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From 1904 to 2024: The Evolution of Keelty Homes | All Roads LTR Podcast | Ep. 41
23 Plays6 months ago
Today Matt is joined by Steve Keelty, the president of Keelty Homes, a Maryland-based family-owned builder with over 120 years of experience. Discover how Keelty Homes has maintained its quality and reputation across generations, the intricacies of their latest project The Villas at Woodbrook, and the challenges and rewards of operating a family-run business in today's market.
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Transcript
Introduction to Steve Kilty and Kilty Homes
00:00:10
Speaker
Hello, everyone. This is Matt Rine with All Roads Lead to Real Estate. And so I want to welcome my guest today. This guest is a special guest because for those of us that live in Maryland and specifically the Baltimore region, you might have heard this name or seen this particular name, specifically the last name, and that's the Kilties. So I have the president of Kiltie Homes.
00:00:33
Speaker
And that is a fourth generation local company that builds new construction here in Maryland. And so, Steve, welcome. Thank you for joining. That's great to be here, Matt.
00:00:45
Speaker
Well, thank you for being here. And so basically I had you in here today because we're doing something together helping you sell your next community here in Baltimore, and it's in the Rogers Forge area. So everyone might be familiar if you're local with where that is. That is a special community that I actually own homes in myself. And so I know it quite well and sell here all the time. But it's right here just north of the city in Baltimore County.
00:01:13
Speaker
And so you and your family have quite a history here.
History and Reputation of Kilty Homes
00:01:16
Speaker
So we do. Our family's been in business since 1904. This is our 120th anniversary. And we're getting back to some of our roots, back to Rogers Forge, a community that we built approximately 1800 homes back in the 50s and 60s.
00:01:32
Speaker
Right. Yeah, so it's a huge project and for those, I mean, I'm here all the time just showing homes and still selling these homes because what's interesting, your family is on the front end, right? You're building the new construction and then for years and years and years, guys like me resell them. And so I have the pleasure of probably inspecting at least 100 of those 1800 homes is my guess over the years. So I feel like I know your product well already.
00:01:57
Speaker
Well, that's why we decided to hire you to sell our product here in Rogers Forge. You know Rogers Forge better than anybody in the market. And we think that our community is going to be a huge success. We have 30 duplex Villa townhomes that are going to be spectacular.
00:02:19
Speaker
Yeah, and they're they're incredible. And so I'm I'm super thrilled and thank you and the rest of the Kilti organization for bringing me in to do that. And so, you know, it's certainly something that is unique to our marketplace. We have nothing really like it at the moment to even offer people.
00:02:35
Speaker
And so the location is what people are. So it's just such an amazing location that people are. I mean, we have a laundry list of people. I think we have about 100 people already signed up and we haven't even started officially selling. We just are releasing the final numbers right now. And so that's why I wanted to bring
Challenges and Philosophy in Homebuilding
00:02:53
Speaker
you on because we've been talking about this for months and months and months. I know you guys have been planning this community for what, at least a year or two for years.
00:03:00
Speaker
Yeah, it takes a long time to develop. We were lucky enough to find this piece of property and we're fortunate enough to come back to our old neighborhood and we have a really spectacular design. We've hired world-class architect Peter Radcliffe to pen the architecture and we think we have a really special product
00:03:22
Speaker
Uh to deliver to the market and we think the market is underserved by any new product in this area Oh, absolutely and the hard part if you're in the market looking as a consumer There's just not land. There's just it's very very challenging to build new And and what's here, you know, if you're a new new buyer you really want certain luxury items that aren't really present with the the available inventory
00:03:44
Speaker
And so that's what makes it so exciting, but I wanted to first highlight because I think what's interesting about not just the product in that community, it's your business and what your family has done and built over the years because you're in it every day. You might not be fully aware, although I'm sure you are, but not to the extent someone like myself is, that it's so unique to have a local family-owned
00:04:11
Speaker
builder that is putting a product like this out because I used to work for one of the top 10 builders. It was Beezer Homes. They're national. They're huge. And there's a lot of these national builders that come into our Maryland marketplace and put up a community that's a mirror image, if you will, of another community in other parts of the country. And so you guys went went through a process that I think is much more, I would say, like farm to table rather than a mass produced product that thousands, if not millions of people have have bought before.
