Hello everyone!
Welcome back to ‘Keeping it Real, Edmonton’, where we have on Real Guests to talk all about Real Estate with professionals who are making a mark in the industry.
In today’s post, we sit down with Adam Tassone, the founder of Skyward Homes, to explore his journey from a science graduate to an influential figure in Edmonton's building industry. Adam shares insights into the challenges and opportunities of constructing homes in our city, along with exciting trends shaping the industry, including the shift towards environmentally sustainable designs and net-zero homes.
Q. Can you tell us a bit about your background and how you got started in the building industry?
[Adam Tassone]: “Sure. So, I actually started about 20 years ago after University, I have a Science degree, but after University, Edmonton was booming and I worked for actually two developers at the time. Neither of them are in business now, but I kind of got thrown in just doing general help here, help there kind of thing, and that got my feet wet. When Edmonton went through a bit of a recession after that, those two companies didn't make it through. But I got into doing property management because I was doing some of that for the developers. And then I got my real estate license as a realtor. And then a few years later, like early, like around 2012, 2013, I started working with a friend of mine who was already kind of dabbling in building. We worked together for a few years. And then after that, I ventured off on my own.”
Q. Who are your clients? (Are they seasoned investors/homeowners)
[Adam Tassone]: “We've had a variety of clients in the beginning. Most of the products I was doing was somebody wanted to build a home or somebody wanted to build a garage suite. And so those were for homeowners or future homeowners. But now for the last year or two and, perhaps the foreseeable future, our clients are mostly investors. But they range in their experience. Some of them have large portfolios and they're maybe in a group. That's got a lot of experience and some of them are people who are just sort of transitioning from having like a rental house or condo into owning something or wanting to build something that's got maybe like eight to ten units. [...] But those are our clients. So they're mostly in the investor category.”
Q. What are some of the challenges and opportunities of building in Edmonton?
[Adam Tassone]: “Well, starting with the opportunities. Edmonton, like for the most part, at least in my adult life, usually the focus of real estate in Canada and perhaps where the best returns have been, in Vancouver and Toronto. However, in Edmonton, sort of, it just didn't have the right metrics to make it a hot spot. But right now, we're in a time where Edmonton and probably large parts of Alberta are actually excelling and perhaps doing better than some of the usual spots and that's because we still have relatively speaking affordable land and there's a decent number of trades and construction costs are probably reasonable compared to the rest of the country. So that's the opportunity that Edmonton has. And I think it's got projected to have some solid net immigration and migration. So that's good for the population.
The challenges that we're having is there still is a shortage of qualified skilled labor. And unfortunately, we had a big fire in Jasper so I think that's gonna have an impact next year when they start to rebuild. There's gonna be a drawdown of even Edmonton's labor. The other challenges are that, and these are good challenges in a way, or they make sense, that Edmonton and probably Calgary and other municipalities as they expand and they try to have more density because it's better for the city, it’s better for our whole infrastructure system is, as you build more, you realize, “Oh, we have a problem here and we have a problem there” and then you have to address it and then you're, you're pivoting as you go. So it does make things more challenging, but for the most part, they're good challenges.”
Q. What’s the most challenging project you’ve ever had then?
[Adam Tassone]: “I would say, I mean, different challenges and different types, but I would say right now Our projects are quite challenging in the sense that they're in on small tight lots for the amount of density we're putting on them and navigating through the shortage of trades has in general just made them more challenging than I've ever had to deal with before.
Q. What are the most popular types of homes and designs you are building in Edmonton right now?
[Adam Tassone]: “We're doing a lot of triplexes and fourplexes. And so our triplexes are done with, they're two stories and we put them on non-corner lots usually because non-corner lots are cheaper and there's of course more of them on a street. And so we generally have like a, we have some unique designs that have often walkout basements so that the basement suite tenants can get in and they got more privacy. And then on the four plexes, they're just a bit bigger because they got four units and we got those with walkouts basements typically for those basement tenants. And then in the back, some of those projects, we're building one or two units like garage suite units or backyard homes. Some people call them on top of the garage. So those are separate from the main dwelling, but they give the investor client additional units for rental purposes. That's right now what our most popular projects are.”
