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Show Summary
In this episode of the Real Estate Pros podcast, host Micah Johnson interviews Tony, the chief problem solver at Torian Tech, who is revolutionizing the pre-construction software space. Tony shares his journey from software development to creating a tool that simplifies the home design process, making it as easy as playing a video game. The conversation delves into the challenges of the design center phase, the benefits of their software for production builders, and the positive feedback from buyers. Tony discusses the target market for their product, the importance of remote design capabilities, and the future plans for expanding their offerings to include renovations. The episode highlights the significance of user experience, sales impact, and the ongoing journey of bringing innovative solutions to the real estate industry.
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Investor Fuel Show Transcript:
Tony Torian (00:00)
know, what’s funny is that my brother, hewas building a home when I returned and he was going with a really nice builder out in Alabama. I don’t want to name their names, but he invited me to the design session. I almost like, you know, canceled it. I was tired. They already told us it was going to be about four hours, but I went anyway. And a long story short, you know, by about hour and a half, I’m sitting here looking at my sister-in-law. She’s looking bored and I’m looking at the lady. I’m like, is there no digital way of doing this? And she says, no, actually I get this question all.
the time. And so, you know, we left three and a half hours later, six hour session. And after doing some more research, I really found out that there truly was no way of doing the manual tedious task of designing a home.
Micah Johnson (02:17)
Hey, everyone, welcome to the Real Estate Pros podcast. I am your host, Micah Johnson. And today I am joined by Tony, who is making some waves in the pre-construction software space. So if you’re ready to use some software that makes designing a home as easy as playing the Sims, you’re going to want to tune into this. Tony, welcome in, man. Glad to have you.Tony Torian (02:36)
Hey, Micah, how’s it going, man? Thanks for having me.Micah Johnson (02:38)
I’m doing well, thank you. I’m excited for our listeners to hear and take away from what you’re really working on for those people that are in that development space that are building 30 or more homes a year. So let’s dive in. First off for people who aren’t familiar with you, give us the short version and what your main focus these days are and what market you’re working in.Tony Torian (02:59)
Sure, ⁓ I’mTony, I’m the chief problem solver over there at Torian Tech. I’m also the owner, but I prefer the first title better. I’ve been a software developer for about 12 years now, recently transplanted back to America after being overseas for some time. since then, I’ve developed a couple products, but one that I’m really, really harking on is this pre-construction software. And since then, it’s been sending me in new directions.
Micah Johnson (03:24)
Awesome, man. So let’s dig in on that for a second. When you, you’ve been in software engineering for 12 years, traveled around some, what was it about the real estate space when you came back that interested you and wanted you to dive deeper?Tony Torian (03:36)
You know, what’s funny is that my brother, hewas building a home when I returned and he was going with a really nice builder out in Alabama. I don’t want to name their names, but he invited me to the design session. I almost like, you know, canceled it. I was tired. They already told us it was going to be about four hours, but I went anyway. And a long story short, you know, by about hour and a half, I’m sitting here looking at my sister-in-law. She’s looking bored and I’m looking at the lady. I’m like, is there no digital way of doing this? And she says, no, actually I get this question all.
the time. And so, you know, we left three and a half hours later, six hour session. And after doing some more research, I really found out that there truly was no way of doing the manual tedious task of designing a home.
I mean, you’ve got your custom ways of doing it, but there’s nothing that would serve as someone who is a production builder. So I put pins of code in, I made it happen.
Micah Johnson (04:31)
Interesting, man. So traveling with your family, seeing that there’s actually this need and getting to hear that feedback from them that this doesn’t exist. That kind of lines up when you’re a software developer.Tony Torian (04:41)
It was perfect. know, you don’t want to get too giddy. You don’t want to take them for their first word. But they’re such a they built so many homes in the area. Like I instantly believed her. And then when I did my own research, it was just very it was very fulfilling to say, wow, this is a hole in the market.Micah Johnson (04:56)
So for the person that would be interested in using this product, where does it really get applied and what does it help them do?Tony Torian (05:51)
So this gets applied in the design center phase. A lot of the pre-construction or spec builders, they have like a design studio session. You you got a nice, you might have a nice kitchen set up, but within this session, you got all the tiles and cabinets you could ever choose from.We don’t aim to replace the physical feel that you can get with this. We aim to accompany it because, know, you got these nice little squares, but it doesn’t truly show you what you’re buying. And everybody knows the home is everyone’s most important purchase. So by integrating our software, they can fully visualize a real floor plan, not just a generic one, but the actual floor plan the the buyer is getting. And that just shuts down so much design time and it saves them so much ⁓ as far as upgrades as well on the long haul.