00:04:40
Speaker
So the product we build and the architects we hire and the design we use, we build like we want to live there. And we do want to live there. And the construction, the design, the team, everything we put together, any one of us who are family could live in this product tomorrow because that's the way we build. We build the last
00:05:04
Speaker
We've been in business for 120 years and we continue to build quality product that you can't
Family Legacy and Business Continuity
00:05:11
Speaker
find anywhere in the market.
00:05:12
Speaker
Yeah, and so that is true. So I've been to a lot of these design meetings and just to hear the reasons why certain items are selected or not selected and some of the process is really interesting. I kind of wish we had a way to document that. Well, we got to get on that because I think it's fascinating to see how much thought and detail goes into everything. And it's certainly not, you know, you don't cut corners and try to put something together that's going to last.
00:05:38
Speaker
And but what I wanted to go back to is kind of a little bit back in time because you you're the fourth generation to do it. And so I I'm the fourth generation. I don't know if you knew this for a family farm that we have in Howard County about 20 minutes from here. And so having been involved in farming growing up, it's just it was there's certain things that you hear at the dinner table when you're a child you might not know about at the time because you're so young. It's like I'm curious to know growing up in a multigenerational business of builders.
00:06:08
Speaker
what that's like. I can tell you what it's like to be a farmer. It's a wild situation, the things I've seen and heard and done because of employees and you're in a very adult conversations at a young age. And I'm curious if that's been your experience growing up in that type of household.
00:06:24
Speaker
Yes, of course. You know, I've worked with my grandfather, worked with my great uncle, worked with my uncle, worked with all my family members. We're all in the business. This is what we talk about all the time. We talked about design, housing, land. This is what we love. This is our passion.
00:06:42
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, that's it. And I can vouch for it. So it looks like about what, 1904 is when is it your great grandfather? Who was the first? So I'm the fourth and his name is James Kilty. OK. And he came over from Ireland in the 1800s as a stonemason. And that's how I got to start. He's just started building a few houses in the city.
00:07:07
Speaker
in Baltimore City and Baltimore City. And it grew from there. He was a talented stonemason. Right. And everybody loved what he built. And it was that success that keeps the success going 120 years later. What's remarkable to me about hearing that it's not just like farmers, my experience growing up, it's just the amount of farmers that can successfully, generationally pass it down is very, very, very low. It's tough. I mean, and in the building community, for those that don't know,
00:07:36
Speaker
A lot of builders go out of business. I mean, there are tough years there. I mean, it's just like anything else. There's the the economics of of the housing industry goes in ups and downs right and left and right. And for you guys to still be here, I mean, there's challenging years and decades. I'm sure like it's not all it's not all wonderful markets to sell in. And so the fact that you're still here is pretty crazy to me. Well, we think we deliver a product that not a lot of nationals can provide and
00:08:05
Speaker
We've done that over the years. We don't cut corners. We build quality. And when people see that and they see our reputation,
00:08:14
Speaker
That's our market. People who know us and know our reputation and know we're gonna deliver a quality product with the best design. And so let's refresh people's minds of some of the bigger communities you guys have done. So we've already discussed and touched on Rogers Forge, which is here in Baltimore County. It's roughly 1,800 homes that you've built. And that took a lot of years to build out that many homes, but you've done Turf Valley out in Howard County.
00:08:40
Speaker
Right. You did you did a big portion of that. And so you've done Mays Chapel, right, which is in northern Baltimore County or up 83. Where are the other communities you guys have have done? So one of the earliest communities I know of is Edmondson Village. OK. Down in the city, Baltimore City, Mays Chapel. And then just a number of communities that are really located all over Maryland. Right. We're a Maryland based company.
00:09:10
Speaker
This is where we live, this is where we build, this is where we know our market, and we know our customers. Yeah, so that's, I mean, that's a lot of home. So to me, it's remarkable for one family to have that much production and that much experience in one little local marketplace.
Community Impact and Achievements
00:09:30
Speaker
Like, have you guys ever considered expanding beyond the boundary of Maryland, or are you comfortable trying to continue to just have opportunities here?
00:09:39
Speaker
Well, when that's a family centric company, it's hard for us to manage long distances because each one of the family members personally likes to visit each construction site on a weekly basis and make sure that the quality is there and there's no mistakes and make sure the customers are taken care of personally by family members. Right.
