00:00:06:20 - 00:00:27:07 Speaker 1 Welcome, and thank you for joining us on on your project Shepherd Construction Podcast. My name is Curtis Lawson with Shepherd Construction Advisors and along with my industry expert friends, I am here to guide you through these four key components of a successful project, which are demonstrated by the simple drawing of a house. The Foundation is proper planning. The left wall is your team. 00:00:27:13 - 00:00:50:19 Speaker 1 The right wall is communication and the roof is proper execution. Have all four of these components in place and your project will succeed. Whether you're building or remodeling a custom home, or if you're an architect or designer looking for inspiration, or maybe you're just interested in building science and high performance construction, you're in the right place. Please help us further our mission here by tapping that follow or subscribe button. 00:00:50:21 - 00:01:02:20 Speaker 1 Push that notification bell so that you know when our new episodes drop every week. And now let's get to today's interview. 00:01:02:22 - 00:01:16:00 Speaker 1 Hey, friends, welcome back to the Your Project Shepherd podcast. I'm your host, Curtis Lawson. And joining me today, is my friend Stephanie Finch. Stephanie is with Finch Property Group, which is, I think, a part of Compass Real Estate. Now, is that right? 00:01:16:01 - 00:01:17:18 Speaker 2 Yes. Thank you for having me. 00:01:17:19 - 00:01:30:13 Speaker 1 Yeah. So thank you so much for being here. We we met a few years ago through one of my former employees and a good friend of mine, Malia Sanders, who's also a friend of yours who, you know, through a mutual childhood friend. Right? 00:01:30:17 - 00:01:31:04 Speaker 2 That's right. 00:01:31:08 - 00:01:50:00 Speaker 1 And so. So we met, just talking about construction and real estate. And, you know, I have a background in real estate to have a broker's license, which I don't really do much with anymore, but, I always love going to talk and talking real estate shop a little bit, too. So, so tell us about you and your your history. 00:01:50:00 - 00:01:56:06 Speaker 1 You know, how you got into real estate brokerage and kind of what your what's your story is? 00:01:56:08 - 00:02:18:18 Speaker 2 Sure. So I actually started, I got my real estate license in college, so yeah, I got it right away. It was my first and only career. I was going to school at UT, and I was living in Austin, and I wanted a part time job, and I wanted just a few hours. And I looked on the Longhorn job board, and there was a it was for an assistant. 00:02:18:18 - 00:02:37:18 Speaker 2 It didn't say real estate assistant, it was just assistant. It was just a few hours a week. I'm like, that's perfect. And she happened to be a realtor and so and her daughters were my age, and they were also in college and they were getting their license. And I thought, well, that's interesting. Maybe I can use it. And she wasn't she owned a brokerage that she had sold, so she wasn't training agents. 00:02:37:18 - 00:02:55:15 Speaker 2 She didn't have agents. But I was like, I really want to do this. She said, we can do it, but I'm not going to train you. Like, okay, well, I'm going to do it. So I got license and I started leasing to my friends, and I literally wrote her a check and she was like, oh, okay, okay, I have to take some of that. 00:02:55:17 - 00:02:59:27 Speaker 2 So that's how I got started early on. And then it just kind of grew from there. 00:03:00:00 - 00:03:01:26 Speaker 1 How long have you had your own your own company? 00:03:02:02 - 00:03:18:24 Speaker 2 I started Finch Properties in 2014, and that was my own brokerage, and I had my own storefront and all of it, and it was a lot of spinning plates for me. So I had been selling and I love selling, and I was like, I'm going to go my own. I think that that happens. And you're like, I can do this. 00:03:18:24 - 00:03:31:04 Speaker 2 Yeah, and I can. But again, it's it's a lot to own your own. So I started the, the team at the same time. And we ended up going with compass about four years ago just to simplify things. 00:03:31:06 - 00:03:43:28 Speaker 1 Having that, that back office support. Yeah. As a, as a broker is huge. And you know, that kind of that, that network of being a part of the larger company also brings you leads and lots of other benefits, marketing and. 00:03:43:28 - 00:03:56:29 Speaker 2 Well, and for me, I was selling and I love selling and I'm client facing. And so to have clients and manage the team, that was plenty. And that's the best. You know what were the best at the rest of it. Being handled by compass was really helpful actually to keep us in a good spot. 00:03:57:01 - 00:04:20:03 Speaker 1 A few weeks, maybe months, I don't remember. It was a while back. You, posted something on Facebook and, I saw the post that you put up and it said something like, we've got a guy for everything. And you talked about how in this current HGTV driven world where everybody sees all this cool stuff all the time, people seem to be updating their houses more often, doing more remodeling and things like that, right? 