Micah Johnson (06:38)
Interesting. Okay. So I’ve been through one of these sessions before as I bought a new home that was ⁓ built and it did last forever. So I’m just thinking about how taking it from that abstract, I’m holding the tile in my hand. I’m looking at it in very different ways. And I’m sitting there trying to see it inside the house that I’m building. That’s 50 miles from where I was actually at at the center. I can see how powerful this tool would be for someone toto be able to see it right in front of them, especially, I mean, in the end buyer world, not everybody can visualize a real estate space. Not everybody can fill it in their mind that easily. for the, what have you found from your users? What are they finding? ⁓ How do I say it? Revolutionary about the product. Cause it sounds like you’re one of the first ones, if not the first one to bring this out. ⁓
Tony Torian (07:17)
It’s very hard.That’s correct. It
is a patent pending technology. But what to answer your question, our initial adopters, what they’re really raving about is the time saving off the bat. Because again, the national standard for production home is maybe four to six hours as far as the design studio phase. We’re seeing that our adopters are seeing 62 minutes. So that’s about a 75 % reduction. Now, everybody knows that the upgrades like you get a standard door or you could pay $3,000 for an extra door. I bring that
Micah Johnson (07:53)
Wow.Tony Torian (08:01)
Went up because my brother he had a real conundrum with that one, but long story short The issue he had was he couldn’t see the actual door on his home for him to validate the upgrade Because this is an actual floor plan with the actual selections from the home builder. You can see it so they’re seeing an additional upgrade about 25 % uptick in their upgrades as well and Above all, I think what may be the most valuable is the construction rework has been minimizedbecause then you know could do everything perfect on the front end you could write down all the changeovers perfect but in the end the the construction team may put in the wrong cabinets and because our system is fully 3d it takes the whole guessing game out of everything the construction team has the 3d model the buyer made the buyer has the 3d model they made when the keys get handed over everybody’s on the same accord
Micah Johnson (08:51)
Man, so it’s not just affecting it from being able to get more of your buyers through your process. So it’s following all the way into the construction phase as well. So you’re not just knocking time off. And time is money in our business for sure, especially if you’re a high level builder that’s putting out a lot of units a year, getting people through this is really important.Tony Torian (09:02)
That’s correct.That’s correct. That’s correct. We aim for ⁓ to streamline everybody’s process. That’s what we do at Torian Tech.
Micah Johnson (09:19)
How have the, have you heard any feedback on the people that are the buyers themselves? How are they interacting with the product and responding to it?Tony Torian (09:31)
So we’ve got a lotof great critical acclaim from the buyers themselves because they, you know, they’re the ones going through the process. They a lot seeing less buyer fatigue is what they describe it after being there for so long and going through the options. A lot of them say that, you know, before they seen some technology like this, they were letting the actual design team just kind of pick their options just to kind of get through with it. So by giving them a full visualization, I believe this is the best buyers experience when it comes to buying a home and their acclaim is saying the same.
Micah Johnson (10:37)
That’s interesting, man, because it’s, can see it again. I’m just reflecting back on my own experience through that of being able to see, having that in your hand, and then even going and checking the house later. If you get a 3D printout of it and you can walk through it, because that’s what we went through. We had quite a few change orders that added massive amounts of time to the process where when you’re building a house, it already takes long enough. You’re six to eight months, no matter what. And those little things at the end.Tony Torian (10:58)
Yep.Yep.
