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The Tracewater Homes Podcast brings you inside the world of modern homebuilding, market trends, and the partnerships shaping the future of residential construction. Known for their innovative steel-frame homes, Tracewater dives into what today’s buyers want, how the industry is evolving, and the experts who help bring every project to life. Whether you’re a homeowner, agent, or builder, this podcast delivers insights, inspiration, and behind-the-scenes conversations from the front lines of construction.
Hey everybody and welcome back to another episode of the Tracewater Homes podcast. I'm Brent. I'm joined today by Matt and we've also got Leslie here with us of Abbott Martin Group EXP Realty. Leslie, you are our sales agent for the Walton and Okaloosa County area. Would you mind just going ahead and introducing yourself, letting everybody know who you are and kind of some of your background and experience?
Yeah. I'm Leslie Dion and I've been with Trace Water for almost six months now, really getting to know the product and I love it. I come from a background of fashion merchandising. I've been in the design world and then decided to head to real estate. We've been buying and selling houses all of our lives being in military. My husband's in the army and I've been in real estate for about five years, almost six years now. I joined Abbott Martin Group about two years and have been selling in Destin, Freeport, Fort Walton Beach, Niceville, Santa Rosa Beach and excited to, you know, share the product of of the quality homes that Tracewater really provides.
Well, thank you. I appreciate that. So, fashion merchandising, so you obviously love the pretty aspects of the home. You and Jeanie are kind of two peas in a pod with that then. So, would you mind sharing with everybody what is your favorite aspect of Trace Water Homes? Is it the the finishes and things or I mean what do you love?
That's a loaded question because I lot I like a lot of things, but yes, design. Love design. I could do it all day and Jeanie has been extremely meticulous in her choices. I get so excited to show potential buyers the possibilities of customizing their homes with it. But I think today I just I want to focus on the convenience of it. I think being in the real estate world for a while, a lot of potential buyers are a little nervous about stepping into new construction. Yeah, there's a lot of questions on where do I find the lot, who's going to clear the lot, who's going to help me with utilities, what plans are I going to do, when will I get the home, when do I get to move in? And it really kind of scares people from even investigating what new construction looks like. I think I've been there 10 years ago when I bought my first home. So, I think Trace Water does everything right from start to finish and it makes it so convenient with a very simple 12-step process. And they can coordinate, we do coordinate with lot clearing, utilities. They have meticulous detailed plans that you guys have. How many years have you spent?
We spent probably 3 years in plan development, selections development, all of that, those kinds of things. So, yeah, there was a lot of time that went into the product.
Well, in a lot of the products, we tested them on homes we were building before we ever put them into the Trace Water group of selections because we wanted to make sure that we were using selections from the get-go that we had already vetted and we knew were going to be good products for for our buyers. Yeah. And then, you know, to your point about the the site work and all of that kind of thing, that was something we really thought a lot about, too, because we'd heard so many horror stories from people that went to build a new home and they signed a contract and then they found out that they had to hire somebody to clear the lot and they had to hire somebody to put in a septic system and put in a well and they're like, "What do we do? I don't know. I don't know how to do that, right? Well, I have no idea what to do". And, you know, we just we look at it as that's our job. Most of our clients are probably going to build one or two homes in their lifetime. We do it every day. So why should we expect them to handle things that they have no knowledge of and get it done efficiently? And on the other side of it, by us handling all of that, it's it's more efficient for us because we know exactly what we had to start with as opposed to having a client that's gone out and done a bunch of work and now we have to come build a house and say, "Well, yeah, but you know, you spent some money in the wrong places here or the septic isn't quite in the right location and now we have to change the house to fit, you know, the the lot or or we can't connect to the septic for some reason or we need to install a lift station or, you know, there are just a lot of things that go into this that most people don't know that we do and so we take that burden off of them and and provide a complete turnkey product".
It's huge. I mean, you they they would have to contact so many people, coordinate so many things and make sure that they're reputable, you know. You call a well company and you don't know that they're the best in the area or or not where we've taken that on already and if there are problems, you run into something while digging that well, they're not going to know how to respond to that or how to tackle that situation. We do. And so it just makes it so much better of a customer service experience. Exactly. Having everything just taken care of, you know, from from the get-go.
Exactly. And we have a phenomenal sales team as well to help kind of coordinate the the building aspect and the customer service and excited to to be a part of that.
Absolutely. Well, thank you so much and and we appreciate having you as part of our team. You all do a phenomenal job for us. So, let's talk a little bit about your market area. So, you handle Okaloosa and Walton counties primarily. You also live in your market area, which is huge because you know the area when people come to you asking, you know, is this a good neighborhood or, you know, I I want to be close to the beach. I mean, you can provide lots for them that fit those criteria really easily because you live here and work here as well. So, what what's something that you really love about the Walton, Okaloosa County area? You know, working here, living here, just what what are your thoughts?