00:04:20:05 - 00:04:51:24 Speaker 1 Yeah. And, so many of your clients, when you're either their listing broker, they're selling their house, they need something fixed before they close, or they buy a house. They need to have something done. Right. You've you've kind of created this, this network of of, good referrals to use. I had this this idea that, you know, I had I'm like, you know, this is a little bit off topic from what we usually talk about here, because we usually we're talking about, you know, how to build a house the right way or common, construction failures and things like that. 00:04:51:27 - 00:05:08:03 Speaker 1 But I started thinking about kind of with a tie in could be for, you know, having that personal network and then. But as a consumer, you know, working with good professionals, you have a good network, right? Right. Because good, good people attract good people, right? 00:05:08:06 - 00:05:25:14 Speaker 2 Yeah. And there's a huge layer of accountability there. Right. So if I'm recommending I learn that early on, you know, you recommend someone you don't know that well, but you just heard someone's name. Those tend to go very badly. And that always comes back to you. Or if they don't say anything to you and it went badly. It's just something you didn't even know went badly. 00:05:25:16 - 00:05:38:00 Speaker 2 So recommending the right people where there's some accountability there and you can follow up and you know, the response is going to be good. Is huge, right? It keeps them coming back and sharing our name as well. Yeah. For all kinds of stuff. 00:05:38:02 - 00:06:02:22 Speaker 1 I mean, everyone and not everyone, but most people have some kind of personal network. And, you know, most, most realtors that I know have people that they refer, but, you know, I've, I've seen both sides of this, spectrum. I've worked with, you know, realtors who have really great network of individuals they refer to. And I've, I've worked with people who have. 00:06:02:24 - 00:06:20:08 Speaker 1 They're driven more by the low cost, like, they feel the need just to refer people to cheat people just because they, they want to help their clients save a buck, which is, which is fine. Like it's important to help people get a good deal. But at the same time I've, I've experienced oh, just call this guy, he can do it cheaper, right? 00:06:20:13 - 00:06:23:16 Speaker 1 Yeah. And that's that's not really a great approach. 00:06:23:18 - 00:06:38:08 Speaker 2 Right. You want quality and long term results for the project. People call us for all kinds of scales a project too, that's a big thing. It's like they want to know who could do a bathroom. And so we'll go a little deeper. You know, a past client, I'm like, well, what do you want to do to that bathroom? 00:06:38:08 - 00:06:47:06 Speaker 2 Do you want to move plumbing around, or do you just want to do the countertops and just really diving into their project to make sure they get the right fit, to make sure it goes well? Yeah. 00:06:47:08 - 00:07:03:26 Speaker 1 Because a company like ours is not going to be a great fit for if you just want to put a coat of paint on it and change some light bulbs or whatever, like, I mean, we can do it, but we're way too expensive for that, right? So, you know, those are the situations where you need to have a reliable guy who can come out and knock that stuff out quickly. 00:07:03:29 - 00:07:15:24 Speaker 1 Yeah. But then also knowing, when's the right time to, to call a, a company that does design and, you know, got that bathroom and or the whole house or whatever, right? 00:07:15:24 - 00:07:37:15 Speaker 2 Yeah. And finishes I find that people take that on thinking that that's their only option is to just pick and choose to open up their computer and pick and choose what they think they want. And they've never experienced the value of a designer. So just bringing that to their life, that it doesn't have to be so expensive and that it really is life changing and they don't have to make all those decisions, is also big. 00:07:37:15 - 00:07:50:10 Speaker 2 So the designer piece, it's been fun to just to introduce that to so many people. So many of our clients are moving from their second or maybe even first home into a home that's going to be longer term. And it's the first, and they've had to go through that. And they don't, you know, they don't know anything about it. 00:07:50:13 - 00:08:08:21 Speaker 1 Yeah. Making that bad decision there is going to cost them a lot of money, but also a lot of time like if they're on a time crunch to to get moved into a house in a certain amount of time before they close on another property and they have to be in the house, you know, you choose the wrong guy who takes the check and disappears for a couple weeks before he does anything. 00:08:08:21 - 00:08:11:00 Speaker 1 Now. Now, with your whole timelines. 00:08:11:02 - 00:08:12:02 Speaker 2 Yeah, exactly. 00:08:12:02 - 00:08:20:00 Speaker 1 And destroyed. I think that kind of the, the, the theme here is that they good people, good professionals have good networks. 00:08:20:02 - 00:08:21:10 Speaker 2 Absolutely. 