Host Anya Chrisanthon interviews Tag Gilkeson, an IBS veteran who shares his top tips for making the most out of your experience at the International Builders' Show 2024 in Las Vegas. They discuss how to plan your schedule, which events not to miss, navigating the massive show floor, wearing comfortable shoes, networking opportunities, and more advice for first-time and returning attendees. Anya and Tag also talk about the issues they are working on through their involvement with NAHB leadership.

Tag originally got started in the real estate and construction industry in 1999 after he obtained his Texas REALTOR license. At the time his primary business focus was in investment real estate. After watching other investors become successful, it was an easy transition into buying real estate and flipping houses on his own. His portfolio Include several fix & flips and rental properties along the way. This led to starting a General Contracting company and building spec homes for investors and homeowners to purchase or lease.

In 2009, Tag turned his attention to gaining more knowledge in his field. He obtained an
Associate’s degree in Architecture and a Bachelor’s degree in Construction Management. He was ranked in the top three of his class at graduation while also obtaining a personal recommendation from the program chair.
Having gained knowledge and experience in his field he decided that it was best to give back to the industry. He did this several ways, but initially he served as a board member for the North Dallas Collin County Division Board (NDCC) for the Dallas Builders Association (DBA). He served for 2 years on the board from 2014 to 2016. Being involved in a membership organization like the DBA allowed him the benefits of taking advantage of their education opportunities. As he attended more classes, there
was a window of opportunity to gain professional designations within the industry.

At this time, he has eleven (12) designations recognized by the NAHB, and two (2) designations that are local to the DBA. These include Certified Graduate Builder (CGB), Graduate Master Builder (GMB), Certified Graduate Remodeler (CGR), Graduate Master Remodeler (GMR), Certified Aging in Place Specialist (CAPS), Certified Green Professional (CGP), Master Certified Green Professional (MCGP), Certified Graduate Associate (CGA), Certified New Home Sales Professional (CSP), Master Certified New Home Sales Professional (MCSP), Certified New Home Marketing Professional (CMP),
Master in Residential Marketing (MIRM), Green Sales Professional (GSP), Tag utilizes these designations on his website, business cards, and on LinkedIn to set himself apart from the competition.

Tag currently owns a Design/Build firm called Tag & Associates, LLC where he works with homeowners, remodelers, and builders drawing full construction plans in 3D. With the industry growing toward new technology, Virtual Reality was an extremely easy add on to services to offer to the more distinguished clientele. What VR has done is begun to eliminate the need for field changes and allows for a design that everyone is happy with but has also maintained budget constraints and maximized livability.

Michelle Chesnut, Director of Builder Services at Nice (formerly Nortek), joins us to discuss smart home technology and how builders can utilize it to meet buyer demands. We cover the most popular smart home features buyers are looking for, best practices for implementing tech in new construction homes, advice on budgeting and pricing for upgrades, how to showcase smart home tech in models and design centers, and more. Whether you're a production builder or custom home builder, this episode provides valuable insights and ideas for successfully incorporating smart technology into your homes.

Nice North America is the American and Canadian-managed division of Nice S.p.A., an Italian multinational company that designs, manufactures, and markets smart home security and automation products in over 100 countries throughout the world.

As befits their Italian heritage,they are passionate about design and seek to provide products that are not just technologically advanced, but also aesthetically pleasing and extremely simple to use. It’s all about improving the quality of life by simplifying everyday tasks and movements. And at Nice North America, they bring it all to you with the can-do attitude of their sales, management, and assembly teams.

Nice offers a full line of access, automation, control, and security solutions for residential, commercial, and industrial buildings.

To learn more please reach out to Michelle Chesnut-Director of Builder Services: [email protected]

With virtually identical floor plans and finishes, how can one home builder attract more buyers than another? It often comes down to memorable experiences that make home shoppers feel excited, assured, and loyal. Gary Stein, Chief Marketing Officer of Virtuo, shares innovative strategies top builders employ – from memorable marketing moments to mapped buyer journeys - to guide customers smoothly and create “stressless” experiences. Discover how transforming key moments for buyers ultimately leads to happier homeowners, increased referrals, and lasting competitive advantage. Gary explains how to identify emotions at each touchpoint and craft experiences for stand out moments that spark brand preference and loyalty.