Q. What are some common misconceptions people have about the home building process?
[Adam Tassone]: “Generally speaking, I would say price and timeline. So, you know, through COVID and even still we're seeing, you know, because of inflation and demand, we're seeing a lot of changing in the, and what things cost. And even I, I'm not old enough to know what it was maybe like 40 years ago, but even I can see what it was like 10 years ago, and it is drastically different. So I think sometimes that catches people by surprise. And the timelines, we were able to build a, you know, something that maybe took 8 to 10 months before, now it's taking more like 12 months. And so I think that sometimes catches people by surprise too.”
Q. Can you discuss the importance of choosing quality materials and how it affects the longevity and value of a home?
[Adam Tassone]: “So the value of the home definitely impacted by the choice of materials. Because you know, the more expensive the products and the finishings, you pick the definitely direct impact on the value and the price point of the home. There is definitely a correlation between quality of a product and price, so sometimes there's stuff that's very inexpensive, but it might not last. But sometimes it's the lower cost option still could be of a good quality, this might not be aesthetically as pleasing. So especially when we work with investors in terms of Building something for rent, we focus on trying to give them reasonably costed options, or nothing too expensive, but still like, you're hinting at durable, long-lasting, easy to clean, easy to maintain. And then when we do some custom homes, especially if clients have a higher budget, we will give them options too, that not only are they long-lasting and durable, but they're going to also be aesthetically, you know, pleasing and fit the price point of the home they're building.”
Q. What are the key factors buyers should consider when choosing a builder?
[Adam Tassone]: “I guess some general pointers I would say is, you want someone experienced in the type of projects you're building. So if you want to build multifamily, that's like four stories or less, that's something we're qualified in. If you want to build a high rise, we're not. So you want to make sure people are working within the areas that they got experience. Definitely you'd want to vet them whether it's through Google, talking to references. Construction is one of those industries where it can be scary. And there's a lot of money involved in it. So anything you can do to ensure that that builder is qualified and financially stable, I guess would be a good way to put it. I would highly recommend doing so.”
Q. What project are you most proud of and why?
[Adam Tassone]: “I did build a home once for a former Edmonton Oiler and Calgary Flame player, a hockey player. So yeah, I was proud of that, because he and his family really enjoyed the home and, had very little issues with it. And so that was nice to say I got to build something for a local celebrity. And it was a nice home too! It had some interesting features. It had a third-story rooftop balcony. So that was pretty cool.”
Q. How do you manage the budget and costs throughout the construction process?
[Adam Tassone]: “Very important for construction, especially when things are volatile. So when we're working with a client before we start their project, we create a very detailed budget. We have anywhere from 60 to 80 line items on budget. So it's it's pretty in-depth and we spend on especially a brand new project that we haven't done before, we could spend a good month working on a budget collecting quotes and information. That's sort of the beginning and we share that with the client so that they know exactly what it costs. Not only in total, but what does certain line items? What is plumbing costs? What is electrical costs? What is the exterior cost? and then from there, because we have pretty good trade relationships, most of the trades we worked with for at least a few years we're able then to lock in pricing even before the job starts and maintain that pricing throughout the building. And in addition to that, we also add some call it buffer contingency that allows for unknowns and unforeseen things to happen, or even just changes, you know, somebody wants to switch from one material to another. So. those are kind of generally speaking how we manage that and get it dialed in.”