00:08:21:12 - 00:08:52:14 Speaker 1 But it's also choosing like the right, person who's appropriate for the price range that you're operating into. And so this goes both ways. So like, if, it speaking for somebody or to somebody who is trying to choose a realtor, for example, you know, you may, may be tempted to use your cousin, your brother, your neighbor who sells houses out in the suburbs, but you're looking for a house in, you know, close to the town. 00:08:52:14 - 00:09:04:11 Speaker 1 And so they're used to selling $150,000 properties, if those still exist. Yeah. Out in the suburbs. But you're but you're looking for a $2 million house close to downtown. That's why. I mean, can they do it? 00:09:04:13 - 00:09:18:24 Speaker 2 I mean, maybe I have a really interesting story for you that goes along those lines. I'm selling a house right now, so we get called in to sell, right? Because if we're in that area. So we're primarily in town, Heights and Memorial. And so we get called in to sell a house. So we're selling a house right now. 00:09:18:28 - 00:09:36:05 Speaker 2 And they bought it just two years ago. And it is a three story townhome. It's beautiful. It's $1 million townhome and it's all stucco. And they did not get a stucco inspection whenever they bought the house. And so we went into contract. It's a great place in the stucco. People came out and every single side of the house needs work. 00:09:36:05 - 00:09:40:19 Speaker 2 And this is like a $50,000 project that she had no idea was coming. 00:09:40:21 - 00:09:49:11 Speaker 1 And so when they bought the house, they're the realtor that they're working with, maybe wasn't familiar with those types of properties and just didn't didn't think or didn't know the issue. 00:09:49:13 - 00:09:57:16 Speaker 2 They just most likely didn't even know about it, because that's what I mean. The owner was telling me, like, I had no idea. No clue. No one told me that this is even like a inspection that's done. 00:09:57:22 - 00:10:03:04 Speaker 1 Yeah, but, you know, it's like a common thing. Hey, and these and these townhouses in this part of town. 00:10:03:07 - 00:10:03:26 Speaker 2 Happens all the time. 00:10:03:26 - 00:10:14:08 Speaker 1 These are like, typical problems that arise. And so your your experience or your competency in working in that area is, is what, you know, allows you to, you know, direct them in that. 00:10:14:08 - 00:10:27:03 Speaker 2 Right. Yeah, exactly. And I mean Heights Historic District, that's another one. We work in that area pretty often. And people wanting to remodel in a historic district, it's a huge undertaking and it's a big you know, it affects pricing and all kinds of things. 00:10:27:05 - 00:10:48:03 Speaker 1 Yeah, absolutely. I mean, we we see people that buy a house in the historic district that maybe don't know what all that entails. And then they they end up buying this property that they can't do what they thought they could do with it. And now they're stuck with a property that, yeah, maybe it's hard to resell for some reason because there's some issue that no one else wanted to buy it because you can't do a certain thing to it. 00:10:48:03 - 00:10:48:24 Speaker 1 So it's. 00:10:48:24 - 00:11:03:22 Speaker 2 Exactly right. Or just even that a project like that takes two years. I mean, you guys know you guys are the on the build side, but holding costs on a half $1 million property for two years is something to consider that people don't always know is coming if they want to remodel a property like that. 00:11:03:22 - 00:11:20:24 Speaker 1 So yeah, I mean, that's what I don't know. But between the taxes and, and, taxes, insurance and, and mortgage payments, they might drop another 50 grand. Yeah. Or more easily or more just in holding cost over that, over that time so that it might not be in their budget. Yeah. 00:11:20:27 - 00:11:21:15 Speaker 2 Exactly. 00:11:21:20 - 00:11:46:18 Speaker 1 Yeah. So you know, using somebody who operates in, in the right area that you, you know, want to be in is really important. In fact, on the we were talking about this before we started recording, that's, that's actually like one of the things that you learn in real estate school, or that you're, you're supposed to learn, and remember is that is that you should be competent in the, in the market that you're operating in. 00:11:46:18 - 00:11:58:26 Speaker 1 Right? That's absolutely like a lot of agents and brokers get sued over, you know, taking on something they shouldn't have. So that's another great reason to to use somebody who's, who's in the area that. 00:11:59:03 - 00:12:06:26 Speaker 2 Know you're in the area. And then also in the specialty, I mean, commercial is different than residential and, multifamily and all of that. 00:12:06:26 - 00:12:20:00 Speaker 1 All right. So let's back up a little bit and go back to something that we mentioned early, early on. And that's how it seems like today people are doing more remodeling projects, remodeling more often. Is that something that you're that you're seeing as well? 00:12:20:05 - 00:12:41:21 Speaker 2 Yes, absolutely. I think whenever I started in real estate, we used to tell buyers like, every ten years is updated, you know, within the past decade. And sellers, even at the time were surprised by that. But like ten years, I just did this. And now today, it's every five, right. Thank you. HGTV and all the shows and, you know, every Pinterest. 