How Smart Builders Win With Details Buyers Actually Notice - Angi Dean

Angi (00:32)

Okay, so I originally started out in nursing. So I made the leap from nursing to construction. And did that about eight, nine years ago. And it didn't really, I didn't set out to be a contractor necessarily. It just came to me.

real estate investing and I found myself a single mom and just I was working three jobs as a nurse. I was going back to school, just burning the candles at both ends and just slowly got into real estate investing through buying these little, mean really just barely hanging on type of houses and getting in there and doing the work myself and turning them into a little

nest egg of a rental property portfolio and truly get in there going to the banks, all the, moving the monies and purchasing and finding the good deals and getting in there sanding the floors, losing the fingernails, just, mom, I need you here, mom, I need you there. Just pivot and shift and just...

kind of got some traction when I got the attention of a local contractor and he wanted to team up on some projects and he's super knowledgeable in our industry, been in it a long time really jumped in and had some really good mentors along the way, some really, really good contractors let work under them and guide me and share their wisdom with me and

Truly getting in there with my own hands and blood, sweat and tears truly and learning the business, the very baby stages and just working my way up.

Jesse Sampley (02:12)

Incredible. Do you still have a lot of those rentals now?

Angi (02:15)

So I have just a few. kind of, try to pay attention to the market and there's some really good relationships I've established with my realtor being mindful. And I had pretty good nest egg of a portfolio and I sold when the market was high and I used that money for other investments, but I held onto some of my commercial rental properties.

Jesse Sampley (02:37)

Yeah.

Angi (02:37)

but mainly, my livelihood is construction. I build new construction homes from the ground up, custom and spec homes for myself. And that is my livelihood at this moment. So, yeah.

Jesse Sampley (02:49)

Wow, what

a story. And tell me for our listeners out there, where are you building? What kind of homes are you building?

Angi (02:57)

Yeah, so I kind of go through these different shifts. I'm always ready for ⁓ good challenge, I'd say. But I do custom work for, anywhere from 5,000, 6,000 square foot custom, really some homes with, tons of details, working with the customers,

to hear more recently, I found a little niche where I'm doing this little affordable home model. And each one is different. It's the same floor plan, essentially. I'll do some little tweaks here and there with a local engineer that I work with on the floor plan, but mostly it's the same little square footage, same model. And I put, little custom, if you will, details in it.

that I think are little things that I love, you know, and sometimes, it is a business, it's how I earn my living, but sometimes I do tend to get excited about the details and I want to make it so special for the homeowner that like, wait a minute, I got to make money. What am I doing?

Jesse Sampley (03:44)

Yeah.

That's right, that's what the right side of your brain is wanting you to pour a lot more of that creativity in. But sometimes the left side, the analytical business side is like, okay, we're still needing to net some money out of this.

Angi (04:04)

⁓

It is, it is totally a balance. is finding the balance because to me, of course it is to make money, but it's not totally like, truly love that I get to build someone a home. And I love the idea of thinking about, it's going to be there a hundred years. This family's going to live there. I love seeing the joy and the excitement when people look at the details and the creative.

Sign I've put into it, you know that matters to me as well. It truly does

Jesse Sampley (04:37)

Yeah.

Tell me what are some of those few custom things that you've done recently in some of your homes?

Angi (04:42)

as far as the details you mean and such. So one thing that I get a kick out of is I love using our local small business suppliers. I actually built our, they call themselves the, The smallest or the largest little lumber yard in town. But I had the privilege to build their custom, their personal home.

Jesse Sampley (04:44)

Yes.

Angi (05:04)

And so I love going in and seeing what, new products they've got and supporting them. we have got some really cool resources as far as the lumber and the timber and the local mills that are around. And some of them are just generational family owned businesses where you can actually go and pick out the tree that you would like your bean for your mantle cut out of.

You know, with ⁓ the rivers we have around here that feed into the bay, that feed into the Gulf, there's this cypress, like the dead wood, that's so rich and all the little wormy waterhole details with the deep, muddy waters been in there over a hundred years and creating a really pretty artistic masterpiece.

raw like it is, for a mantle or for the bean details on the sealants or, the kitchen island, I like to pop, ⁓ you know, some pretty little ⁓ wood features there and mill work. I have a really jammed up trim carpenter, love him to pieces and ⁓ he just, he's super talented and we work very closely together.

