00:08:03.939 still successfully business, you know, we're 00:08:03.939 --> 00:08:07.160 doing our work. We're busy anyway, yeah. He's 00:08:07.160 --> 00:08:09.220 sitting in his, we're still doing the day that 00:08:09.220 --> 00:08:12.480 we would otherwise be doing so. Exactly. So that's 00:08:12.480 --> 00:08:15.620 how it came to be. And here it is, season two. 00:08:16.139 --> 00:08:17.939 And I mean, to kind of go back to how we even 00:08:17.939 --> 00:08:19.639 became a home building company, I guess I skipped 00:08:19.639 --> 00:08:23.180 over that important part. It ran that brokerage 00:08:23.180 --> 00:08:26.740 for several years and still have it. And it's 00:08:26.740 --> 00:08:30.410 definitely A vibrant brokerage, small, but vibrant. 00:08:31.110 --> 00:08:33.750 And about seven years ago, started building my 00:08:33.750 --> 00:08:36.909 first infill homes on just little parcels that 00:08:36.909 --> 00:08:39.629 I would find that one I bought from the city, 00:08:39.929 --> 00:08:41.549 couple others I bought out of bankruptcy, and 00:08:41.549 --> 00:08:44.769 just did little stuff. And then we're talking 00:08:44.769 --> 00:08:47.830 a home a year. It took forever. It was like a 00:08:47.830 --> 00:08:49.990 garden that you had to till and keep working 00:08:49.990 --> 00:08:51.610 at it and say, well, I see a greater vision here, 00:08:51.610 --> 00:08:53.210 but it's going to take me some time. All self 00:08:53.210 --> 00:08:55.690 -funded. No one, no one would give me any money. 00:08:56.090 --> 00:08:59.970 to build houses. No one. I bought a second on 00:08:59.970 --> 00:09:02.830 my house, had savings, and got a personal loan 00:09:02.830 --> 00:09:05.909 to build my first project, right? Paid cash for 00:09:05.909 --> 00:09:08.610 the land, which was $40 ,000, and the land was 00:09:08.610 --> 00:09:14.230 cheap in 2015. That's crazy. Crazy. Can't get 00:09:14.230 --> 00:09:20.070 you home anymore. That's not an indictment. That's 00:09:20.070 --> 00:09:25.549 not an admission. To get the money to build that 00:09:25.549 --> 00:09:27.570 first project and didn't know what I was doing, 00:09:27.750 --> 00:09:29.950 met a great general contractor in the process, 00:09:30.450 --> 00:09:33.549 who is my current business partner today. And 00:09:33.549 --> 00:09:35.269 we've known each other for 10 years. I shouldn't 00:09:35.269 --> 00:09:36.970 say it was seven. Oh, it's been 10, actually, 00:09:37.029 --> 00:09:39.190 when I bought that land. It took a year and a 00:09:39.190 --> 00:09:40.529 half to build the house because I didn't know 00:09:40.529 --> 00:09:44.009 what the hell I was doing. And it was a $300 00:09:44.009 --> 00:09:45.929 ,000 house. It was nothing. I mean, not that 00:09:45.929 --> 00:09:47.850 that's nothing, but it was nothing fancy. It 00:09:47.850 --> 00:09:50.470 was nothing to write home about. And then that 00:09:50.470 --> 00:09:52.590 kind of parlayed. And then with the connections 00:09:52.590 --> 00:09:55.070 that Ryan, who's the guy I partnered with, with 00:09:55.070 --> 00:09:56.629 the connections he had in town, the connections 00:09:56.629 --> 00:09:58.590 I had in town, we found ourselves getting pretty 00:09:58.590 --> 00:10:01.309 busy doing some build the suits, which kind of 00:10:01.309 --> 00:10:04.110 I earned my grit that way, building the home 00:10:04.110 --> 00:10:05.789 with someone else's money, but then also dealing 00:10:05.789 --> 00:10:08.789 with their emotions, which is way worse than 00:10:08.789 --> 00:10:10.110 just paying interest. I'll just pay interest. 