I think what's drawn me to this location is absolutely the water. I'm a water girl. You put that emerald water color and white sands anywhere, I'll be there. We we just we're in Niceville, okay? And we chose that area because of the value. I mean, we wanted to experience the coastal lifestyle and go to the beach on on the weekends and even some days on the weekends or on the weekends and some days on the weeks just to see the sunset on the beach. I mean, that's what draws us to to this area. And it's a 15-minute drive. You can afford, let's talk about affordability, right? And, you know, if you if you look at Santa Rosa Beach, you the price per square foot is $68 per square foot in a single family residence. And if you head to Niceville, it's $250 per square foot. If you head to Freeport, you're $216 per square foot. And the value you can get if you go just across the bridge is incredible. And your product, I mean, we're starting at $230 a square foot and have potential of adding square footage on the top and being even under. Yeah, yeah. Unbelievable. Huge opportunity for. That is pretty awesome. Yeah. Those second story options really cut down that price per square foot quite a bit. I mean, it's it's a lot cheaper. We just had this discussion not too long ago. It's it's a lot cheaper to add walls to an existing structure. You're just building right on top of what's there than it is to add more concrete. You know, making a bigger footprint out costs a lot more. You have more concrete, you have bigger roof trusses, you know, more square of shingles that have to go on that roof or or metal roofing, whatever that may be. So, to be able to go up is a huge value ad for clients for sure. You get those extra bedrooms, extra bathroom without having to spend a ton more. Yeah. And and, you know, closer to the coast, we're it's obvious we're running out of places to develop, right? Yeah. And that's that's bringing us north. That's bringing developers, that's bringing builders north and we see a ton of growth in Freeport, even DeFuniak, and we'll continue to see it.
Absolutely. Yep. Absolutely. And those are all areas that that we can build. You know, if if somebody has a a 10-acre lot in DeFuniak that they want to put a new home on, Trace Water Homes will be there. Yeah. And we can handle all of it for them. Absolutely. And you talk about the the value, you know, being north of that bay. You mentioned not a lot of land available, you know, right on the the Gulf here. And so from a supply and demand standpoint, there are very few lots and everybody wants to be as close to the water as they can. So, you know, us building on your lot and you helping clients find lots, I mean, you can attest to the fact that your land prices are significantly cheaper when you get just 15 minutes from the water than they're going to be down here right on the water. Yeah. So, are you seeing that in in your market that, you know, there's a lot more available land or or what what does the market look like in kind of Okaloosa?
Absolutely. I start, you know, with clients in Santa Rosa Beach in Destin, looking at potential resales, lots and we end up in Freeport. Yeah. There's no denying that Freeport is increasing and although they don't have the, you know, Target yet, I mean, or or the the commercial spaces that we desire, you know, they'll get there and and it's a and it'll become a lot bigger than than it is.
Absolutely. Yeah, I I would agree. There's a lot of growth happening, you know, along that 20 corridor up there through, you know, from Freeport to Niceville. You know, that that whole area, it seems like, is is going to be kind of the next phase for people coming to this area because of the affordability standpoint and the close proximity to the water. You kind of get the best of both worlds in in that. And so with that, you're going to get more of that commercial development, and it's going to become, you know, a place where you have more shopping centers, more restaurants, and things like that to to do in that area. So, I think Freeport's a great spot to look right now, or or Niceville, anywhere up there. As that develops, it's going to be a really great place to live for sure.
So, what what things do you think that Trace Water Homes can bring to the table that benefits buyers looking to move to this area?
I think it's value and quality. If you put Trace Water up on any home builders, it's you can tell the quality is there. You know, you have 9-foot ceilings as standard. You have a hooded kitchen vent as standard. These are all upgrades typically in in other builders. Yeah. Which is is I mean speaks to to what you offer and who you guys are. I think being on your lot, you guys go practically you know in within. Yeah. Anywhere in in our market area. Yeah. We cover, yeah, Pensacola really to Apalachicola at this point and then all the way north to to Alabama. And that was one of the things that we talked about when we started Trace Water was that, you know, being on your lot, we wanted to be able to service clients that didn't want to have to live in a you know, pre-existing development necessarily, but also didn't want to have to spend a ton of time and money and effort on a fully custom home. And so we kind of tried to bridge that gap a little bit and combine the two. You're getting, you know, a lot of the same quality and and a lot of the same features and finishes of a custom home, but at the price point of something existing, but yet you get to pick where that lot is at. You know, you get to pick where you live. You're not stuck in a neighborhood that you don't like. So, that that is a huge thing to be on your lot.
Yeah. So, we've brought that out into some areas that are traditionally underserved by, you know, the construction industry in general where, you know, a lot of a lot of areas the the builders will build, you know, in their community or, you know, in in in a certain area where, you know, we we've brought that out to to areas that you may or may not be able to get, you know, the quality builder to come to your market. So, that that's been pretty exciting for us.
