Builder Marketing in 2026: What Actually Drives Leads, Sales, and Reputation

Jesse Sampley (00:00.334)

Welcome back to the Meridian Pursuit Builders Podcast. I'm your host Jesse Sampley, and this is where we sit down with home builders, developers, real estate professionals, and industry leaders who are out there doing the work. You'll hear real conversations about markets, design, mistakes, and lessons learned, and how builders can position themselves in a way that brings more customers to the table. Let's dive in.

Jesse Sampley (00:32.302)

Tell me, how did you get started in real estate? I worked in the legal field for about seven years. So was a paralegal. Started off with foreclosures. I went to personal injury. And then I ended at corporate real estate law. So I did that for seven years. The last firm I at, I was at for about four years. And I was miserable. Why? I was overworked, underpaid. I stayed late, underappreciated. I just felt like I always was doing.

for other people and I just wasn't getting recognized or just wasn't moving or helping the way I wanted to. And I'm very ADD and I cannot sit behind a desk for the life of me. So it was a struggle all the time. I just remember a funny story. I wanted to know what I was doing. Like when I was working with these transactions, because I was doing a lot of closings for big, big banks and they were real estate transactions, but I didn't really know the background behind them. just know what I was.

just drafting stuff and didn't know the why or the purpose behind it. So I asked to get, you know, take the real estate course so I could kind of understand what I was looking at. And so they paid for it. And I remember taking the test, passing it the first time, and I worked for about three shareholders there. I went to the one shareholder that was supposed to be a mentor for me, right? You know, I'm young, graduated from college,

I had a bachelor's degree already. And I was like, you hey, like I passed the real estate exam. And I was like, yeah, like I got my, I'm going to get, I got my license. He, the way he said it was like, it takes a special person to do that. Like as if I didn't have what it took. That moment changed everything for me. You said challenge accepted. Yeah. Like it was like challenge accepted. I'm going to, I'm going to do this. I don't want to work for somebody that doesn't believe in me.

And I knew I wanted a five-year plan. That was not it. That was not it. I jumped in, dove right into real estate. Well, I realized then, you know, Facebook was everything. So I just dove right in, Facebook started, you know, posting stuff and like just reaching out to my sphere of influence because that's where you get all your clients, right? And I'm born and raised here. So knowing a lot of people and being from this side of town and, you know, people caught on. What have you seen in the market? How has the market?

Jesse Sampley (02:56.962)

changed in the Tampa Bay area? the Tampa market is probably one of the fastest growing metros in the area, like in the United States. We've grown so much over the last, I would say, 10 years. Like we've we've taken off, especially downtown areas, like even the Riverview area. It's just we've even before covid. Like there was a trend that people want to be in this area. And I specialize in when I first started out was in the first time home buyers.

because we had so many new communities and so many new families coming to the area. Everything was priced right then, right? So everyone was buying houses and it just, all the traffic is crazy and we're full. Like we are full over here. Time to venture out north, but downtown area has just been insane. Just even with just like commercial buildings, condos, rentals are up downtown. It's just been, it's been very First home buyers, did they know what they're looking for?

So a lot of first-time home buyers, focus on budget mainly. But once they get into those homes, they're ready to get out of those homes and move into something different. And then they're looking at the modern amenities or the community itself, A-rated schools. They look for redone homes. They want upgraded kitchens and bathrooms. This year, the market, it's taken a hit. And I think everyone has felt it across the board, I think in every industry.

I don't think it's just in this industry, but definitely the rates have had a huge. It's put a pause on a lot of stuff. Yeah. A lot of people are scared to buy. They're waiting, you know, they've been like, us wait it out or, but the people that I have seen wanting to sell, they're seeing it. They're, they're seeing the days on market a lot longer than normal, you know, for not pricing it way under what, you know, what they can, you know, you have to obviously look at the data and the communities, but if you're not pricing it, you're not selling it. And now that it's a

slower market? people look at different things other than price now that they have a little bit more time to shop? Everything is negotiable, right? So I think, you know, the area, the commute to where they're going for work, schools, the community itself. I know I don't think they take all of that into a fact, I think rates and pricing is everything. You lead with that and the rest will follow. Right. You can, you have your pool of what houses then you're looking for.