Micah Johnson (11:07)
That starts to really ride into the, what’s the buyer, where are they living now? How do they get from where they are to the home? When’s it actually gonna be done? So it seems like it cuts some stress out there too.Tony Torian (11:17)
Yeah, all the anticipation that gets built up with building a home because it’s such a big decision. So why leave it up to the imagination and chance?Micah Johnson (11:25)
Now, who have you found that’s really benefiting company-wise from this style of product? Who is it that really seems like that good fit?Tony Torian (11:35)
So for this, we like to think that the 30 and up production home builder are perfect for this. Because anybody who builds less than that, they’re more on the purely custom side and they don’t mind spending two, three days, maybe months with their buyer getting everything perfect. Our software is perfect for anybody who’s got floor plans and you just build different variations of that floor plan with different interior selections.Micah Johnson (12:01)
Got you. the person they already have the plans built out. They know what they’re doing. This is really to help fill the space inside, making sure that the buyer selects everything that they they want in the home.Tony Torian (12:14)
That’s correct. It’s for a cause a lot of builders, they may be wanting to go to the more semi custom route now because in 2025 people are expecting more for their book. And so this gives them the customer experience, the way of giving them more options without, you know, taking too much of your time. And what we’re really finding a niche ⁓ industry now is that when you’re building from the ground up like homes that aren’t even made yet, this allows you to do it fully remotely before they even get there because this can be done fullyin a web browser.
Micah Johnson (12:45)
Wow. Okay. Dig a little deeper there. What’s, what’s that mean for the whole process?Tony Torian (12:48)
you⁓ So by mean in a web browser, I mean just like how we’re streaming online right now You don’t need any special software. You don’t need any special tech skills You don’t need any special computers to run it You can actually pull it up with your client being in another state like for instance in Huntsville We’ve got space command coming down from Colorado So they’ve got tons of people on the market shopping, but they can’t pull the trigger until they actually get here But if you were to integrate this into your system, you could fully do the design phase before they even left it there
their last date.
Micah Johnson (13:23)
Interesting. So that cuts off a lot of time, money, and just expense when it comes to the buyer themselves. So getting through that phase where I can’t get out there yet, I don’t want to be sight unseen technically, but this lets you really be involved in that process then.Tony Torian (13:36)
Yeah.That’s correct. And you know, you would hate for your client to get all the way down here and then see somebody else, you know, see another builder and think, oh, that’s a little bit more interesting. So why not do them a service and give them the best customer experience?
Micah Johnson (13:51)
That’s true. Cause I mean, in that phase, you’re still not completely locked in. People can back out a new construction quite late into the process. So I like the idea of how it gives them more of a custom feel inside a world that’s not so custom, right? It’s, it’s, you can kind of feel like you’re getting run through the factory and one of those things a little bit. And this, this creates that user experience. What have you seen in terms of.Tony Torian (14:11)
yeah.Micah Johnson (14:17)
getting people to buy into it. Cause if it’s, it’s new that user adoption is a big deal. What kind of hurdles do you overcome in there?Tony Torian (14:24)
That is it is toughI mean, you know with any new product because we don’t technically have any direct competitors the closest thing that we have is a competitor that has static images It’s more of like a 360 view nothing that you can change. So, I mean, they’re pretty big I don’t want to mention them, but they’re they’re they’re well known within the builder space but not within the pre-construction space and people who do pre-construction they see the flaws of the current state of the art so to answer your question the real challenge I find is just getting people to
be aware of what it is and then also see how it could work for their own floor plans.
Micah Johnson (15:40)
Interesting. Okay. So you specifically mentioned that pre-construction phase for someone that’s listening that may end up using this later. What is that? What is what exactly are you talking about there?Tony Torian (15:52)
Sure, so pre-construction maybe you liveout in a in a nice or I’m not gonna say you maybe you live in an area and you notice that they’ve leveled out like a whole Area that looks like it’s going to be a neighborhood. You can tell they probably put some mailboxes up maybe some driveways and What a production builder or spec builder they are people who are in charge of that They know that they’re gonna put 10 20 30 homes there They just may not have sold those homes yet and so their their whole business model is to do the
Development find the buyer later, and that’s why they call it pre-construction
Micah Johnson (16:26)
Got you. Okay, so this is, you’re looking at that builder, you’ve been driving around, there’s a big piece of property, all of a sudden, there was a sign there, there’s no sign there. There’s stuff being cleared out, it looks like something’s happening. That kind of builder is who’s gonna be into this product. Man, is, you don’t hear about stuff like this very often, especially, and this is something I like about real estate is how niche down it gets. There are so…Tony Torian (16:41)
That’s correct. That’s correct.You
Micah Johnson (16:54)
It’s such a big term when you say real estate where there’s service provider room, there’s the builders themselves, there’s all these little facets that go into somebody’s business being successful. Have you been able to show with your current customers, besides just the time reduction, have you been able to show either an increase in how much they’re selling and their upgrades? Has it helped do that? And then overall getting people through the system.Tony Torian (17:19)
That’s correct. We have been reported they’ve got a 25 % increase in their upgrades ⁓ and a lot of them they love that because that’s kind of their last chance to make any revenue on the deal and so it’s a win-win for everybody in the situation.Micah Johnson (17:34)
that’ssignificant, 25 % more upgrades. And it makes sense because when someone can see it, like we were talking about earlier, for that person that struggles to see it, they’re not as likely to come out that money because it doesn’t make sense at that point. But if you can put it in front of them, one, it creates, again, that more custom feel for their house, but it makes more bottom line revenue for the builder itself.
