Real Estate News Radio with Rowena Patton

Building Dreams: Joe Shively on the Adventures and Insights of a Legendary Builder

• Rowena Patton

Share episode

Send us a text

Ever wondered what it's like to build a house from the ground up? Our guest, Joe Shively, a legendary builder with over 42 years of experience, joins us to share his fascinating journey in the world of construction. From his early days dodging pranks on the job site to becoming a general contractor, Joe opens up about the highs and lows of the building industry. In this episode, we explore Joe's insights into the new home construction process, including the significance of the Build a CPO program. You'll be entertained by Joe's humorous anecdotes and gain valuable perspectives on what it takes to succeed in this challenging field.

If you're considering a career in construction or simply curious about the industry, this episode is a goldmine of advice and wisdom. Joe offers practical tips for young people entering trades like electrical, plumbing, and HVAC, highlighting the benefits and opportunities that await. With discussions ranging from the stress of building a new home to the camaraderie and light-hearted teasing on job sites, this episode is as informative as it is entertaining. Whether you're a budding builder or a real estate enthusiast, tune in for an engaging conversation that's full of laughs and learning.

Speaker 1:

This is the Plain English Real Estate Show with your host, rowena Patton, a show that focuses on the real estate market in terms you can easily understand. Call Rowena now. The number is 240-9962 or 1-800-570-9962. Now here's the English girl in the mountains, the agent that I would trust, rowena Patton.

Speaker 2:

Good morning and welcome to the show. This is the Real Estate News Radio Show. You can listen to all the older podcasts. Why would you want to? Because you're hearing us. However, you can hear all the episodes at realestatenewsradiocom.

Speaker 2:

All the things I'm mentioning today the Build a CPO program, the Cash CPO program, find a Home, find the Best Agent for you all kinds of goodies are on that page. I've made a landing page for you so you can find stuff. And today we've got a builder. How cool is this? Because we're talking about building new homes today and what that means and what's going on with all that. We have a great program for that Build a CPO, which we're going to go into a little bit. Stay tuned, because in about 15 minutes we have agents from all over the country and builders from all over the country talking about what's going on in the building world, how they use the Build a CPO. Why does this work? How do you get through this mess of building a new home, which can be really stressful, and, on that note, you're not in the hot seat or anything, joe. But good morning, joe Shively. How are you this morning?

Speaker 3:

Good morning, I'm doing great.

Speaker 2:

So I know you've built hundreds of homes over the last 42 years, did you say Did? You start, when you were two 16, actually years, did you say? Did you start when you were two?

Speaker 3:

16 actually. Wow, oh my gosh, what were you doing when you were 16? What?

Speaker 2:

was I doing then? I mean, I mean the, the things that we can talk about on the radio.

Speaker 3:

Well, I grew up start out I grew up near the coast and um most a lot of my friends got into construction, so I I started a really young age. My dad was as a construction background.

Speaker 2:

So how did they treat you back in the day?

Speaker 3:

It was rough starting out. You know you get, you get pranked a lot and, you know, kidded a lot. You know that type of thing.

Speaker 2:

So I pass it on. Oh, my goodness, I want you to share that story that you, that you told me about the, the guy you were working away and he wanted to. He wanted to show you how it wasn't so terrible when you fell off something high in the air. Can you tell the story?

Speaker 3:

he shook me off eight foot wall. Basically I can't believe this can you?

Speaker 2:

believe that. What did he say and why did he do that?

Speaker 3:

I told you it doesn't hurt bad.

Speaker 2:

Can you believe that? Oh my gosh. So kids, that's what it's like working in construction, right?

Speaker 3:

To go to college. Lots of jokes and teasing and stuff like that, most of it good natured.

Speaker 2:

But it's been a great life. Joe, right, and you've moved up. And how many homes do you think you've built? Do you have any idea? You told me hundreds.

Speaker 3:

I mean I've framed hundreds and hundreds and hundreds. I've been a general contractor here since 96.

Speaker 2:

That's a little while In North Carolina.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, built a lot of houses around here.

Speaker 2:

That's when I arrived in the States, so did we move here the same time.

Speaker 3:

Possibly.

Speaker 2:

Oh my gosh Back in 96?.

Speaker 3:

I'm up here in 90, so I've been here.

Speaker 2:

Okay, and then six years later you became a general contractor. I got you Because that takes a little bit as well. What would you say to any young people thinking about going into the world that you're in?

Speaker 3:

Oh.

Speaker 2:

Do something else, run? No, not really.

Speaker 3:

Absolutely. If you get started in electrical plumbing or HVAC in particular, those are great trades.

Speaker 2:

Why is that?

Speaker 3:

Absolutely. If you get started in electrical plumbing or HVAC in particular, those are great trades. Why is that?

Speaker 2:

They're the shortage of the tradesmen around here, everywhere right, it's everywhere in the country.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, you know you're blessed to have somebody good if they're on your team.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and are they?

Speaker 3:

more expensive because they're rare, like anything else. Um it, it just depends, uh the tradesmen. They like to work for people they can count on to pay them.

Speaker 2:

You know what I mean and they're easy to work with yeah, their jobs are fairly well managed.

Speaker 3:

You know, like mine, so they, they will work for you and give you a good price. If that's the case you know, if you're, if they're really, really busy and they don't know you, they might lay a really high price on you so what's you've?

Speaker 2:

you've worked in different areas. I know, and obviously you know, about building and the difference. I asked you what sets you apart as a builder, and you'd mentioned to me, as we were just about to go on air, that you get out in the field with the guys you're working with them. So I guess most contractors have crews working in different areas and what normally happens, what's the average way? Do they, you know, get in the truck and go around and just look at the crews and then leave them be? Or how does it normally work, joe, and why do you do it differently like that?

Speaker 3:

Well, it's just what I grew up doing, so I'm comfortable doing the work.

Speaker 2:

You know I like doing the work. You know I like doing the work. I'd rather do that than paperwork any day of the week, like most of us. Sorry for those of you out there that like to do paperwork. Thank you, jesus, that there are people that want to be out there doing paperwork. Randy's nodding his head. Do you feel the same way, randy? Oh it's worst. I hate paperwork yeah, I know right so, but but seriously, thank you, lord, that we have people that love doing that.