00:12:41:24 - 00:12:52:17 Speaker 2 Everyone wants everything updated. Five years is not long at all. So sellers are shocked to hear that some of them, you know, we're telling them countertops they did eight years ago are completely outdated and nobody wants them. 00:12:52:25 - 00:13:02:28 Speaker 1 Yeah. I mean, we actually, just had an older couple in the office this morning to talk about remodeling their bathroom. And my husband was like, I don't know why we're doing this again. We just did this 20 years ago. 00:13:03:02 - 00:13:15:05 Speaker 2 Exactly. To a seller or someone who's lived there, they don't think that way at all. But then for the timeline to be decreased from 10 to 5 years is shocking. The people who have been in the house 8 or 9 years thinking, it's not that it hasn't been that long. 00:13:15:09 - 00:13:42:14 Speaker 1 Yeah, I think also that the prices, surprise a lot of people who haven't done it in 10 or 20 years, right? Yeah. Because, I mean, let's see, I've been in business for 20 years. And when I started, you could easily do a bathroom remodel for 10 or $15,000. And now that same bathroom, in fact, the couple that was in here, we're talking about 50 grand for a bathroom that would have been 15 grand 20 years ago. 00:13:42:17 - 00:13:44:00 Speaker 2 Yes. 00:13:44:02 - 00:13:50:28 Speaker 1 And so, you know, that's not a big bathroom either. That's like a typical, you know, 1950s, you know, guest, guest guest bath. 00:13:51:01 - 00:13:58:15 Speaker 2 Yep. And that's not surprising to me, but it is shocking to a lot of people who haven't looked at those numbers or done any projects like that in the past five, eight years. 00:13:58:17 - 00:14:09:09 Speaker 1 Yeah. So I don't know that people are necessarily planning on that. If they're like, you know, if they're going to be in a house for 5 or 10 years, I don't know that they always have that in their in their mind or in their budget that. 00:14:09:12 - 00:14:10:03 Speaker 2 Yeah, or. 00:14:10:04 - 00:14:12:01 Speaker 1 Before I sell this house, maybe I should consider doing. 00:14:12:01 - 00:14:20:20 Speaker 2 This. No. And the sellers, it's not on their radar, but to come to them and teach them that the buyers are expecting it or it might come out in price is a shock for them sometimes. 00:14:20:27 - 00:14:34:17 Speaker 1 Yeah. Do you do you think it's easier to sell something that's already been updated, that's ready to go, versus something that is being discounted and is kind of more of a blank slate, but you have a take on that. 00:14:34:18 - 00:14:58:16 Speaker 2 Yeah. Oh, absolutely. Buyers cannot I mean, they just can't visualize it. So you and I are in the industry. We've seen a lot of things. We have good vision for it, but also just experience. Right. And so you kind of know the potential the buyers do not. So, what I have to teach some people wanting to go through this process and willing to update to get a good offer, buyers will pay more for it because they can't see it or understand it. 00:14:58:16 - 00:15:16:16 Speaker 2 They will overpay and they're happy to overpay because it's done. And so teaching a seller that if they're open to it, I'm like, hey, you could spend 40 grand and get 140, right? And it's still time, energy. And some say no. They're like, nope, I don't have the bandwidth for that. I'm good. But some say yes. 00:15:16:16 - 00:15:21:29 Speaker 2 And so we kind of go through that project with them and teach them, put it in a little here to get get back. 00:15:22:01 - 00:15:31:10 Speaker 1 They also have to be planning that far enough in advance, because I think a lot of times people aren't talking to you in until they pretty much ready to list now, right? In some of those projects that. 00:15:31:14 - 00:15:31:29 Speaker 2 Yes, and. 00:15:32:01 - 00:15:34:28 Speaker 1 It cost 30 or $40,000 might take a couple months to do. 00:15:34:29 - 00:15:50:23 Speaker 2 Well, yes. And it's not always with selling in mind. I love when clients call me before a big project period, because we can have a few conversations. I mean, no, you're not trying to sell right that minute, but we I can just teach them some of these things if they will just, you know, ask for it. And it works out really, really well. 00:15:50:23 - 00:16:02:27 Speaker 2 They're very happy, you know. Or I can teach them, hey, if you do that, that's I'm sure it's beautiful. It's not going to add a lot of market value. But you will, you know, live and enjoy it for a long time and just showing them the difference. 00:16:02:29 - 00:16:24:25 Speaker 1 What's your take on how much people should put into a house and how sensitive should they be to, you know, over improving or, you know, resale value and things like that. But that's something that I hear tossed around a lot where they're like, well, I don't want to spend that much on my, on my remodel because I don't I'll never get it back or, you know, how does that compare to the the market value and what I paid for it? 00:16:24:25 - 00:16:27:11 Speaker 1 So what's your what are your thoughts on that? 00:16:27:13 - 00:16:49:05 Speaker 2 I have several thoughts on it. You know, it gets tossed around like you said. People are told something that they don't fully understand. Maybe there is a misconception sometimes that I spent it so I should get it, period. And that is almost never the case. Over time, a home values can increase. But if truly they're asking me like, hey, if I spend this $80,000 now, is it $80,000 of market value? 