Jesse Sampley (06:01)

Yeah.

Angi (06:11)

Sometimes he looks at me like I have, you know, four eyes and two heads. And when I tell him I want to do this and this, he's like, wait a minute. ⁓

Jesse Sampley (06:20)

So it sounds like you

love bringing in that natural element of what's in the surrounding areas, of letting that be a piece of all of these custom builds as far as the type of lumber and all of that. Being so close to the coast, what are you doing on a foundational side? Because do you see winds and hurricanes and flooding? What are you doing a little different? Because we've got listeners from all over the country.

And all over the world, actually, we've just got our first Australian home builder that's going to be coming on the show. So just give us kind of a sense of how you're doing things a little different on a foundational side here in Florida.

Angi (06:51)

I don't know.

That's right, we do. We have hurricanes and that is something our Florida building code is very strict when it comes to what has to happen, especially in a foundation. And that is truly where that durability and that longevity of that home here in Florida. And of course we have different wind speeds and things that we have to adhere to as far as our hold down with our hurricane systems. within our code, it requires at least one

hurricane tie down or hardware system and something that I do personally that no one will ever see, especially a homeowner, you're never gonna know, but I actually choose two of those hurricane hold down tie down systems and only one is required and it really matters to me the structure and those components that are really gonna make that house.

be there truly for a hundred years and withstand those hurricanes. And something more recently that I've started to ⁓ implement are a FEMA approved ⁓ storm shelter within the home. ⁓ And so I've kind of just started dibbling and dabbling in that just to, for me, that sounds really good. I like that. Now, if a hurricane's coming in here in Florida, we know what to do. You go.

Jesse Sampley (08:01)

wow.

Angi (08:14)

out of harm's way, but truly as a builder, that is something I consider is it does start, as you said, with the foundation. The Florida building code is extremely strict on what is required of us as builders. If it is in a flood zone, of course, you've got to be a foot above. And really it's case by case that you're looking at the topography of the land, as far as where you're starting and where you gotta be.

obviously if you're in a high velocity speed zone, if you're out on the beach and you're getting the within the mile of, those high, ⁓ tidal volume areas, there's certain things that they tell you you got to do. But me specifically, I do two out of the three where only one is required.

Jesse Sampley (08:54)

Are going back to the FEMA approved areas, is that like a converted area? Like you're taking a master closet or something like that and making it approved area or is this a separate area that you're putting in the.

Angi (09:07)

No, no.

So this is just within the home and I'm still working out those details, but this will be on my new construction, my spec home. So I'll do that within like there's a little guideline of ⁓ a list of things that they have to do. And as far as putting the steel door on it and all, but that is just as small. I take the master closet essentially and turn it into a little storm shelter.

Jesse Sampley (09:30)

What a great idea, especially to have on the coastal town. I if I was looking at getting a home, I mean, that would be a kind of a no brainer because you never know logistically, you know, a clogged up road or something. Sometimes it's just not feasible to get out when you need to. So what an awesome thing to have as an option inside your home. Talk about the outside cladding. Is there some different materials or are you using the same type of material on the outside?

Just as your perspective being a home that lasts 100 years, what are you choosing for the exteriors of your homes?

Angi (10:05)

So, well, the building envelope, you start with your sheathing and it's super important to make sure that you're putting the proper blocking and your barriers in place. But I'm a huge fan of brick. And sometimes I do a combination of hardy siding and brick, stone. But I, love old Chicago brick. love

I'm more of a traditionalist when it comes to the design elements. But, I do obviously incorporate, the local timber and lumber that we have available. I love putting cypress, cedar, the juniper. I love wrapping my post in my columns and

Jesse Sampley (10:45)

Hmm.

Angi (10:50)

as far as I love putting vaulted ceilings on porches and trimming them out with some tongue and groove and those sorts of details and and if it's within the budget you know we're talking about impact windows and certain wind speeds obviously we got to have them and sometimes customers they're like hey I want those good windows and that's what we do.

