Making homeownership more affordable in today’s tough climate

Zach Wojtowicz:

What’s up, everybody? Zach Wojtowicz here.

Charley Burtwistle:

And I’m Charley Burtwistle.

Zach Wojtowicz:

This is “The Building Code.”

Charley Burtwistle:

This is “The Building Code.”

Zach Wojtowicz:

Great to be back.

Charley Burtwistle:

It’s been a while. It has been a while. I am back in the studio with my BT bud, Zach Wojtowicz.

Zach Wojtowicz:

It’s summertime and that means that Charley is wearing a sweater.

Charley Burtwistle:

Yeah, well the thing about that, Zach, I’m glad you brought it up. Because if anyone in the maintenance department at Buildertrend is listening to this, it is 62 degrees in our office. I know it’s 62 degrees because we brought in a heat gun, and we shot various locations in our office.

Zach Wojtowicz:

I think I remember seeing that floating around.

Charley Burtwistle:

Yeah, so I suffer through about 30 seconds of heat walking from my car to the office. Then I’m in a comfortable state for eight hours. Then I suffer through another 30 seconds and then five minutes of my car warming up or cooling down, I guess.

Zach Wojtowicz:

Our data scientists ran the numbers, did the math.

Charley Burtwistle:

The utility around wearing a sweatshirt, the ROI on utility is in the positive direction wearing a sweatshirt. So, I’m glad you brought it up because I have thought about it a lot.

Zach Wojtowicz:

Well, who do we got on “The Building Code” today?

Charley Burtwistle:

You don’t want to talk about our wardrobe anymore, Zach?

Zach Wojtowicz:

No, I don’t want to stop. Okay, I get it.

Charley Burtwistle:

Yeah, because I could go through the pants I’m wearing, the socks. It’s all very intentional choices.

Zach Wojtowicz:

I can’t wait for the drop-off on the listenership on this episode.

Charley Burtwistle:

Yeah, all right. Well, if anyone is still listening, congratulations because it only gets better from here. Today we have Rebecca Hidalgo Rains on “The Building Code,” very, very excited. This is someone that Zach met at one of his really cool travel things that he gets to do. So, Zach, I’ll let you tell a little bit more.

Zach Wojtowicz:

That’s right, down at the Contractor Coalition hosted by Brad Leavitt, Nick Schiffer, just a couple big names in the construction industry. I met Rebecca. She’s a real estate agent, and she is launching a nonprofit to get into affordable housing. So, I’m really interested to talk with her about those topics, but she’s also just an expert in construction, and she’s been in it for a long time. So, like all of our guests, it’s going to be a great conversation. Let’s get her in here. Hey, Rebecca. Welcome to “The Building Code.” We’ll get into this. We know each other. You just met Charley, but you’re a first time guest here on “The Building Code.” How are you?

Rebecca Hidalgo Rains:

I’m fantastic. Thank you for asking.

Zach Wojtowicz:

Of course. Well, it’s great catching up with you and get to know a little bit about what you do and the things that you’re working on. Before we kind of get into it, why don’t you tell us your story a little bit?

Rebecca Hidalgo Rains:

Oh, I’m so excited to do so. Oh, my gosh. My name is Rebecca Hidalgo Rains. I’m a real estate broker here in the state of Arizona. I have been selling real estate full-time for 30 years now, 25 of which I have worked very heavily with builders here in my area. What I discovered over the last few years was a lot of my clients stopped being able to afford homes. I had firemen, police officers, you name it, people that were ready to go, and they couldn’t compete during COVID. Then, unfortunately, coming out of COVID, interest rates are at 7% today. Prices are nearly doubled. We are seriously, in my opinion, in a crisis. I’m doing what I can to help those in my arena, in my area. Now, I’m even beginning to expand now into Arkansas. I was just sharing with you guys a little tidbit before we went on air, which I’m super stoked to share with you guys.

That’s just because after all these years, I’ve worked directly for builders as their sales manager, as their salesperson. My first gig in new home sales was 1996. That’s young little 20-something learning about post-tension foundation and walking framed homes. Here I am 30 years into my career, and I know there’s alternatives out there. I’ve been researching them like crazy. In fact, I have my own podcast called GratefulHeart.TV. It’s literally the smartest thing I did in my 30-year career, was have this podcast because as you guys know, you’ll learn a whole bunch from your folks coming on. So, this last year I’ve been heavily focusing on disruptive type builders like ZenniHomes that just launched. I don’t know if you guys have heard about them, but they’re doing some really cool stuff.