00:16:49:05 - 00:17:02:05 Speaker 2 Now? I'm like, no, no one can predict what your house will be exactly ten years from now. But if you want it, if you call me in a year and you've spent 250,000, that doesn't mean that it's worth $250,000 more right now. 00:17:02:05 - 00:17:15:22 Speaker 1 Right? I think before people spend that money, they need to kind of have in mind how long they plan on being in the house. Yes. You know, if it's a to if it's a 2 to 5 year thing, what, what's, what's the average right now for like how long people stay in their houses. 00:17:15:29 - 00:17:35:25 Speaker 2 This is the other reason this is wild, this statistics. When I started in the business, it was like eight years, which was a lot or maybe even maybe even six. And then it went up to eight. Now they're saying it's over ten because the climate that's happening, I mean, currently with rates but really just low inventory, cost of homes, period. 00:17:35:25 - 00:17:45:26 Speaker 2 People are just staying longer. So many reasons that they're staying longer. So it's going to be over ten years. So more people will look to remodel versus move because it's harder to move. 00:17:45:29 - 00:17:58:29 Speaker 1 But if you're in a situation where you're you're probably all going to be in that house for a couple of years. Yes, especially here in Houston, we see that a lot like in the medical center and kind of the in town with doctors who are here on a rotation for a couple of years and they move on. Right? 00:17:59:02 - 00:18:05:11 Speaker 1 Yeah. I think those people especially need to be sensitive to to what they put into the house. 00:18:05:14 - 00:18:17:22 Speaker 2 Oh yeah, for sure. And I try to tell the ones who ask me like, hey, if you, you know, three years is a minimum for any kind of return in that regard. You know, I wouldn't expect anything if if you're going to do it, you're going to do it for yourself. 00:18:17:24 - 00:18:44:07 Speaker 1 Yeah. And so yeah. Which brings me to my next point. And that's you shouldn't do a remodeling project or even a new construction project. Always. With resale in mind, there's, there's a certain percentage of that that it has to be personal enjoyment. Right? Correct. I mean, again, when you're selling, there may be some strategy to doing certain things to improve resale value, which is another topic. 00:18:44:07 - 00:19:05:00 Speaker 1 But if you're going to remodel your kitchen, don't do it just for resale. If you're if if you're planning on being there for ten years, you know, your your your horizon for you know, who knows what's going to happen in ten years. You horizon for what the house is going to be worth. You're going to be there for a long time, and you want to get the enjoyment out of that, right? 00:19:05:02 - 00:19:06:16 Speaker 2 Absolutely. Yeah. 00:19:06:18 - 00:19:20:28 Speaker 1 It's like the whole conversation about the pool. You know, people are always asking you if I put in a pool, ever get that money back? I'm like, you know, probably not. But how much do you like being outside and having that space for your kids or your family or whatever? 00:19:20:28 - 00:19:35:27 Speaker 2 So yeah, and I've started trying to help people through that because, yes, they've heard so many things for so long. And how do you put it in perspective of their life, especially for me, when they're dealing with that purchase? And so I will equate it to a car. I'm like, think of a pool like a car, or do you want it? 00:19:35:27 - 00:19:42:04 Speaker 2 You don't want it, you know, don't worry about the resale. If you're can afford it and you want it, then do it. 00:19:42:04 - 00:19:59:17 Speaker 1 Another take that's probably not as popular with realtors. And I can say this because I am one. So, I think there are a lot of people that maybe shouldn't even buy a house if you're only going to be in a place for 1 or 2 years, especially if you look like right now with with rates the way they are. 00:19:59:20 - 00:20:13:21 Speaker 1 But also when you think about the amount of maintenance and then your, your, your transactional costs, so your can be your commissions and your closing costs by and selling, if you're only gonna be there in a city for two years, is it really even worth buying a house? 00:20:13:23 - 00:20:25:03 Speaker 2 I don't disagree with you. I agree there's plenty of people who probably shouldn't or should take a one year. You're not losing so much in one year by making the right decision and taking the time to really figure it out. I agree with. 00:20:25:03 - 00:20:46:04 Speaker 1 That. I have several realtor friends and I'm always seeing posts about, you know, pushing people to buy, buy, buy. If you're if you're renting, you should consider buying. And I'm like, I actually see a lot of people get put, put themselves in a bad financial situation because they, maybe they stretch to buy the house, but then they don't have the money to really properly maintain it once they have it. 00:20:46:07 - 00:21:01:01 Speaker 1 And that's, that's one of those hidden, hidden costs, I guess that, you know, when you buy that, you know, $500,000 house, it's it's not you're not just replacing your rent check with a mortgage check. 00:21:01:01 - 00:21:02:27 Speaker 2 Right. Oh, there's other expenses. 