Jesse Sampley (11:11)

Yeah. Talk me through a little bit of the process of working with the customer. Frequency of communication. Are there some processes that you're being real deliberate to build out just so that you're having a good experience and the customer's having a good experience all the way throughout the build?

Angi (11:28)

I'm just gonna be real honest with you. I can't help it. So it is hard. It is so hard. And I think the number one thing, and it's real simple. I mean, it is a part of my systems and processes, if you will, but it is truly just answering the phone, whether it's a text back or just hello.

how can I help you? it truly is communication and just making sure that they know that when you tell them you're gonna do something, you follow through and you do it. Because within my company, it's me, myself and I. I, no one's perfect. I'm not gonna get it right every time, but I try.

Jesse Sampley (12:08)

Wow.

Angi (12:15)

to consistently meet with the customers. I'm on my job site every day. If there's something moving on the job site, I'm there every day. So my customers are always welcome on the job site. Questions, sometimes it's like, wait a minute, know, people are just gonna people. So there's always gonna be that factor. you know, just trying to, remove the emotion and just understand that

It is an emotional event for homeowners when they're building their home, there are feelings, And so trying to be mindful and empathetic and place yourself in their shoes and money, it's their money, it's their hard earned money and people get funny with money sometimes and so it's feelings, it's hard. It is very hard and...

Jesse Sampley (13:00)

You

Angi (13:04)

I don't know that I can just sit here and tell you I got it all figured out, because I'd be telling you a lie. Every customer experience I learn something from and I try to be humble and grow from it. And there are times, and I feel like that time for me is right now, where I kind of step back and I go and I do my little spec homes and I take a check out from.

Custom work with customers because it's fulfilling. It's exciting I get great joy out of it just like I do when I do my own spec homes, but it's draining at times if I'm being honest

Jesse Sampley (13:37)

Yeah.

Well, that's such a good foundation though. The communication, it's what a lot of builders that we've been talking to, they say the same thing, which is if you've got a, the foundation of just, you know, we're going to prioritize the communication. lot of the issues that may arise or some of the things that need to be worked through throughout the build, they're kind of softened when you have...

consistent communication, you're open, you're honest, and you're not holding anything back. You're delivering the news. And then a lot of times, you're responsible for something that you don't have 100 % control over. So if it's a ⁓ cabinet delay, you're kind of positioning yourself in the way of, it's us against the project almost. We're going to solve this together, but it's not you and I ⁓ against each other or anything like that. But starting that...

that perspective really early on in the build that, you know, there may be things that we're going to have to work through, but we're going to work through those things together, and I'm kind of your guide along the way to, try to work out any issue that may come up. Cause it happens, and that's the reality of it. But if you set proper expectations at the very beginning, then it softens those conversations that have to be had later. I'm curious.

Angi (14:50)

⁓ yes, absolutely.

Jesse Sampley (14:54)

I'm curious on the spec building side, how are you choosing what type of home to build? Is it the same home that you're building every time or how are you taking me through that process?

Angi (15:05)

So like I mentioned earlier, I have found this little niche that I would say is working. And part of what we do as a builder is you really, make your money when you make that purchase. And for me, that's purchase and land. So I try to be very methodical and plan. And I say, defer and refer to the professional realtor that I use. Hey, thinking about buying this.

piece of land and I'm thinking about building this many right here. What can they sell for and what is that demand in that area? what does that buyer look like? What is that buyer wanting? And then I go to, my little calculations and I plug it in play and I make sure that it makes sense because like I said, this is how I put groceries on the table.

I don't have a lot of room for error. There's nobody coming to save me. So I get in there and I make sure, with the best information at the time, relying on those relationships with realtors and really trying to be knowledgeable of the economy for one. I try to stay up to date on what it's looking like. I try not to, like I said, it's me, myself and us. So I can't,

Jesse Sampley (15:57)

Yeah.

