Tuesday, March 5, 2024
This month, I had the pleasure of conversing with Michael Mack, the owner of Corinth Homes, based in Brookfield, Wisconsin.
How did you get into the building industry?
In 2008, as residential real estate took a hit, I saw an opportunity and purchased a single-family rental for renovation. After completing the remodel, I rented it out and repeated the process several more times. This experience led me to transition into property management, where I worked for 12 and a half years. Throughout this period, people kept approaching me to build for them.
In 2019, I embarked on constructing my first spec/model home while still working full-time in property management. Just this past January, I made the decisive switch, leaving my role at the property management company to fully focus on building.
How did you get started with Amwood and how long have you been with us?
Initially, we explored prefab options with a company that specializes in steel structures. However, we found that we still had to handle framing, and it didn’t significantly save us time. In 2019, during the onset of COVID-19, I attended the B4 Conference in the Wisconsin Dells area. Amwood had a booth there, and after meeting Jonas Bock, who explained how Amwood handled the entire process, I signed up. Since then, every home we’ve built has been an Amwood home.
Tell us a little more about your business model.
We specialize in custom contract homes and model homes. Our current model is under contract so we are in the process of breaking ground on our next model home. We focus on new home construction with a great team of subcontractors. I spend half my day on job sites and the other half in the office.
Right now, my best leads come from our model home. I cannot stress enough how great the Amwood rebate program is. The rebate helps take care of some of the taxes on the model home. I compare a model home to a car at an automotive dealership – customers want to see, smell, touch, and experience it before making a purchase. The more exposure customers have to our product, the more confident they feel about their decision to work with us.
What type of marketing has brought you the most success?
Participating in the local Metropolitan Builders Association Home Show at the State Fair Park has brought us a lot of success. Additionally, we leverage our website, host open houses in our model home, and actively network with developers for land/lots, all of which have produced solid leads.
What is the price range of the homes you build?
Our current range is anywhere from $600K – $1.5 million.
What style of home do you build the most?
Primarily, we focus on ranch and split ranch styles. We are also exploring proposals for condos/duplexes.
Total number of homes built to date?
To date, we’ve completed eight homes from start to finish, in addition to numerous remodels. However, our future focus is specifically on new custom home builds and small developments.
Tell us a little bit about your family.
My wife, Maria is a full-time stay-at-home mom, previous to that she was a registered nurse. We have two children: 3-year-old William and 1-year-old Eli. My business partner, David Van Rixel, and I have known each other for over 10 years. His wife’s name is Kellie, and they have three children: Lochlan, Jude, and Georgie.
Are there any other interesting facts you would like to share?
In addition to residential construction, I have invested in real estate and do hedge fund work. At one time in my career, I ran my own martial arts school and had a second-degree black belt.
Closing thoughts:
My dream has always been to be a home builder. It is something that I told my wife a long time ago that I wanted to do. I am excited about the future and am looking forward to building relationships with my subcontractors, designing home plans for customers, and continuing to visit job sites.