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Luxury Home Builder Shares Secrets to Scaling with Private Investors

By February 24, 2026Real Estate Pros Show

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Show Summary

In this episode of the Real Estate Pros Podcast, host Micah Johnson interviews Todd Eshenbaugh, a seasoned professional in the luxury new build market. Todd shares his journey into real estate, emphasizing the importance of strategic planning, building relationships, and maintaining trust with investors and vendors. He discusses the challenges and opportunities in the North Carolina Triangle region and outlines his vision for the future as he prepares for significant growth in 2026. Todd’s insights on the importance of communication and accountability in business provide valuable lessons for aspiring builders and investors alike.

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    Investor Fuel Show Transcript:

    Todd Eshenbaugh (00:00)
    so I guess the new, you if I were to recommend anything for somebody coming into the business is, you know, we don’t self-perform. You rely on our drywall trades, our HVAC trades, you know, making relationships with those vendors and understanding that they may not be writing, you may not be writing a paycheck to them, but they are a critical piece to your company. ⁓ You know, even if it’s Mr. Smith, HVAC, he’s representing who you are.

    Micah Johnson (01:59)
    Hey everyone. Welcome to the real estate pros podcast. I’m your host, Micah Johnson. And today I’m joined by Todd, who’s been making some serious moves in the luxury new build space for the past four years now. Todd, welcome in man. Glad to have ⁓ you. I’m excited for our talk today. You know, built new builds and specifically luxury or is an interesting niche in the market and working with someone who’s growing that business and can share on it. I think we’ve got a lot of value for folks who are going to listen in.

    Todd Eshenbaugh (02:12)
    Yeah, glad to be here. Thank you for having me.

    Micah Johnson (02:28)
    So let’s dive in, First, for folks who may not know you yet, tell us some more about yourself and what your main focus is right now.

    Todd Eshenbaugh (02:35)
    Yeah, no, so we were in the North Carolina Triangle Region Raleigh dorm Chapel Hill and we build all residential new builds, mostly luxury is where we spend most of our focus.

    Micah Johnson (02:48)
    Love that and hell, I’ll get what got you into that man will lead you to where you are today.

    Todd Eshenbaugh (02:52)
    Sure, no. So I’ve always had an affinity for home building and building a product. ⁓ I like the higher end product. I like to build a really nice product. I like to use some of the better materials, some of the better finishes. And it’s always intrigued me, you know, what is possible? If you dream it, can we do it? So that kind of pushed me right into the luxury world.

    Micah Johnson (03:13)
    Love that man. And what were you doing before you got into real estate?

    Todd Eshenbaugh (03:17)
    Sure, I

    ⁓ kind of got into real estate right out of college, really. ⁓ Tried to make a living throwing a baseball and that didn’t work out the way we had hoped. So we went ahead and jumped into real estate and I’m gonna be honest, it’s scratched and itched that unless you’re in real estate, you don’t understand. it’s a passion and I’ve loved it my whole life.

    Micah Johnson (03:22)
    Okay.

    Okay. And always in that new build phase and just lost your own thing four years ago.

    Todd Eshenbaugh (03:43)
    Yeah, always in the new build phase. I started off with a production builder building more entry level type product, which was great seeing first time home buyers, know, 20, some young families moving in. was awesome to see them fulfilling their dreams. And then from there, the research of what’s the better window? What’s the better plywood? What’s the better door? Kind of pushed me into the luxury market and you know, what could be possible if we dreamed of something? So it kind of pushed me and I kind of grew into it.

    Micah Johnson (04:13)
    I love that, man. It’s one of my favorite things about real estate. You said it earlier, it’s an itch that gets scratched if you’re in it. And if you don’t know, kind of hard to explain, but most folks listening will understand because it does. You can find yourself in it, right? And you want to be a professional baseball player. It’s significantly different things, but the same itch ends up getting scratched. It’s the same kind of things that used to do it for you in one spot. You can find that in real estate and really,

    take it deep. you’ve owned your own company for four years, but you got decades of experience. It sounds like doing this.

    Todd Eshenbaugh (04:48)
    Yeah, no, I’ve been doing this for 31 years now. So, you know, I kind of became a hired hit man in the middle of my career of go ahead in and fix a company or, hey, my company’s 13 million. I’d like to take it to 80 million and like you to take the reins and kind of show me how to do that. So I’ve kind of learned that phase of, know, the whole package from marketing to sales, to land acquisition, to brand awareness, which is a thing I think a lot of builders miss. They come in and want to build a pretty home, but

    brand awareness. Do they know that you build a pretty home and are aware when they hear the name, you know, in our case, Blue Willow, what do they think of you? So yeah, no, it’s decades of it. And then like you said, I’ve enjoyed it ever since.