Angi (16:18)

stretch myself too thin. And so I try to be very methodical on, okay, I'm going to do this home now. And then in a few months, I'm gonna do this one. And it's the affordable home model, which is what I'm working on now. And this is my cost basis. This is what I'm predicting. And I just go full throttle. And like I said, I'm on the job every single day.

Jesse Sampley (16:20)

Yeah.

Angi (16:43)

And I sometimes I will just push myself and to see how quickly I can full steam ahead. Because we're talking about these homes are 12, 13, 14 square feet. So. Right.

Jesse Sampley (16:57)

I was about to ask, give me the specs

of the home a little bit. What size, what are some of the finishes?

Angi (17:03)

That's right. So the one that I'm doing here lately is I've got two different ones that I kind of twist and turn around, but they're anywhere from 1250 to about 1475 on the footage. And I, you know, I do a combination, like I said, of brick, hardy, I'm trying to bling it up in a few little spots that matter to me, whether that's the millwork.

some cool lighting features, else? Cabinets, I try to dress those up a different way and incorporate, I'll use RTA cabinets sometimes, but then I'll try to spruce them up with some pretty little millwork on the island, give it some bun feed on a little pantry, some real solid hardware.

This one little house I just finished and just got under a contract. I'm so thankful, but I thought, I'm always blinging it up from my interior design ideas. so I'm gonna go masking on this one. So literally the doorbell is a lion's head and it's kind of like vintagey. And you know, the acoustics on the inside is like this.

Jesse Sampley (18:05)

⁓ cool.

Angi (18:10)

whoa, whoa, whoa. I mean, just fun stuff, and try to incorporate a little copper detail. I pop pole barns in the backyard of these places, because they're in a little rural area in our community. Yeah, because they don't have garages. I'll, position it as such so someone could use it to park under. They can, a man walked in, the woman buys the house, the man walks out and sees this

Jesse Sampley (18:24)

Nice.

Angi (18:35)

pole barn and sees it's got power on it and there will start turning into like man cave, I try to think of the return on the investment, because on these these small little lots where the numbers make sense because it ultimately it is a business decision. I can't get everything in there. So I think well, the pole barn is kind of a trade off if I don't have the money to do a garage, a garage door.

Jesse Sampley (18:57)

Sure.

Angi (19:01)

You know, I can do that and all day long, somebody's going to figure out what to do with it.

Jesse Sampley (19:06)

Absolutely. These are three bedroom, bath. perfect.

Angi (19:09)

They are three bedroom,

two bath. And I have a little additional space that sometimes I'll trim out as like a little bitty office area. And then typically I'll put the mechanicals in the attic, which is something that is fairly new to me. But there are things we do for reinforcement as far on the framing side and building a really nice platform up there, making it really clean and accessible.

So yeah, that's kind of what I've been doing with those little affordable homes.

Jesse Sampley (19:37)

love that. Are you doing any ⁓ extra insulation upstairs just to keep those utilities nice and cool throughout the summer?

Angi (19:46)

Absolutely,

so 100 % of my homes get a spray foam. I'm a huge fan of spray foam insulation and my homes, the stud walls are going to be 2x6s. Like I said, it goes back to the things that the typical homeowner

Jesse Sampley (19:51)

Wow.

Angi (20:01)

You you walk in, you can feel the tightness of the home. I would like to think that my home's feel differently, more substantial when you walk in, just the air and the feel of it. When you grab the door, it's not just flailing open. You got to grab the door to open it, to this home. And, you know, it's a structural component as well, that spray foam insulation.

Jesse Sampley (20:05)

Yeah.

Angi (20:23)

like what you mentioned as far as protecting those mechanicals, but it also increases the life of those mechanicals because they're not having to work as hard to do their job. I'd like to think that it leaves the homeowner in a good position financially because it's going to be ⁓ a cost-efficient home as far as their bills. I try to think of those things and I know not everyone even gets it or knows about it, but it's something that matters to me.

Jesse Sampley (20:50)

was about to say that that's probably like a hundred dollar electrical bill that these people are getting, which in Florida is really good. know, for other markets, just everybody knows in Florida that that would be amazing. ⁓

Angi (20:55)

Yes. It's exciting.

