Burlingame company aims to make it easy for sellers to maximize value
Published on Nov. 15, 2021, via Daily Journal
After a successful fundraiser barbecue for the Washington Elementary School Dad’s Club, John Garner and Jesse Lindeman realized they would be great business partners.
Freemodel, the business they launched together, may have started in an unorthodox way but its aim is simple — help potential home sellers increase value quickly and painlessly.
Garner previously worked at LendingHome, a real estate loan company that focuses on the investor. He saw firsthand how house-flippers take advantage of homeowners who don’t have knowledge or the money to renovate their homes before selling.
“The flippers will buy the house as-is, they renovate it and then they sell it for huge profits,” Garner said.
For most, Freemodel is contacted by real estate agents or home sellers; they can be in contact through the company’s website at freemodel.com.
Freemodel comes out to the property to assess and suggests the type of work the home needs to increase its value. It works together with the homeowner to figure out the scope of the project and, from that point, take over the project.
From design, permits to construction, Freemodel does all the legwork making the process for the inexperienced remodeler hassle-free.
Helps with coordination
Real estate agent Joyce Romeo has used Freemodel’s services more than any other. She said it alleviates her time from having to coordinate various vendors to work on a property.
“It’s difficult as agents to be representing buyers and sellers in listings and purchases, as well as project managing, you know, tile and contractors and painters,” Romeo said.
Romeo hired Freemodel for her latest listing, to renovate a client’s home in San Carlos, an area where she said she is well-versed and understanding of where potential buyers place value in homes. Freemodel came in, brought its design team and vendors and ultimately turned an $80,000 investment into a $160,000 return. She suggests to her clients that for every $1 invested, they should have $2 in return.
Romeo said that what she likes best about Freemodel is its willingness to make things right.
With any construction, there are always setbacks on projects but she said Garner and his team have always had the right approach to customer satisfaction.
“If I’ve ever reached out to him with any kind of frustration or issue, he’s absolutely had the right mindset in the client is, you know, right,” said Romeo. “Customer service is most important. And we will fix it.”
According to its website, the project minimum is $20,000 for smaller projects; however, Freemodel has no maximum on projects, it just won’t take on projects that add square footage to the home or add rooms.
With no cash required for sellers to remodel, Freemodel allows homeowners to pay their costs out of escrow when their home sells.
For a business that started in late 2020 during the pandemic, Freemodel is projected to do $5 million in projects in 2021.
Project directors and subcontractors
In a male-dominated industry, Garner has been pleasantly surprised that 85% of his project directors are women. The project directors are assigned to individual projects usually based on location and availability. They then meet with the agent and/or homeowner and assess what needs to be done with the property. Freemodel then tries to get the scope and cost within 24 hours.
“Typically when people are looking to sell, they’re looking to sell quickly,” Garner said. “So we’ve got to move fast.”
Freemodel’s project directors see these projects out from design to construction while Freemodel assists the project directors with logistical aspects of running a business.
Garner said feedback from his project directors has been positive. He said that one of his project directors said that they were excited to work with Freemodel because they get to do all the fun stuff and Freemodel takes on the logistical grunt work. Garner said his most productive project manager did 10 projects this last year and more than $900,000 in work, from which she will receive a revenue share. Garner expects that the company’s project directors will be able to do $1 million in projects per year.
Currently, Freemodel has more than 120 trusted subcontractors it uses for its projects.
A perfect fit
Freemodel’s hassle-free motto was a perfect fit for Kevin and Micaela Choboter who bought their home in Pacifica in April of 2021. While expecting a baby and looking to remodel their home, a daunting task for most, the Choboter family said that Garner and his team were very gracious and covered an additional cost when the team found some electrical wiring issues that needed to be reconfigured when they broke through the wall during their kitchen remodel.
“We didn’t have to search the websites or cabinet places for the cabinets. We told Samantha (the designer) what we were looking for style wise and she would come back with options,” Choboter said.
While most of Freemodel’s work is from presale remodels they will also remodel for new homeowners like the Choboters that will pay the fees out of their own pocket. For the Choboter, they think the Freemodel business plan is a no-brainer for homeowners looking to gain some extra value out of their sale.
“If I was selling, the idea of not having to put the money down for the contractor until I sold and reap the rewards is pretty great,” Choboter said.
Nick Mazzoni 