00:10:03
Speaker
Well, and so another interesting fact is I was just trying to think about and educate myself on your family. It's that James Kilti was a part owner and helped to bring the Baltimore Orioles here to Baltimore. And so can you explain how that all went down and when that was? Because I thought, I mean, this is just on the internet. So I'm just curious to know what they've shared with you about that time.
00:10:27
Speaker
He was an early part of the Orioles coming to Baltimore. He was the president of the Orioles for a few years. And that's the history of the Orioles. Yeah. So was it from Cincinnati?
00:10:45
Speaker
You know, I forget. Yeah, I forget. It's such a long time ago. You know, it's what's interesting is, you know, I was talking to your brother as well. Chris, shout out to Chris. He knew some details, but it's just like your family has done so much. It's like if that was part of my family's history, I'd know every last possible detail because it's it would be such a big piece of my story. I feel like you guys have done so much. It's like, oh, it's a footnote almost.
00:11:08
Speaker
Well, we actually have a pretty large file in our basement of our office that shows the whole history. And, you know, it's a file cabinet and I've looked through it.
00:11:24
Speaker
You know, but we're always striving to look forward. Yeah. You know, we it's hard with this much history to document your old history. So we're always looking forward for the the next thing to do the next project to tackle. So it's really difficult to keep track of the history because it's so long. How have they shared like your family as they try to educate you over the years? Because it sounds like you started right out of school, right? You went right into the family business.
00:11:52
Speaker
Did you immediately go directly in the family business or did you do anything prior to that or did they say come on back and start working?
00:12:00
Speaker
Well, after I got my MBA from Loyola, then I went right into the business. And, you
Innovation and Modern Construction Techniques
00:12:05
Speaker
know, I started at the very bottom. I started working in the field with with all the teams and working every job that there is in construction so that I know intimately all the all the areas of construction, how they're supposed to get done. What's the quality job look like?
00:12:26
Speaker
And so I can see personally what things need to be done. How has it changed? Do you think over the last, I don't know, we could say 20 years, but even beyond that, like 50 years, do you think either is it permitting? Is it oversight? Is it like what's the difference? Do you think building homes today in Maryland versus back in the day when you guys used to do it? Do you have you guys discussed that about just either? Is it way worse? Is it harder? Is it just what's it? What's the difference?
00:12:54
Speaker
Well, we think the technology in the houses got much better. The window technology, there's no leaky windows, the houses don't leak, the houses don't shift.
00:13:06
Speaker
that helps. We're able to build the houses faster, more efficiently, and better to last longer. We don't use wood siding. We use cement siding boards. Like a hardy plank. Like a hardy plank, which will last, you know, I think forever, but as long as you keep them painted. Right. So, I think that's how it's improved.
00:13:28
Speaker
It's improved, so have you noticed anything? I always just think of the politics of everything. From my understanding with even just watching this experience with you guys, it's just so much back and forth with the county and permits and getting just the amount of details it takes to get this thing going, because it's taken you guys quite a while to even break ground over here. And so to me, I was curious, if 50 or 100 years ago, do you just put a shovel in the dirt and start working, or has it gotten 10 layers deeper now to get anything accomplished?
00:13:57
Speaker
Well, we think now it's a team effort with the community groups, with the politicians and with the developers. Everybody needs to be on the same page for the project to be successful. And that's what we love about being in Baltimore County and being in Maryland. It's not a free for all. There's a lot of thoughtfulness that goes into everything we do to make sure that the product is a wonderful community for people to live in.
00:14:23
Speaker
Yeah.
Customer Service and Satisfaction
00:14:24
Speaker
And so I want to know, how do you compare, is there any differences between, I call them the big box, I call, you know, it's not a lovely thing to think about, but the Walmarts of the world that build, how do you differentiate in your mind your type of small business that does these type of homes that you guys intimately care about and personally visit on a weekly basis? I can imagine what I would think the differences is, but from your perspective, how is it different? What's different in that
00:14:54
Speaker
Is it just lumber and is it just a house or is there more? This is our difference. The difference is if you buy a house from us and you have an issue.
