From Vision to Reality: Shadd Johnson on Unique House Plans

Dylan Silver (00:01.063)
Hey, folks, welcome back to the show. I’m your host, Dylan Silver. And today on the show, I have Shadd Johnson, real estate entrepreneur. And we’re going to be talking about very niche area of real estate here today. Shadd, welcome to the show.

Shadd Johnson (00:18.52)
Thanks for having us.

Dylan Silver (00:20.401)
Absolutely, absolutely. Let’s start off at the top. How did you get into the real estate space?

Shadd Johnson (00:28.91)
Real estate space. So we kind of focus on the new construction side of things. So we put, we do the house plans for realtors like yourself. And so how I got into it is my senior in high school had a teacher who saw something in me that I didn’t see. And instead of going straight to the computer, he taught me how to do everything by hand.

and to value my eraser. And so as a result, I’m always looking four or five steps ahead. Then I don’t have to push that delete button nowadays.

Dylan Silver (01:02.185)
There you go.

Dylan Silver (01:13.097)
When we talk about house plans, is this architecture? Describe this to us.

Shadd Johnson (01:17.76)
Yeah, it’s the architectural side of things. So we make everything fancy and make it look nice and pretty on the outside and also on the inside to cater to your lifestyle, your needs or your wants.

Dylan Silver (01:31.965)
Now, we are a real estate podcast, but I love to get the business insight and scaling a business from people. Let’s talk about the origins of that. What was the first couple of deals like and then scaling to today?

Shadd Johnson (01:47.758)
First couple of deals, I mean you gotta start somewhere. We started off with my first paying gig was a senior year in high school was doing.

Hurricane damage control in the Houston area. I don’t remember which one it was, but it came through, damaged the sky, the high risers and all the glass on the edge of the building. So we had guys on the scaffolding going down and checking every piece of glass as it went from the 52nd story down to the main level.

marking which ones were damaged and which one would need to be replaced. And then I transported that into a working drawing so that way they knew, okay, fourth row over, 10th one down needs to be replaced. And so then from there, we’ve gone, scaled it up to currently working on a 19,000 square foot addition and…

Dylan Silver (02:49.405)
Wow.

Shadd Johnson (03:02.318)
You know, I know your podcast is on real estate, for us, we bring that real estate aspect into it because it’s like, OK, what am I going to add to your house to them because you’re not going to live here forever? It’s what what can we do to value your home for the next person to buy it so that it to stay on the market for 90 to 120 days? It’s on the market for

30 days or less.

Dylan Silver (03:34.035)
Right? You know, when real estate investors talk about the major components or the eye grabbing components of a home, we think about kitchens, we think about master bath, maybe a few other components. I know that I’ve worked with investors who have a very specific strategy or appearance that they go for in their kitchen. Some of them will do many kitchens a similar way, not cookie cutter, because that would be

that wouldn’t be doing it justice, but they will have a certain look to much of what they’re doing. Do you ascribe or have a look or appearance that you like in many of your plans?

Shadd Johnson (04:17.996)
Non cookie cutter. I am so done with big box builders. It’s because I know where you go into a community where you’ve got five house plans and it’s every fifth one is the same house plan, maybe just a different face, but the bedrooms are laid out the same. I hate it because you as a neighbor know where your neighbors are sleeping.

Dylan Silver (04:47.923)
That’s a great point.

Shadd Johnson (04:48.238)
It’s like, my gosh, like if they robbed my house, they know five houses down, they know exactly where everything else is at. So from my niche, we don’t have that kind of, like for example, there is a firm here locally that they have their particular design. That is.

Dylan Silver (04:57.415)
That’s a great point.

Shadd Johnson (05:15.498)
You can drive anywhere in the state and you’ll see, that’s that house because they designed it because that’s their look. Ultimately for me, it’s I’m not paying the mortgage. You are. So it’s your house, your design, your needs, your wants. So we cater to you as a client.

Dylan Silver (05:40.905)
Let’s talk about scaling businesses in the real estate space. So starting from that first deal, was, it wasn’t a single family residential, right? So going from that deal to there where you are today, was it a natural progression? And then once you got to a point where you’re doing deals and creating plans in the single family space, how did that scale? How were you able to attract more clients? And what marketing methods did you use for helping other folks who are in the real estate space learn about your?

techniques and what might be able to benefit them in their their avatar.

Shadd Johnson (06:15.062)
I think the biggest one is having your right team together.

as

Shadd Johnson (06:26.446)
For you guys being in the real estate world, you’ve got to have, you you have your own people. You have your cleaner, you have your stager, you have your photographer, but that’s about as far as people go.