There are several others that are looking at alternative ways. As you guys know, during COVID, the cost of everything skyrocketed. What I saw here working for one of my builders that I’ve worked for the last decade, he being a small guy, he was just getting passed over, and we were waiting weeks and weeks and weeks for the frames to go up. It was just crazy. In all of my research and all my shows that I’ve done this year, I’ve discovered something that I’m super excited to bring to market. Apparently, I’m going to be the first one to bring it to Bella Vista, Arkansas. And they are MGO SIPs panels. Have you guys heard of them?

Zach Wojtowicz:

I have not.

Charley Burtwistle:

I was going to say I wasn’t sure if I was an idiot. I didn’t want to be the person to ask what are MGO SIPs panels. I was waiting. Zach’s kind of the residential expert in construction.

Zach Wojtowicz:

I thought you were going to about call me the residential idiot.

Charley Burtwistle:

So, thank you for asking if we’d heard of them because I was going to play it cool and be like, “Oh, of course, my favorite panel.”

Rebecca Hidalgo Rains:

My favorite. So, okay. So, I went down this rabbit hole during COVID, and I came across one company that’s gotten a lot of attention here and they build with foam. So, I started researching foam and the energy efficiency and all the wonderful things that that provides. This particular company was using a product, a cement product, and they called it Sabscrete, where they basically framed their homes out of concrete and foam. I thought that was really cool. I went to their school, learned all about it. Then that led me to another company. I’ve always known about … Oh, I wouldn’t say always, because I don’t think SIPs has been around forever, but it’s standardized insulated panel structures. So, those SIPs panels have been really well known for plywood and other materials that would sandwich the foam in, right? Well, magnesium oxide is what MGO stands for. So, there was a lot of issues with those original SIPs because of it being wood. They can get mold, they can burn. There’s all kinds of issues sometimes when those homes are built, not always, but depending on the areas and the regions.

But the MGO panels, they don’t burn. They don’t get mold. They don’t do all the things that the other predecessors had done. What’s amazing about these panels is when they get engineered, they can show up to the job site literally one, two, three and four. You, with the crane, can frame up a home and have it completely insulated within just a few days versus few weeks or months. So, it really shut cuts down the time for just all the work that has to get done, all the labor. So, there’s a huge cost savings right there at the labor.

Then in my early years in my new home sales and management, I worked for local builders here that really did focus on affordable housing. So, we did a lot of what’s called sweat equity, and I’ve had a lot of experience with sweat equity. We’d only done it for painting homes, but FHA allows for all kinds of things for people to do themselves. What I’m really wanting to do is help empower people, educate them, and teach them how maybe they can build themselves or help with the build to get into a home for a lot less than what they’re seeing out in the marketplace today.

Charley Burtwistle:

Gosh, yeah, absolutely. The panel, what was the name of again, MO six?

Rebecca Hidalgo Rains:

MGO panel SIPs, MGO, magnesium oxide.

Charley Burtwistle:

Oh, gotcha, gotcha, gotcha.

Rebecca Hidalgo Rains:

And the SIPs panels are very well known. If you just go on SIPA.org, I believe is the organization. There’s a ton of companies out there that provide these alternative materials. You see more in commercial from what I understand. I’ve seen, actually here in Arizona, there’s a company I’m getting ready to interview called Perky Wall. They’ve actually been doing a lot of those rent to own, or no, a lot of the developers that have been building the rental properties that just are rental single families. They have some projects going up here in town, so it’s happening here in Arizona. I know Arizona tends to be a hub for a lot of things first. They like to test us out for a lot of things, and I do think that you’re going to see it all across the country before you guys know it.

Zach Wojtowicz:

Well, it can survive in the desert. Yeah.

Rebecca Hidalgo Rains:

Well, it survives in wet. It survives in wet. It survives in everything. That’s pretty amazing. Then think about all the fires that they’re having right now in Canada. Last year, it was the US all over the place and the year before, but if it’s resistant to burning, how amazing is that stuff? So, I am super excited. I have three lots I just am closing on to build my first models, and I cannot wait to get them tested. Hopefully by the beginning of spring, we should be ready to come to market and have all the test results and be able to share the product with all of you guys. I hope you’ll have me back when the time comes.

Charley Burtwistle:

Oh, absolutely. You mentioned it before we got on, just how much we learn from interviewing guests, and I’m already learning a ton from you. I can tell right now that the 20 to 30 minutes is not going to be enough. So, we might as well go ahead and book your second appearance while we’re here.

Zach Wojtowicz:

We’ll just book it right here on air.