Q. What are the most common issues that arise during construction, and how do you address them?
[Adam Tassone]: “I guess it goes back to what we already talked about is cost, and also trades. So sometimes we get in a situation where the cost is changing because maybe there was an unknown or maybe people, I don't know, some sort of miscommunication and part of managing that is just having good open lines of communication with like my staff, with our trades and having good working relationships. So that often helps. And we can usually fix most problems just through communication. We do also keep a lot of paperwork and documentation. And I know one of your questions later talks about technology. So we have our jobs, I think fairly well organized, and you know, we can always backtrack whether it's emails or, you know, signed contracts with people. We can kind of verify and validate that so that again, we come to a fair conclusion. So that's kind of price timelines or trades. It also just ties into good communication, being able to schedule. And also we're in a very busy environment where we also have to ourselves be flexible and let our clients know that we're working for that, that one of the challenges right now is a shortage of staff. They have to understand the flexibility required to get the job done properly with good quality trades.”
Q. What role does technology play in your building process and design?
[Adam Tassone]: “Technology helps in a lot of ways. Like one is us doing meetings like this. So even with some of our trades and colleagues and suppliers in Edmonton, it might make more sense to do almost like a face to face as opposed to a phone call, especially if you want to bring in a couple people, a group, but it's not always practical or time efficient to go and meet somebody at their office or for coffee. So we use technology to allow to have meetings like this. It also works really well when we have clients that are not situated in Edmonton that we can have that somewhat more personal bit of communication or contact with them as opposed to just a phone call or an email.
We use technology also to store like all of our projects kind of go into a cloud and in that, in that project is basically everything. From most of the communications, you know, all the quotes, all the permits, engineering, et cetera. It goes in there and, we can access that from a computer or a phone. So, even for the people who are not in the office, like our site supervisors, if they need to pull something up, they can do it on their phone without having to go to the office or worry about having things printed. So, although it's not the most tech-savvy industry out there compared to some,.. I've even seen it change a lot in the last 10 years compared to when I first started doing it on my own. And it’s also more convenient and sometimes it's more cost-effective to do stuff that way.”
Q. Can you share any upcoming trends or changes in home building that you’re excited about?
[Adam Tassone]: “Well, in Edmonton, the trend is definitely, it's already started. It's more multifamily and higher density, and selfishly or directly that benefits us because we are a builder. But I also think that it's gonna make it easier for cities to be more sustainable and more cost-effective and environmentally friendly. So I think that's really good to see. There's also a growing trend towards energy efficient and environmentally sustainable.
And so when that trend first started many years ago, it was more of like wishful thinking or pipe dream because it was often very expensive and hard to get those materials. And now we see that sometimes doing something environmentally friendly or energy efficient is almost the same cost as doing it the, called “the old way”, and so that's good to see because now those trends will become more popular because oftentimes cost drives are our decision making. So as those become more cost effective, we're now able to incorporate those into our projects.”
Q. Is there anything that you would like to add that we haven’t covered?
[Adam Tassone]: “Yeah, I probably should have mentioned it or talked about in one of your last questions, because one of the, speaking of environmentally and energy efficiency, we do have a project that's not a multifamily, It's a family's custom home. And it kind of homes in on a lot of the stuff that infill supposed to be about.
So it's actually a net zero home. So that's pretty cool. So they're not using more energy than they produce. So that's been really exciting to be a part of. And you realize that it's still pretty new like there's not a lot of trades and suppliers that are super familiar with it. And it's also touches on the multi generational housing that's also becoming a little more popular where there's going to be an adult living there, but also their mother and an uncle and then they also will have a rental suite in it. So it's It's quite a cool project. It kind of takes all the exciting parts of infill and new construction and puts it all into one project.”
Q. How can readers get in touch with you?
[Adam Tassone]: “Ah, so you can check out our website, which is www.skywardhomes.ca., and from there, there's a contact us option and you can use that. And you can also just reach out to info@skywardhomes.ca. We do also have a social media presence as well. So, there's a few avenues.”
- [Skyward Homes, About, https://www.skywardhomes.ca/about]
-Adam is the founder of Skyward Homes, an Edmonton-based infill builder, and an influential figure in Edmonton's building industry. You can find Adam and Skyward Homes at their website: https://www.skywardhomes.ca/ Adam can also be contacted via his email directly: adam@skywardhomes.ca or phone: 780.907.0659
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