    Micah Johnson (06:18)
    I love that manual and it just shows you too. I mean, in the end it’s a business and businesses have certain sections that they got to run right. And if they don’t run right, the machine doesn’t work. Ultimately, anybody who builds a business, you just built a machine that trades in whatever commodity it is that you’re doing. And that last part, it’s interesting because it’s a team sport, real estate is team sport. We’re all not, nobody is good at everything.

    that other piece of how to show it to other people, you’re a good creator, but the how do you get it out? That might not be your strength and man, leaning in and doing that. What are y’all working on this year to get that visibility out there?

    Todd Eshenbaugh (06:59)
    So ⁓ we got a couple of nice communities coming out of ground that are in areas that have been booming or about to burst. ⁓ And luckily, unfortunately around here, it takes years to buy land and then develop it. And we’ve started the process and we kind of got ahead of some of those curves. We saw the areas about to burst. We bought the land, let it come through development. So now we’re out of development, put the roads in when it is ready to burst. So we kind of got ahead of it a little bit.

    And it’s also allowing us, we now hold the best land position in certain cities in the triangle here. ⁓ For a small builder, that’s tough to do that. We’re going to attract a lot of people simply because they want to be there. And you add the fact that we’re known to build a higher quality product to be better serviced to our customers. It’s a perfect storm for us.

    Micah Johnson (07:34)
    Hmm.

    Love that man. And how long did it take y’all to yourself that way?

    Todd Eshenbaugh (07:53)
    So, know, year one when we opened up, our goal was, you know, grow slow. But having ran companies in the past that were, you know, couple hundred million. I’ve always seen that you in home building or in any real estate, if you think today, tomorrow will bite you. You know, so we’ve always thought, OK, we’re going open today, but we’re going to think three or four years out. So while we’re building for Mr. and Mrs. Smith or Mr. and Mrs. Jones on their particular land and getting our team established, we were out.

    buying land and doing market research to get ahead of that. So we’ve been planning for the growth for three years now. Even though people laughed at us and you’re one year old and you’re thinking three or four years out, well, they’re not laughing today. We’ve accomplished that goal.

    Micah Johnson (08:37)
    Right. And if they were laughing, they didn’t understand your experience. Like you’re not a rookie at this. Like the, you’re finally just doing it for you. Like that’s the difference. You’ve already done this. You’ve seen it. And when you can, when you’ve seen every stage, you’re, you’re a super power man. Like the, everything you do, you can see things more than most people can. So to be able to already be thinking that way, you already knew that’s what successful people do.

    Todd Eshenbaugh (08:43)
    Right.

    Micah Johnson (09:03)
    Like you were planning on being in business years from then. wasn’t a hope was not your strategy. And that’s what a few folks get into the industry with. And it’s just not that way. Like we were saying earlier, you’ve now seen it for decades. It’s just a machine. It’s a method. What are you doing? How are you setting yourself up? Cause one of the hard parts about building is you got long run times. That’s not, that’s not a signed contract today, get paid tomorrow.

    Todd Eshenbaugh (09:04)
    Amen.

    Right. Right.

    Micah Johnson (09:30)
    There, you have to learn to think in large swaths of time because it gets tough. Now, one thing you set up uniquely, probably from your experience, is you don’t have to use banks for your projects, do you? You’ve developed another way to make sure you can take advantage.

    Todd Eshenbaugh (09:45)
    Yeah, no. So and that’s kind of what got me started. Exactly what you’d said is I’m doing it for myself now. ⁓ And that’s a hard transition for a lot of people to mentally make. Hey, we’re going to jump out on our own. no longer have that biweekly safety net, you know, called a paycheck. ⁓ So but, you know, when I jumped out on my own, had a friend of mine who I’d known. And he said, Hey, you really need to stop doing this. You’re making a lot of people a lot of money except for you.

    ⁓ You’ll go ahead and do this and I said well great, but here’s how I think and he became my first investor So we’ve used private investment money from day one About my first community with the gentleman that I partnered with on that and I showed him that exactly what you said that It’s not you’re not gonna give me money today. I’m gonna give you double that money back tomorrow But your floor is not gonna be there like if you buy into a tech company for example that could implode and you could lose all your money

    Micah Johnson (10:40)
    Right.