Speaker 2:

That's why we're all different personalities and that's why we all make the world go round, because we've got different skills and talents. That's why, joe, you started out in framing. You really know how to frame something, all the little different nuances that you do when you're framing. So I'm sure that's different, right, even in the world of framing it's not just a box. There's different things you can do.

Speaker 3:

I'm guessing oh yeah, absolutely a lot of different techniques and, uh, you know, geographically it changes a lot too. You know, um, I've worked some in northern florida and southeast virginia, where I'm from, and here it's totally different. You know, we don't have basements there because the water table is too high, um right, and the snow loads as well, right so? Right if you look in florida, you'll notice if.

Speaker 2:

If you go down to florida, you'll notice the the roofs are not as, not as steep as pitch, because they don't have to, because of the snow. Is that right? Obviously, joe. I don't know what I'm talking about. So right help us out here on the pitch of roofs.

Speaker 3:

Well, I mean, actually the best roof for Hurricane is a hip roof with no overhangs, which they don't have. They have big overhangs down there for some reason, but everything is strapped and secured really well. Their codes have gotten really strict down there since Hurricane Andrew back in the day.

Speaker 2:

But don't we have steeper pitches in the north where we have snow, so that the snow falls off more easily?

Speaker 3:

Yeah, but it still sticks really good, I mean, and with steep pitch you get a room upstairs, you know.

Speaker 2:

Oh, I see. So what's the downside of not having a low pitch, other than you don't get a room upstairs, because most Florida houses, you see, with a very, very low pitch, Right right. How you say in your building language.

Speaker 3:

I would say around here you typically have more, leave build-up debris on the roof. You know it sticks up on the roof a little more, they tend to leak a little faster. Oh, the valleys and stuff especially.

Speaker 5:

Oh.

Speaker 3:

Where the roofs meet, that crease in the roof.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, thank you for making it into English.

Speaker 3:

Right.

Speaker 2:

Which obviously I'm struggling to do this morning. For some unknown reason, saturday morning I need another cup of coffee, because Randy didn't make me a cup of coffee this morning.

Speaker 4:

It's ready, it's ready.

Speaker 2:

Oh no, I'm good. Thank you, I was just kidding you. I was trying to come up with a reason why I was a little full-clem this morning, that's all.

Speaker 4:

It's fresh-brewed, fresh-ground. It's really good coffee.

Speaker 2:

Who has a producer like Randy that makes fresh-ground, fresh-brewed coffee for when you come in?

Speaker 4:

the morning, so it's right across the hall. You're on your own, yeah.

Speaker 2:

Gotcha. Oh, I guess Joe is on his own. It's right across the hall. I love it. I still have some. So, Joe, what's different in building right now? Different materials, different styles. What's going on with all of that in the world of building?

Speaker 3:

Yeah, I transitioned from doing a lot of colonial houses and some beachy type houses in Virginia Beach, coastal style but 99% of the stuff we built was colonial style, which is really popular there it was in the 80s, I guess.

Speaker 2:

So you're talking about 80s and 90s at that point correct.

Speaker 3:

And then we came here and it was like going back in time, a little more traditional, um arts and crafts and that kind of craftsman but but yeah, but now it's transitioned into that and the into modern.

Speaker 2:

Yep, yeah absolutely so see a lot of that for those of you I I would think a lot of you know what colonial is that, those of you wondering what we're talking about those houses with those big round columns outside that always gives it away, and maybe that, what is that thing called joe that go. Fortunately you all can't see me doing this, but that thing that's called this you know what? What's that called? The little thing, that sort of decoration piece that goes over a door and it's, it goes up to an arch and then it's got a funny little peak in the middle. It's a decoration that looks very no, but dental blocks.

Speaker 3:

Remember, I was telling you about the dental blocks and I showed you some pictures yes on the outside of houses. You don't see that around here hardly at all, but a lot there that's interesting.

Speaker 2:

So, and really the big columns are the things that give that away on. On colonial, um, hey, and if you've got a colonial house you've got to have somebody who wants to buy that. That likes colonial right, because it's a very distinct style. The thing about arts and crafts I love so much is that I've never heard anybody say, oh, those arts and crafts houses, they're so ugly.

Speaker 4:

Right, they're beautiful. All of them have a big porch. Were you talking about a dormer a minute ago? Describing a dormer?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, it's like a decoration piece that goes outside. It comes up like this I'll have to draw one for you two and you can. Okay, it's like a.

Speaker 4:

But the arts and crafts, it's just. All of them got an always welcoming porch, you know.

Speaker 2:

Looks like that.

Speaker 4:

I'm drawing now see. Oh, that's just some kind of custom. It's a decoration thing, but you see it all the time on Colonials.

Speaker 3:

Gotcha, what do you?

Speaker 2:

call those decoration pieces.

Speaker 3:

Joe.

Speaker 2:

You got me there, yeah me too.

Speaker 2:

Oh, yay, I came up with something I can't answer. This is awesome. So you are seeing a lot more modern. Now. Obviously, I do wonder if at some point, people will go. I'm so tired of seeing those. So, okay, let me take you back to the 60s, and this happened in the UK as well. People were building mid-century modern, we called it then, but it's really like modern houses now, which is often, you see, a slant roof. It's what they call in the building trade shed roof, right, joe? Just a slanted roof. And then it's a box with a slanted roof on it. Builders love it because obviously it's cheaper to build, right, am I right?

Speaker 3:

Absolutely.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, it's a box with a slanted roof. Oh my gosh, is slanted roof. Oh my gosh, is it called a pill?

Speaker 3:

box. I don't know Is it called a pill box? Some people call them a salt box.

Speaker 2:

Maybe that's referring more to the so in the 60s there were all these beautiful old historic houses and then maybe they were on a big lot and we'd half that lot and this is in England as well guys, we'd half that lot and we'd stuff in this box with a slanted roof on it, right next to this historic home, and don't you think that's a little bit of what's happening now?