00:21:02:29 - 00:21:20:21 Speaker 1 There's all the obviously the property taxes is the big one, but it's like, you know, maintenance, replacing the air conditioner, you know, whatever. It's all those maintenance costs that people don't take into account. And so then they get ten years down the road to sell the house and has all this deferred maintenance on it. 00:21:20:23 - 00:21:39:22 Speaker 2 Yeah. Well, and and the real estate Association puts out all kinds of studies and I don't remember the percentage, but people who regret buying their first house or looking back, saying their very first house was not the right decision. And that that is like a very common feeling, that either it wasn't the right time, it was too much house. 00:21:39:22 - 00:21:49:01 Speaker 2 It wasn't a good investment period. I mean, all those things buying just to buy because you feel like it's the next step in your life, not always the right next step. 00:21:49:03 - 00:22:13:08 Speaker 1 Yeah. I mean, I think it's it gets sold as the, the American dream where you have to, you know, the steps are you go to college, you get a job, you get married, you buy a house and you know, you. But, that's not the right path for everybody. I mean, honestly, like, I wish that we had not bought our first house and we did, like, I wish we had kept our rent lower, not had the maintenance costs, and just bank that money for a few more years. 00:22:13:08 - 00:22:20:03 Speaker 1 Then we could have bought a much better property, or had some more liquid cash sitting there to, to work with. 00:22:20:08 - 00:22:29:03 Speaker 2 Yeah, exactly. And it's it. I don't think that that's an easy message you got there. You got realtors pushing home sales. But I, I agree with what you're saying. 00:22:29:05 - 00:22:55:00 Speaker 1 I'm not sure that all that all realtors are going to give you that information. But if you're working with a quality person they're going to give you that feedback. Yeah. Same thing for me. Like I had people come to me and they're stretching trying to do a remodeling project. Sometimes I try to discourage them. I'm like, you know, if you're if you're trying to beat the budget down 100 bucks to get the job done, that hundred dollars is that important in the grand scheme of things, you probably shouldn't be spending this money to do this project, right? 00:22:55:02 - 00:23:17:15 Speaker 2 Yeah, and I spent a lot of time with my clients talking about their plans, because in general, it's it's easier for people making a really big decision when they're buying any house at any stage. To analyze it and say, oh, this is a ten year plan, and I am always the first to give them the reality of how many people move, out of their first or second home within 3 to 4 years. 00:23:17:15 - 00:23:33:14 Speaker 2 Right. And just giving them a frame of reference for that and helping them understand, like, hey, this is why it needs to be the right buy now. This is not your forever home. You told me. And if you said eight years, then that means four. And you know when you call me in four years, we want you to be able to sell this thing. 00:23:33:16 - 00:23:35:19 Speaker 2 So it's. Those things are important. 00:23:35:21 - 00:23:38:13 Speaker 1 I hear the term, the forever home thrown about. Oh, my. 00:23:38:13 - 00:23:39:01 Speaker 2 Gosh. 00:23:39:04 - 00:23:45:20 Speaker 1 All the time. It's like. It's like the the the buzz word. Especially in building a new building, a new house. 00:23:45:20 - 00:23:46:21 Speaker 2 Oh, I'm sure you have. 00:23:46:24 - 00:23:53:27 Speaker 1 Like a custom house. People, people are like, oh, I'm building my forever home. And then five, five years later you see the house on the market, you're like, 00:23:54:00 - 00:24:09:16 Speaker 2 Yeah, well, and we sell it every phase and every person talks about their forever home. The first time home buyers who are, let's say they're right at 30 and they're like, I could live here forever. You know, I could live here for 15 years. I'm like, you won't be here 15 years. Especially because the cost is going up if you're in town. 00:24:09:16 - 00:24:25:00 Speaker 2 They're trying to make this long term thing. But, you know, people who are kids are gone. They're buying a house, and we talk about that and they're like, well, I need to sell this house we've been in for 15 years. That was their forever home. They have been there for 15 years. Their next home, some will say it's their forever home. 00:24:25:00 - 00:24:32:09 Speaker 2 And I'm like, no, this is probably your ten year home. But just so you know, but from what I've seen in ten years, you're going to be tired of this and want something different. 00:24:32:10 - 00:24:49:24 Speaker 1 Yeah. It's, it's definitely changed because the couple that I mentioned earlier that was in here that said they remodel 20 years ago, and now now they're doing their bathroom again. Like that's a a whole different generation. Like if they have been in that house, I think they said they bought it shortly after it was built in the 1960s. 00:24:49:24 - 00:24:50:06 Speaker 2 Wow. 00:24:50:07 - 00:25:06:07 Speaker 1 They've been in that same house that long. They have several neighbors who've been in that house that long. So that's something that used to happen a lot more, I think, like my parents probably wouldn't have, moved that the two times that they have since, since I was around, if they if they weren't forced to because of a job change. 00:25:06:07 - 00:25:11:04 Speaker 1 Right, right. They're definitely that generation. That mentality of, you know, we buy something when we stay in it. 00:25:11:04 - 00:25:30:07 Speaker 2 And yeah, I in town has been interesting because people will build a large house like let's say they build a beautiful brand new house and the maintenance and taxes, if you don't need the big house anymore, then they want to sell it and they want to downsize to an equally, you know, nice scale, but like on a smaller scale, so that's common. 