00:10:10.309 --> 00:10:11.840 I don't know. Don't tell people the motions. 00:10:15.220 --> 00:10:18.639 It's its own skill set for sure. And then during 00:10:18.639 --> 00:10:23.299 COVID, I broke from a partner I had with my brokerage, 00:10:23.340 --> 00:10:26.039 started my own true brokerage. And that's been 00:10:26.039 --> 00:10:29.500 about six years. And at the same time, just created 00:10:29.500 --> 00:10:32.120 a logo for a home building company and a developer 00:10:32.120 --> 00:10:35.039 and just said, let's just see what kind of trouble 00:10:35.039 --> 00:10:36.940 we can get into. Let's figure out what we can 00:10:36.940 --> 00:10:39.419 do. I still remember the day you shared it with 00:10:39.419 --> 00:10:42.539 me, you were like, So I think I'm doing this. 00:10:42.720 --> 00:10:44.600 I think I'm doing this. It's probably still in 00:10:44.600 --> 00:10:47.480 our text. Oh, let's go. Yeah. Go. Let's do it. 00:10:47.480 --> 00:10:48.860 It's probably in our text right. If we look far 00:10:48.860 --> 00:10:52.200 back enough, I'm sure that image is still in 00:10:52.200 --> 00:10:54.340 there. You know what? I bet it is. It should 00:10:54.340 --> 00:10:56.519 look up the date. It probably is. It would have 00:10:56.519 --> 00:10:59.419 been, yeah, about five or six years ago. Oh my 00:10:59.419 --> 00:11:01.360 gosh. It's funny how it should. It's probably 00:11:01.360 --> 00:11:08.799 in there. So now fast forward, we've got, I mean, 00:11:08.879 --> 00:11:11.500 I don't even know how to count them. But we've 00:11:11.500 --> 00:11:13.399 got six custom homes in South Shore. We've got 00:11:13.399 --> 00:11:14.919 a six -home subdivision at Serene. We've got 00:11:14.919 --> 00:11:16.779 a six -home subdivision in a community called 00:11:16.779 --> 00:11:19.460 Argos. We've got a five -home subdivision in 00:11:19.460 --> 00:11:22.159 a community called Westridge. And drum roll, 00:11:22.340 --> 00:11:27.639 we've got a 79 unit townhouse project and a, 00:11:27.720 --> 00:11:29.179 I should have led with the 24. I should have 00:11:29.179 --> 00:11:31.279 ended with that one, but we've got a 24 unit 00:11:31.279 --> 00:11:33.480 townhouse project in North Las Vegas. We've got 00:11:33.480 --> 00:11:37.419 a 79 unit townhouse project in downtown. So we're 00:11:37.419 --> 00:11:41.039 going to turn over in the next two years. Well 00:11:41.039 --> 00:11:44.519 over a hundred houses. And that is just crazy 00:11:44.519 --> 00:11:47.840 to me to think that what was a logo five years, 00:11:47.860 --> 00:11:52.070 five or six years ago is. A hundred keys being 00:11:52.070 --> 00:11:54.730 handed over. A hundred plus. Probably a hundred 00:11:54.730 --> 00:11:58.909 and twenty. Over two years. Between twenty... 00:11:58.909 --> 00:12:01.129 Homeowners who get to enjoy the privilege of 00:12:01.129 --> 00:12:03.330 that homeownership and the, you know, passion 00:12:03.330 --> 00:12:05.830 and pride that you put into each home. Exactly. 00:12:05.970 --> 00:12:08.210 Even the townhomes, you know, lower price point, 00:12:08.269 --> 00:12:10.389 kind of more in the median sales price. Great 00:12:10.389 --> 00:12:14.340 for entry level. That is still... a brainchild 00:12:14.340 --> 00:12:17.120 of ours that we as a company will watch grow 00:12:17.120 --> 00:12:20.500 to fruition. And it is really satisfying that 00:12:20.500 --> 00:12:22.419 you hope in a hundred years, those homes have 00:12:22.419 --> 00:12:24.039 turned over a hundred times, maybe, or not a 00:12:24.039 --> 00:12:25.700 hundred times, but