Tony Torian (17:45)
No.Yep, everybody feels like they got a good deal when they walked away because you know, that’s important. You want them to feel that way. So if they buy house in the future, maybe they choose you to do the same process again.
Micah Johnson (18:09)
That’s true. I mean, it’s very expensive to get customers. That’s what we all learn in business. Very expensive. You want to keep one as long as you can. And in that real estate can be super transactional in a way because average person doesn’t move every five years somewhere in there is about when they’re going to do it. delivering an experience that’s so solid, because that’s someone who’s built a brand new home. You want another one. You like living in brand new stuff. It’s kind of a good feeling. Like you’re the first one ever been there.Tony Torian (18:24)
Exactly.Micah Johnson (18:38)
And so being able to lock in on that experience where it would stick that long, seems like it’d be helpful.Tony Torian (18:44)
Yeah, I agree with that as well.Micah Johnson (18:48)
Man, so what is your next plan? How do you plan on getting this out to more people?Tony Torian (18:55)
Sure. So as of recently, I’ve been in ⁓hiring regional growth partners, just different people in different areas so they have large pre-construction markets. And I’m teaching them the game and they’re helping me expand. It’s all about a networking game now. I understand that, reaching the right people. And so we’re still analyzing the market, making sure everything is crisp and clean, getting feedback from our current clients to see how we can improve because that’s what software is all about, constant improvement. So whenever we do sync that 500,000 home a year type client,
Micah Johnson (19:22)
Mm-hmm.Tony Torian (19:29)
want to make sure it’s got the best possible product and everything is aligned well.Micah Johnson (19:33)
Yeah, because that’s is streamlined for is it seems like that person that’s operating it’s built and they’re looking to add a new layer of service and upsell that didn’t exist before.Tony Torian (19:45)
That’s correct. I mean, we really think this is great for anybody who you really spend so much or you you you churn out a lot of homes that sounds uh, that sounds Capitalistic, but if you think about it if the average design center time takes four to six hours I mean you can really only service two people per day and that’s what sending your workers home on overtime So if if you know that you’re sending people in and out of the door This is definitely the kind of software that you needMicah Johnson (19:57)
No, not that.Well, I agree. Yeah. Cause if you’re in, if you’re in a production builder, numbers are your game. You’re not, you’re trying to build as many as you can. You’re not like you were talking about before those more custom builders there. They’re not trying to build the big business. That’s not their goal in general, just as a, as a person. So what I like is that you’ve got a good niche. You have an idea of exactly who that target is and you’re leaning more into that regional, regional support to branch it out.
Tony Torian (20:17)
Numbers are your game.No.
Micah Johnson (20:40)
What have you been finding the most success there to branch out with?Tony Torian (20:46)
I’ve been finding out that attending the local builders associations, it’s crazy that I’ve even like thinking about this kind of stuff, because I never would have like five years ago. But community opening ceremonies, I went to one of those not too long ago, that was crazy. ⁓ But there’s different ways to just kind of tap in with your local community and find people that do real estate. And you you don’t always have to be on the sales tip, but once you people what I found is once I’ve explained what it does, the value add is almost instant. And so people naturallykind of want to learn more and you know it’s it’s also about finding the right people to talk to because obviously salesmen don’t have the right kind of power to integrate new technology systems into the the mass corporation but that comes along with the time.