Speaker 3:

Trying to be Zoning restrictions are the hard part about it. You know, around here they don't want you to cut up your property. Well, that's very common everywhere now, I think.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, well, they're trying to stem that and we're trying to balance the need, I think, in fitting a lot of people in a small area.

Speaker 3:

The problem is, if you don't have some restrictions, you get houses where fire trucks can't get to and stuff like that. You know, steep driveways with no turnaround spots. So that's what they're trying to do and I get it. But at the same time they make it. They're really restrictive. If you have five acres in the country or whatever and want to split it up to sell a couple houses, they make it hard. I think you can sell two pieces of property and they call it a mini subdivision.

Speaker 2:

Well, let's talk about your mini subdivision, Joe, because you've got one up there. What are you building right now?

Speaker 3:

The house I have for sale is about 830 square feet on 7.9 acres because we can't cut it up anymore, because you're not allowed to because of the restrictions right. Yeah, it's overlooking a pond on a little hill.

Speaker 2:

It's absolutely beautiful, and it's only so. If you go up New Leicester Highway, you've got about 15 minutes from the turn off new leicester highway, is that right?

Speaker 3:

right. Um well, it's probably from erwin high school. If anybody knows where that area is, there probably about 16, 17 minutes it's just not far out of town, is the point?

Speaker 2:

25 minutes from downtown asheville or 15 minutes from weaverville.

Speaker 2:

15 minutes, yeah, so you've got all the grocery stores and the restaurants and everything there, but you definitely feel like you're out in the country. That's actually how Joe and I met. I went out to see the property up there that he's thinking about, or is definitely not thinking about, definitely selling up there. And I'm not just telling you because I'm the listing agent, because he's selling it on his own, which is perfectly fine. I'm helping him through that process. It is absolutely gorgeous.

Speaker 2:

Talk about the material on the outside, joe, because a lot of people are moving away from what we'd call traditional or conventional materials. Anytime I say traditional or conventional, I want to step outside that and see what's going on, because I get very, very tired of people going. This is the way we've always done it Same in real estate, right? So when I got into real estate, I couldn't understand why a third of deals fell apart. Can you believe that? Over a third of deals? Did you know that, joe, before I explained this to you, that over a third of deals fall apart? Because agents don't normally tell you that?

Speaker 2:

Not before you told me In other words, they go under contract and this is all over the country, guys. So they go under contract and then they fall apart over a third of the time. Do you know why they fall apart? I'll put you in the hot seat, Joe, Any ideas? So you go into contract and then the buyer comes along and just think about what happens next and that tells you why it falls out. So in your houses that you've built, have you ever had a buyer get cold feet after they've put you in the contract, for example?

Speaker 3:

Oh, absolutely.

Speaker 2:

So why does that happen, do you think?

Speaker 3:

I guess because of you know the stress of making a big change in their life. That's one reason. Moving somewhere else and the money maybe.

Speaker 2:

Maybe something financially different happens. This happens in. Here's the secret. This happens in almost every single real estate transaction. So it's called buyer's remorse. So what you do is like, yay, we finally found the house. Everybody's excited. And then you go to bed that night and you might still be excited then, and the next day it's like honey, did we do the right thing? This thing's $500,000, $700,000, a million dollars. Do we really want to move there? How do we know the market isn't going to crash? You know what happens if one of us gets sick.

Speaker 3:

Or a nosy friend.

Speaker 2:

They might have a nosy friend that says I wouldn't live there.

Speaker 2:

I wouldn't live there. I wouldn't live there for a million years. Yeah, let's be the awful people. Or your mom calls you and says what are you two thinking about? You know, you might be 50 years old, but your mom's still going to call you. Right, if you've got that kind of mom, we all know the kind of parents that we're talking about. Your dad calls you and goes son, what the heck are you doing? What are you thinking of buying that place out there? You two, you got married 20 years ago. Your kids are just off to school and now you're buying a place out. What are you thinking of? Right, we all know those people and it makes you think twice when you hear that. Or son, oh my gosh, you don't know what's happening with the economy.

Speaker 2:

Do you know we're about to have an election Right. Sure, have an election right. Sure you can hear it, can't you? What? What other kind of things do you think people are hearing?

Speaker 3:

you can be mom, me on the hot seat. You can be mom now.

Speaker 2:

You're moving too far away you're moving too far away exactly. Can you say that in mom's voice, because I did dad's um a country mom's voice.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, you're moving too far away. What are we going to do?

Speaker 4:

You'll never come home again. You'll never come home again. You'll never come home.

Speaker 2:

How are we going to see the grandkids? You can hear it, can't you? You can feel it, yeah, you can feel it in the pit of your stomach, all those things that they say to you. The best one is it's the same thing as when you call your parents and they say something like we wondered when we were going to hear from you, right? Anybody know what I'm talking about. Absolutely Flipping heck, the phone works both ways. Did you know that Right?

Speaker 5:

That's going on in your head.

Speaker 2:

Now, some of us are bold enough to say that, and most of us are not, so we just hold it inside and that's what develops, that pit in the stomach. And I'm here to tell you guys, life is short. You know, I've I've gone through at this point in my life I've gone through two life-threatening things. I was diagnosed with cancer um 10 over 10 years ago now, advanced heart failure. And look at me, now I'm here. You know, I'm just telling you like I've got a different insight on this that many of you may have. If maybe you're a cancer survivor, maybe you've been through some trauma and you survived it, it gives you a different sense of the world. Life is short. Go do what you want to do, right that's right.

Speaker 2:

So if you want to, you know. I don't know, maybe you're looking for. What's your dream, joe? What would you love to do? What would your idea? It doesn't matter where it is, but what's your ideal piece of property that you can think of?

Speaker 3:

Somewhere flatter than where I am now.

Speaker 2:

Somewhere flatter, okay, and what would you do with that land?

Speaker 3:

I'd definitely like to grow some things, so gardening and having a few more animals and stuff like that.

Speaker 2:

What do you like to grow, Joe Joe the grower Tomatoes several types of tomatoes, onions, potatoes Stuff like that. What kind of animals?

Speaker 3:

Chickens.

Speaker 2:

Chickens.

Speaker 3:

Goats, the little pigs, look pretty cool. I've never had either one of those, oh my gosh, the little mini pigs. Yeah.