maybe turned over several 00:12:25.700 --> 00:12:27.980 times. Well, maybe if it's just home builders 00:12:27.980 --> 00:12:30.919 home, it may be turned over every year. Ready 00:12:30.919 --> 00:12:35.850 for us to come in and do a renovation. And we'll 00:12:35.850 --> 00:12:42.909 just be a screen on a Dyson vacuum, like a disembodied 00:12:42.909 --> 00:12:46.169 face. So yeah, that's where we're at. Just to 00:12:46.169 --> 00:12:47.629 try to recount what's happened over the last 00:12:47.629 --> 00:12:49.370 five or six years and what's going on right now 00:12:49.370 --> 00:12:50.830 and what's going to happen in the next two years. 00:12:51.610 --> 00:12:56.389 It's pretty crazy. We're about a six person team. 00:12:56.980 --> 00:12:59.519 And we have a project manager. We have my partner 00:12:59.519 --> 00:13:01.639 who's kind of the senior project manager. We 00:13:01.639 --> 00:13:03.759 have Krista who's over director, you know, over 00:13:03.759 --> 00:13:06.139 marketing, client experience, sales, everything. 00:13:06.580 --> 00:13:08.320 We have an in -house sales agent. We have an 00:13:08.320 --> 00:13:11.820 in -house designer. Um, and we're growing and 00:13:11.820 --> 00:13:13.700 by the time we air this, we might have another 00:13:13.700 --> 00:13:16.860 person. So we are growing very quickly and Krista 00:13:16.860 --> 00:13:18.720 likes to compare us to a startup because we are. 00:13:18.799 --> 00:13:21.360 But it's funny to think of us in that way where 00:13:21.360 --> 00:13:23.779 we're kind of moving fast and breaking things 00:13:23.779 --> 00:13:26.159 to overuse that, that, that verbiage. But it's 00:13:26.159 --> 00:13:28.879 true. We're, we're moving fast and we're, we're 00:13:28.879 --> 00:13:30.399 learning as we go. I tell Chris all the time, 00:13:30.399 --> 00:13:33.779 we're building the plane in the air. Um, and 00:13:33.779 --> 00:13:36.580 I get a thrill out of it. I like having that 00:13:36.580 --> 00:13:38.360 kind of flexibility that we're not stuck with 00:13:38.360 --> 00:13:40.399 old policies and we're not stuck with old ideas 00:13:40.399 --> 00:13:42.720 and old management. We're new. Everything's new. 00:13:42.919 --> 00:13:45.120 Everything is uncharted territory. And I find 00:13:45.120 --> 00:13:47.860 it very, very gratifying to be a part of it and 00:13:47.860 --> 00:13:52.340 to have. Then kind of, um, they're, you know, 00:13:52.820 --> 00:13:54.679 cause I created it, I guess, but they're for 00:13:54.679 --> 00:13:58.399 its growth and it's, it's been breakneck speed. 00:13:59.220 --> 00:14:01.159 So we've weathered all types of supply chain 00:14:01.159 --> 00:14:03.639 disruptions. We've weathered bad markets. We've 00:14:03.639 --> 00:14:08.279 weathered 4 % rates to 6 % rates in six weeks. 00:14:08.580 --> 00:14:11.539 That happened. Um, if you go over a year, we 00:14:11.539 --> 00:14:13.840 went from 3 % to 6 % one year. I mean, we've 00:14:13.840 --> 00:14:15.220 built through all those environments. We've sold 00:14:15.220 --> 00:14:18.269 through all those. environments. I've, I keep 00:14:18.269 --> 00:14:20.169 a very watchful eye on the real estate market 00:14:20.169 --> 00:14:23.090 just as a broker at large, but also because what 00:14:23.090 --> 00:14:25.809 I build, we do mostly build to sell. So what 00:14:25.809 --> 00:14:28.110 I'm building are our own investments, right? 