It is,

no it is. When I get the homeowners after they move in and they're like, I can't believe it. My power bill is like, the same as my water bill. It's insane. Like it's 50, $60 a month. Like, is this real? And well, just keep up with it. But it sounds like it could be. So really try to consider those things.

Jesse Sampley (21:20)

Yeah.

I think that says so much about you as a builder. two by six walls, the spray foam insulation, thoughtfulness of the pole barn, running power to the pole barn. all of these little things, I think just really is a testament to character and also to just how important the integrity of your own company is. because you can obviously have a much cheaper but

Angi (21:27)

thank you.

Jesse Sampley (21:46)

deciding to do things that are against you on an ROI side, but it is better for the customer in the long run. And I would say that probably that mindset is probably of, how am I building the best home possible for someone, something that is hundred years, all of those we're working the problem backwards, but not to just make kind of that, decision to say, I'm going to get as much as I can out of this project.

you're losing some on this. How are you communicating that with, I guess your realtor and showing that, we're going above and beyond a lot of things you're not even going to know unless we tell you, are you, giving that information to the realtor to make sure that they're pointing those things out?

Angi (22:25)

am sure I've worked with the same relator for probably about five years now and I'm sure that she that out there because she's awesome like that and she knows a bit about construction herself. She kind of dips her toe in it as well guess maybe I should maybe bring that up. I guess I

Jesse Sampley (22:48)

they probably can feel it, but they can't articulate it. see the rewards on an energy efficiency side. they feel it when they open and close the door. They, experience it through every day living, but they probably can't articulate it as well. So that's something, on a social media side, talking side, making sure the realtor knows.

this is not just for us to get the most out of this project, but here are some specific things that we're doing. And I think it, just to set you up to on a differentiator from other builders in the area too, it's just like, wow, the thoughtfulness, the character, it just speaks so much. ⁓ just in the few things that you said. Yeah. It's just incredible. Now, another you're a one horse operator, the rely a lot on the trades, I'm sure.

Angi (23:24)

Thank you. ⁓

Jesse Sampley (23:34)

How are you vetting these subcontractors? Have you worked with these people a Tell me about that experience and what are you seeing working real well?

Angi (23:34)

Yes.

So I have my same subs. They know me. They're kind of like family by now. sometimes we squabble. Sometimes I'm pretty sure they want to call me the B word. Probably do after I leave the room. But, I truly have a lot of respect for them. this industry, a lot of people

a little rough around the edges. But, I think even personally, I put on my britches the same way as  cause, people are from different all walks of life. I try to treat everyone truly like I want to be treated with respect. a good

respectful work in relationship with one another and I don't have to worry if they're gonna pick up the phone when I call. if there's a problem, they're gonna help me take care of it. It's not me finger pointing or throwing anyone under the bus. They are a reflection of me and vice versa and I'm truly thankful that I have a group of subs, like I said,

I call them family. Really, I truly do. They're the ones giving my bricklayers are bringing me big bottles of this crazy tequila stuff. And I'm like, wait, I can have just like one margarita and I'm good. I mean, you come to my house and you see all this stuff and my kids are like, mom. I'm like, no, like they just bring me gifts. And yeah, I just.

Jesse Sampley (24:50)

Hahaha!

Angi (25:00)

I get a lot of enjoyment and I get a kick out of working with some of my subs. the things that they say, the things that their families, I get to know about their kids. It truly, brings a lot of joy and excitement. I get up every day excited about going and working with these guys. Yeah.

Jesse Sampley (25:18)

Wow.

Man, again, what a testament to you on a character side to be able to retain these subs and them busy with work and have such a great relationship with these people. Not everybody can say that, but I think it's so important that take care of the people are taking care of you essentially. Like you said representatives of you in the work and the quality that you're putting out there.

Angi (25:26)

Yes.

Yes.

Yes.

and I couldn't do it without them. yes, I know how to do those things, but I depend on them I don't take that lightly.

Jesse Sampley (25:52)

switch gears a little bit to kind of the marketing side, how you're getting your name out there in your area. How large of an area do you work?

Angi (25:55)

Sure.