    Todd Eshenbaugh (10:40)
    ⁓

    He saw the value in real estate that it’s going up ⁓ and he stayed with me the whole time through that community, made himself over a 35 % return on that community. ⁓ And then since then, hey, you know, this gentleman has called me. I see what you did with him. I’d love to get some of that action. So we’ve been able to go and raise funds based on it’s asset based. There’s a backing to it. So we, you know, we’ll whether we form a quick joint venture agreement or, however that looks.

    They stay in the deal, they make a whole lot of money. Blue Willow is not tax borrowing money after money, so it allows our company to stay healthy, which is crucial because the healthier we stay, the more we make for the investors and can take care of them and actually execute our game plan. So it’s worked out for both sides. And as we grow, we’re always looking and willing to talk to various investors on this is the projects we have up and coming. ⁓

    really work myself into an unbelievable network of developers and land sellers that I can show them different deals and the returns on those deals. So it’s worked out very well for both parties, which is really what’s important to an investment.

    Micah Johnson (12:24)
    How long has it taken you to build all those relationships you keep mentioning?

    Todd Eshenbaugh (12:29)
    Sure. So the one gentleman I knew coming in and then I have two other people that do investments and it’s probably taken two years of just curating friendships and different deals and belief in me ⁓ to get them to that point. ⁓ And then we recently had a gentleman just come on board. only I knew him for a month and he came in based on reputation. Hey, Blue Willow, I’ve seen your products. Amazing. I see the sales. I see the customers. ⁓

    I have some extra income. I was a doctor. I have some extra income. I need to look at my retirement. can we partner together on some things? So we were able to show him, like we have one gentleman that has billions of dollars. This gentleman only had X amount of money, not quite billions, but we were still able to find him a small four lot deal that was perfect for his portfolio, made him about a 25 % return in a year. He was ecstatic with it.

    Micah Johnson (13:25)
    Yeah. And it’s, it’s in the end, man, and starting to see that roll over. always makes, takes the most amount of effort upfront on anything. Efforts always front loaded, making sure you’re digging in. But the payoff where in year three, someone calls and says in a month, you’re already getting that, getting that investment from them. Man, you set it up front.

    Your goal was to grow slow. And there’s so many business owners out there that I wish.

    would think that way because it’s about the long game, not just what I’m getting done today. It’s not just about today. That’s survival mode. Like that’s running from something. Where are you going to that? That keeps your eyes out in front of you on, okay, if we’re going there, now what are the steps we need to be taking? Not just hope.

    Todd Eshenbaugh (13:59)
    Right.

    Micah Johnson (14:14)
    Again, it comes back to that knowing when you you trying to run from being broke? Are you, are you walking towards success? Which one is that? And one.

    I’m listening again to the richest man in Babylon book. And you’re just like walking through the steps of it, of find people that know what they’re talking about. Don’t buy jewels from the brick maker. Remember that. Find the right people, plug them in. And this is a long-term endeavor. It’s about a lifetime of doing something smart that then starts to lead into the fact that you can create money now faster than you couldn’t create it before.

    Todd Eshenbaugh (14:28)
    Yeah, great book.

    Right.

    Micah Johnson (14:52)
    And it’s that principle of the right, you know, taking enough time to learn the skill that can be profitable to you, then learning how to apply it to your life and building the relationships that keep it going. It’s, congrats, man. Like, one, that’s awesome. You’re doing great.

    Todd Eshenbaugh (14:52)
    Amen to that.

    Yeah, yeah, we’re fortunate so count our blessings.

    Micah Johnson (15:53)
    What are you excited about for 2026? What’s your big opportunity?

    Todd Eshenbaugh (15:57)
    Yeah, so 2026, know, ⁓ knock on wood all the communities that we had been working on for the last however, two years, I guess now are coming out of ground. ⁓ So we are we had a rough winter, rough winter for Raleigh ⁓ for us. That’s like 30 degrees. But but so we weren’t able to put the roads and stuff in. But the weather broke last week. So now we’re putting roads in. We got the signs going out front. And ⁓ I said the couple of communities that we were super excited about location wise are ready to be advertised March 1st.

    ⁓ one of which we’ve, we had, we had a waiting list that people had heard that we might be doing something in this area. had a nine to 10 customer waiting list before anybody knew we were putting a sign out. ⁓ so we yeah, we were fired up there. and then the other one, we were able to keep under wraps and keep quiet because we knew the same thing would happen and you don’t want to tell customers, no, not yet, you know, cause they’re ready to go. ⁓ so the other community now March 1st, the sign will go out front and,

    Micah Johnson (16:40)
    Man!

    Right.