00:14:28.129 --> 00:14:30.029 I own them until the minute they're done. And 00:14:30.029 --> 00:14:31.649 then they're turned over to a buyer ideally, 00:14:31.669 --> 00:14:34.029 if they sell right away. So you have to know 00:14:34.029 --> 00:14:35.529 the market. You have to keep your head on the 00:14:35.529 --> 00:14:37.649 swivel. You have to know what's coming in terms 00:14:37.649 --> 00:14:40.730 of legislation, building codes, energy codes, 00:14:41.710 --> 00:14:44.169 city planning. What's the appetite for new growth 00:14:44.169 --> 00:14:47.039 in that jurisdiction? Some of our communities 00:14:47.039 --> 00:14:51.019 are within common interest communities. So they're 00:14:51.019 --> 00:14:54.779 governed by design review boards and HOA boards. 00:14:55.159 --> 00:14:57.000 And that's something you have to just be aware 00:14:57.000 --> 00:14:59.200 of and be able to navigate and handle the emotion. 00:14:59.620 --> 00:15:02.279 You have to keep a steady stream of investors. 00:15:02.419 --> 00:15:03.980 You have to keep a steady stream of capital. 00:15:04.460 --> 00:15:07.019 You have to keep great relationships of banks 00:15:07.019 --> 00:15:09.639 and lenders in order to keep your projects funded. 00:15:10.080 --> 00:15:12.539 You have to keep yourself solvent. So you have 00:15:12.539 --> 00:15:15.019 to I routinely have to donate to the company, 00:15:15.019 --> 00:15:17.440 you know, to keep the project going when you're 00:15:17.440 --> 00:15:19.779 new and you don't have bond money, like corporate 00:15:19.779 --> 00:15:22.100 bonds, like Pulte or the large publicly traded 00:15:22.100 --> 00:15:24.320 companies have that bond money. It can raise 00:15:24.320 --> 00:15:27.659 a corporate bond in weeks, right? And they have 00:15:27.659 --> 00:15:29.879 all that money for half of what I pay for interest. 00:15:30.379 --> 00:15:32.679 I don't have that luxury. We have to get creative 00:15:32.679 --> 00:15:36.120 a lot of times and we're frequently moving stuff 00:15:36.120 --> 00:15:38.120 around to say, okay, I've got to put a little 00:15:38.120 --> 00:15:39.919 bit extra in this project because I didn't quite 00:15:39.919 --> 00:15:43.320 have. enough allocated from the development loan 00:15:43.320 --> 00:15:45.600 and you just have to be willing to do those things 00:15:45.600 --> 00:15:47.740 and willing to sit on homes for longer, weather 00:15:47.740 --> 00:15:50.200 the market, weather our market conditions and 00:15:50.200 --> 00:15:52.539 wait for our market to turn around. So that being 00:15:52.539 --> 00:15:54.220 said, we're happy to have you guys and those 00:15:54.220 --> 00:15:57.500 that do watch us and thrilled to have enough 00:15:57.500 --> 00:16:01.149 content for season two. static with the growth 00:16:01.149 --> 00:16:03.009 that the channel has had and that the podcast 00:16:03.009 --> 00:16:05.009 has had that we can add value to people who are 00:16:05.009 --> 00:16:07.710 enthusiasts of real estate design and development 00:16:07.710 --> 00:16:09.669 and business. We kind of sprinkle everything 00:16:09.669 --> 00:16:13.250 in there and a couple of one -liners and some 00:16:13.250 --> 00:16:15.610 history references. That never hurt anybody. 