Speaker 2:

I love them so much. I wonder actually, if you did a poll of the population, how many people's dream this is so 10 acres that you don't really have to take a lot of care of because you've got.

Speaker 2:

maybe have some goats right to keep it all down and keep through the brush, and let's do a poll of three here. So here's my dream Maybe 10 acres, fairly flat. I don't want it too cold in the winter, or I want my little summer place to escape to for three or four months. I don't know who takes care of the animals, I haven't gotten to that yet but some goats to keep everything down. Definitely some chickens so for some nice fresh eggs, and then some ducks, because I grew up on duck duck eggs. Um, the man next door had ducks. They used to follow me to school and come and greet me and follow me back from school, and that's what it is. We're going back to our childhoods, right, oh?

Speaker 2:

my gosh and then the little piggies. How cute would that be? I'm not going to eat them. That's anything. That's that? No, don't say randy. Don't say it, because if you had that cute little pot-bellied pig, you would not be eating that little piggy wiggly. Do you know they? They're smarter than dogs. You know that.

Speaker 2:

They're more intelligent than dogs, I understand and when they when they start, when they started doing organ uh transplants, they were used. They can use pigs because we're so close to them in our chromosomes, same as horses. Right, so, right, so anyway. But yeah, little piggy wigs, what else? What would be our dream animals? What about some llamas or some not emus, because I hear they're not very?

Speaker 3:

fun, maybe another dog.

Speaker 2:

Maybe another dog or two oh yeah, what are the little kangaroos called? I want some of those.

Speaker 3:

A little what.

Speaker 2:

It's a little kangaroo. It's not a mini kangaroo, it's a type of kangaroo that's a little dromedary, I think.

Speaker 4:

That song. Oh tie me kangaroo down, babe. Sport, sport it was but.

Speaker 2:

Get the sport, not the babe. You've got to be some Australian here, randy, that's right. So yeah, that little mini farm where you can just have things running around, but your neighbors are close enough. So here's my. I guess it's dream world, right, dream planet. So our neighbors are close enough that if you go away for the weekend, they'll come and feed the chickens. Wouldn't that be awesome?

Speaker 3:

There you go.

Speaker 2:

And our doggies run around outside together and the doggies love each other. Hopefully not too much, Because then we'd have lots of puppies or we could have a little puppy farm welcome to North Carolina yeah, let's not, let's not go that that's a lot of work, let's not yeah really.

Speaker 2:

But your neighbors are next door and I'm being totally serious here. Like your neighbors next door, they've got their five to ten acres and they're doing the same thing maybe some different animals or whatever between the two with a nice fence between the two, exactly, but it's got to have a nice door in it or gate in it sure sure, um, and maybe we've got a little trail that goes between the two and it could be a family compound.

Speaker 2:

A lot of people have family compounds here. A lot of people move here actually and ask for more than one property. Actually, jo Joe, your property would be great for that, it would be. So you've got two houses there, you've got a pond, so both the houses overlook the pond. They're both more of a modern style, but it's modern with that. The Rustic. Rustic? Yes, Is it rustic modern? Is that what you call it?

Speaker 2:

I've heard some people call it that actually but yeah, yeah, it's a, it's a blend of the two, you know, so the ceilings in your current home are what explain what your ceilings look like.

Speaker 3:

They're amazing. We have basically tin that was recycled and used. On the, the ceiling. You put a layer of plywood and use the tin. You know you blend the, the, the rusty patterns with. You know little splotches of the stainless color.

Speaker 2:

And guys, you've got to get a hold of this guy. We'll have the pictures out soon, but you've got to get a hold of this guy just to see what this looks like, if you've ever thought about doing something unusual on your home. So it goes up two floors. How high is the tallest part of the ceiling?

Speaker 3:

26 feet, I think my house is.

Speaker 2:

Wow, so it goes up to 20. And what's the? Is it nine foot on the on the edge, up to 26 feet yes, okay so you go nine foot up to 26 feet with this sort of rustic tin on the inside of a modern home rough sawn um basically, uh, barn wood, most of the trim so you've got an entertainment center that's rustic barn wood, and then you've got a kitchen that's trimmed with rustic barn wood but with modern cabinets it's so cool.

Speaker 2:

And you've got that in the primary bedroom as well, and then you've got another bathroom and bedroom upstairs. What's the total square footage of that one?

Speaker 3:

if the room upstairs was finished off, it would be 22. Okay, I believe it's 15 downstairs and a couple hundred more. A great space that looks over.

Speaker 2:

And you've got a fenced-in big yard where you've got your chickens and the doggies can run in and out and everything else. So you've got your little mini farm at the back where you've got all your raised beds and you're growing your tomatoes. When I went to see his house up there, gosh, I was lucky enough to get some of those tomatoes. They were amazing. What kind of tomatoes were you growing there?

Speaker 3:

Cherokee, purple lemon boy, mr Stripey and a couple other ones.

Speaker 2:

Absolutely gorgeous, isn't it? And then it looks so you can just about see the pond down below. That you've got Absolutely yeah, and you've got a little mini house as well. So you've got one house that's 2,600 square feet, or 2,200 square feet, sorry, 2,200. That's a 2-2 with lots of space and all that. How much acreage have you got with that one?

Speaker 3:

I bought two acres. Originally I bought a rental next door that's on an acre and then bought the other acreage around me. So 7.9 has been cut off and I think there is five acres roughly with my house and the rental next door.

Speaker 2:

Okay, so you also have a rental with that property that generates income. Have you got it rented out?

Speaker 3:

I do.

Speaker 2:

Okay, so this is an opportunity for you to get five acres plus a house, plus a rental, plus a brand new house. That will be how. How soon will that be completed? I know you're a long way through it now probably before the first of the year, for sure oh my goodness, that fast yeah I can't so, guys.

Speaker 2:

I can't believe how quickly that joe builds houses here. Usually I'm quoting to people 18 months to two years, to be realistic, to get a house finished. When did you start the one, joe? When did you start breaking? Six weeks ago, I think.