00:15:04
Speaker
Basically, no matter how long you've been there and you reach out to our office, we're gonna get back to you and see if we can't help you out with whatever kind of issue you might have, whether it's a maintenance issue or if you need to help where's the window manufacturer of your windows in your house that was built 20 years ago.
00:15:24
Speaker
Usually we have some records and we can be of help. Yeah. If you need anything. Right. So that's the difference. I don't think you can call one of these national builders and get any assistance like you can reaching out to her office. And usually the email is good to me.
00:15:41
Speaker
Yeah, that's it's to me just having worked with you guys recently. It's the difference is how I view my own business because I own my own small business. It's I have a certain amount of pride that goes into what I do. And I feel like you guys have that the lineage, the history like you're not just working today for yourself. It's like you're working on the shoulders of all the people that helped you get here. And it's your legacy and it's your father that's still working with you guys. To me, it's just like I think there's a certain amount of that that pride that goes into it that
00:16:11
Speaker
I don't know, it just, that makes a difference. I worked with Beezer and there would be a new area manager all the time. There'd be a guy that shifted from different corporations and it was always a shifting order at the top. And you know, I'd be there for two years and I'd leave. Like it's just, that's the way it was. And I feel like there's a continuity you guys have that is a little bit different. And I think it should be apparent when you walk through the door. I would expect, I would think there is a tangible difference to a consumer.
Design and Features of New Homes
00:16:39
Speaker
Well, there is a difference. You know, whenever I run into somebody who lives in one of our houses, I always ask them how their experience was, whether they're a first time buyer, second time buyer, whether they lived in the house 50 years ago. I always ask how their experience was in the house, how they liked the house.
00:16:56
Speaker
And I don't think you're going to find anybody else who can ask how that experience was. Right. Yeah. And so you guys have done apartments as well, right? So do you single family, you've done townhouses, I mean, you've done apartments. So is there one that you specialize in or is it just based on whatever the land opportunity is? You figure out what the best product is for that particular land. I was curious how you guys identify what you put on each of these communities.
00:17:24
Speaker
Well, we look at the density of the project and then we figure out what's the market want? What kind of lifestyle do people want? We just finished the community and Perry Hall, where we had a section of land. It needed to stay vacant.
00:17:39
Speaker
And then we thought this should be a giant field. It's as big as a football field for the residents to go out and enjoy open spaces. And we think that's our competitive advantage in that community. You can go and walk your dog. You can have your kids kick a soccer ball. You can throw the ball around. And we think that's our advantage. And it's because instead of.
00:18:02
Speaker
letting the land go fallow, we decided to use it as our advantage. Right. Well, that that that's interesting. So it's just to me, it's all these details that come up and I'm excited to sell these. And so I want to go back to what we're currently working on. And I can say if anyone is driven down the road here on Bologna in this Towson area has seen this. It's a massive construction project. And I feel like you guys have hired every single construction worker in the community.
00:18:30
Speaker
the whole county practically, all the dump trucks and the roller. I've seen it all. So we actually have some infrastructure built. You have roads in there and you're doing some foundation work with the first, what, four units for now. And so I want to get into the details of that because I'm getting phone calls now as we're about to put a sign up to start actually marketing this community.
00:18:52
Speaker
I want to get into the specifics. They already mentioned we're going to have 30 units to sell and they're going to be like the duplex. So a side by side unit. And so do you want to share some of the details that you guys are ready to release now? So what we're building now is we think we're building the best first floor master product on the market where you can have the best first floor master, again, designed by Peter Radcliffe, world famous.
00:19:22
Speaker
And we also have the ability to take that first floor master and turn it into a wonderful upstairs owner suite house. Right.
00:19:33
Speaker
And then so we have that flexibility if you want to have your owner suite on the first floor or if you want to have your owner suite on the second floor, you have the flexibility to do that in a great design. We have a wonderfully designed covered porch with a adjoining fireplace that we think is going to be a hit with all the buyers. Yeah.