00:16:15.610 --> 00:16:18.029 That was fiery witty and very funny. So he keeps 00:16:18.029 --> 00:16:22.029 it actually. Well, I will disclaim she is on 00:16:22.029 --> 00:16:23.809 payroll. So there might be some perverse incentives 00:16:23.809 --> 00:16:31.399 to laugh at my jokes. And you mentioned just 00:16:31.399 --> 00:16:33.740 the housing industry as a whole and how we really 00:16:33.740 --> 00:16:37.029 work hard to keep ourselves surprised. obviously 00:16:37.029 --> 00:16:39.330 affects us in the local market. We build in Las 00:16:39.330 --> 00:16:42.029 Vegas in the greater Southern Nevada area. And 00:16:42.029 --> 00:16:44.029 so while, yes, we really keep ourselves informed 00:16:44.029 --> 00:16:46.129 about what's happening here on the ground, kind 00:16:46.129 --> 00:16:48.230 of a boots on the ground opportunity, but we 00:16:48.230 --> 00:16:50.830 also both study the national market. And so knowing 00:16:50.830 --> 00:16:52.970 what's out there, people at a distance. I know 00:16:52.970 --> 00:16:55.669 we have some followers in, you know, other states, 00:16:56.129 --> 00:16:58.850 other areas of the country. East, yes. I mean, 00:16:58.970 --> 00:17:02.549 in the other countries too. So. So we really, 00:17:02.590 --> 00:17:04.769 we work really hard to understand the industry 00:17:04.769 --> 00:17:06.950 as a whole because it affects us on the day to 00:17:06.950 --> 00:17:10.730 day. And so informing ourselves about, like you 00:17:10.730 --> 00:17:12.930 said, new policy changes, things that are happening, 00:17:13.029 --> 00:17:15.529 what's coming down the pipeline on the East Coast 00:17:15.529 --> 00:17:18.029 that we know may trickle down over here or, you 00:17:18.029 --> 00:17:19.630 know, some of our neighboring communities in 00:17:19.630 --> 00:17:22.970 Arizona or Utah, or we get a lot of migration 00:17:22.970 --> 00:17:25.710 into the Las Vegas area. And so keeping our thumb 00:17:25.710 --> 00:17:27.670 on the pulse of what's happening in some of those 00:17:27.670 --> 00:17:29.710 areas that our greatest migration comes from, 00:17:29.710 --> 00:17:32.460 California, Washington. in Colorado. So understanding 00:17:32.460 --> 00:17:35.440 those industries, how's the resale there? Should 00:17:35.440 --> 00:17:37.700 we be taking a contingency on a new home based 00:17:37.700 --> 00:17:40.220 on what we know about those markets? So we really 00:17:40.220 --> 00:17:44.319 have a more broad spectrum of know -how versus 00:17:44.319 --> 00:17:47.059 just the Las Vegas in this market specifically. 00:17:47.539 --> 00:17:49.759 It's important to us to keep a more broad reach. 00:17:50.200 --> 00:17:52.740 And that trickles into our podcast even. It trickles 00:17:52.740 --> 00:17:55.940 into our episodes. Really? I mean, I think it's 00:17:55.940 --> 00:17:59.369 all very relevant. You can even go down the rabbit 00:17:59.369 --> 00:18:02.529 hole when it comes to construction in terms of 00:18:02.529 --> 00:18:05.250 global commodities, concrete prices, lumber prices. 00:18:05.410 --> 00:18:07.930 If you know that there's an AI data center boom, 00:18:08.009 --> 00:18:10.609 and that's why concrete has continued to skyrocket. 00:18:11.230 --> 00:18:15.309 There is a recession in China, for sure, a housing 00:18:15.309 --> 00:18:17.650 recession, a property recession in China, and 00:18:17.650 --> 00:18:19.980 that's affecting... some of our other goods are 00:18:19.980 --> 00:18:21.859 going down in price and we'll have a whole episode 00:18:21.859 --> 00:18:24.619 on where I think the future pricing is for kind 00:18:24.619 --> 00:18:27.359 of raw materials and labor and things that go 00:18:27.359 --> 00:18:31.119 into the house and where that might land as 2026 00:18:31.119 --> 00:18:33.920 plays out. So there's a lot of things that I 00:18:33.920 --> 00:18:35.740 like to think of myself as a student and I know 00:18:35.740 --> 00:18:37.539 you're the same, a student of the market, a student 00:18:37.539 --> 00:18:41.500 of global financial conditions and political 00:18:41.500 --> 00:18:45.329 tensions and all these things are relevant. Like 00:18:45.329 --> 00:18:46.690 you're saying, some of those things that are 00:18:46.690 --> 00:18:49.690 happening, is that going to cause delays in some 00:18:49.690 --> 00:18:51.230 of the things that we want? Are there delays? 