Well, basically focus on our in-bay county, which is the county I live in. I oftentimes get asked, do I travel outside? Can I work outside? And the answer is yes, I can. I haven't yet. I mean, I'll go out and do some stuff on the beach, but honestly, it's a tourist town. So I like try not to go to the beach unless I go like.

Jesse Sampley (26:04)

Okay.

Angi (26:23)

way west to a little bitty spot on 30A where no one knows me because I just want to be on the beach. But really enjoy working in this town and I really try to get involved in the community. word of mouth is really how I've gotten a lot of my custom work.

Jesse Sampley (26:25)

Ha ha ha.

Angi (26:40)

And I think through community involvement as well, we have a local builders association that I'm heavily involved in. One of the things I love to do is to give back when I can within my work and my company and sponsor, with schools and things and get involved in the boys and girls club. I drag my kids along, show them this is what life's all about, is really getting out there being involved in the community. Yeah.

Jesse Sampley (27:04)

Absolutely. Tell

me, where did the name Southern Bale Construction come from?

Angi (27:09)

well, I wanted to come up with a name that would...

of show what it's about, that it's a woman-owned business, but with a little Southern flair. I wanted it to spur curious minds when they Southern Belle construction. I wonder what that's all about. the best I can do. So here we

Jesse Sampley (27:31)

not a minority custom building space. A lot of this is still kind of a male dominated industry. Do you think this gives you an advantage or what are you seeing as far as kind of the conversations are going people are coming to you? would think it gives you a bit of an edge stylistic difference. But maybe you tell me.

Angi (27:38)

Sure.

Jesse Sampley (27:52)

are people having different conversations you think?

Angi (27:55)

asked that a lot, I do. How is it working in a male-dominated field and being a think that's twofold. a customer standpoint, I feel like they recognize my attention to detail with being a woman in construction. that does absolutely give me an edge.

As far as working the field with men, I really don't have a problem with it. very respectful I feel they see me out there working hard just alongside of them. So I don't think that they really even look at me I mean, obviously men are gonna look at women, but I didn't mean it to sound that way.

it's truly, that way. When I go to work, I doubt if I even barely get out the door, get kids to school, definitely no makeup. I don't even know how the days that I brushed my teeth, as long as they got my coffee, kids get to school on time. I mean, yeah, so it's definitely not about man versus woman, it's truly just a camaraderie and we respect each other and I get right there and

I guess you'd say I work like a man. don't know. That's the only way I know to do it is just to get. Yeah.

Jesse Sampley (29:02)

Everybody respects someone that works hard, and that's

something that doesn't matter, man, woman, it doesn't matter. Everybody respects the other side of the spectrum is the suit that shows up of just maybe doing more of the management. already told this.

Angi (29:09)

Sure.

Jesse Sampley (29:19)

conversation that we've had is your character is really shining through in your decision Deciding on how you communicate with customers, deciding how you interact and communicate with your subs, deciding on what you focus on throughout the build, all of what makes up a person. And I think you're just a perfect testament of my home truly reflects who I am as a person. I think this is incredible and super inspiring too, ⁓ to some of different.

Angi (29:24)

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you.

Jesse Sampley (29:46)

Yeah, man, so good. So good. I kind of want to buy one of your homes now as a short term rental.

Angi (29:50)

Got one for sale.

Hey, and if I don't like her for sale, you give me a couple months. I'll have you.

Jesse Sampley (29:56)

Yeah, how long does it take you to build a Like the one that you just finished?

Angi (30:00)

Yeah, the small ones. So challenged myself very privately and quietly. So the quickest I have built that little from slab poor to CEO is six and a half weeks. that's my record. That is only me. I'm not telling, my business out there about

that's definitely just me challenging myself, but typically it's gonna be around a three and really on my larger custom homes, within my contract, it says, six to nine months, but typically if I'm on a job greater than eight months, not me.

There's something that's hiccuped along the way, really try to get in there. like I said, if there's active movement on that job site, I'm there every day making sure, because you're not there, you're going to miss something. And missing something creates delays and then it creates frustration. And it's almost like you don't ever want to let a job site go stagnant or stale because it almost just like on the front end, if it does that.

