As a child, I never would’ve imagined that I’d be building houses someday. People would ask me what I wanted to do when I grew up and my answer was always, “not work full-time”! So how did I end up with three different jobs and a home builder’s license?

It started in late 2004. My ex-husband and I owned a painting business together and through the business, I became very interested in homes. I loved helping people with colors and design ideas, and I would spend my weekends driving around to different open houses, looking at floor plans and homes under construction.
One weekend, we were advertising our painting company at the local Home and Garden Show, and I met a guy named Shannon Pate. Shannon was an experienced home builder and owned a company that helped people build their own homes; he was also advertising at the show. I spent a couple hours interrogating him about the process, trying to understand how things worked. Shannon worked as a consultant, providing the owner builder with a list of subcontractors, a construction calendar, and all the information, literature, and support they needed to build their own home. He would then be available 24-7 during the whole planning, estimating, and construction process for site visits, phone calls or to help with all the inevitable obstacles that would surface along the way! He would charge a percentage of construction cost as a consultant’s fee that was significantly less than it would cost to hire a builder, and the homeowner would still have a builder’s expertise while designing and having control over how their home was built.

I loved the concept because I loved the idea of building a home but knew I couldn’t do it on my own. So a few months after the show, things in the painting and the interpreting world were kind of slow, and I started thinking about other ways to create income while doing something I enjoyed. I called Shannon and asked if he would be willing to work with me if I were to build a spec home. (Spec stands for speculation and just means a home that is built with the intention of selling it). I kind of expected him to say no or to tell me that I was crazy, but he said sure, his fee was the same either way. But he did say that I would have to get my home builder’s license because the law requires you to have a license unless you’re building your personal home. I said ok but still don’t think I knew what I was getting myself into. I ordered the books that I needed to study for the exam, studied for a few months and luckily passed the exam.

In the meantime, I had already begun working with Shannon to find a piece of property, pick out house plans and bid the job to different subcontractors. I found some stock plans that I liked, made a few changes and purchased them from a local architect. After driving around for several weeks looking for property, I found a piece of property off of Al Seier Road in Hoover. It just so happened that Shannon’s dad was the owner of the lot! It was a large lot in a great area, located across from the new Preserve development. There had formerly been a house on the lot, but it was in such bad shape that they decided to tear it down and divide the property in half, creating two lots that measured 80 feet by 160 feet with a small creek at the back. I later realized that a good friend of mine from Costa Rica had lived in the house that they tore down. We had been to several parties at that house!

I signed the contract to purchase the lot, and Shannon’s dad, Milton, waited patiently as I tried to figure out how to pay for it! I naively thought I could just walk into any bank and they would gladly give me a loan to build a house. It turns out that they wanted me to have some experience first. Crazy! After unsuccessfully attempting to get a loan from several different banks, finally I was able to get financing through connections that Shannon and his dad had with a local banker. Had it not been for that, I may never have built my first home. I had to get my mom, dog, and cousin to co-sign on the loan, and they only loaned me a portion of the price of the lot. So Milton agreed to hold a mortgage on the remaining balance until I sold the house.

As I had gathered more information from different bankers, one banker suggested that I form an LLC (Limited Liability Company). That way I wouldn’t be personally liable in case there were any lawsuits, which are pretty common in the construction industry. It would also mean that the loan wouldn’t show up on my personal credit report, although I would still be personally responsible for the loan. My accountant, Jessie Ellis, helped me with the paperwork, and my company was formed! I couldn’t think of any fabulous name at the time, so we just used my initials and called it LAN Homes, LLC!

With Shannon’s help, the process went really smoothly. Of course, there were obstacles along the way, but nothing major, and I learned SO much (mostly about how much I didn’t know). It also taught me that most problems, no matter how terrible they seem in the moment, have reasonable solutions. I spent several months feeling constantly stressed, and worried that I had forgotten some crucial detail, but I loved being out on the jobsite, talking with the workers. Many of the subcontractors were people that had worked with Shannon for 10 years or more, so they were experienced and knowledgeable. Shannon and the subs were very patient with me and my many questions! I was constantly asking things that showed my ignorance. Occasionally someone would playfully laugh at me, but mostly they would help me make decisions along the way and were more than willing to share their knowledge!

The house was mostly built in about 4 months, and I had a contract for a couple to purchase the house a couple of months after it was finished. I was thrilled! I’ve attached a tiny photo below. It turned out to be a pretty house with about 2400 square feet of finished space, 4 bedrooms, 3.5 baths, 3 car garage and a great backyard. I loved the grey/ brown brick and the 8 foot arched mahogany door on the front.

After selling the first home, I bought the second lot next door and started making plans to build a home there. Martha and Milton Pate, even though they had other offers, graciously kept the second lot for me until I had sold the first home. The second time around it was much easier to get financing! I finished the second home and sold it in April of 2007. With each home that I sold, I would use the profit to put a down payment on a small rental property, thinking that over the course of 10-15 years I could pay off the homes, and it would make for a solid retirement plan.

Before finishing the second home, I had found the lot where I currently live on Buttercup Drive. I was looking for a place to build a home where we could live and have storage space for all our ladders, painting equipment, and work vans. We were living in a townhome off Hwy 280 with very little storage and a tiny backyard. I wanted to be closer to downtown where I did most of my work, and the lot was in a great location, less than .5 miles from 31 in Hoover. So I bought the lot and worked with a designer to design the floor plan.

Right after I began construction, my marriage fell apart, and my husband and I separated. I decided to put the house on the market, thinking that I could nearly pay off the loan on my 280 townhome with the profit. The townhome would be the perfect place for me by myself, even though I had grown tired of fighting 280 traffic. But a couple of months went by and the Buttercup house didn’t sell, so instead of making two house payments, I asked my friend, Gloria, if she’d like to be my roommate. I rented out the townhome and moved to my house in Hoover. I love the house and have loved living there for the past 4 years. It’s been really fun having dance parties in the basement, Stevie-D loves running around in the backyard, and there’s an awesome kitchen and more storage than I could ever use! But I always knew that at some point it would be more than I could afford and maintain. The bank allowed me to keep my construction loan in place for a couple of years with an interest rate that kept dropping. So the first few years I was there, the home was more than affordable with a roommate. But last year I had to restructure the loan and put it in my personal name with a higher interest rate, which increased my payment by over $600. I’m still able to cover my expenses, but I just have to be more frugal and work a lot harder than I’d like to do it.

I’ll miss my Buttercup home, but I feel like the Passive House project in Avondale is definitely a better fit for me! And I hope there’s a family out there that will love living on Buttercup as much as I have.

Shannon Pate has agreed to be available as a consultant for the Passive House as well in case we need another set of eyes to look at plans or problem solve along the way. I have always been more than grateful to Shannon and his family for all the ways they helped and supported me along the way, and I’m happy that he’s willing to be a part of this project. Shannon’s knowledge, experience, problem solving skills and willingness to explore and incorporate innovative ideas make him an excellent home builder that really cares about building a quality home. I’ve always seen him go above and beyond to act in the best interest of his customers and workers. If you’d like to see Shannon’s contact info., bio, and photos of homes that he’s built, you can go to his website at www.asphomebuilding.com. He no longer works with owner builders, but he is still building custom and spec homes.