00:18:51.390 --> 00:18:54.170 Are there things happening in other countries 00:18:54.170 --> 00:18:56.289 that are going to slow down how quickly we can 00:18:56.289 --> 00:18:58.130 get appliances? Or do we need to look at this 00:18:58.130 --> 00:18:59.670 brand versus that brand because it's going to 00:18:59.670 --> 00:19:01.930 be more readily available? Certainly, those were 00:19:01.930 --> 00:19:05.269 issues that you dealt with during COVID. But 00:19:05.269 --> 00:19:10.460 even still, there are ongoing changes. manufacturing 00:19:10.460 --> 00:19:12.859 that's going to affect logistics and how we choose 00:19:12.859 --> 00:19:15.859 to build out our homes. Yeah, and when you're 00:19:15.859 --> 00:19:17.759 developing, you've got, and we've said this in 00:19:17.759 --> 00:19:20.660 the past season, that you're trying to thread 00:19:20.660 --> 00:19:24.579 a needle with a shotgun and the eye of the needle 00:19:24.579 --> 00:19:28.839 is a mile away. You have so many variables that 00:19:28.839 --> 00:19:34.019 can change where that needle goes. And you just 00:19:34.019 --> 00:19:35.680 have to have as much information as you possibly 00:19:35.680 --> 00:19:39.099 can. And at the end of the day, still almost 00:19:39.099 --> 00:19:40.599 never goes the way you thought it was going to 00:19:40.599 --> 00:19:44.480 go. But I don't like to fly in the dark. I'll 00:19:44.480 --> 00:19:45.819 jump out of a plane without a parachute, but 00:19:45.819 --> 00:19:48.859 I want to fly in the dark. I want some navigation. 00:19:49.759 --> 00:19:52.000 So I'm not risk averse, but I like having my 00:19:52.000 --> 00:19:54.539 information. Right. And the knowledge for us 00:19:54.539 --> 00:19:57.359 is that navigation. I mean, just making sure 00:19:57.359 --> 00:20:00.000 that we understand both what we do and what the 00:20:00.000 --> 00:20:03.019 market requires at any given time, I think is 00:20:03.019 --> 00:20:06.329 the... That's the light that keeps it from getting 00:20:06.329 --> 00:20:09.849 too dark, right? There are so many unknowns that 00:20:09.849 --> 00:20:12.910 you could predict, but even just understanding 00:20:12.910 --> 00:20:15.670 the market and both of us, obviously him as a 00:20:15.670 --> 00:20:19.529 broker, we sell real estate. So I'm still very 00:20:19.529 --> 00:20:21.829 involved in the market, not just in our new homes, 00:20:22.150 --> 00:20:25.730 but in the industry as a whole. So I think those 00:20:25.730 --> 00:20:28.410 things give us that little glimmer of light. 00:20:28.750 --> 00:20:32.509 Sometimes I wonder if it's a train. Right at 00:20:32.509 --> 00:20:38.309 the end of the tunnel. Is it? Sounds like a BNSF 00:20:38.309 --> 00:20:43.650 -GA diesel engine coming. There's a lot of fact 00:20:43.650 --> 00:20:47.750 -finding, a lot of pivoting as things come at 00:20:47.750 --> 00:20:51.450 us. There's constant pivots. I love it though. 