Rebecca Hidalgo Rains:

All right, let’s book right now, guys.

Charley Burtwistle:

I can tell you’re super, super passionate about the cutting edge building side of things. I think you may have breezed over this a little bit in your intro, but how long into your real estate career was it before you started getting interested on the new build side of things and started doing all this research and become obsessed with new panelings?

Rebecca Hidalgo Rains:

Okay, so, the obsession is recent. I originally got licensed in 1993, became a broker in 1998. In 1996, I started working for local builders. 2001 to 2007, I was actually exclusively a sales manager for one of the bigger builders here in town. That’s where I learned a lot of my affordable housing experience with the sweat equity and such. Then the crash hit just in time for me to fire all my friends. That was a lot of fun, right? I had to reinvent myself. I learned to do short sell and foreclosures really well. I was kind of the short sell queen here in Arizona for quite some time. Then the markets shifted back, and 2013, the current builder I represent who I’ve worked for and I love working for him for the last decade, he approached me to start selling homes again.

At that time I’m like, “Dude, I’ve already been on the floor. I don’t want to do that, but I can train and manage and help people.” At that point, if you actually Google Bellago Homes Sweat Equity, I got him a ton of exposure for all the sweat equity we were even doing back in 2013, which was amazing. I actually went and advertised on the … I speak Spanish. I’m Hispanic, and I had advertised on the Spanish radio station here in town. Oh, my goodness, my poor assistant. I’d hear her go, “Hello? Un momento por favor.” Then she’d get me on the phone. Our phone didn’t stop ringing. We had so many people that wanted to do their own down payment. It’s an amazing program. In today’s day and age, we need to be bringing back all these programs again because so few people can actually qualify with the higher interest rates today. We’ve got to do stuff to help them outside of the box and sometimes just a matter of getting back to the basics or getting back to what we used to do back in the day.

Zach Wojtowicz:

So, are you now full-time developing these affordable home programs then?

Rebecca Hidalgo Rains:

I’m a busy lady, guys.

Zach Wojtowicz:

Yeah, no doubt, no doubt.

Rebecca Hidalgo Rains:

I’ve been working for Berkshire Hathaway for the last almost decade as well, and I’ve been lucky. The past year …

Zach Wojtowicz:

Omaha, claim to frame.

Rebecca Hidalgo Rains:

Yeah, I love Omaha. I told you I got to almost meet … No, I didn’t. I wanted to almost meet Warren, but …

Zach Wojtowicz:

You could drive by his house. This is the …

Rebecca Hidalgo Rains:

I know, I heard. Next time I come, I’ll come visit you, Zach.

Zach Wojtowicz:

Yeah, I’ll just do a quick tour. We’ll just go drive around Dundee, hit all the Omaha highlights, see Warren’s house, maybe catch him at the McDonald’s that he allegedly goes to.

Rebecca Hidalgo Rains:

I was about to say, yeah, we’ll have to drive through the McDonald’s drive through to do that. But yeah, for the last decade, I’ve been kind of wearing lots of hats. Ever since the downturn hit, I owned my own brokerage before I joined Berkshire Hathaway. I really have always … I pride myself on being nerdy. I know I might not look the look right now, but I can look really nerdy when I try. I love spreadsheets. I love studying stats. I love knowing what’s happening next. I’m always looking ahead. I truly do believe that that has been the success, key for me in the last 30 years, is I got into new home sales when things were going good. I got into short sales and foreclosures when things were going good.

And I am currently transitioning from my real estate residential production business into trying to be more full-time builder, because lucky for me, I’ve built up a great business and I anticipate to wear both hats long-term as the CEO and owner. But I have wonderful agents, wonderful staff that can continue to take care of all my clientele while I’m off building houses, hopefully for some of the same clientele. So, I’m hoping it’s going to be a great marriage between the two. Instead of representing a builder, I get to be my own big girl and be my own builder this time around. I’m so excited to do so.

Charley Burtwistle:

Yeah, I think I’d love to hear your perspective. We’ve had a ton. Everyone likes to speculate about what the market’s going to do next, especially over the last couple years with it being so crazy. We always love hearing people’s viewpoint. I actually just purchased a house a couple weeks ago.

Rebecca Hidalgo Rains:

Oh, good for you.

Charley Burtwistle:

Thank you. Yeah, very exciting, but I never thought I’d become the person that wakes up in the morning and checked interest rates. That’s the first thing I do. So, I’ve become somewhat obsessed, and so I’d love to know …

Zach Wojtowicz:

Aren’t you a data guy? You’re not scalping the interest rate market?