So we’re introducing the right contractor, the right designer, the right landscaper, the right everything. So that way, when you are going into these communities, they are not cookie cutter. They are. Yes, we might have five or six house plans because that’s how we keep the cost down because we know what that was, what that is coming in price wise. But, you want to switch the master bedroom from the left side to the right side? Done. We do it.

So getting to this point, was having that right team, having that right contractor that one is honest, two what says, hey, I’ll do it for a hundred bucks. And he says, and he does it for a hundred bucks instead of coming in and saying, oh, well, this came in at $200. So I got to charge you $300. It’s.

I always tell my clients that I go through contractors like I go through underwear. On a given year, I’ll go through 50 or 60 contractors, but I have my core 12 and those 12 I will, I vet them before I start putting my name next to them. So that way I can then meet with people.

in the real estate world and they’re like, hey, I need a builder done here. I vetted them, they’re good. I put my name behind it.

Dylan Silver (08:16.285)
Yeah, that’s a huge deal. mean, how many times do we hear about contractors being issues? And what I think it comes down to is, A, relationship building. Like, how long do you know this person? But then also, too, if you’re then just paying them upfront, you’re taking away their incentive to complete the job. In many cases, there’s so many issues that can go on.

surrounding payment, I think specifically. And then there’s core competency, right? How well are they doing the job? And if they’re incapable of doing the job to the degree that you want it done, and then you have conflict in areas because there’s an expectation, the expectation is not being met, people are over time and over budget, it becomes hairy. What general feedback would you have on finding contractors? I know you said, you know,

go through quite a few of them, what general feedback would you give, folks?

Shadd Johnson (09:13.09)
vet him. Like just because, just because person, you know, contractor A is coming in, say $10,000 less doesn’t mean he’s going to give you the same quality that the guy in the middle of the pack that you get bids for. talk to their past clients, ask for referrals from past clients, good and bad.

Like all my my contractors that I deal with always refer bad clients and good clients. Because it’s why not? You’re going to you know you want to hear both sides of the story.

Dylan Silver (09:59.081)
Yeah, you do. You do. It’s like anything else, anytime that you’re bringing someone on board, because you’re really becoming a team with these people. No two ways around it. Whether you’re doing it for yourself and you’re not a real estate investor and you’re looking for a contractor, you’re a team with them. Or whether you are a real estate investor, you’re looking to turn a profit on a deal, you’re definitely a team with them. So having that kind of trust rapport and then also understanding is critical.

Shadd Johnson (10:07.384)
Correct.

Dylan Silver (10:28.839)
I think one of the other big things that comes up as well, and you pointed to it, there’s the opportunity for continuing business. And so when people see that, they’re maybe more inclined to want to work with an investor in some capacity. But I also think that it can be tricky, because if you’re starting out, if you’re a fix-and-flipper and you’re starting out and you’re doing one flip, it’s going to be hard to guarantee a book of business in the future when you’re doing your first flip.

Shadd Johnson (10:59.608)
Correct.

It the I’ve got I’ve got a good example of a contractor here. That’s in that very scenario. He’s just starting out. He’s flipping. So he’s buying. He’s flipping and. He comes to me and says, OK, here’s here’s the address. Go make it look pretty. That’s OK. What’s my budget?

And when I ask him that, he knows I have X amount for the total build, total remodel. Okay. So knowing that I can now go in there and say, okay, this should normally cost us say $5,000 to do X should $3,000 to do Y. And

That way I’m not introducing something that’s going to be $300,000 when we have $100,000 budget.

Dylan Silver (12:08.393)
All

Shadd Johnson (12:09.784)
So it’s always nice to have those who are in the market and the design side and also in the flip side contractor and in the realtor because like if you don’t have your team, I might put something on paper and make it look good. But as a realtor, you can’t sell it because it doesn’t, we’ve overpriced it for the neighborhood.

Dylan Silver (12:36.125)
Yeah. You can’t do that. can’t force improve it beyond what the comps show, right? You can try to reset the comps, but that’s not a good strategy. Generally.

Shadd Johnson (12:48.001)
Exactly.

Dylan Silver (12:49.961)
Chad, having been in this business now and seeing the way where technology, AI, and all of this is headed, no one has a crystal ball, right? But people can see trends and see momentum. What huge innovation do you see that may be on the horizon, if any, in the next maybe six months to a year in your space?

Shadd Johnson (13:15.734)
in regards to the AI or just in general.

Dylan Silver (13:19.314)
in general.