00:20:51.789 --> 00:20:55.450 That's one of my favorite aspects of the business 00:20:55.450 --> 00:20:59.289 is how dynamic it is. You know, it's just, I 00:20:59.289 --> 00:21:02.009 love to collaborate with you guys and make these 00:21:02.009 --> 00:21:04.529 decisions on the fly and not go through layers 00:21:04.529 --> 00:21:07.130 of management. And it's just fun that we can 00:21:07.130 --> 00:21:09.329 have hiccups. We can have victories. We can have 00:21:09.329 --> 00:21:12.109 all these things. Something turns out we, on 00:21:12.109 --> 00:21:14.029 one of our lots at Serene, we flipped to the 00:21:14.029 --> 00:21:16.950 floor plan upstairs. I walked up and got goosebumps 00:21:16.950 --> 00:21:19.109 because, you know, it wasn't until the form was 00:21:19.109 --> 00:21:21.210 poured and the foundation was poured and the 00:21:21.210 --> 00:21:24.589 form boards were up. And I realized we need to. 00:21:24.619 --> 00:21:27.000 make a decision on the fly. They're non -structural 00:21:27.000 --> 00:21:29.640 walls. Let's flip it so that the rec room has 00:21:29.640 --> 00:21:32.240 the panoramic view of the strip. And it was probably 00:21:32.240 --> 00:21:35.539 a $200 ,000 decision. I think that house is worth 00:21:35.539 --> 00:21:37.599 $200 ,000 more in its current configuration. 00:21:38.059 --> 00:21:39.420 I don't know where I'm getting that from, but 00:21:39.420 --> 00:21:42.539 I just going off of my gut. Right? But it's nice 00:21:42.539 --> 00:21:44.680 that we didn't have to go through, oh, the Department 00:21:44.680 --> 00:21:47.900 of Architecture. It was just nice to say, hey, 00:21:48.099 --> 00:21:51.789 I went home that day on my software. And I already 00:21:51.789 --> 00:21:54.069 had that plan pulled up in my architectural software. 00:21:54.190 --> 00:21:56.630 So all I did is had to reverse it, the upstairs, 00:21:56.769 --> 00:21:59.650 flip it basically and print out, disseminate 00:21:59.650 --> 00:22:01.650 it to the team and it got framed accordingly. 00:22:01.670 --> 00:22:04.109 And here we are. And it's just an amazing, I 00:22:04.109 --> 00:22:06.250 walked it yesterday and it just, it wasn't that 00:22:06.250 --> 00:22:07.910 I captured the view is that I was able to take 00:22:07.910 --> 00:22:09.650 advantage or we were able to take advantage, 00:22:09.890 --> 00:22:11.789 brainstorm, find a better alternative, brainstorm 00:22:11.789 --> 00:22:14.990 on it, do it, uh, you know, in terms of draw 00:22:14.990 --> 00:22:17.890 it and conceive it and then execute it. and see 00:22:17.890 --> 00:22:19.849 the fruits of it. And that house will be that 00:22:19.849 --> 00:22:21.569 way forever until the house is not there anymore. 00:22:22.089 --> 00:22:25.589 And that's just kind of the, the, the joy that 00:22:25.589 --> 00:22:27.690 you find those little victories day to day that 00:22:27.690 --> 00:22:29.869 maybe that outweighed something else that was 00:22:29.869 --> 00:22:32.250 a setback that day. And it's just, when you're 00:22:32.250 --> 00:22:35.349 so tied into your business, you definitely have 00:22:35.349 --> 00:22:37.210 those little victories and those little losses 00:22:37.210 --> 00:22:39.549 and those, and you just ride the roller coaster 00:22:39.549 --> 00:22:42.759 and learn to enjoy it. And because we're small, 00:22:42.799 --> 00:22:44.460 we're able to be agile like that, right? You 00:22:44.460 --> 00:22:47.099 come up with an idea. Versus if we were with, 00:22:47.099 --> 00:22:50.200 you know, so many companies, there's policy, 00:22:50.799 --> 00:22:52.900 there's, you know, one person sees it, another 00:22:52.900 --> 00:22:55.299 person doesn't. And so, you know, you get a vision 00:22:55.299 --> 00:22:57.660 and you're able to make that change on the fly. 00:22:57.799 --> 00:22:59.579 Boom, just executive decision. That's it. That's 00:22:59.579 --> 00:23:02.359 what we're doing. That's the new thing. And that's 00:23:02.359 --> 00:23:05.440 it. That's my favorite part of the business. 