How Small Exterior Damage Can Kill Your Home Sale (And How to Fix It Fast)

Ben Henderson (00:00)

it’s such a hard thing to quantify, right? But I really think that it has a huge impact because a buyer walking up to a house, especially in this market where they have lots of houses to choose from, right? They’re going to walk up to a house and they’re going to see damage either on door trim or on a window. And their first thought may be, yeah, no, I’m not interested in trying to fix anything. I’m going to go find a different house. Right. And so

Dylan Silver (00:12)

Yeah, sitting.

Ben Henderson (00:25)

It may not even be a value proposition at all. You may have just lost the opportunity to try to sell to them.

Dylan Silver (02:10)

Hey folks, welcome back to the show. Today’s guest, Ben Henderson brings 20 years of aerospace testing and operations experience into the real estate world as the owner of Preservan Dallas, a niche company providing permanent repairs for damaged wood architectural features. Convenience, on schedule and peace of mind are his top priorities. You can find him on LinkedIn or on preservan.com forward slash locations forward slash Dallas. Ben, thanks for taking the time today.

Ben Henderson (02:12)

you

Happy to be here.

Dylan Silver (02:42)

Now, when we talk specifically about wood restoration and repair, I think a lot of times people kind of let these things go on until they’re ready to list their home. And as a realtor myself, that’s the first thing that comes to mind. When are you seeing that people are reaching out to you the most?

Ben Henderson (03:05)

That so it definitely is something we see, you know, as people are listing homes, we do occasionally get calls from buyers as well. You know, they’re they got an inspection report that said there was an issue. ⁓ But another interesting piece that we are seeing is folks will reach out basically like they they reach out to us and say, holy crap, I didn’t know that someone could fix this.

And so they’ve just been putting it off because they didn’t know who to call. And so we’re that solution.

Dylan Silver (03:40)

Hmm. And so they have no wood restoration.

Yeah, that would be me too. I don’t I wouldn’t know the first thing about where to start. And I think, know, like a lot of things, people would start with with a Google search, you know, wood restoration and wood repair. One of the things that comes to mind is, know, is this something that can become like an issue where it can get so bad that that it can’t be repaired after a certain point in time and kind of when you start to notice

the signs of wear and tear, you’ve got to address it right then. Or do you have like a window of time a couple years before you really have to address it?

Ben Henderson (04:15)

You definitely have the time scale is years. ⁓ It’s you know, if you when you first notice this sort of an issue, it’s really going to probably be a paint failure. So like if someone’s walking around their house and looking at something, the first thing is you’ll probably see paint chipping off or falling off. ⁓ And then over time, that allows water to get into the wood products. And, you know, it could be two or three years later.

you’ll see an issue where a whole chunk of the wood has disappeared. ⁓ and then, you know, we’re, able to build that back. ⁓ there is, it will eventually get to the point where even we can’t repair it, but that’s, that’s a pretty extreme case. I would say, you know, the majority of the time we’re able to get some sort of a permanent repair in there.

Dylan Silver (05:54)

thinking also about investors who have rental properties and for people who have dogs, know, tenants with dogs, right? You know, I’ve seen and I’ve experienced this myself and I’ve had a dog where, the dog would chew the walls and I’m like, hey, knock it off. And so is this possible where, you know, wood when there is like a ⁓ chunk of it taken out potentially even could be repaired or do you have to at that point, you know, replace the whole fixture?

Ben Henderson (06:20)

No, we have repaired many doors that actually had just dog claw marks in them where the dog had dug out, scratched at the door and dug the wood out. We’ve also repaired doors where someone changed the locks and had holes in the door that needed to be repaired. We were able to repair those as well.

Dylan Silver (06:42)

Now, when people are talking about, you know, ⁓ the repair process and when to do this and they’re thinking also in the context of, I’m listing my home or I’m buying. Is there is this something that can be done quickly? Is there a time period that this has to sit or is this something that, you know, you make a phone call and someone can be out there relatively quickly and then it’s done within a week or so?

Ben Henderson (07:04)

Yeah. So we are a rapid repair service. we do generally have a two to three week log of work that we’re working through. ⁓ but we can show up sooner if we need to, ⁓ to, help someone, you know, if, if it is a really short timeline, like either a house closing or, ⁓ trying to turn a house for a new set of renters or whatever. the process itself.

We like to allow an overnight cure for the epoxies that we’re using for the repairs. and I can, I can go more in depth into the repair process if you would like. ⁓ but yeah, that’s kind of the, the big thing is where it’s usually a one to two day thing, depending on how extensive the repairs are. If it’s just a door, it’s going to be, ⁓ two visits over two days.

Dylan Silver (07:57)

Let’s dive into that a little bit. you know, I’m thinking again in lens of an investor or lens of a realtor working with investors and, you know, they may have an Airbnb or something and there’s been some damage, whether that could be, you know, water damage or they’re just noticing this, they’ve got someone coming in, right? Is this something where you mentioned there is a leeway time, but that they could effectively let sit overnight and then the following day will be good to go?