Rebecca Hidalgo Rains:

Well, so you should be following Barry Habib if you don’t already because he has great content. I refer to it constantly. I will tell you, it’s funny, I was actually on the call this morning with some of my staff trying to explain some mortgage rules and stuff with them. My first house I bought was in 1994. I got licensed in ’93, bought my first house in ’94. My interest rate was seven at that time. Oh, my gosh, did I freak out? Because payment was $700. We’re talking 30 years ago, right? I don’t think we’ve seen rates above seven since in the last 30 years. That is truly the reality we’re dealing with. So, when I rewind to the things that we did back then, we’re doing a lot of two, one buy downs, three, two, one buy downs, things of that nature. Those are things that are currently getting utilized today.

Then this last year, because of the inflation and the looming recession and now the debt ceiling and all fun things, the feds keep raising rates, raising rates. We’re hoping we did get a little bit of a reprieve, which resulted in a great spring season for us here in Arizona for April and May. We had great sales. I’m glad you bought, Charley, because literally this is what I’ve been saying to everybody. Date the rate. Marry the house. Divorce the landlord. The whole reason is all of us in this industry do believe rates will start to come down. Now, will they come down to two and three? Probably not. But they should come down between five and six, and that’s a healthy place to be. That’s okay. We can afford to buy houses. In fact, the reason why the feds didn’t drop them or leave them really the same is because we still had a strong spring season, even with the higher rates. So, ultimately, I think what people really do need to realize is there are options.

Talk to a great lender and they can strategize with you because of the inflation and because of all the things. A lot of people are really heavy in debt. They might be sitting in a house with 3% interest rate and that they don’t like anymore. Maybe it doesn’t suit them anymore. Maybe it’s too big, too small, whatever. But they don’t want to get out of it because it’s at 3%. Anything else that they’re looking at today is between six and seven.

Well, in the meantime, if they’re racking up all their credit cards because the cost of eggs and bacon and gas have all gone up, next thing you know, they’re paying way more in high interest credit cards. So, I’m seeing a lot of people still refinancing or doing HELOCs to absorb all that debt and then in hopes that once rates come back down to five, they can refinance at that point to get a payment they can live with that’s not going to suffocate them. In the meantime, if they combine all those debts into their first mortgage, hopefully they can benefit from the mortgage depending on their taxes. You got some mortgage interest as well.

Zach Wojtowicz:

It’s interesting, I pay attention to housing starts and everything. It looks like people keep saying, “It’s inevitable. It’s going to slow down.” Yet we just had the most job house starts.

Rebecca Hidalgo Rains:

The best in a long time. See, that’s the thing is I think headlines do more to scare people instead of actually doing the research. That’s why I like to be so nerdy and geeky and research what I can. This is truly what we all believe. I actually just did a podcast with the market update on Grateful Heart that we’ll be airing next week if anybody cares to listen to it. But I know that at the end of the day, everybody’s a little bit different across the country. But overall, we are all believing … For example, here in Arizona, if you look at the stats from last year, year over year, we’re still negative 5%. But if you’re looking at our stats since December, then we’re up 9%. When we look at year over year, traditionally we’re usually 3% to 5% in appreciation for real estate since 30 years, since the 30 years I’ve been in it.

We had two unicorn years, 2020 and 2021. So, when you look at stats and you’re comparing them to those two years, then it looks like we’re in this total terrible market. But if you look at our stats today compared to 2019 and ’18, it’s okay. It’s not the end of the world. But if people watch only the headlines and that’s all they remember, they sit on the fence. They’re scared, and then on top of it, price is a lagging indicator. So, by the time that they realize prices aren’t coming down, they only keep going up, how much higher are they going to be by the time they actually go find something and actually close on it? So, great job, Charley.

Charley Burtwistle:

Thank you. Yeah, it was …

Rebecca Hidalgo Rains:

You’re welcome.

Charley Burtwistle:

I bought my first house.

Zach Wojtowicz:

I’ll say, I thought you just …

Charley Burtwistle:

I bought my first house May, 2020.

Zach Wojtowicz:

Dang, you’re already on your second?

Charley Burtwistle:

I had that juicy 2.3%.

Rebecca Hidalgo Rains:

That was a good time to buy. May, 2020, I had people taking advantage and that’s actually kind of how I feel about right now. That’s when everybody was all freaked out over COVID. You probably did real good on that house.