00:19:57
Speaker
Well, and what you hit on, so one of the absolute most requested features I hear from not just at least, I don't know, half of the folks that I talk to, that they want to move into a first level living opportunity. So they have the ability to stay on one level if they want. And so when you guys came to me and saying that we're going to have the majority of our offerings are going to include that option,
00:20:21
Speaker
I think it's incredible, and these are not small units. Even though it's a duplex, it's not like these are 1,500 square foot homes. They're sizable, like all the units are over 3,000 square feet above grade. And so they're all great size, like 3,400 square feet is roughly the average, plus you have the basement opportunity to finish that space and add another bedroom and, I mean, it's large, another full bath down there. And so I think the size, with a two-car garage,
00:20:50
Speaker
To get the best first floor living experience with the owner suite on the first floor, the house has got to be larger than what you would expect. Yeah. Otherwise, there's a lot of compromises and we don't think we've compromised anywhere on this design. Right. And then to have the flexibility of putting the owner suite on the second floor, if you prefer.
Launch and Marketing of New Community
00:21:12
Speaker
uh, really gives us a lot of really up to date options for today's living. Right. Yeah. And, and the option categories, if you want to, I mean, it's already a luxury product. This is not your standard construction guys. This is a luxury product, but the flexibility to really elevate the space even further
00:21:31
Speaker
is there, like we can do custom cabinetry. Well, not true custom, but semi-custom cabinetry and the closets can all be beautifully done. Like you really have a laundry list of options that you've allowed people to select to really make this stand out. We use our teams years and years of experience to think about everything and think about every detail so you don't have to. You move in and the design is right.
00:21:59
Speaker
and every detail that we've thought about is done perfectly.
00:22:06
Speaker
Well, I can't tell people, can you tell there's any pride in this? Because that's what it sounds like. So I just, it's exciting to see and I think people are gonna be really, really excited when they get into the model. We're gonna have a model home right here on Bologna. It's gonna be available at the end of this year, at the end of 2024. I just heard you give your project manager some grief because you wanna accelerate this timeline, right? And get that model home open and get these deliveries out there.
00:22:32
Speaker
But we're so excited. We're hoping for November. Yep. Everything's weather dependent. Sure. But we're hoping to have this model open by November so people can see what we're so excited about. Exactly. And so so we're going to be able to link the one to this podcast. If you are interested in this particular community, you're going to be able to link in there and see the website.
00:22:52
Speaker
We're just we have all the floor plans up so you get to see the floor plan options And if you have interest you can click and just connect with us so there's lots of ways to connect with us and schedule a time to have a conversation and and I mean we are ready we've released already and You know the first four well technically three because one's the model so we're doing the first four units right now And then we are going to be releasing more homes in the future so you can put a hold actually on the next five units
00:23:20
Speaker
as well. And I know everybody was excited to see what we are delivering on Bologna, but we didn't run a release the marketing plan until everything was perfect. Right. And all the customers have a smooth
00:23:36
Speaker
uh Experience when buying these houses, right? And yes, so i've i've been feeling calls for weeks If not months and yes, everyone wants to see all the details, but you're right It's you guys were very hesitant to do it because the last thing you want to do is put something out there and say oh Just kidding that you know that we didn't really have every detail figured out and and so all of that is done so if you're listening to this we are ready to have conversations and
00:23:59
Speaker
and you'll be able to reach out to me directly and schedule those appointments. I actually have one right after this, right after this podcast. So that'll be my very first sales appointment for this community. So it's happening. It's real. We're very excited. Yes, I am as well. So that's basically that, guys. I just want to introduce you to Steve Kilti and to the Kilti brand, if you will. They're a local Maryland based family owned
00:24:24
Speaker
construction company. I think it's pretty unique for what we have and I'm proud to have the opportunity to sell the units. And like I said, I've sold, I don't need to know, dozens and dozens and dozens of your products on the resell market. So it's really a really interesting feat and a feather in my cap to have the opportunity to sell the new construction version of the Kilty Home.
00:24:45
Speaker
So thank you for so pleased to have you. Well, thank you. Well, we'll see after we're done, right, guys? But for now, I'm excited and and thank you for joining me. And I'll have you back at some point later in this project. So I mean, how long do you think it's going to be? But till between all of these homes, all 30 are completed.
00:25:02
Speaker
I think 18 months, two years. Okay. So we'll have you back on in 18 months, let's say, and we'll be able to do it. And guys, the name of this community is the villas at Woodbrook and it's the villas at woodbrook.com. I'll have all the information also in the link if you want to check it out. And thanks again to Steve Kilti for joining me today. Thanks for coming. Thanks for having me. All right. Thanks.