Anewgo is developing revolutionary new homebuilder websites that are smart, interactive, and personalized. Our CEO John Lee reveals how Anewgo is future-proofing websites for the AI era. We dive into key features like seamless omnichannel experiences, private buyer portals, and data insights that will transform customer journeys. Sara Williams tackles common questions on integrating Anewgo's websites with existing tools. Together, we explore how Anewgo is leveraging our role as the top visualization content creator to build the next generation of fully integrated websites. We recap the game-changing benefits of consolidated data, highly engaging buyer experiences, and getting in early on the future of websites. If you're a homebuilder looking to take your online presence to the next level, this episode is a must-listen primer on how Anewgo is evolving websites. Tune in now to hear our groundbreaking visions for the future of homebuilding online!

Today's empowered homebuyers demand exceptional online experiences as well as human connection. How can builders and agents effectively engage modern shoppers across digital and in-person touchpoints?

Join online sales expert Leah Kaiz Fellows for an engaging webinar on customer-first sales strategies. You'll get insider tips for nurturing leads, preparing for advanced conversations in a data-rich world, and reacting intelligently to market shifts.

Leah will also explore best practices around pricing transparency, streamlining processes for onsite agents, and fostering sales and marketing collaboration to boost growth.

Whether you need help sharpening online skills, improving lead follow-up, or taking customer engagement to the next level, this webinar provides tactical takeaways you can put into action right away.

Meet the Blue Gypsy

Leah Kaiz Fellows, founder and owner of Blue Gypsy Inc. is an online sales training expert, adventurer, and home building industry professional.

After graduating with a degree in communication from Boston University, Leah chose the unconventional path of a wanderer as she gained insights into different cultures, places, and people. Her Gypsy years allowed for crazy adventures and unique jobs giving her the skills and confidence to work in any setting and relate to a multitude of personalities and professionals.

She spent 13 years traveling the world as a backpacker, sailboat captain, and dive instructor. In 2006 Leah began work in the new home sales industry managing leads, setting appointments, and assisting with new home sales for a large local builder in Virginia Beach. It was here that she developed her first online sales program with metrics reaching to 32% of the overall sales for that builder, at a time when the industry standard was 20-25%. She often joked that her non-existent Customer Relationship Management software (CRM) was put together with bubble gum and duct tape.

The Gypsy naturally thrived in this role and was intrigued with the relationship building that is necessary to be successful in online sales.  Her writing skills played a key role in her travels as she worked freelance for magazines and newspapers and these skills continue as an important part of her duties in writing custom campaigns, website copy, and relevant blogs.

Realizing that falling for a military man meant her wayward gypsy wanderings would continue, only now dictated by the whims of the Army, Leah then went on to start Blue Gypsy Inc. in 2010 working with builders, developers, and real estate related businesses as she developed a proven Online Sales System along with her very own Online Sales Process.

Since 2014 the Blue Gypsy has focused on Online Sales Training for builders across the country to help them improve their sales and the way they handle digital leads. Writer and speaker, Leah brings real world experience, and a unique, relatable quality to all her engagements.

Giving back to the building industry is important to her. She is an active member of the Professional Women in Building Council and the Sales and Marketing Council locally and nationally. Currently a board member at the Home Builders Association of Metro Denver PWB, she also is also the past chair (2019-2021) the Mentoring committee and is the past co-chair (2021) of NAHB PWB’s Membership and Communications sub-committee and the current 2nd Vice Chair of the Professional Development sub-committee. Leah is also a on the board of Trustees for NSMC and is the past chair (2021) of the Membership and Communication sub-committee.

She writes numerous articles for Building Women Magazine, Build Maryland Magazine, Colorado Builder, and other industry blogs and publications and has spoken at the International Building Show both onstage and in PWB Headquarters, SEBC, as well as on industry webinars and podcasts around the country.

We're joined by Sean Roberts, CEO, and Jessica Brown, Head of Marketing from Villa Homes, California's leading ADU builder. They discuss the major housing supply issues today and how their prefab ADU model provides an innovative solution through faster, high-quality, and affordable housing. We explore common misconceptions about prefab homes, their typical buyer profiles, how they simplify and enhance the customer experience, their growth plans, and more. Sean and Jessica also share insights on overcoming local regulations, why pricing transparency matters, and how they're working to educate consumers that prefab ADUs are the real estate of the future.