00:23:05.759 --> 00:23:09.000 Definitely those highs and lows. Because without 00:23:09.000 --> 00:23:11.920 the lows, you don't have the highs. I, we've 00:23:11.920 --> 00:23:14.220 had major setbacks in the last six to 12 months 00:23:14.220 --> 00:23:16.700 with certain things. The market saw it got really 00:23:16.700 --> 00:23:19.960 soft and some builds went over budget and some 00:23:19.960 --> 00:23:21.500 builds we didn't make any money on. And some 00:23:21.500 --> 00:23:23.220 builds took way longer to sell. Some builds are 00:23:23.220 --> 00:23:25.980 still not sold. And she said, you know what though? 00:23:26.640 --> 00:23:30.359 It's fine. It doesn't stop us. We just keep rolling. 00:23:30.420 --> 00:23:34.160 And those are the things that, you know, when 00:23:34.160 --> 00:23:36.180 you pull back the curtain, not everybody knows 00:23:36.180 --> 00:23:38.839 about the home building industry or some of the 00:23:38.839 --> 00:23:41.480 challenges. And we're not afraid to expose all 00:23:41.480 --> 00:23:44.200 of that to you guys. And so we're happy to take 00:23:44.200 --> 00:23:47.480 you along in the journey. And like Michael said, 00:23:47.519 --> 00:23:50.059 we have loved the podcast. It has just been one 00:23:50.059 --> 00:23:54.509 more opportunity for us to just... kind of enjoy 00:23:54.509 --> 00:23:57.990 what we're doing. So yeah, thank you for coming 00:23:57.990 --> 00:23:59.930 along with us. Those of you who've been with 00:23:59.930 --> 00:24:03.549 us for a long time, we've enjoyed the experience. 00:24:03.609 --> 00:24:05.589 We love the interaction when you guys send us 00:24:05.589 --> 00:24:07.750 comments, questions, notes, that kind of stuff. 00:24:08.230 --> 00:24:10.829 We love it. So thank you for all of that. And 00:24:10.829 --> 00:24:12.789 for those of you who are newer to the podcast, 00:24:13.190 --> 00:24:15.750 we are excited to have you on board and can't 00:24:15.750 --> 00:24:18.190 wait to share this next season with you. We'll 00:24:18.190 --> 00:24:22.079 do some things a little bit differently. probably 00:24:22.079 --> 00:24:24.140 have some more special guests in. I know we did 00:24:24.140 --> 00:24:26.859 that a little last year with our engineer, not 00:24:26.859 --> 00:24:30.839 as much as we thought we might, but so often 00:24:30.839 --> 00:24:32.960 it's an on the fly conversation. We're just in 00:24:32.960 --> 00:24:35.720 the middle of a discussion and let's flip on 00:24:35.720 --> 00:24:38.480 the camera. So planning some of those in will 00:24:38.480 --> 00:24:43.130 be a little bit different for us. Hope to tap 00:24:43.130 --> 00:24:46.230 some of that into if we feel like it will be, 00:24:46.230 --> 00:24:48.730 you know, a benefit to you guys or if you would 00:24:48.730 --> 00:24:51.109 enjoy watching it. We'll try and bring some of 00:24:51.109 --> 00:24:53.529 that. And obviously your feedback tells us what 00:24:53.529 --> 00:24:56.190 is it most interesting for you to watch along 00:24:56.190 --> 00:25:00.730 with that. So glad you're here and we look forward 00:25:00.730 --> 00:25:02.730 to seeing you in this. Let's do it again. Let's 00:25:02.730 --> 00:25:05.609 do another season. So let's do it. Season two, 00:25:05.670 --> 00:25:09.500 here we come. Awesome. All right. Thanks for 00:25:09.500 --> 00:25:11.619 your time, Dean Michael. Thank you guys again 00:25:11.619 --> 00:25:15.220 for being here. And we will see you on the next 00:25:15.220 --> 00:25:18.559 episode of Trust the Process podcast. Bye -bye.