Micah Johnson (21:31)
It does, man. It proves something that’s, it’s true with all business, but especially real estate business, it’s relationship driven. It really matters who you know, it matters who you’re talking to. And unless you get out there and talk to them, it’s not going to happen by accident. And that’s a space where I see a lot of, a lot of entrepreneurs and business owners where they’re good at the one part, but that other part, they think, okay, people should just come find this now. And it’s that other side where.Tony Torian (21:38)
That’s it.No.
No.
Micah Johnson (22:02)
You typically find this harder than building the software itself, I’d imagine, because one is a strength skill set. And then the other one’s leaning into something that you just said. He’d never guessed you’d be at a builder’s association meeting.Tony Torian (22:06)
A thousand percent.Now you’re 1000%, just going into this, do feel like developing it was so much easier than bringing it to market. And you do have those expectations when you’re finally done with it, especially when you’re so hands on with it as myself. You think like, oh, they’re gonna be the first ones, they’re gonna be the first ones, but business doesn’t work like that. You just learn to take it as the journey and love the journey as it comes.
Micah Johnson (22:39)
It is man. Embrace the hard too. Cause that’s, that’s the part that gets a lot of people is when, when the real hard hits, when you’re, especially in those early times, when more is on your plate than you’re good at and you, know, it’s not about being the best at that thing. It’s about getting that part done and pushing yourself through it. Those are the people I tend to find that are successful. And I used to sell software in a past life. And one thing I learned then is it constantly has a, if you’re not upgrading it, they’reTony Torian (23:03)
Okay.Micah Johnson (23:08)
It doesn’t, you got to keep doing it. People, people like to keep seeing, what are you adding to it? How’s it making it better? So how do you see on the future in terms of your product growth? Are there any exciting things coming?Tony Torian (23:11)
That’s right.Yes, actually, I’m glad you asked me that. So one thing I want to focus on is service in the renovator space because as I’ve been marketing, trying to get to the right consumer, I’ve had a lot of feelers from people that do renovations, but for them, it’s a little bit different. Their floor plans change constantly versus where we might, you know, when we onboard a client, we’re going to digitize their top three floor plans off rip. But with a renovator, they never know what kind of bathroom or kitchen they’re walking into. And so what I want to do is I want to make a software that
is will probably be AI driven but it’ll analyze a photo and give them as close of a 3d sketch up as possible to what we’ve got going on right now it won’t be as similar but it’ll help them also sell more upgrades and streamline their own process to help their buyer know what the finish line is gonna look like
Micah Johnson (24:11)
Another huge niche in the space, the ones that fixing the house after. yeah, so solving that issue of how do I get the floor plan in, you do that. Because now you’re running into a friend of mine owns, a couple of friends that own those kinds of companies and getting customers in front of what they’re going to put in the home is one of the hardest parts. You’re right back into that design studio trying to get them to see, okay, this is what it’s going to look like. This is what you’re going to feel and experience when you’re home.Tony Torian (24:40)
That’s true. So, you know, it took me a while to come to those terms that that’s another service to offer. But it’s one that I definitely want to provide before the third quarter of 2026.Micah Johnson (24:52)
Excellent, man. And they run hand in hand. You’ve already built what it seems like is most of it, just making that slight alteration to include that next group. So it gives you a ⁓ really, it’s a different vertical inside of real estate and way more stability. That’s one thing we learned in this business is because there’s so many, as you get one solved and figured out, well, sometimes the market shifts and having that next piece to land on. Man, that’s fascinating.So Tony, if someone wanted to talk to you about this, where’s the best place they can find you? How can they reach out to you?
Tony Torian (25:29)
Sure, so I’m really responsive on the Torian Tech Instagram, but obviously you can go to toriantech.com. We got a product page for the program, DrieHuis there, and I will be making a separate, like whole website for DrieHuis. That’s the name of the 3D software. And just look out for that coming soon. But if you find Torian Tech online, tons of ways to get in contact.Micah Johnson (25:32)
⁓Awesome, man. Well, perfect. Al, listen, I appreciate your time. You’re storing your perspective, what you’re doing in the space. I think we need more people thinking innovative like this and coming up ways to make these
things we’ve done for a long time better, right? Getting that whole experience to a next level. And for those of you tuning in, if you got value from this, please subscribe, like this episode. You’ll find Torian’s information in the description below. We’ve got more conversations coming up with operators just like Tony, who are out there building real businesses in the real estate space. Thank you so much. We’ll see you on the next episode.