Charley Burtwistle:

It was a great first house. Then this one, I think it’s what you said, that the news headlines like to be scary and bad. It’s a horrible time to buy a house. Interest rates are so high and stuff, but that’s what everyone was thinking. So, from a competitive, my first house, I had to put an offer in on seven or eight different houses first, go 30K over asking, and waive inspection and all these different things.

Rebecca Hidalgo Rains:

Waive appraisal, let them stay there for 60 days, all kinds of good stuff. Yeah, you don’t have to right now. Today is really the time to shop. Anybody who’s listening and who’s been kind of wavering and sitting on the fence, get your ass out there and go find a house. Then go refinance it next year, please.

Charley Burtwistle:

Yeah, with higher home prices hopefully is my thought as well.

Rebecca Hidalgo Rains:

For sure higher home prices, because as soon as the rates drop, all these other people that have just been hanging around, they’re going to go back. Then guess what they get to do? What you did back in … Well, May of 2020, here it was really dead. I had people scared to buy in May of 2020. I had cancellations like crazy. I was drinking way too much wine back then, but luckily …

Zach Wojtowicz:

So was Charley.

Charley Burtwistle:

Yeah, I don’t even remember buying the house. You want to talk Sunday scaries, you ever wake up with a deed beside you?

Zach Wojtowicz:

What’s an interest rate? I just put offers on Zillow.

Rebecca Hidalgo Rains:

Oh, I think we were all watching Tiger King in that time period, too. Then July through December, I was working 18-hour days because then all of a sudden, boom, the feds dropped the rates. We were down in the threes and it was on like Donkey Kong. That will happen again if they even get them down to the fives. Because what we saw in April and May, people were just on the sidelines waiting for an indication things were going to improve. Then they all scurried up to the marketplace, and we had a really nice run for 60 days. Now, it’s kind of dead, at least here in Arizona. Now, mind you, we are hitting our triple temperatures here. Everybody usually vacates our area for June and July. Zach was probably here for the last of the nice of it. Then afterwards, it’s pretty miserable. Yeah, it is. You don’t want to be outside for more than five minutes. Trust me.

Zach Wojtowicz:

It’s funny, too, both my parents and Charley’s dad, they have houses down in Arizona. I don’t know why my mom’s there right now.

Rebecca Hidalgo Rains:

She’s here right now?

Zach Wojtowicz:

Well, they just …

Rebecca Hidalgo Rains:

Both of your parents are here right now?

Zach Wojtowicz:

Mine is. Is your dad down there full-time?

Charley Burtwistle:

No.

Zach Wojtowicz:

He’s here?

Charley Burtwistle:

Yeah.

Rebecca Hidalgo Rains:

He went home probably in April, right?

Zach Wojtowicz:

Yeah, yeah, that’s usually the play, but it seems like maybe they’re like, “Well, it’s warm here, so we might just stay here and get used to it.” Shout out, thanks. Take me with you.

Charley Burtwistle:

One question …

Rebecca Hidalgo Rains:

Why not?

Charley Burtwistle:

Yeah, one question that I’m …

Zach Wojtowicz:

Got to get Buildertrend to open an office in Arizona.

Charley Burtwistle:

Yeah, we should have a nice HQ down there.

Zach Wojtowicz:

Yeah, anyway.

Rebecca Hidalgo Rains:

You really should.

Charley Burtwistle:

So, a majority of our listeners are home builders. I think that your perspective here will be really interesting because a lot of what we’ve seen in Omaha at least is inventory right now is atrocious. No one wants to sell their house. A lot of people want a new house and a lot of people are turning to the new build market. Omaha is just expanding like crazy. So, I think that’s the sentiment for the majority, but I’m curious on what your advice for home builders would be to capitalize on that kind of shift in the market of people going from resale to the new build strategy. I know you brought up a ton of things that buyers can do to go about that, but what would be your advice …

Rebecca Hidalgo Rains:

For builders?

Charley Burtwistle:

For the builder side, yeah.

Rebecca Hidalgo Rains:

From the builder’s perspective, I will say it was pretty eye-opening shopping Arkansas yesterday or the day before, I think. Today’s Friday because I’m coming from an area as Zach … Well, both of you know, that is just overloaded with builders. Our whole valley has tripled in space and size, probably similar to what you guys are now currently experiencing in Omaha, right? There’s a saying, drive until you can qualify. Our outlying areas are full of builders competing against each other. I have some wonderful builders that are doing some really smart things. I’m going to showcase one in particular that I’m really impressed with. I actually own one of their homes today, and the only reason I bought it was to get their deal. I have a couple clients hung up on their deal. You guys, it’s all about the financing. Like you said, Charley, you wake up in the morning, you’re seeing what the rates are at, right?