Speaker 3:

The hurricane messed us up a little bit. I mean, it's a small house, 830 square feet, with that shed roof style, um. So luckily it's not, you know, really complicated, but we obviously, like everyone else, we couldn't get power and stuff like that for a week or so at the job site, and then there's been a little bit of trouble getting materials Even now, like there's only certain types of gravel you can get because of all the roads they're repairing around here.

Speaker 2:

Wow, oh, that's amazing. So that one's a 2-2. What kind of special features are you putting in that one? I mean, it's gorgeous because it overlooks the pond, and then you've got the mini home that's also brand new there. How small is that one? So that's basically just a what do you call it? A unit where you don't have a separate bedroom or anything?

Speaker 3:

Right, right, it's just an all-in-one. It's like 10 by 18,.

Speaker 2:

I think 10 by 18 is tiny, but, oh my gosh, if your mother-in-law comes to stay, that's definitely just kidding mother-in-laws, or maybe I would stay there if my mother-in-law came to stay. Yeah, or a teenager that's practicing music or something.

Speaker 3:

Absolutely.

Speaker 2:

However, it's a self-contained unit, right? So it's going to have the plumbing and everything else, and it's right.

Speaker 3:

Next, it's all content. It's a self-contained unit right.

Speaker 2:

So it's kind of the plumbing and everything, and it's right next to the pond. It's right next to the pond, you've got fish in the pond and from both houses you have kind of rolling views, which is absolutely beautiful, um. So, okay, let's run through again, because that even I'm confused. So we have one house, that is how big? On what acreage?

Speaker 3:

The original house is on two acres Now I bought additional property around it, so that and the rental house that lives next to me that's right next to me is about five acres.

Speaker 2:

So you've got five acres. Okay, and does the barn come with that?

Speaker 3:

The barn comes with me. Yes, Okay, the barn comes.

Speaker 2:

What about the pond? The barn comes with me. Yes, Okay, the barn comes. What about the pond? The pond goes with the other one.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, the pond is with the house that's going to be for sale the 7.9 acres and 830 square foot, two bedroom, two bath.

Speaker 2:

But they're both for sale. So in totality, we've got so instead of 7.9, because I'm a realtor, I'm going to round it up. I mean, it's close enough, right, it's eight acres and five acres. So you're talking about what's eight and five I'm making him do math now. So you've got 13 acres in totality, Is?

Speaker 3:

that right, you're asking me to do math.

Speaker 2:

Yes, so eight and five is 13 acres, so you've got 13 acres, lots of land. So is this land where you can get on the RV, atv and like run around?

Speaker 3:

I've cut a trail all the way around it. I believe it was about almost a mile and three quarter loop from one end to the other Wow, any deer out there Like what's going on out there?

Speaker 2:

Is it fun? Too many, you have to dodge them on the way.

Speaker 3:

Dodge the deer To the gym in the morning. Yeah, how cool is that there's so many deer.

Speaker 2:

What about on your property, though through?

Speaker 3:

there, yes a lot of deer.

Speaker 2:

So 13 acres and you've got one house. Let's go through it again you've got two houses plus a mini house, plus a rental, correct? So two, you've got three homes plus a mini house. So obviously, whether it's a rental or not is up to you. When you're thinking about purchasing all those, I know you're all like well, how much is it?

Speaker 2:

well, we're really not sure at the moment we're waiting on the appraiser yeah, we're waiting on the appraiser, but we're probably talking about I'm just gonna uh go out on a limb here somewhere between a million and 1.5 million for all of it. Does that sound about right?

Speaker 2:

probably that's a bit of a broad range, I know it is but if you don't have a million dollars, I mean, find me somewhere where you can buy all of this property. And remember this is not in the mountains. We often have property that's very steep, that you can't build on, that you can't do a lot with, very difficult to get your animals on. It might be a forest, you know who knows what. It is A lot of this acreage you can actually do things with, Am I right?

Speaker 3:

Absolutely.

Speaker 2:

Whatever you want to do, I you're.

Speaker 3:

let your imagination and I have I have, uh, two more houses parked out, so basically approval for two two-bedroom houses near my house wow.

Speaker 2:

So you could. Actually, if somebody wants to build yet more houses on there, you could build another two, but right now we've got three homes plus the mini house. Uh, one of those homes is currently a rental, but you could. I'm talking about somebody who's buying it. So we've got three homes, we've got 13 acres, we've got a little mini home and the ability, if you wanted to, to buy two more, and I don't know, if you roped him down, maybe Joe would even build them for you, correct? Oh, you're saying it. How would they get a hold of you, joe, if they are interested in this?

Speaker 3:

The best way is email shivelybuilders at gmailcom. It's S-H-I-V-E-L-Y builders at gmailcom.

Speaker 2:

So I'm trying to think what rhymes with shively. What do you say?

Speaker 3:

to people Lively.

Speaker 2:

Lively there you go On that note. Well, I'm going make a a little turn here and segue into. I want you to talk about your building experience and whether or not you've ever been in the situation. I sort of know the answer to this, really, but and we want to get into solving some of the pain points today have you ever been in the situation where you're building a house for someone and, um, you know, usually around the country, the majority of those people are going to be selling a house. That what? Before they move into the house that you're building, some of them are, you know, having you build a second home. I totally understand that. So 60 70 percent of people are going to be selling their current home. How on earth do they know when to sell it? What? What happens with that, joe?

Speaker 3:

Right, because you know, in new construction it's just nothing's concrete. You know, besides the footings, nothing's concrete.

Speaker 2:

Oh, my gosh. That is a great quote. In new construction, nothing's concrete apart from maybe the footings.

Speaker 3:

There's so many moving parts, materials you order, you know windows, for instance.

Speaker 2:

You builders are just lazy, aren't you?

Speaker 3:

Right, that's it, you just sit back.

Speaker 2:

You're all drinking too much, smoking too much, just like hanging out and going. Eh, I guess we better get on with this house. Is that what really happens, joe? Tell us the truth. Well, there's so many moving parts.