Jesse Sampley (30:50)

Yeah.

Angi (31:04)

feel like you're constantly chasing your tail like I don't know what it is

Jesse Sampley (31:07)

Yeah.

my dad was a home builder and ⁓ something that I saw growing up too, is that if a project was stale, then it means like something happened either a month prior or several weeks prior, because all of that kind of stuff catches up, it's either that had to take another job and, it wasn't communicated properly, but before it's not like, this is just immediate. It's like, no, this is just, a little bit

Angi (31:10)

Okay.

Jesse Sampley (31:32)

poor planning, some things are unavoidable, of course. So it sounds like you just also have a very efficient way to plan these projects out too and make sure that, hey, there is no there's something the inside, what can we be doing on the outside? And kind of looking weeks and weeks ahead of advance just to make sure that that stale date does not happen.

Angi (31:45)

Sure. Yes.

Sure, absolutely.

Jesse Sampley (31:54)

you using any softwares or anything like that just to kind of keep track of project, just to make sure that everything's running smoothly? do you have a notepad? What's your process look like?

Angi (32:03)

Yeah,

I've tried different tried some of the programs that you pay for monthly and use and I am so old school. I am a pencil and paper, take notes, keep my bag with me.

so basic when it comes to that. mean, my tax person's like, oh Lord, here she comes again. I have my little boxes with all my labels and here's my yes, I'm so old fashioned and old school when it comes to, I'm just very basic a good thing because I'm not very tech savvy.

Jesse Sampley (32:37)

think there's

something to that more analog side of it though of just remembering and being able to a whole ⁓ side of it where it doesn't feel so disconnected. able sometimes you have to have softwares if you way too much just so that you can offload your brain. I think there is something to just having it

Angi (32:45)

Sure. Yes.

Sure.

Jesse Sampley (32:59)

fully in control, you know, and being able to, write it down, follow along, you have your notes and you're able to kind of go back and reference those. I think is a lot to that.

Angi (33:06)

Yes.

Yes, I absolutely do. mentioned earlier being a nurse, mean, if you didn't document it, it wasn't done. And I think there are a ton of similarities. find myself documentation, and it has really saved me. it's not so much that I'm meaning to document. I am just by nature. I'm a note taker,

and it's really truly how I decompress and try to shut my mind down is just making my notes for the next day, planning ahead. I don't always get it done. Like I said, I got my kids, I got lots of hats I wear, but in the evenings I'll try to take my little notes in my calendar if anything significant happened, or maybe I didn't have a with a customer and I...

Jesse Sampley (33:35)

Mm.

Angi (33:56)

won't leave my mind and I'm like, you know, I think I just need to probably, sometimes I will type, little thing into a print off and stick it in that job folder just because, you worry if I don't, then what if I can't remember these details? it has saved me in certain situations for sure.

Jesse Sampley (34:13)

Yeah.

What about after the you leaving the customer some sort a home care or a sheet or anything like that? Do you have anything that after the build's over, what does that process look like after you finish the home for somebody?

Angi (34:31)

So it's interesting that you bring that up because have started to implement that and it's something that I want to work to make better for the customer because I'll leave them their paint, and I'll label it with some clean new jars. And of course I'll let them know

who the subs were as far as their mechanicals. who's your HVAC guy? Who do you cough, plumbing? Who do you electrician? So make sure they have all those contacts. did it on my past two jobs with my custom. I have put together a notebook and I've tried to lay that out, but that is definitely something that I want to work on to get better at because I think if I could self

⁓ critique myself, just, hey, take a step back. What can I be better at? That would be one of the things. So that is definitely something I'm working on.

Jesse Sampley (35:23)

Do you have a warranty? Are you doing a one year warranty on the build?

Angi (35:27)

Well, we have to buy our license as far as, that goes, but really someone called me after a year, I want to take care of it because that matters to me. Yes.

Jesse Sampley (35:30)

Okay.

Yeah, and also you know the home better than anyone. even

if it's a renovate, even if it's not a problem and it's, we want to, you know, change these few things, obviously you should go back to the builder. They know that home better than anyone, or at least they should.