The best way to spend your money, and not every builder can compete at the level that Lennar Homes can. But, I am going to give a shout-out to Lennar Homes because they’re very smart. They don’t do it for all their homes, but if you can do 10% down, you can get an interest rate of 4.5% fixed right now which is unheard of. Now, they’re not the only ones who can do that, but they have huge buying power, and they buy big chunks of money to loan out. They put it specifically on certain homes that they’re trying to get sold. So, I have a client right now that wants to buy one of their homes to get that deal, but he wants a certain lot, and he wants a certain floor plan, and he probably won’t buy. I’m going to be pulling teeth to get him to buy anything because now he’s so in love with that interest rate.

So, in my opinion, what the builders out there need to do, they need to get with a good lender and figure out the best offer that they can give to get people. As long as they hear something that starts with a five or at least a low six, there’s hope, right? But they don’t even … You’re trying to get them motivated. I actually said to Zillow, I work with Zillow all the time too, I’m like, “I need a carrot. I need you guys to dangle me a carrot to get the phone to ring because then I can talk to people, address their objections, and overcome them, and show them the way.” Because really, people want a nice house. And why not new? Once you have had a new home, it’s really hard to sell somebody a resale home, because they don’t want the carpet that the dog already scooched across. They want everything new.

So, get with a good lender. Figure out the best opportunity, because there’s a lot of programs out there. They allow the sellers to pay up to 6%, six points. Six points can do some serious damage on an interest rate and money out of pocket for a potential buyer. You have to be Lennar Holmes to get, I think, the crazy deals that they’re offering right now. But you can get close. Think in that mindset because that will bring people in. Then educate your sales staff to speak to, well, what’s best for you based off of your scenario? Because nobody has the same financial picture. Nobody has the same credit score. There are so many factors that play into it, but until you can actually sit down and educate, and if they won’t even talk to you because they’re reading those scary headlines …

But if you have a carrot to dangle, dangle the carrot. Market it and hopefully grab some new buyers coming in, because the problem is real. We don’t have enough houses for all the humans that are being born in this country. Staggering statistic that I heard recently was that the population in this world has tripled in the last 50 years since I’ve been alive. That is some scary stuff. We don’t have enough materials. We don’t have enough room. It’s only going to continue to get more dense if we continue on this path. So, it is true. They said, I think Barry Habib’s stat, I’m not sure if I’m quoting him correct or who said it, but they said the minute … It was Barry. The minute the rates hit five, right now we don’t have enough inventory in this whole country for the demand that we have and our demand is lackluster.

Just wait until we amp it back up. The whole country is going to be back in the situation that we were in. We need to get back to building. This is one thing I’m super passionate about. I got a kid with a great college degree. Not every kid has a great college degree, but she isn’t making the kind of money she thought she was going to make with this great college degree. We need more plumbers. We need more electricians. We need more journeymen. They all make six figures these days. We need our kids to get back to labor because there’s nothing wrong with that.

We don’t have enough people to even have us build these houses right now. So, I’m really passionate about, while I’m doing this affordable housing, I’ve been meeting with … I met with Habitat for Humanity. I really want to get in with those guys to help maybe give them an incentive to come help us build some houses affordably and maybe help them get into a house at the same time. What better way to get kids in the ’20s thinking, “Hey, I want to be an electrician. Hey, I want to be a plumber.” Let’s help them get into their first house that they would have no prayer to get into without that kind of help.

Zach Wojtowicz:

Charley …

Charley Burtwistle:

Preach. Yeah, amen.

Rebecca Hidalgo Rains:

Amen, brother.

Charley Burtwistle:

Every episode we record, I like to pick the moment that our social team is going to pull out and use as teasers for the episode. I think that was the moment right there. That 30 seconds …

Rebecca Hidalgo Rains:

Thank you.

Charley Burtwistle:

Will be on Twitter and Facebook and Instagram and everything.

Zach Wojtowicz:

It’s almost like you live and breathe this stuff.

Rebecca Hidalgo Rains:

You think? Honestly, I don’t know what I would do with myself. I do wake up thinking real estate. I go to sleep thinking real estate. Oh man, I am so excited to build some houses. I really can’t even … Honestly, my plan is not just to build them in Arkansas. My plan is to build them anywhere and everywhere somebody wants us to be in because we’re going to be able to assemble these SIPs packages and ship them out and find them a local contractor. So, I’m really hoping to network with as many great builders as possible. Anybody listening to me right now interested and liking what I’m saying, I’m just starting my website at KismetHomesUSA.com. It just has a little email right there. It says info at. Reach out to me. I’m going to start creating a list, because I want to be everywhere as much as I can. I don’t know if the country’s ready for me to be everywhere, but I want to be everywhere. I want to help as many people as I can. I have so much to give, and I’m so excited to do so.