Speaker 3:

It would make you drink if you were tempted to. So many moving parts. It would make you drink if you were tempted to. But that's usually between the subcontractors, the materials and the weather, you know. It's just anybody who says they know exactly what date they'll be done is scratching the truth, that's scratching the truth, should be a politician, just like a chicken.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, there you go. Oh my gosh. So it's very hard to how many times let's say it's not you. So let's do a broad brush and you can talk for the builders in general? How many times six months out.

Speaker 3:

Can you say the exact date you're going to be finished? Yeah, hardly ever.

Speaker 2:

I mean, I have Five percent of the time.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, let's say two months out, five percent of the time, let's say two months out and we have, it gets a little. You know. Obviously, the closer you get towards the end of the house it's a little easier to predict. But even towards the end of the house you may have a couple items like cabinets, like, for instance, if the house could be flying all the way through the house and you're expecting a cabinet delivery.

Speaker 3:

Which the granite, for instance? You have to have granite. You can't put the granite down and put the sink in and all this other stuff, until the cabinets are in.

Speaker 2:

Is this a real story of something that happened to you? It's happened multiple times.

Speaker 3:

And if you order some cabinets, if you're lucky, say, your cabinets come and you have one damaged, it can be replaced in a week. But if you're lucky, if say, your cabinets come and you have one damaged, it can be replaced in a week, but if you're not lucky, it might take six to eight weeks oh my gosh the last house I just finished over there in lester.

Speaker 3:

Um, we had four cabinets out of about 20 something that were damaged with a forklift or whatever and we had to reorder, and then you know so but because you have.

Speaker 2:

So this is why you choose a builder that has great, uh, local contractors, that they subcontractors that they work with. So because you had that great relationship with that person who did it locally and you weren't ordering them off amazon or you know, I don't know using something out of state or trying to build them or something well, I got.

Speaker 3:

I got assurance that those were going to be able to be promptly replaced if there was some damage.

Speaker 2:

What's prompt Two?

Speaker 3:

weeks. Actually she had them about four days.

Speaker 2:

Wow, and that isn't delaying you too much at that point. So give me an example, Joe, of a time in the past years ago, or last year or currently, whatever you want to talk about where you were building a house for someone and you couldn't hit that date on time. And, honestly, the speed this guy builds at I really cannot believe. I haven't come across a builder here. I've been in real estate here for the last 18 years. I haven't come across anybody that can do this as fast as you.

Speaker 3:

If you'd see me walk across the parking lot you probably wouldn't think things was. Things got built that quick. Right now you're on your walker and everything.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, but give me an example of any time in the past. Maybe somebody was, you know, hey, we're going to have it, have it ready for X, and then it didn't quite hit the mark.

Speaker 3:

I had a time at Thanksgiving when we had a couple of delays and this client had family coming in town for Thanksgiving, you know.

Speaker 2:

Were they local to the house you were building and they were renting the?

Speaker 3:

house and their lease was coming up. Oh, no, they were supposed to be in the house and we had some delays.

Speaker 2:

Why did they have to lease a house? Did they sell the house so that? They had the money to put into you so they could build the house, and then they rented for a while so they had to move every okay yep, which is often what happens, because people can't rely on the builder's timing and it's it's not your fault.

Speaker 2:

I mean, all these things happen that we went through. It could be maybe there's port close closures we just had recently. You know, maybe we're not even going to talk about covid, or you know, we just had a hurricane hit All the things that can go on to delay.

Speaker 3:

We've had times you couldn't get drywall. You'd have to call for weeks in advance just to get drywall, just to get plywood.

Speaker 2:

I remember that and that was nationwide during COVID. What a mess.

Speaker 3:

After the big storms we had in 2005 around here, anything petroleum related that was vinyl, siding or anything like that, roofing, the shingles, the asphalt, you know, the real base stuff so what happened?

Speaker 2:

so your clients were there that they couldn't rely on a builder's uh timeline, so they had to rent a place in between. What a mess. So now you've got to move twice, right, because you can't rely on that deadline. And um, then they were what? Were they mad at you, or was it okay? Or what happened next?

Speaker 3:

Well, they were mad, but not at me. I guess they were a little upset, but Just frustrated at the situation. Right, Absolutely.

Speaker 2:

So you know, we also talked about the fact that we offer the Builder CPO program all around the country, and you can get more info on this at buildercpocom. We're going to bring in a bunch of agents around the country in just a minute to talk about this and how it's rolling out.

Speaker 3:

What this does. Where were you back?

Speaker 5:

then, I know.

Speaker 2:

Joe, you know it's so funny. You said that because everyone says that you know every builder we talk to say in fact we do it for senior living communities as well. We have the senior living CPO where we help people. It's all the same thing. It's you've got a need, you've got a new house that's being built or you've got a new. You know a used house, a secondhand house that you're purchasing somewhere.

Speaker 2:

How on earth do you dovetail it between selling your house? So, let's say, joe's building you a house Poor Joe, he's on the hot seat again. Joe's building you a house and you've got your house for sale. How would you know when to go into contract? And, by the way, things have slowed down everywhere in the country. We're not getting those multiple. Two years ago it sounds funny now we were getting two, three, four, five offers on every home. Agents who just got into the business don't know anything but that. Now the market's slowed down, so it could take you three months, it could take you six months to sell your house.

Speaker 2:

What on earth happens? So you know Sally and Joe are selling the house and Joe's building them a house. So how do they know when to sell their current house? No wonder they have to go and rent one, and that's a humongous pain in the butt. So now you've got to pay for a rental. You've got to get a six-month rental.

Speaker 2:

And what happens if, for whatever reason, joe doesn't have your house ready in six months and, by the way, it usually takes a lot more than six months. Most people will quote you a year, 18 months, two years, if the house is bigger or luxury. It happens all the time, guys, it's a mess. So what we do is we come in and we take Joe and Sally's house and you'll get up to 70%. So, oh boo, everyone says I'm only getting 70% for my house. No, this is not a skeezy cash offer like you've seen before. And guess what? They're not skeezy. I don't want to say that because it's a business model. There's lots of people that will very happily, tomorrow, buy your house at 70%. That's not what this is. You get a check. So the wonderful thing is, joe you know we talked about, at six months, you've got a 5% chance of hitting that deadline that Joe the Builder gives to someone. At two months out, we've probably got a 50% chance of hitting the deadline, am I right? Sure, at 14 days out. We have maybe about a 95 percent chance of hitting that deadline, right, correct? So at 14 days out, here we are. You press the easy button. We give you up to 70 percent. 14 days later you've got your money. You're moving into the beautiful new home that Joe has built for you.