Angi (35:52)

Yes,

yes, absolutely. You're right. I mean, I get in there and yes, I hire construction cleaners, beginning, midway a couple of times and at the very end, but truly throughout the project, I'm there sweeping and I'm every corner and even during the framing process, I mean, don't take my framers word that they've got every, cable.

as taut as it should be. And so I'll, I'm sweeping the little bays out and making sure, cause my foam's coming next and I don't want all the little wood chips. So I'm sweeping, I'm, making sure they're all tight and my bolts are in place, my washers are in place. And I'm looking up every single thing, of course documenting, do take video of every single job at every single stage for my documentation and

Jesse Sampley (36:22)

Yeah.

nice.

Angi (36:39)

and photographs and of course I do that for my inspections as well.

Jesse Sampley (36:43)

Awesome.

who do you look to for inspiration in either in this world personally, are there books, podcasts or other companies that you're looking at that you drive inspiration from?

Angi (36:54)

my goodness, that's a big question. I'm definitely a reader. I tell you the last time I've actually held a book in my hand and read. I'm a big audible fan. I, run for a, decompression and exercise. So I, listened to a lot of, make you better books.

Jesse Sampley (36:56)

Hahaha

Angi (37:12)

But I started out of course in real estate. So of course, rich dad, poor dad was one of the very beginning. And really even before I got into real estate, I was a huge Dave Ramsey fan. And then I started realizing doesn't want you to borrow money and you get in real estate, kind of what you do. money. Right.

Jesse Sampley (37:18)

yeah.

There's a place for that, there's a place for that, but

it's hard to translate on a business side as like, you should have some of this debt kind of working for you.

Angi (37:36)

No, no, no, no, there's an old saying, right, scared

money don't make money. You can't be

Jesse Sampley (37:43)

favorite term, scared money don't make money.

Angi (37:45)

scared

money don't make money. let's see who else there was a period in time. I don't know if you remember the bigger pockets podcast from back in the day. Yeah, so I was a huge fan of the bigger pockets. I learned so so much from those guys just the burr is it you buy you

Jesse Sampley (37:53)

yeah. Yeah.

Angi (38:06)

remodel, you refinance and you repeat. I think I got all the Rs in there, that's truly, learned that from those guys and I learned, a ton from ⁓ Rich Dad Port Ad in the very beginning. And you know, they feature people on there. So then you start learning about advanced tax strategies for the real estate investor. That was

Jesse Sampley (38:27)

yeah.

Angi (38:28)

of those books that I really dove into.

really lately, there's all kinds of make your bed, getting up at 5 a.m.

Jesse Sampley (38:35)

I've been using the Headway app, which it condenses these books into like 15, 20 minute books. So I found it real helpful in the morning. instead of sometimes I lose track if I'm just kind of doing chapter at a time and then sometimes I get a little bored with what I'm reading. So I'll, if it's a book that, I don't really want to, spend a ton of time in, then I'm using this Headway app to just basically listen to the whole book.

Angi (38:50)

Sure.

Jesse Sampley (38:58)

breaks it down into like seven or 10 different like core messages. So you're able to, you're not really reading the whole book, but you're able to get the synopsis of all of these things. This has been real helpful. Well, tell me up, is kind of a, know, wrapping up the episode, but tell me about the future of Southern Bale Construction and what do you see on the horizon in the next five, 10 years?

Angi (39:04)

⁓ interesting. Yeah, the of it. Sure. Yeah.

So the sky's the limit. I'm a firm believer don't necessarily know what that looks like. I just know that I do the work. I'm ready to pivot and shift at any moment and we'll see where we go. Yeah.

Jesse Sampley (39:37)

love it. I love it.

Well, Angie, thank you so much. I'm looking forward to follow along with your journey your business. And we'll have to do another podcast here in a little bit just to check in and see how you're doing.

Angi (39:44)

Yeah.

Yeah, I love it. I enjoyed it. Thank you for the opportunity. It was good to meet you.

Jesse Sampley (39:54)

Absolutely, you