Charley Burtwistle:

Yeah, we will link that, your website, in the shownotes so anyone listening can go out and just click on that, go directly there. I’ll also link your podcast for the shownotes.

Rebecca Hidalgo Rains:

Thank you.

Charley Burtwistle:

And personally for myself because I’m definitely going to check that out as well, too.

Rebecca Hidalgo Rains:

Hey, I actually just had a guest this past week that you guys had on recently. It was Mr. Ryan Lipchek over there at CBUSA.

Charley Burtwistle:

Ryan, my best friend.

Zach Wojtowicz:

Charley and Ryan are boys, yeah. Actually, I pulled up your podcast episodes, and I saw Ryan. I was like, “We’ve got to give Ryan a shout-out, friend of the pod.”

Rebecca Hidalgo Rains:

Yeah, give Ryan a shout-out. He’s the one who made this happen today, I think. So, thank you, Ryan, if you’re listening. CBUSA, I’m super excited to start networking with those guys, too. You guys really do have it going on over there. I’m really impressed with everything I learned. I got to give a shout-out to my buddy Brad over at A Finer Touch, AFT. I had to think about that for a minute, A Finer Touch Construction. Because he’s the one who put on that awesome coalition where I got to meet you at, Zach, and where I got to meet Ryan. And I’m super grateful for it. I did actually get to interview him on my show. Then I went on his show, and we had so much fun. He actually was my superintendent 20 years ago when I was a little lowly sales girl. I think I might have been in my early, early 30s, late 20s then. We had a lot of fun being young together, so it was so cool to see how well he’s done since.

Zach Wojtowicz:

Yeah, Brad’s the man.

Rebecca Hidalgo Rains:

He really is.

Zach Wojtowicz:

It was kind of odd for me. People will tell me, they’re like, “Oh, you’re the guy.” I’m like, “No, you’re the guy. You’re the builder that everybody wants to be. Tell me what you’ve done.” Yeah, we’re really lucky with the customers that we get here at Buildertrend that we get to talk to.

Charley Burtwistle:

Yeah, absolutely. I think we’re coming close to time here, but the last question that we have written down is one that I’m super interested to ask you, is just advice that you have for others looking to get started in real estate or home building. You had the call to arms for other people existing out there that want to partner, but what about someone that listened to this episode, is inspired, and is like, “What can I do to help the housing crisis of not enough houses out there?”

Rebecca Hidalgo Rains:

Well, okay, so to encourage others, I will tell you in this last year of me interviewing people and researching, there’s a lot of people that are singing in the same choir, if you will. They are out there doing what I am starting to do right now. I interviewed a gentleman by the name of Jerome Maldonado recently. He is amazing. He’s teaching people how to find the land and then build houses themselves. So, if you guys haven’t heard his name, Google him. Get on YouTube. Another gentleman by the name of Peter Reese, honestly guys, the key is finding the land and land cheap. I interviewed a gentleman by the name of Pete Reese, and he has a whole program where he is helping people educate people. There’s a lot of people out there like me and them that are wanting to help educate others and share the knowledge.

That was actually the piece of advice Jerome gave me, which was super cool. He’s like, “Rebecca, don’t be worried about telling people too much because most people out there aren’t going to do anything unless you’re dragging them by the hand. So, share everything that you can because we need more people speaking like this. We need more people out there.” I have actually a whole other episode we can do when I’m ready to go to market because actually I have a lot of concepts that are very cutting edge and different. So, I’m going to leave you with a teaser and it has to do with some communal living, gardening. I actually have a whole nonprofit that I’m starting that will be educating people on how to garden in their own homes. A lot of this is coming from COVID and wanting to live semi-off-grid. I’m super excited about that part of it.

The nonprofit, I had a name for it, and now I’m changing it. I haven’t decided what it’s going to be for sure yet, but as a result of all the education we’re going to be giving people, we’ll be able to also help them with financial help in getting into our homes. So, really honestly, anybody listening to me, I want to encourage them. The first steps would be just get online and start Googling. Because you’re going to find so much content out there. There’s truly so many people like me on YouTube right now, preaching, educating and doing all things.