Speaker 2:

We then go into your existing home anywhere in the country for you. We then go into your existing home anywhere in the country. It doesn't matter if you're moving here from anywhere in the country. We can absolutely do it anywhere. We've got agents all over the place You'll hear from them in just a second and we go in. We do the inspection, we do the appraisal, we put right anything that needs putting right. We can put a new roof on, we can put a septic in. We list it. You get another check. Two-thirds, two-thirds of our sellers get more than with a traditional listing. How's that sound, joe?

Speaker 2:

sounds like a dream I know seriously builders and senior living communities. We've had a senior living community last week that said oh my goodness, I feel like you're an angel that dropped from heaven because this is just putting it right where it needs to be right. So let's hear from some agents around the country. So for those of you who have just tuned in, this is Rowena Patton on the Real Estate News Radio Show. You can get all of our podcasts at the realestatenewsradiocom realestatenewsradiocom. This is also podcast and you can see all the other episodes there. And today we have Chris Marion, who is in Bradenton and Sarasota, florida. Oh my gosh, chris. How did you fare in the hurricane? I'm fine.

Speaker 5:

Oh well, we had two of them back to back, had a little bit of damage, but it's slowly coming back together.

Speaker 2:

Thank goodness, oh my gosh. And we're here today talking about Build a CPO. So Build a CPO is already launched and it's going to fully launch, with all our energy behind it, january 1st. What is Build a CPO? So when you're building a house, you don't quite know when to list your house. Well, what does that mean?

Speaker 2:

It's not going to come as a surprise to anyone that when you're building a house, often it's difficult for the builder to give you an absolute date, right? Why is that? Well, there might be ports closing down, there might be material delays, there might be staffing delays all kinds of things go on. Here's the magic Once a builder is 14 days out, they're going to get their CO, their certificate of occupancy. That means you're going to move in in 14 days.

Speaker 2:

With the builder CPO, we can press the easy button and get that offer out to them for their home that they most often have to sell to get into their new build home. And that offer remember, it's going to be a full Market Value, cash offer. They don't have to have any showings, they don't have to have a sign outside, they don't have to deal with people coming in and out of their house, right? So it makes it much easier, especially, oh my gosh, when they're dealing with all of this going on, as you can imagine, oh my gosh. So you know, it's just a much better way for the builders to be able to help the people who are selling their house and coming in.

Speaker 2:

And the builders love it, of course, because sometimes it is difficult. I've had builders come to me and say they've had to cancel contracts because the person can't sell the house. You know, obviously you can't wait until that last moment to put your house on the market, to get your money out of it. So, chris, what kind of experience have you had with builders and how do you think this program will help them?

Speaker 5:

um, well, as you said, there's always delays. Um, that's why they don't give you a specific date on when they will close on the property, so being able to stay in your home until you are ready to close and then have that option to sell you know, sell it to this program. I think it would be a huge benefit to anyone that that is in that situation, so you're not losing out on on the new construction that you've been waiting so long for.

Speaker 2:

Exactly, you're not losing out at all and you know people use this offer for all kinds of things, whether they're going into a senior living community. I know you're going you starting to go out and visit those as well. Chris, I want to bring in Kelly Denny from Sandy, utah. Good morning, kelly. How are you?

Speaker 6:

Morning Ro. I'm good Thanks.

Speaker 2:

So how do you think the Builder CPO and you can find out more about this, guys, by the way, at BuilderCPOcom BuilderCPOcom.

Speaker 6:

How do you think this will help builders? Well, I can actually share a firsthand experience with you from before I came into the program that I had a house with a vacant building lot. That was the contingency to buy a new home and our sellers had an issue where, if they would have had this, they wouldn't have to worry about the contingency of selling this property or both properties, and we actually had the buyer on their little home fall out Three days before closing and we ended up doing a whole bunch out three days before closing and we ended up doing a whole bunch we did. I think we went through like seven or eight addendums to extend the deadlines with the Builder. We would have lost the home had they had somebody else coming behind us to make an offer without a contingency.

Speaker 6:

But if this, if this program, if I would have had it and been able to offer to my, my clients, my sellers, they wouldn't have had to worry about this contingency with their seller. They could have with the new builder. It absolutely would have taken it off the table, which is the stress that both the home buyer and the seller go through, because the builder doesn't know what's going on on this new buyer's end that they have coming in. It's just we believe everything's going to go through. They have coming in, it's just we're we believe everything's going to go through. But with the, with the builder cpo, the contingency is removed, the builder knows it's not an issue and they actually have more comfort knowing the house and the property has been sold. It's like then we can just deal with the time frame of when they move into the new building or into the new home I mean, I haven't really thought about this before and here we are, live on air talking about it.

Speaker 2:

But oh my gosh, wouldn't a builder actually give somebody an incentive that wanted to do this program because it really uh, it locks them in not locks them in, but it makes it makes it much more secure that they're going to move into their new build home? Does that make sense? Because there is no contingency. If they use this particular offer, which two-thirds of the time is going to bring them more than a conventional listing, then wouldn't it be worthwhile for I guess builders can make that choice right. I would think that it'd be worthwhile the builder, I don't know giving five percent off the kitchen upgrades or something you know, some kind of incentive for the person that's building the home because it makes it much more clean.

Speaker 2:

But I can't imagine why would you not do this if you were building a new home? Because it is the easy button. I mean, here's your builder telling you oh, it's going to be ready for Thanksgiving and you're going to move into your beautiful new house for thanksgiving and invite all your family because you've got your new home. But how secure do you think you are? How firmly do you think you know that your house is is going to be ready at thanksgiving because it could be christmas, right, does it? Does anybody else agree with me? Do you think that's a real-life?

Speaker 5:

case scenario on this of what that construction is always late.