Jesse Sampley (05:21.222)

So I would like to know what makes a good builder? Honestly, think it's their reputation. The reputation they have is key. Their build quality. Whether they are following up. You can't fake the reputation over time. So if you're a good builder and you've been around a long time and now we're seeing second generation. It's like their dad built the business, the second generation is coming in. They still have to uphold that reputation. How should a builder

position themselves. You what is important? You're going around, you're showing people these homes. What you love to say is, this is a Bobby Smith home. And that person says, okay, I'm new to the market. Why should I care that this is a Bobby Smith home? And as they start doing the research, they're like, oh my goodness, Bobby Smith has got this reputation of building this type of home. Right. You know, this is going to be so much easier on the resale side because of all of these things that he does. you know, people in this area know that Bobby Smith is the guy to go to because of

these different reasons. You can't fake that as a home builder. No. So I definitely, I think their quality of work, their communication style with their buyers that are building these houses and how they handle situations that aren't normal. Right? So, you you get a buyer that's not happy about something. How are they going to fix it? Or are they not going to fix it? So I think how they handle situations, how they continue to, you know, and even working with local brokers, I think

That's really important too, to get your name out there and work with brokers that are, you know, they understand the community, they understand, you know, the way things work in that area. I think that's really important as well. You have to know your locations too, right? So Fishhawk isn't downtown Tampa and Wesley Chapel isn't Riverview. So you gotta know where you're building your houses and know what the demand is for those areas.

There actually is a home in Gainesville that stands out like that and it's like right now all ranch homes and you have this one European design with a TPO roof and it sticks out like a sore thumb really really cool design but it's like not the right area like no no the audience okay like I think that's important for builders that are not from here yeah the same thing with a I've dealt with appraisers that have come here actually had one recently and they're not from the area they don't know you know

Jesse Sampley (07:44.026)

They're basing this off of a home they probably just appraised in in Gibsonton. And it's like, this is not the same community. This is not, you know, no, the location of where you're building these homes. Especially in such a saturated market like this is that you go two miles down the road and you're in a totally different complete even a mile. Like it's it could be very different. Even from fishhawk to fishhawk. It's it could be different from street to street. It's you know, you have to know where these homes are being built and like what they're putting in them.

Have you worked with any home builders? I have I've worked with one Local well, he wasn't local. He was Miami builder, but he came out here to build in a community Where a house had burnt down? So the rest of the homes were ten years old and he's building a new modern Miami style home in this community beautiful home beautiful finishes But no other home looked like it but it was a spec home

And he built a spec home. And he even put like hurricane impact doors and windows, not that they were in like a flood zone or anything, but we, know, he just, he went all out, all out. Even the driveway had like, you know, he had like the turf and the squares of the concrete and it just, wasn't for that neighborhood. I mean, it sold, but it didn't sell for what he was hoping it would sell for. So that's why I'm like, okay, next one.

You could have gotten a better return on investment had he known the market. Had he gotten me a little earlier. Yeah, because I'm like, I would have told you what not to do and what you should do. You know, can put nice finishes, but I wouldn't put these giant tiles and this modern iron door and like, you know, there's things he probably could have not done and saved money on. What do you think are some of the core things for a spec home builder? The core things that they should look at?

in a home that they should pay a lot of attention to. I think the kitchen and the flooring, the bathrooms for sure.

Jesse Sampley (09:49.698)

I feel like layout is everything, but I think the finishes of the kitchen and the flooring say a lot about a builder. We're in Florida, so everyone loves an outdoor space. Make the outdoor space nice or where you can make it nice afterwards, know, like enough space to do something more. And that helps on the marketability of the home? for sure. Percent. How do you think builders can collaborate with real estate?

agents or real estate brokers to get more attention for their company? Yeah, I mean, think with them teaming up with local brokers and real estate agents, I think if they're not from here, right? So these agents have worked this community and know the community very well. have their reputations. And I think that would help get them more exposure for sure. I think it's probably the best.

option for all of them. kind of talked about the design and the trends. What do you think are some common pitfalls for builders? I think they need to take in account for all of those things when they're building because buyers have to really look at that now because it plays a big factor in their costs. You think buyers, they pay more attention now when the market's a little bit slow? Do they take more time to look at these properties than they did before because they're not trying to beat?

A lot because there's there's inventory. We have a lot of inventory and they can be selective. They can be very selective and they can ask for what they want. They if they don't have to buy a house in a flood zone because insurance is extremely hard to get and flood insurance is very expensive. I feel like they're going to look elsewhere. Building a house in those areas, you know, making sure you have an elevation certificate and building it up to code and you know just

even maybe offering an incentive because just to get the buyers in, I think those would be really smart options. How important do you think social media is for a home builder? Social media is everything, I feel like, in real estate. I feel like I've focused on it a lot. It's been a blessing to my business. I have never paid for a lead in real estate.