00:25:30:08 - 00:25:46:14 Speaker 2 Like, okay, I, you know, I don't need a 4000 square foot house anymore. So then they downsize a little bit and then, you know, that plays itself out now in these areas are so expensive, like, okay, I did that. I don't need this anymore. This is the plan now. So I see it a lot more. I think. 00:25:46:17 - 00:26:02:29 Speaker 1 It's funny. We're kind of having that conversation in our house right now because we bought a 1950s ranch house ten years ago. And, you know, we have we have three kids. The house isn't that big. It's only 20 300ft², which people are shocked when they hear me say that they're like, you build custom houses. But yeah, but I don't need to live in that. 00:26:02:29 - 00:26:18:16 Speaker 1 So, I'm in a 20 300 square foot, 1950s house, but it was great for our three kids and like, and now that they're starting to go to college, we're looking at each other. We're like, we don't need to move. Like we don't need to downsize because. Right. Because we never even upsize to begin. 00:26:18:20 - 00:26:30:29 Speaker 2 Exactly, exactly. But if the trend, you know, for those who do, then they don't need it anymore. I mean, we did move into a house that is bigger than what we need. And the kids know that's our 14 year house. So talk about it that way. And like we're going to sell it. 00:26:30:29 - 00:26:48:05 Speaker 1 Yeah. So now we're like talking about you know, adding on maybe like a little, guest apartment in the backyard for when, you know, maybe grandkids come one day or if my parents or her parents need to move in one day and stay there for health issues. You know, it's it's we're looking at that property from from that angle now. 00:26:48:05 - 00:26:49:16 Speaker 2 So yeah. Which I think is great. 00:26:49:16 - 00:27:14:06 Speaker 1 So actually this is totally off topic, but it's that's a great starter. I, I've seen a lot more people wanting or being interested in kind of multi-generational living, or at least the potential for that and having a guest house on the property in the backyard or a guest apartment older parents can live in, because that's something that you're getting more requests for seeing more on the on the brokerage and end of things. 00:27:14:08 - 00:27:32:03 Speaker 2 There's not a lot of it. So yes, people love it. People wanted there. They I have asked about it and it's kind of hard to get the money and sizes aren't that big, right? So it's kind of hard to do. But if when you can make it work. Yes. It's very desirable. Yeah. 00:27:32:05 - 00:27:47:00 Speaker 1 I know that the city of Houston is actually pushing for more for more density. I think they want they want to be able to allow more building on smaller properties in the city to kind of try to counteract sprawl. 00:27:47:02 - 00:28:08:05 Speaker 2 It would be really valuable if a builder can figure that out and really replicate that model in some way, I think it'll be valuable. But there's a lot of things to it, right? I mean, aging parents, it's hard to say. Yes, a garage apartment would be good because it really wouldn't because of the stairs. Right. So widening the land area to put two living spaces in that way is kind of difficult. 00:28:08:08 - 00:28:13:14 Speaker 1 Yeah. Or or just planning it to where that that space has an elevator or some sort of something. Some kind of good access. 00:28:13:14 - 00:28:14:14 Speaker 2 Yeah, exactly. 00:28:14:16 - 00:28:34:21 Speaker 1 Elevators aren't all that expensive in the grand scheme of things. You know, that's true. 25 to $35,000 for a basic elevator. So, yeah, you know, when you're building a when you're building a house or doing a major renovation, you're doing like a garage apartment. It's not that that big of a, expense, but that elevator. So something worth considering. 00:28:34:23 - 00:28:56:15 Speaker 1 Really dense areas like, Southern California, for example, there, you know, they call them ADUs, accessory dwelling units. Those are becoming really popular there. In fact, there's there's builders who do nothing but build ADUs in people's backyards, either for aging parents or for, rental units for, you know, income. Yeah, things like that. 00:28:56:16 - 00:29:13:09 Speaker 2 My mom and I have this discussion all the time. They're very healthy. They're trying to say what to do. And if they move away from Houston, she she brought it up. She's like, well, let's just rebuild your garage into a garage apartment. Just like, I'll pay for that. Instead of buying a house. She's like, I'll just, you know, we'll just rebuild it to be a condo that we can stay in. 00:29:13:11 - 00:29:15:23 Speaker 2 Like what? What? I thought what an idea, right? 00:29:15:25 - 00:29:18:12 Speaker 1 Yeah. Yeah, but if you're only to be there for for 14. 00:29:18:12 - 00:29:20:11 Speaker 2 Years, right. Exactly. 