Ben Henderson (08:23)

Yes, these repairs, we essentially, want to get our epoxies in and installed and then it cures overnight as long as it’s warm enough. When we get into freezing temperatures, things slow down a little bit. But yeah, it really is a, it’s this process where we dig out all the bad wood or we get back to good wood, whatever that looks like. And then we have two different epoxies that we apply.

that take eight to 12 hours to cure, and then we can come back and sand and shape and paint. ⁓ In the summer, sometimes we’re able to do it all in a day, just because it’s so hot.

Dylan Silver (09:05)

Heat is a good thing in this case when I think typically I think things melt but in this case, it’s a good thing

Ben Henderson (09:11)

Yep, it’s a good thing as long as it’s not too hot. It can cure too fast, which will cause us some other issues, but we’re pretty good at taking care of those and making sure we avoid those problems.

Dylan Silver (09:23)

Now here’s a question that I think a lot of people don’t know the answer to, but also too, they might be doing a Google search and trying to figure out, is this worth it, type of thing. When folks are listing their homes,

and buyers are coming and they’re seeing these types of issues, how much can the windows, the doors, some of these features that are on the exterior of the home influence value, even if it’s just one or two windows that has some type of visible damage?

Ben Henderson (09:58)

it’s such a hard thing to quantify, right?

But I really think that it has a huge impact because a buyer walking up to a house, especially in this market where they have lots of houses to choose from, right? They’re going to walk up to a house and they’re going to see damage either on door trim or on a window. And their first thought may be, yeah, no, I’m not interested in trying to fix anything. I’m going to go find a different house. Right. And so

Dylan Silver (10:44)

Yeah, sitting.

Ben Henderson (10:58)

It may not even be a value proposition at all. You may have just lost the opportunity to try to sell to

⁓

Dylan Silver (11:04)

Yeah,

for sure. mean, when people talk specifically about, know, the as from the realtor perspective, these homes can be sitting on market for sometimes months right now. And I know things are changing as potentially rates are coming down and may continue to come down. But, you know, if I’m a buyer and I’ve got the option to go buy a brand new home, right, in the greater DFW Metroplex or a pre-owned home with, you know, some damage, maybe at a slightly

more cost effective price, knowing how, you know, cost effective some of these new builds are, you know, maybe on the outskirts of DFW, I’m going to think I’m just going to go new versus something that might be, you know, have somewhere in terror.

Ben Henderson (11:46)

Exactly. think that that’s a big, I think that’s a big influence on buyers right now, which is why I am trying to encourage a lot of our realtor friends and some of our architects and GCs like, Hey, let’s try to get these things repaired before you get a house on the market so that you are presenting the best. You’re putting the best foot forward with your sale. ⁓ As far as actual value on things.

Replacement costs for windows and doors can get really expensive if you’re going with high end wood products, which is typically what we’re working on. ⁓ Windows, especially are problematic because you end up having to replace the whole side of a house to get them to match. Right. You don’t want to just replace one window because it won’t match the rest of the house. And so we’re able to come in and repair.

Dylan Silver (12:33)

real.

Ben Henderson (12:44)

Typically our repair costs are between 10 and 25 % of the replacement costs for windows and doors. So that’s a significant savings.

Dylan Silver (12:55)

Now I know this is gonna be a huge range, so kind of a curve ball here, but ⁓ when folks are ⁓ windows in DFW homes, ⁓ what do you tip, and they’re having to replace the whole window, let’s say, what are you typically seeing that run?

Ben Henderson (13:11)

It is a huge range because it depends on so many factors. ⁓ Focusing in on wood windows, which are typically on the higher end, ⁓ we see them vary from I would say the low end is probably 2000 installed up to if it’s a really big picture window, it may be 10 or $20,000.

Dylan Silver (13:32)

Yeah, and so that’s a huge, a huge expense. And if you’re you’re budgeting to list your home and you’re thinking about, you know, the fees that you or the buyer may have to incur, these are these are things that add up. And also, you know, if you’ve got a short term rental or a mid term rental long term, and these things are coming up to, you know, you have to get that that fixed as well. I do want to pivot though, you’re been and ask you a little bit about, you know, your background, you got a very interesting background aerospace, right?

How did you go from that world, the engineering world, into the wood repair and restoration?

Ben Henderson (14:05)

Yeah, it was a really interesting journey. I got to test airplane and rocket parts for a lot of my career. I got to launch some rockets. I worked for a company called Virgin Orbit. I was the last person to touch one of the rockets before it actually got launched, which was pretty crazy. And then I was employee number one at a hypersonic startup down in Houston, actually, before I moved up to Dallas. And so I…

Dylan Silver (14:25)

Yeah.