    Todd Eshenbaugh (16:57)
    It’ll create a little bit of an all out sprint, which is awesome. We’re super excited and that should be a record year for us.

    Micah Johnson (17:03)
    I love that man, love that. For someone that’s might have their own building business that’s listening to this, like what are some things you’re paying attention to going into this year to make sure the success happens?

    Todd Eshenbaugh (17:16)
    Yeah, so I guess the new, you if I were to recommend anything for somebody coming into the business is, you know, we don’t self-perform. You rely on our drywall trades, our HVAC trades, you know, making relationships with those vendors and understanding that they may not be writing, you may not be writing a paycheck to them, but they are a critical piece to your company. ⁓ You know, even if it’s Mr. Smith, HVAC, he’s representing who you are. If they look…

    like slobs on your job sites where they don’t do the quality work or, you know, they talk to your customers unprofessionally, you know, take your time, develop the relationships with those guys, treat them as if they’re an arm of your company because they truly are. And if you get the right ones, man, they’ll accelerate your growth, they’ll accelerate your reputation and professionalism and, and those guys want to do that. So I would say take the time, get the right vendors and trades and don’t settle.

    Don’t think, well, geez, I can’t get so-and-so because they won’t talk to me. Keep working at it. Keep curating the relationships and go get the right guys.

    Micah Johnson (18:20)
    What are some red flags that you’ve noticed over the years? It’s like, okay, not that group. And then what are some green flags that you’ve noticed where it’s like, that could be somebody I definitely want to work with.

    Todd Eshenbaugh (18:30)
    Yeah, as funny as this is going to sound communication. ⁓ You know, I think we’re in such a technology world, texting and emailing. A lot of people forget how to pick up a phone and actually have a human conversation. ⁓ You know, me being a little older, I like to, if I’m going to take on a new vendor, I like to call them. I like to talk to them. Does he return my phone call? As simple as that sounds, does he communicate?

    If he’s not communicating to me now and we’re in the trenches and maybe there’s something wrong or we need to handle something, is he going to be there? You know, I want somebody that’s going to sit beside me in a boat and row it with me. So we take a lot of heat and communication up front. And then we like to get out and meet them in person and go see their work. If you have a gentleman that, come see what I’m doing. I’m proud of my work. That’s my guy. If you have somebody that’s like, yeah, ride down to Smith Street and see it and let me know what you think. Well, he’s not proud of his work.

    Micah Johnson (19:21)
    Right?

    Right, right, man. ⁓ yeah, dignity in what they’re doing, that pride, is important. Man, that’s excellent advice. So again, if you’re listening out there and you’re either struggling with that, one, like you said, don’t stop. Keep making the phone calls, the right people. There are right people out there and they’ll do what he’s talking about. Like, you don’t need to ever twist somebody’s arm into working for you. If you’re gonna do that, you’re gonna run into what you’re talking about.

    And in the heat of the moment when you need them most, the glue that makes them stick, it’s just not there. There’s no pride in what they’re doing. And like you’re saying, if you can get them to buy into what you’re doing, it only benefits them. And when you’re thinking about the trades, what’s the one thing they want? Consistent quality work. Work, that’s what they want to wake up each day knowing I got somewhere to go tomorrow. And the place I’m going is a great place to work for. And if you can develop that.

    now you’re getting that checklist or that waiting list you keep talking about, man. It’s not random that that’s happening, right? Like it’s not random. got to keep new communities under wraps. It’s done by exactly what you’re talking about methodically. One being who you say you’re going to be, you know, who you waking up each day and being, and then requiring that from the people you work with, if you’re going to do it, make sure they’re doing it too. Cause those are the people that you can actually quote unquote work with.

    The other ones you’re working around, you’re struggling with it. It’s sucking the life out of you. If you notice that in your business, that’s red flag really quick. Hey, it doesn’t have to be that way.

    Todd Eshenbaugh (21:01)
    Yeah, amen and self accountability, know, I want them to be accountable. Hey, we’re, we’re dealing with, you know, a thousand people through a build through 30 degree weather than a hundred degree weather and rain some days and things happen. People get tired. People get, you know, everybody has a bad day. Right. So to have that gentleman say, Hey, you know what I, you know, and us as a builder, Hey, we didn’t give you enough notice. Sorry. You know, um, treat you like a human being. It’s not always your fault. We do some things wrong too.

    letting them step up and say what they did wrong and working as a team to put forth the best product at the end is to me is critical.

    Micah Johnson (21:37)
    It is. Well, let me ask you this. You have a large experience base in businesses and building them. Is that something you’ve noticed in common through all the companies you’ve gone in and grown?