00:29:20:16 - 00:29:23:08 Speaker 1 You're like. But, mom, I'm not staying here. 00:29:23:10 - 00:29:33:19 Speaker 2 No, we're not doing it. But it was. It was her idea. She was like, well, this is way cheaper than me trying to buy a house and use it and figure out how to maintain it. If we move away or we want to be in two places. So. 00:29:33:21 - 00:29:51:20 Speaker 1 It's, it's something that, you know, over the last 20 years like I saw a lot more of that with certain certain cultures. Would that would be more common. Certain cultures, you know, like to have extended families living on the same property. But now I've seen it becoming more common across the board. 00:29:51:23 - 00:30:06:10 Speaker 2 Well, and I will say, I mean, with if you're going to have children and work, I mean the cost of care with all of that going up, we have lots of friends who will move their parents closer to their area, like help them like, hey, let's get you a townhome. Let's, you know, make sure that you're there so you can help. 00:30:06:10 - 00:30:08:10 Speaker 2 So that's that's part of it too. 00:30:08:12 - 00:30:13:17 Speaker 1 Yeah. Well, I think that's about all that I had. Unless you have any other topics you'd like to bring up. 00:30:13:19 - 00:30:15:29 Speaker 2 No, this has been great. Thank you so much. 00:30:16:03 - 00:30:25:08 Speaker 1 Like I said, it's kind of a, a shorter one today. It's not like a super in-depth technical topic, like I usually get into you, but I thought it'd be fun to go a different direction. 00:30:25:09 - 00:30:26:14 Speaker 2 Yeah, this was very fun. 00:30:26:14 - 00:30:51:29 Speaker 1 And, just to kind of summarize everything, I think the, the story here is that whether it's a good real estate broker or a real estate agent or a good builder, you know, we're going to have a good, a good network of people to work with. Yes. And so, you know, when you hire a good builder, he's going to know good architects and good interior designers and the right engineer for the job and, you know, the right network of vendors. 00:30:52:03 - 00:30:53:16 Speaker 2 Yes. 00:30:53:19 - 00:31:16:27 Speaker 1 And it's important, again, based on the price range that you're in, it's important to use somebody who's appropriate for that price range. Absolutely. So a guy again, it always seems like I'm bashing the suburbs, but a guy who's building $200,000 houses in the suburbs has a whole different set of, tradespeople. That somebody who's building custom homes in town has. 00:31:16:27 - 00:31:31:22 Speaker 1 And yes, those guys are not the same guys to be working on your house if you're trying to go high end. So absolutely, it's it's working with the people who have those that write trade base to, to execute the job properly. 00:31:31:25 - 00:31:38:17 Speaker 2 Yes. And timing. Timing is a consideration. And these great professionals can help you with your making sure that on the timeline that you want. 00:31:38:19 - 00:32:08:15 Speaker 1 Yeah. And so one last thing. And this is something we talked about in our very early episodes, and that's I love being involved as early as possible with people when they're trying to select a property. So I love working with realtors and clients early on, because if, if I can be involved in helping make suggestions or recommendations about whether or not to buy a specific property, it really helps the whole project. 00:32:08:16 - 00:32:30:04 Speaker 1 Because if they if they choose the wrong lot, or if they, they buy a house to remodel and they don't have that kind of that immediate feedback on, is this the right thing for you to do? What does this cost to accomplish? If they don't have that, they're gonna have a harder time. Yes. Having a successful project fully agree. 00:32:30:10 - 00:32:43:16 Speaker 1 So definitely recommend people, you know, have their builder on board along with the realtor if they're going to build a new house or do remodeling project or whatever, like assemble the whole team early. 00:32:43:19 - 00:32:44:06 Speaker 2 Yes. 00:32:44:08 - 00:32:56:00 Speaker 1 Like have your, you know, it. If it's a design build like us, you know, we can handle kind of all that. But, if not, have your, you know, your realtor, your architect, your builder all together to help you make the right decisions. 00:32:56:03 - 00:32:57:17 Speaker 2 Sounds great, I fully agree. 00:32:57:18 - 00:33:06:29 Speaker 1 All right, well, hey, thanks a lot for being with me to tell people how they can, find finished property group if they want to work with you here in Houston to, to buy or sell their house. 00:33:07:02 - 00:33:11:26 Speaker 2 Finch properties.com is the best place to go. And our team would love to serve and help you. 00:33:11:28 - 00:33:20:29 Speaker 1 Awesome. Well, Danielle, we'll we'll link your, your website and put your all your contact information on there so people can reach out to you if the, if they, if they're interested working with you. 00:33:21:03 - 00:33:22:04 Speaker 2 Awesome. Thank you. 00:33:22:04 - 00:33:32:21 Speaker 1 All right. And thank you all for joining us today on this episode of the Your Project Shepherd podcast. We'll see you next time. 00:33:32:23 - 00:33:56:26 Speaker 1 If you found this helpful, enjoy listening. Please support us by liking and subscribing here on your podcast platform, and also join us on our YouTube channel. We want to continue to bring you high quality content and expert guests, and your support truly helps us to continue this journey. If you have any questions for me or my guests or any feedback for us, you can email us at podcast at your project shepherd.com. 00:33:56:29 - 00:33:57:19 Speaker 1 Thanks again.