Sean Roberts is CEO of Villa, the largest builder of prefab ADUs in California. Prior to Villa, he served as both COO and CFO at Orchard, a proptech company with vertically-integrated real estate brokerage, title/escrow, and mortgage offerings and innovative capital-enabled consumer offerings. Before Orchard, Sean was an investor at TPG, a leading global private equity firm, where he focused primarily on investments in operationally-intensive real estate oriented businesses. He began his career as an investment banker in the Financial Institutions Group at Goldman Sachs. He has served on corporate boards in the past. Sean holds an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and a Bachelor of Commerce from Queen’s University in Canada.

Jessica Brown is the Director Marketing at Villa. She has pursued a career in Marketing for the past ten years working with small businesses, agencies, startups and corporations. She also has a background in Real Estate, holding her license in Colorado. She moved to San Diego in 2021 where she worked with one of the largest Real Estate firms in the nation. She came to Villa in 2022 with a passion for community and found Villa’s mission to solve the housing crisis and bring families together to be the perfect fit. On the weekends you can find her at the ocean or hiking in the mountains!

Self-guided home tours are exploding in popularity among today's homebuyers. We explore how to capitalize on this trend with Barrett Davis, CEO of the self-tour platform NterNow. Learn how to promote tour-enabled model homes, create an immersive on-site experience, and motivate buyers to take action after touring. We also discuss best practices for implementation across sales, marketing, and construction. If you’re looking to generate more leads, better accommodate buyers’ schedules, and close more deals, this episode is a must-listen!

To learn more about NterNow: 

[email protected]

Connect with Barrett on LinkedIn

To learn more about Anewgo products please visit: 

Anewgo Interactive Tools

Anewgo BuyNow/ReserveNow

Schedule a call with our Director of Sales-Sara Williams to learn more.

Barrett’s passion for technology and entrepreneurship was sparked early on when he took NterNow to the finals of the UGA’s Next Top Entrepreneur competition. Graduating with a BS in Business-MIS, Barrett has never stopped learning, focusing on the latest tech developments and the ever-evolving business world of access and ID verification.

A prodigious talent for coding and team leadership, Barrett has never lost a hackathon he’s entered, winning the prestigious ATDC FinTech Hack sponsored by WorldPay in 2017.

As CTO, Barrett leads the search for the right hardware, dev talent and investors for NterNow. Moving from the State Farm corporate world to a startup, Ware2Go (owned by UPS) in 2019, Barrett will continue to soak up tech dev skills and apply it to his inch-to-thousand-foot vision for NterNow.

Elevate your sales game with Roland Nairnsey, Founder of New Home Sales Plus, and Anya Chrisanthon, Chief Communications Officer at Anewgo, in a webinar that explores the game-changing strategy of narrowing down to one-of-a-kind to supercharge your sales now. In the current challenging market, buyers often find reasons to delay decisions, throwing sales professionals off course. This webinar equips you with the tools to navigate these challenges and complete the sales process with finesse, turning potential delays into immediate success.

To get access to Roland's mortgage calculator please email: [email protected] subject line: FREE APP.

To learn more about Anewgo products please visit: 

Anewgo Interactive Tools

Anewgo Virtual Tours

Schedule a call with our Director of Sales-Sara Williams to learn more. 

Discover how Utility Connect partners with home builders to offer a complimentary concierge service assisting buyers with essential home setup needs like electricity, internet, and moving logistics. Learn how this value-add provides revenue opportunities for builders while saving buyers time, money, and hassle.  To learn more please visit: https://www.utilityconnect.net/anewgo/partner

In this latest episode, host Anya Chrisanthon and co-host John Lee, CEO of Anewgo, discuss the remarkable developments in AI and their implications for the new home sales industry. The conversation touches on the rapid growth of AI, changes in AI business models, the impact of AI on online home buying, and how AI can transform content marketing. They explore the potential of AI to revolutionize shopping experiences, making them more consumer-centric and providing personalized recommendations by analyzing consumer data. The co-hosts also discuss the future of home designs with AI and share insights on preparing AI-ready content. Towards the end, they reveal Anewgo's plans to provide AI training classes for their clients starting this spring.