Jesse Sampley (12:10.892)

Everything that I've have is always come from social media or sphere of influence. and just marketing yourself through social media has been life changing. Facebook, Instagram, people even use Tik Tok these days, which is, I didn't believe it, but there was in one agent, she literally makes a killing off of Tik Tok. Wow. Yeah. Well, I know a lot of some of the home builders and have noticed that people still look for social proof. So what we're trying to do is

We're building excellent websites. We're giving all this social proof, portraying this in a way online that matches them in real life. Because they'll be these home builders that have been around for 30 or 50 years and then you look at them online and it looks like, I think this person's out of business. Because they're not used to that, right? They started that long ago. It's like teaching old dog new tricks. They're like, what? Social media?

How do do this? And people have voiced the frustration to say, how does this new guy, you know, he's only been in business for two years. I've been in business for 30 years. Well, it's the same thing with realtors and brokers and they're not marketing themselves properly. They're not going to see the business come back in. Yeah. Yeah. It's really important. And some of that is just education to, even though it worked in the past, like you have to set yourself up for success. And that is a

It is a good website. That is a Google business profile. That is being active on social media, communicating with people and then letting them know what your differentiator is in the marketplace. We're a home builder that focuses on the details or we're a home builder that focuses on having your niche. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. If you can talk more specifically to the person that you really want, then you're going to start getting more qualified leads because that person's already been educated. Well, let's talk about what, are some key relationships that a home builder

should make. know, think real estate brokers is an obvious one. Subs are very important because they're really hard to come by. Good ones, right? Like the ones that show up. Because Lord knows, electricians and plumbers are really hard to come by these days. And treat them right. Once you have a good one. Yeah, treat them right. got to, and that's the thing. Like if you treat people good and you treat people right, like they'll come back. Like, and that goes for anything. What other kind of relationships would be in their best interest? I think

Jesse Sampley (14:29.14)

joining anything local like in your community. think getting involved in your community says a lot about a builder and says like giving back or getting involved with different nonprofits or whatever. Just staying connected and it helps get your name out as well. Kind of authentic way too. Right, right. You can run billboards, you can do radio, you can do some of this traditional stuff. But if you're actually involved and you're giving back and you're actually...

it's in your heart to do that than I would say do that. Some people just don't have it in them. But I think if that's, you want to build the relationship, you want to build the community, 100%, I believe in that. And that's what a of these old time builders that have been around for 50 years, they did that. You they were a community partner and they viewed themselves like that.

is I'm gonna run into my clients in Lowe's and Home Depot and I'm gonna see them around town and I may have a 20 mile radius around me. So I will see my clientele for the next 50 years. Yeah, think buyers remember how you treated them and they remember not just the house but if you do everything, even if you had bumps in the road, how you fixed it, they'll remember all of that and that's how you get these people to come back and they'll refer you.

You can't fake that. That's all you have to do. So much of this is common sense. It really is. Do what you promise. Right. Keep your word. Like keep your word. Do what you say and own mistakes. Own it. If there's going to be a mistake, own it. Mistakes are going to be made. Right. It's human. We're human. We're not robots. We're not AI. And even AI, I think it has mistakes. But the mistakes are going to be made. But it's how you fix them, how you address them and how you treat the people in the process is

what they're gonna remember. me about the Tampa Bay market today. What this is a slow market. How can people stand out in a slower market? Making videos. I say that because I don't do them at all. I was about to say Facebook's algorithm like Meta's algorithm. Yeah. What they keep pushing. They keep pushing. They want you visible. Call out your avatar.

Jesse Sampley (16:42.894)

Yeah, I'm can they make it talk for me? Cause I'm like, I'm really bad in front of the camera. We're like, I freeze up, I can't talk. And they're like, take videos of these houses and talk. And I'm like, I just, can't do it. I can't do it. But there's people that can and they're thriving. They're thriving. But I think social media content, it's all relevant right now. If you think about the algorithm as, as you feed it exactly what it wants.

and what it wants is good authentic content from people sharing real life advice or education, then that's all it wants. People want real people, right? And Facebook wants people to spend more time on their platform. 100%. So if you're talking to people, they're gonna listen. A lot of this is very common sense stuff, but what do you consume? That's a great way to think about it is what do you consume? And we're always watching other people. Right.