Speaker 6:

There's always something when it that is the. It's the hardest industry that has to deal with the over promise conception. You know, yeah, we'll get you in by Thanksgiving. Well, now it's December. Now, like you said, it's Christmas. Construction's worse. There's so many variables that they do not have any control over.

Speaker 2:

But Kelly, what does that? So now you've got somebody. So the builder said, okay, it's going to be Thanksgiving, right, or Christmas, or whenever it's going to be. The builder said Thanksgiving. So the seller now in old-fashioned real estate, has put the house on the market and now you're under contract because you think your house is going to be ready, right. So they're under contract with a buyer for their house. So Billy and Sally are building a new home with a builder, joey. So Billy and Sally now have listed the home because they think it's going to be Thanksgiving and they've agreed to you know, most states the buyers really have more of the control. They've agreed that somebody's closing on their home for Thanksgiving. That happens all the time right, and then there's a delay. What on earth do you do as the sellers? You've got your home under contract, you've got to move, so you've got to put all your furniture in in storage. Now imagine if it's a different state. Oh, and then what do you do house like? How do you get around that, kelly?

Speaker 6:

it's a, it's a panic. No, you absolutely start taking into different, you absolutely absolutely start going off onto different tangents on how do we handle this? Where do we move out? But the other but the other issue that may come in too is what if your buyers are have a contingency contingency to sell their house now, you're two buyers deep. And if the next buyers if, and then sometime in the process, if not, everybody wants to play along or extend the deadline, you may end up losing your house and having to go back on the market.

Speaker 6:

And then people will start wondering why it's been on the market so long. They don't know the backstory, they don't understand that there's we have a buyer, contingent on a buyer, and so these two contingencies and me personally, I won't go. I won't go more than two deep. I have to tell somebody else's buyer you cannot take an offer that's contingent on somebody else, adding to this chain of possible disaster. But you literally start thinking where do I get my storage units? Who am I going to live with, potentially, if my buyers won't let me extend until Christmas?

Speaker 6:

My buyers want to move in Thanksgiving, but I can't get to my new build. Where am I going to move? Hey, come live with us. I've literally offered it to a family member before Come live with us for a month, or where are you going to find a month to month apartment or rent or whatever it's like it's it starts the Pandora's box got opened. The pendant, the pandora's box got opened, and with having the contingency removed, right then we can help them. Hey, we can help you. Stay in your house, we can give you up to the 90 days, and it just alleviates so many issues oh my gosh.

Speaker 2:

I want everybody listening to really think about that for a minute. So if you have your home listed, when you take an offer you know most people won't take, you may be with an agent that hasn't done many deals, so they may not have this experience, but those of us with many years of experience know what happens. You really want to think very carefully when taking a contingent offer. What do I mean by that? A contingent offer means your buyers are coming in. This is any scenario. So your buyers are coming in and your buyers are making an offer on your home. When your buyers make an offer on your home, they can put a contingency part in there that they will go ahead and buy your home contingent to their home selling. So if you if, if you know, maybe you haven't sold a home in a while you think, oh, that's all going to be fine. You know they're in florida, they're, I'm sure the house is going to sell. It goes way through without cpo, which is certified, pre-owned and you've all heard me talk about this on the show for 12 years now. It's like a cpo car it's, it's inspected, it's appraised. Most listing agents don't do that. That's why we started CPO Experts back in 2007 to train agents how to do this. If your house isn't certified pre-owned, if their house isn't certified pre-owned, guess what? It's going to drop out over a third of the time. And the buyers buying their house think about this. Somebody's selling house and buying house. Selling house, buying house. It can go back, oh my gosh. It can go back all the way to 12 levels deep, 20 levels deep, 50 levels deep, because if you're selling your house, you're probably buying. A is amazing, right? Oh my gosh. You can only imagine what that looks like when somebody down the chain falls out because it's got this ripple effect all the way through. So think really, really, really carefully about taking the contingent offer and you can go to cashcpocom cashcpocom get an offer on your home. Anyone can do that. If you've got a listed house, if you're an agent maybe you're a listing agent with a listing that's been sitting for a little while it really doesn't matter. Go get your cash offer, because two thirds of our sellers get more with this than a regular offer. Oh my gosh.

Speaker 2:

We've actually got a question come in on our Facebook page from one of our listeners that says when you submit a cash offer, so you submit a cash offer by going to cashcpocom. Cashcpocom and there's a big button at the top that says get cash offer. That's it. It's that easy. Typically, you're going to get an answer within 24 hours. Sometimes you're going to get an answer in an hour. If it's over the weekend or it's late at night, maybe it'll take the weekend, so it varies depending on the situation.

Speaker 2:

What kind of house have you got? Does it need a lot of work? Does it need no work at all? But oh my gosh, you guys, if you're selling your house, or thinking about selling your house, why wouldn't you go and get a cash offer? Two thirds of our sellers get more. There's no obligation. We're not gonna ring you off the hook saying oh you know you've got your cash offer, why aren't you doing this? No, that doesn't happen. We are not these people of amazing agents around the country. And, by the way, you can go to cash cash cpocom. Cash cpo that stands for certified, pre-owned dot com cash cpocom. Click on find an agent to find your amazing agent around the country. We've got people covering the country now and we have canada. Guys. How cool is that?

Speaker 2:

Thanks for listening to part one. This is Rowena Patton on the Real Estate News Radio Show. You're listening to the podcast today and you can get more info at BuilderCPO for certified pre-owned BuilderCPOcom. If you just want to put in your home for a cash offer, whether you're thinking about listing, it's listed. Maybe you're a for sale by owner. You just want to see the value, see what you'd get to come back in an offer. Go to cash cpocom cash cpocom. There's a big button at the top that says get cash offer. See you soon and thanks again for listening. Please hit the subscribe. If you're watching this on YouTube, I'll be so grateful. Thank you, thanks for listening, guys, and we'll see you on the radio next week. And thank you so much, joe, for being on the show today. See you next week.

Speaker 1:

This has been the Plain English Real Estate Show with Rowena Patton. Visit Rowena and post your questions at radioashvillecom or call her at 828-210-1648.

People on this episode

Head Shot

Rowena Patton, NC, FL, DC, CA

Host