Shadd Johnson (13:21.678)
People were seeing it here locally.

pocketbooks are bursting at the seams. We’ve had four years of stagnant growth as an economy, as a nation, and now we’re, put politics aside, we haven’t seen that growth and we’ve got people who are literally wanting to spend money.

and they are investing into real estate. It is, okay, I’m going to go buy this piece of property. I want you to build me a B and B. Okay, let’s do it. Or go build me, know, design me a duplex, design me whatever. But it’s, we’re seeing that trend appear where pocketbooks are starting to burst. People are just like, I need to spend money. Like we’ve got to get things moving.

Dylan Silver (14:28.553)
Absolutely. You know, I’m in Texas, so I feel a sense of pride being here because I feel like we may have the best single-family residential real estate market in the country. I think that there’s a huge opportunity, specifically where I’m at in Dallas, DFW Metro. When I moved up here in September, I moved up here because I felt like this was kind of the holy grail of single-family home real estate investing, and that’s the lane that I want to be a part of.

and I moved up from San Antonio, same state, right? Same state. San Antonio, God bless, but San Antonio is not on the level that Dallas is at when it comes to single family. Now they’re doing a totally different thing in San Antonio, right? It’s not Dallas, they’re not trying to be Dallas, but as great as San Antonio is, Dallas is just another level, it’s another gear. It’s remarkable to see that type of

expansion. And I think for a lot of people who are looking at the real estate space saying, should I get in? Should I not? If you’re in one of these markets, you know, the the Florida’s the the Dallas is, I’ve heard great things about Detroit, actually, right now, I’ve heard great things about Detroit. Funny enough, right? Who would think, right? But if you’re in some of these markets, where it’s very favorable to be a single family home real estate investor, you got it, you got to seize on that opportunity.

And to everyone who’s listening, who’s kind of on the outside looking in, I tell them this has been my trajectory, my career path. I’m curious to hear your, Shadd, but started out networking. I had no idea. Didn’t come from real estate in my blood, knew nobody. I was selling cars, working for a Nissan dealership, did a wholesale deal, didn’t really know what was going on, did five more. Now I’m up to 20 plus wholesale deals. I’ve worked on a flip so I can understand estimating repairs.

rehabs, working with contractors. I have my real estate license and now I understand a lot of the contracts component of it and interfacing with title companies. I understand creative deals. And so now I’m looking at, well, what’s the future look like? I’ve got, can do flips myself. I can do short term rentals. can do corporate housing. I can do longterm. After that, then you open it up even further. You can hold notes, right? You can do hard money lending.

Dylan Silver (16:52.137)
you could get into one thing I’m looking at actually is medical office space. It seems really interesting, our retail medical. So I’m curious what in your life but also of your peers, what do you see as being a trajectory on the path of a home planner?

Shadd Johnson (17:16.078)
There are certain things that looking from the outside in, okay? If you are on the fence, there are certain things that you should invest in and that will never, never fail you. And that is land and that is housing. My grandfather used to tell me,

to join three professions and only three. And I’m like, okay, I’m kind of curious. So he’s like, either be a lawyer.

be in the construction or be in law enforcement. And I’m like, okay, why those three? goes, well, somebody’s gonna, housing is always going to be needed. So you’ll have a steady job doing it in the construction. Somebody’s going to be pissed at you, so they’re gonna sue you. And then it’s gonna come to blows, so then now you need law enforcement.

to break up the fight. Because those three areas, you’re guaranteed work for the rest of your life. looking at the investment side of things, one of those things have one version of that has a component of everything. It’s the housing market. Yes, you mentioned Detroit. The reason why Detroit is on fire right now is because everybody’s leaving it.

because of all the politics. So housing there is super cheap that you can do a flip and turn a profit. Same thing with the, I think, Pennsylvania, the Philly area is doing the same thing. Wherever politics are involved in the housing area, you have your ups and downs.

Shadd Johnson (19:28.206)
Oregon is another big one. Oregon and Washington are huge right now on people leaving because of the politics. So it’s now time to swoop in, grab those houses so now when the politics get their head on straight, you have that investment already there in line so that way you can either rent it out or you can sell it.

Dylan Silver (19:28.35)
Yep.

Dylan Silver (19:52.893)
Yep, that’s 100 % true. Other people’s inflation is a real estate investor’s appreciation. And a down market is the best time to buy. Shadd, we are coming up on time here. Where can folks go to get a hold of you?

Shadd Johnson (20:09.464)
So Instagram, Facebook, any kind of social media, I’m on there. It’s Chad Johnson Designed. We do things nationwide. We are based out of Utah, but I’ve been doing Zoom meetings before Zoom was a thing.

Dylan Silver (20:26.953)
There you go. Shadd, thank you so much for coming on.

Shadd Johnson (20:29.954)
Thank you.