    Todd Eshenbaugh (21:51)
    So it’s the number one thing, both internally and externally, is their view of outside people, of more than themselves. So that has been the number one thing I’ve kind of noticed is when I go into a company that’s struggling, why are you struggling? You don’t value your customers, you don’t value your employees, and you don’t value the people that are subcontracted working for you. ⁓ And that’s the three people that either make or break you. So they’re all valuable. You’ve to change your paradigm, your mindset. ⁓

    So, you know, that’s usually the first thing I look at. then, you know, the second thing I look at is, you know, as a business, as an owner, you know, are you accessible? Are you taking self accountability? Are you, you know, putting forth your vision and being able to pivot, you know, hey, I want to go luxury build and there is no luxury build in this town. You know, can you pivot? Can you see what works and what doesn’t work? It protects you as a business, but also protects if you’re able to bring on investors of, hey,

    We went and tackled this. I got to protect your money. I need you to get your return because I need you here to do more deals with me. So, know, hey, Mr. Investor, I want to come be accountable and honest with you. We were going to go this direction, but this direction is going to pay you more and it’s going to get us our outcome quicker. You know, having that openness and conversation. And a lot of my investors, that’s why they stay with me and they appreciate it is just an honesty to it. You know, my, my word to them means something because I intend on bringing you in and giving you this return.

    need to get it.

    Micah Johnson (23:21)
    Right? Absolutely. One thing I’ve learned throughout life and career, the more someone’s willing to be direct with you, it’s a better sign. It’s just hands down a better sign. The more words it’s taking for them to describe what’s going on, not a good sign. it’s, and it’s, it’s usually comes down to that personal thing of will you, do you have the capability of caring about somebody else more than yourself in a certain moment when you need to?

    Todd Eshenbaugh (23:29)
    Amen.

    Micah Johnson (23:48)
    Right? Especially that self-preservation moment where you messed up and you need to say, Hey man, ⁓ I missed it. I’m sorry about that. This is what happened. Blah, blah, blah. Can you just at least say that we’re humans. If you study humans, we’re very forgiving species. It’s in our, it’s in our one benefit and nature to, okay, I get it. I live my own life. I’m there for every day for me too. I know what it’s like. The thing that makes us not want to is the last part.

    that trust violation, because we only want to work with people we like, know, and trust. And that third one, it’s the hardest to get, easiest to lose.

    Todd Eshenbaugh (24:29)
    No, amen, I’ve had investors and different people I’ve worked with over the years, because I’ve kind of used the same method through various companies when I’d take them over, let’s go raise some private money. And I’ve had some investors that just flat out don’t like me. And I’ll joke with them at dinner, you know, and say, hey, then why are you still here? Because you’re honest, and you do what you say you’re going to do. I don’t have to like you. I wake up tomorrow morning and I know what words you gave me is what I’m going to get. And I’m OK with that.

    So I agree that trust is, and over the years I’ve learned to get along with those people and become good friends with them because that trust was established first.

    Micah Johnson (25:05)
    Right? Right, man, I love that. Well, Todd, you’re doing a lot of things right. You got two new communities coming out of the ground. You’re using private money on the back end, making sure that you can stay nimble and pivot. You got tons of experience. So for those that are listening in, that’d be interested in learning more from you, possibly partnering with you, what’s the best way for them to find you?

    Todd Eshenbaugh (25:28)
    Yeah, I mean, you can go to our website at www.buildbluewillow.com. Welcome to email myself. It’s Todd at buildbluewillow.com. And then from our website, all our social media feeds and everything are in there as well.

    Micah Johnson (25:44)
    Excellent, man. Thank you so much. If you’re listening and watching in, check the show notes. We’ll have all Todd’s information there. Like I say all the time, when you meet a true professional that knows what they’re doing, talk to them, reach out to them. If you’re in the building space, even private lending space, you’re wanting money to go somewhere, reach out and talk to somebody who has the kind of experience and the kind of reputation that Todd’s expressed today. Again, Todd, thanks for being with us, man. Appreciate your time, your energy. I think we need more people out there like you.

    doing it the way you’re doing it the right way, treating folks right all the way across the board. So thanks again for being here, man. Everybody listening and watching in, thank you. If you got value out of today’s episode, please like this episode, share it with someone else you think you get value out of it. As always, don’t forget to subscribe. We appreciate every single one of you that follows along out there with us. We got more conversations coming up with operators just like Todd out there building a real business in the industry. Thanks for being with us. We’ll see y’all in the next episode.

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