Frank Amato is a veteran of the ranks in Northeast Ohio home building. Yet he's also a new recruit, less than a year into Amato Homes, his own company.
Even so, Amato has lined up control of more than 30 lots and has foundations going in on a total of 14 houses at locations from Euclid to Vermilion.
From having agreed to sell seven homes by the end of last year with one deal closed, he's pursuing a lofty goal: 50 in 2021.
However, the aggressive goal makes sense given the brisk pace of the home-building business. Record-low interest rates and an undeniable shortage of existing homes produce a rare window for builders.
The timing makes sense for Amato, as he has the footing of 25 years in the business, from starting as a laborer at Petros Homes to leaving a post last July as a director of construction overseeing projects in Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia for K. Hovnanian, the Matwan, N.J.-based publicly traded builder.
"I felt it was time for me to go on my own," Amato said of launching his own home venture. "It's the same way I felt about retiring from the military: It was time."
The Garfield Heights native who now lives in Copley has a different kind of war story to tell.
He was trained in construction in the U.S. Naval Reserves — a Seabee — and retired from the U.S. Army Reserves in 2013 as a chief warrant officer.
Amato was deployed for a year in 2011 in Afghanistan, where he was on a team that surveyed and designed a water crossing over a gully, a sort of low bridge just above a river that remains passable as water flows over it.
"For the military, getting there is part of the task," Amato said. The project, which also benefits Afghan locals, reflects what Amato sees as his company's mission today: "making life better."
Amato started working for builders in 1992 after completing basic training for the Naval Reserves. He had worked as a laborer on waterproofing jobs until a friend told him about a laborer's job at Petros Homes of Broadview Heights. It attracted him because the pay was better and, as a young family man, offered a steadier paycheck than staying in the trenches.
"The business was booming then," Amato recalled. "There was a lot of opportunity to move up. I feel blessed."
Along the way, he picked up the feeling that drives most builders: the pride of taking an empty lot and putting a house on it.
As Amato launched Amato Homes in 2020, he did not quite go it alone. He has financial support from two Colorado home builders, Brian Bahr and Jordan Savage, whose advice encouraged him to start his own concern. He declined to say how much of a stake the partners have in the firm, which just gained its first staffer, a job superintendent to help oversee construction.
Amato's business model is to build homes on a speculative basis, without advance buyer commitments, so they are ready for buyers to inspect. It's a niche he feels national builders increasingly avoid.
Don't call him a custom builder, though. Custom homes are a different business, he argues, and that higher-end market is well-served with existing companies.
He also targets the lowest rung of the stick-built home market. The exterior design for the ranches, colonials and Cape Cod-style homes would not grace the cover of Architectural Digest. But the interiors have above-builder-grade finishes that buyers crave, such as granite counter tops.
Prices vary due to location, but the houses range in size from 1,600 to 2,700 square feet and cost from $220,000 in Euclid to $300,000 elsewhere. The Colonials he plans to erect this spring, at the first two of six Euclid sites, also will benefit from seven-year tax abatements.
"I'm super excited to be working in Euclid," Amato said. "It's part of giving back to the community."
On its surface, the busy new-home market would seem to attract many startups, as in the past. But today's reality is different.
Lori Howerton, CEO of the Home Builders Association of Summit and Portage counties, labeled Amato (a member of the association) as the exception today with a startup.
"We're not seeing an influx of builders at this time," she said. "We are seeing an influx of roofing and general contractors, but not builders."
Howerton said tight labor supplies make it hard to add staff and gain subcontractors.
Bob Dyer, director of acquisitions at Redwood Living of Independence, has substantial experience working for builders, and with a variety of them, in land development at the former Forest City Realty Trust before it exited the land business.
Dyer said he can see how a new venture can line up lots that are still available from subdivisions abandoned in the housing bust, but he believes getting subcontractors will be the rub.
"A small builder always comes last for a subcontractor," Dyer said. "Their first priority is to satisfy their largest clients. It can lead to delays in finishing projects for the small guy."
For his part, Amato said he has deep contacts and knowledge of the industry to help him and is pleased with the building side of things so far.
So where does Amato hope to go with this venture?
"Our goal is to be a regional builder doing about 100 homes a year," he said. "We want to get our share of the market."
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