Yeah. And then I mean just back to the convenience, too. It's it's they can be as hands-on or hands-off as they want to be, right? And so if they want to sit on their couch and design it from the Builder Trend app, they can do that. And they can be as involved in selections. I mean, Jeanie's done a phenomenal job of of creating some design colors and and finishes that you can choose from. Yeah. And you can do that in the comfort of your own home.
Yeah, that is is pretty awesome. And Jeanie is really proud of that. We're proud of her for that. So, I mean, when when we started that process on selections, she was really trying to create something that could be as convenient as possible. And she's a little bit of a groundbreaker, you know, and and a front runner in that space. She said, "We buy things from Amazon. You can go online and buy a car and have it show up in your driveway tomorrow. Why shouldn't you be able to build your house from the comfort of your couch?" And so, exactly. She worked really hard. I I worked really hard. We all have worked really hard to make that a reality. And I think it it works really well. I mean, you've been able to play around a little bit with the selections on Builder Trend and I think it turned out really nice. It's a really cool feature and and like you said, extremely convenient. I was working with a client the other day and and they were looking at all of the features and they could favorite, you know, their their favorites. And although it's not committing them to that selection, it's giving them, you know, a an option to see what's possible and what you know, designing their home, putting it in a shopping cart. I feel like exactly until they're ready to make that leap and that step of commitment. It's a nice way of just playing around on the Builder Trend app of of what's available and possible.
Yeah, for sure. And getting to preview that pricing. Because nobody wants to fall in love with something and then find out later that they can't afford to pay the upgrade fee. And so all of that pricing is right there for everyone in the Builder Trend app. So, as you favorite things, as you look at things, you can see how that's going to impact the final cost of your home. Whether that's an included product that you really love, well, great. You don't pay any extra for that. Or if it is an upgraded product, you know, how much that that's going to be right there from from the get-go, which is awesome. I love that feature.
And that's another good point that we should probably touch on, too, is we do all of that upfront. So, you know, making sure that everything is selected and decided upon before we ever break ground on that home. Which again adds to the efficiency of the process. It also makes the home building process a lot more fun because now they just get to sit back and watch their home be built rather than we're contacting them saying, "Oh, by the way, the tile installer is going to be there Monday and we haven't picked out uh bathroom flooring". Yeah, you know, and and now it becomes a really stressful, horrible situation because they're running around trying to find bathroom flooring before Friday. Yeah. So that they have a selection made. And I mean, those are real experiences that that, you know, people have shared with us. Yeah. And so being able to just watch your home be built is so much more fun. And they can watch it be built from wherever they're at. You know, I mean, we know that most, I would say most of our clients are not from the market. They're coming into here from a different market. Many times not living here while they while their home is being built and yet they feel like they're there every day or every week because our team updates them in Builder Trend. They get a they get a notice with some pictures and an update as to what's happening on their job site during that time frame. And that's that's a really cool feature for them to be able to, you know, experience that being, you know, 1,000 miles away or 1,500 miles away. It's it's it's pretty cool. It is really cool. And the other huge benefit of the, you know, pre-pricing everything before we start construction is the way that we have our preferred lender set up in that process, too to where the client is getting everything priced out before they ever close on their construction loan, right? So when they go in and close on that construction loan, they know what their price is going to be. There's no such thing as six months in, all of a sudden they're having to come out of pocket for change orders because the lender won't approve the change orders. So, they have to pay cash for it. It's all there at the beginning. They know how much they're going to pay. As long as they're, you know, approved for that much, it'll all be covered in the financing. So, that really limits how much people are having to, you know, dig into their own pockets for things and and stuff like that. So, that that's a really nice added benefit of the way that our process is set up, too.
Yep. Absolutely. So, what about uh what about other agents, Leslie? You work with with other agents in the area. Agents will contact you if they have a client looking for a lot or looking to build new construction. So, can you talk a little bit about what that process is like and why other agents would want to contact you and would want to work with Trace Water Homes?
Sure. I mean, as an agent, what you were just touching on, of being in communication with your clients weekly. Yeah. I've been in as an agent with new construction, having to visit the job site every week, being that advocate for the buyers, making sure things are done on time, making sure they're in correctly, those second pair of eyes. And and you really take that burden off of agents as you give photos, you give weekly updates to the client. I think that's huge. Communication is is such a a lost art, I feel like in this in this generation. And to bring that back, it's so important and hard to come by. So, for agents, it's it's convenience. And also, I mean, we love working with agents. We love giving them this tool in their toolbox to bring they want to be experts of their area and knowing that Trace Water is out there as an option for their potential buyers that may bring obstacles like low, you know, high insurance. They're looking at a home, a resale home. I was just in this situation the other day of insurance was $15,000 a year. Wow. And I mean, I don't think we focus on insurance and what that does to our monthly payments, but it was an older home and they couldn't afford that. But Trace Water, I mean, you build with new construction, it's insured like it is concrete.