Ben Henderson (14:35)

What happened was I got bored with always solving the same problem that I had already seen. And so I went out looking for something else to do. Wanted to be in business for myself and so Preservan is a franchise. And when I came across them and met the founder Ty and everything else, it really clicked with my personality of problem solving,

of saving.

things that already exist and taking care of people, right? We take good care of our employees. We take really good care of our clients. We actually call our clients neighbors ⁓ because we expect to run into them in the community. And we want to have taken such good care of them that we’ll be happy to run into them in the community.

Dylan Silver (16:07)

You know, when we talk about real estate networking in general, whether you’re in the restoration repair space, realtor, investor, that sphere of influence seems to be the most pivotal thing. you certainly underlying knowledge and experience is critical. But that network, that sphere does seem to be the factor that helps people find deals, secure deals, know, partnerships and so forth. I would like to get your feedback, you know, for folks who are

that may be going into the restoration space or a related space working with real estate owners and investors. Do you have any feedback for them as they’re maybe making a transition or getting started?

Ben Henderson (16:50)

That’s a really interesting question. It, it is, it really is all about relationships. you know, we, we’ve had early stage success just with people seeing a pic, a photo of a repair and saying, Hey, I need that. But really the success that we’re seeing now is in, I’ve, joined the networking group. So BNI people, you can go search for that. It’s one of the big ones. They’re great.

⁓ but I also, we joined two of the local historic preservation groups and we support them and we do workshops and we teach people and, we, we do the same with realtors. We reach out and we try to do training and teaching, ⁓ for realtors and for architects and everyone else just to, ⁓ one, to get our name out there, but two, I really believe that education is the way forward. The more people know.

the more successful they can be. And having been the one that has taught them, it enables you to build that relationship with them where they will trust you when someone has an issue to then refer you out to that.

Dylan Silver (18:02)

Yeah, I mean, look, you mentioned it earlier. There’s a lot of people that just don’t know where to go to and ⁓ don’t know, you know, the industry or, you know, that there is a wood restoration ⁓ professional in their area. And so just that, you know, can break down some barriers. And I’ve talked to so many folks on this show who are in a niche business where they do have to not just get awareness for themselves, but

you know, that they have a service that folks may need just not know of who to turn to.

Ben Henderson (18:35)

Yep, we definitely lived that here for sure. It’s all about trying to get in front of people so that they know we exist.

Dylan Silver (18:46)

One of the challenges that I know a lot of people face as newer business owners, but also established business owners, whether there’s competition or whether there’s maybe ⁓ a relative…

lack of public awareness for what people may be doing is that people may wait until it’s the 11th hour to do something and then at that point they’re coming up against deadlines. Are you seeing that for folks who are listing their home that this is something where the seller themselves is doing some outreach? Are the realtors reaching out to you? You mentioned earlier that you’re getting a lot of calls from buyers. Who’s typically doing the outreach and is it kind of at the end of the deal or is it when they’re getting ready to list their home?

Ben Henderson (19:27)

it.

We actually have a pretty even distribution right now. ⁓ When we started, it was primarily buyers, but we’re now starting to get sellers also kind of either in closing, hey, our buyer found this, we need to get it taken care of. But I actually got a call last week from a seller’s agent who is doing ⁓ listing prep.

And it’s like, man, that’s the sweet spot. Cause we, we have time to coordinate things and you know, work through all the issues that we find and get them into our schedule. And so that’s really my hope is as we grow and as we become more known that we really are in that listing preparation phase, just so that it’s easier for people, right? It’s stressful to have to try to plan and coordinate something at the 11th hour.

to try to get a deal to close the next day.

Dylan Silver (20:30)

Yeah, no one wants to have to

deal with that. I certainly have dealt with that my fair share of investors and sellers and you you didn’t you’re juggling, you know, spinning plates in the air. We are coming up on time here though, Ben, any new projects that you’re working on and then also what’s the best way for folks to get in contact with you?

Ben Henderson (20:49)

So new projects that we’re working on, we’re getting into the commercial space, which is really exciting. We’ve actually been working with someone who is redoing the entire stucco exterior on a condo complex with, I think, 400 to 500 windows. And as they work through that, we are repairing window boxes for them and saving them a ton of money and a ton of time. These windows are like nine to 10 weekly time.

keeping their project moving and saving them money at the same time. So that’s a really exciting new sort of thing we’ve added. ⁓ we are also going to start doing some, ⁓ wood fence restoration as well, starting in the spring. and then the best way to get ahold of us is to, huh? Probably honestly, probably just go to the website. ⁓ we have our phone number there. You can call and get in touch with our call center. you can also email us.

If you want to reach out to us directly here in Dallas, just it’s dallas@preservan.com. and yeah, keep an eye out for us in the area. you’re local.

Dylan Silver (21:59)

Ben, thank you so much for coming on the show. Thanks for taking the time today.

Ben Henderson (22:02)

Thanks for having me. I’m happy to be here and really trying to get the word out about what we do so that people know there is another option.