As they're talking to us specifically. I'm like, wow, they did good. Like, yeah. It's like, I mean, they're talking right to me. How did they know? Well, Facebook knows because Facebook knows everything. they got the algorithm on point though. They do. They really do. I know some of the even in Facebook ads, they say call out your avatar in the first six seconds. Maybe I'll try one this year. Do it. Do it. If did it a handful of times, it would get really easy. And I think if you walked, I think it would be easier for you. Yeah. If you were in movement.

And you're walking around? have done it before. And they do. The feedback on your posts, show, right? I'm like, they did good, but I'm not doing that again for a while because I'm like, I gives me heart palpitations. But I know, I'm going to get there. I'm getting there. Well, tell me, tell me about your brokerage. You you, you didn't, you, this is kind of a newer brokerage. It is a newer brokerage, more boutique style. How many agents? on four years. So we have, we've lost quite a few agents this year.

So this market has definitely put things in perspective, but I think it was necessary. Honestly, I think it kind of weeded out people that weren't serious or got into it for the wrong reasons. So I have four agents that work with me. They're hustlers. They're, they're doing their thing. They made it through. What do you see? What do you see in the next three years? You know, a lot of people are speculating rates are going to come down. How big of an impact do you think that makes in this market? So I'm, don't know how.

Jesse Sampley (19:04.788)

low rates are going to go. Honestly, if I would have guessed this a couple years ago, practiced what I preach and I bought a house and I did a two one buy down because like get in, get in now rates will drop and they haven't really dropped. Right. I hope that they will. They will come down some, but I don't think that's the market that we're going to see. think we're going to see a lot of influx and foreclosures again, short sales. think we're going to come across that because a lot of people that bought in these high rates that we're expecting

rates to drop and they're not and prices are going up. You know, I think they're not, they're getting priced out. They're not able to afford their home. Taxes have gone up. You know, that's, that's pushing people out and hoping the Santas can help us with that too. And different counties are, have different millage rates. That's another one. millage rates. I mean, there's a lot of factors that are playing in, in our, in our market right now. Is there an opportunity in there for people? Oh, for sure.

I mean, we still have people doing flips. There's tons of people doing flips. We have a lot of investors. think commercial has been still been very, very good. I've been done a couple commercial deals this year. Tampa area is still booming in commercial. This is residential that's kind of taken a small hit, but it's still, still moving. It's still moving and grooving. People are still buying. People are still selling. It's just all about how you market yourself. Yeah. And we already talked to that.

You know, social media is a great way to get in front of people because that's free. That just takes time. Yeah. Confidence. be able to do that. Confidence is key. And practice. Perfect practice makes perfect. Practice makes perfect. Exercise that muscle. It's not comfortable for anyone to put themselves out there. But if you do have a good product, then you do have to ask yourself, how am I getting this to market? And can I just rely on referrals? And is that enough? And it's not enough.

You have to be doing and testing other things. Right. All of marketing is testing one thing. And once you know that something is working, you pour the gas on it and you do more of that. Right. There is no magic thing out there. Trial and There some best practices, but. You have to fail to succeed. Yes. That's why I always say you got to go through, you know, the hard times and you'll come out on top. You figure out what works. Yeah. And when you know what works, do more of that. Exactly.

Jesse Sampley (21:31.574)

My name is Elena Mejiaz. I am the owner, broker of M6 Realty, powered by Cell State, and we are in the Tampa, Florida area. There is a huge opportunity for buyers right now. They can buy and not fear that they're going to lose a property like they were in 2020 and 21, 22 even. They can set their own demands, right? There's tons of opportunities with rate buy downs or incentives with sellers.

to pay for closing costs and pay for rate buy downs. There's quite a few assumable loans. One next door. 2.25. Wow. VA. 2.25, it's a VA, assumable loan. But you have those opportunities as a buyer right now in this crazy market. And I think that's something huge that people should jump on. Are you seeing more out-of-state people? I've seen quite a few.

Not moving here, but just even on an investment side. Investment side? haven't. I've seen a lot of people trying to get like Airbnb's and stuff that they can rent out. I have not. Out of state buyers. Not living here, but they want to invest in Florida, the Florida market. All right, that's a wrap for this conversation. If you know someone who should be on this podcast, send us an email at info at meridianpursuit.com and nominate them.

We're always looking for great stories to share. And if you got something out of this episode, please leave us a quick review on the show. And if you're watching on YouTube, tap like and subscribe so we can share this with more people. I'm Jesse Sampley. Thanks for listening and I'll see you on the next one.