Zach Wojtowicz:

I love it. It’s going to make a huge impact, and I’m just blown away. You’re a woman on multiple missions, not just one. We can’t wait to follow up with you and see the progress you’ve made this year.

Charley Burtwistle:

Yeah, that was a hell of a teaser.

Rebecca Hidalgo Rains:

Thanks, guys.

Charley Burtwistle:

For sure.

Zach Wojtowicz:

Yeah, all right. Yeah, Charley?

Charley Burtwistle:

I’ll sign us off. Thank you so much, an absolute pleasure, learned a ton. I was taking notes on the side here, so appreciate you taking the time to come on the podcast today, and I’m sure we’ll talk very soon.

Rebecca Hidalgo Rains:

Likewise. Thanks, you guys, and you know I like to talk, so I’ll be happy to come back. See you guys another time. Take care.

Charley Burtwistle:

Thanks, Rebecca.

Zach Wojtowicz:

Mr. Burtwistle, we just had Rebecca on, amazing conversation. We really covered a lot. I love getting into the numbers of the economics of just even real estate and construction. We really hit a lot. What’d you think? And dropping the second house as well. Look at you.

Charley Burtwistle:

Yeah, yeah, yeah, exciting stuff.

Zach Wojtowicz:

Wheeling and dealing.

Charley Burtwistle:

Well, so funny you bring that up, and I’ll get to my thoughts on the episode in a second, but I’ve actually had a lot of big stuff happen in my life recently and …

Zach Wojtowicz:

Growing up. My guy is growing up.

Charley Burtwistle:

So, for example, I got engaged about a month ago. So my fiancée …

Zach Wojtowicz:

Congrats, by the way.

Charley Burtwistle:

Thank you, fun to say, listened to one of the episodes. She listened to a few of the episodes. She’s like, “Why didn’t you say anything about us getting engaged?” I was like, “Well, Zach and I don’t really talk about … Other than my clothing choices at the beginning of the episode, it’s more focused on …”

Zach Wojtowicz:

We’re more of a lifestyle podcast now.

Charley Burtwistle:

Construction and Buildertrend. So, yeah, shout-out to my fiancée. We got engaged and then we bought a house, so a lot of big stuff happening. But with the house, this episode was like a dream. I could have talked to Rebecca for five hours. My entire life for the past month of selling my current house and buying a new home has been focused around real estate and what inventory is doing and what mortgage rates are doing and what home prices are doing. It’s interesting being on both the buy and sales side because anything that helps you one way hurts you the other way. So, I wish I could have talked to Rebecca like a month ago and got her advice on everything, but she made me feel good saying …

Zach Wojtowicz:

She pumped you up.

Charley Burtwistle:

Yeah, she pumped me up.

Zach Wojtowicz:

She’s like, “You’re a savvy buyer.”

Charley Burtwistle:

That’s huge.

Zach Wojtowicz:

Love that.

Charley Burtwistle:

But that’s the thing. If she says I’m a savvy buyer, does that mean I’m a bad seller? I’m on both sides of it.

Zach Wojtowicz:

That’s actually the cliffhanger. We left the episode. Find out next time to see if Charley’s investment paid off with Rebecca.

Charley Burtwistle:

Yeah, honestly. We should do a case study on me. But no, she was great. I get why she’s so successful. She’s so passionate about what she’s doing and not just what she’s doing but what she’s doing for other people, which I think is why she keeps having all these different ideas. Even after when we were talking to her before, we didn’t even cover a lot of the stuff that she’s doing right now. So, I’m excited to get her back in here and talk to her again.

Zach Wojtowicz:

Yeah, well, open invitation, obviously. Rebecca, thank you for joining. I also have similar thoughts. We get really great guests coming in and doing things like green housing … not green housing, green technology and housing.

Charley Burtwistle:

They could paint houses green.

Zach Wojtowicz:

Yeah, why not? Of course, but it’s exciting to see what the future in construction brings. Because there is a lot of innovation and we need houses to live in. The species needs shelter, and so the shortening supply is going to continue to be an issue. We need more investment in that area, so thanks for joining us here on “The Building Code.” It’s been a great conversation, great episode. I’m Zach Wojtowicz.

Charley Burtwistle:

I’m Charley Burtwistle. As always, make sure to like, review, and subscribe. I know I always say that, but if you actually could, that would be great. It helps Zach and I keep this job. I actually checked our reviews the other day, and there were a couple new ones that had flowed in, so that’s good. So, I appreciate you guys. Otherwise, we’ll talk to you next time.