Yes. Yeah. Absolutely. And Matt had a whole podcast episode actually with our preferred insurer going over all of the reasons why they are willing to insure us at the rates that they are and and, you know, kind of what those rates look like and stuff. So that's a great episode for for people to check out if if you're curious. But yeah, insurance is a huge problem in Florida and and we've done our best to solve that by, you know, the the products that we use and and working with a local insurance provider and all of that.
Yeah. And just think, you know, that person that's looking at at that existing house with the $15,000 insurance policy, I don't know how big the house is, but, you know, even if you assume that, you know, it's it's our our biggest plan that we have, you're still $800 to $1,000 a month more on insurance than what uh than what our our plans would be insured at. So, if you could take that $800 a month instead of paying the insurance company and put it toward your mortgage, how much more house could you be living in?
You can do all the upgrade options, right? Exactly. We can upgrade here, upgrade there, do it all. Fireplace. Yes. Exactly. Yeah. Absolutely. But yeah, I mean, just obstacles as agents, you're in their toolbox. I mean, there the potential buyers have I've come across, you know, "Oh, you know, construction's going to take too long". You have an answer for that, right?
We do. Yes. Every our our process is, you know, from permit we're typically looking at about an eight-month window from the time we get the building permit. Obviously, we have no control over the piece of getting the building permit timewise, but once we have that permit in hand, now we have control of the process. But having that steel frame construction makes the process go a lot quicker. It does. Absolutely. And it's it's a pretty neat process to watch. You know, we've had people that have come out to the site while we're putting the steel up and they're just in awe of, you know, of that process. And and it's just it's really unique to the home building industry in the United States. There's just not a lot of it being done. So we feel like we're kind of front runners on that.
Yeah. I came across a buyer who wouldn't touch a home that had termite damage. And I mean, you kind of solve that problem because you use, you know, materials that are termite resistant, which is incredible. Yeah. Right. Even I mean, the steel obviously, but then you talk about our siding, you know, that it we're we're focused on that as well.
Yeah. Absolutely. And the really tough thing about termites is that, you know, you had a client that wouldn't buy a home that had been, you know, damaged by termites. Well, you don't know that until you tear the walls open. And so from the outside, we've done remodel projects before, where you get into a house and it looks totally fine. You start tearing the sheetrock off and everything is rotten beneath the sheetrock. And you would never have known that unless you took the time to really tear into the walls. And so termites really are just a silent killer of homes. And so, yeah, by using the steel framing, we've we've eliminated that issue. And new construction, you know, obviously another huge benefit over buying existing is that you know that everything's brand new, right? But we talk a lot about the longevity of the homes that we build and you know how with things like steel framing and LP Smart Side, these homes aren't going to be good for, you know, 5 years. We want these homes to be good for 20, 30, 40 years. And so that I think is a huge value ad to buyers, too, knowing that TJ mentioned it in your podcast episode with him, that, you know, seven years from now, that's the average lifespan of someone living in in a home, that they can sell a home that's still in basically the same condition as when they bought it brand new and how much that sets them ahead compared to the competition when, you know, other new buyers are looking at their house compared to what else is available in the existing home market.
Yeah. And I've heard you guys talk about multiple times that you want to revisit, you know, those buyers five, 10 years down the road and and hear what a great home they live in. Yes. I think that's working with you. I mean, you're a family-owned business. You're not a huge corporation and you care, you know, about every every buyer in this situation.
We definitely do. And I've said before, I want to drive around this area when I'm 80 years old and say, "I built that house, I built that house, and they're all still standing". So, that's that's the long-term goal for sure is just providing a a good product, good customer service, good customer experience, and, you know, making sure that everybody's happy. The agents are happy, customers happy, we're happy. So that I think that's really what it comes down to. And if we can do that, then you know, I feel like the the sky's is the limit, right? Especially as people start seeing that and we can get more traction, get more and more sales, I think it's just going to be a good thing for everyone in the area. For sure. So. Agreed. I'm honored to be a part of it. Thanks for for having me on the team.
Thank you for being part of the team. So do you have any any final thoughts? Anything else you'd like to share?
Cheers to a great year and excited about changing lives and giving this amazing product to so many deserving buyers and families.
Absolutely. Well, thank you so much again. And for anybody that's out there watching, if you'd like to reach out and get more information, you can go to www.tracewaterhomes or tracewaterfl.com. On under the contact us section, there is a phone number that will ring to our sales team and they will help you out with any of your questions, finding a lot or just, you know, getting started in the process. So check out tracewaterhomes.com and and give us a shout. Thank you. We'll see you next time. Thank you.