Inside Land2Homes: Affordable Quality For Northeast Tennessee Buyers

Buyers keep asking how we’re moving homes so quickly without cutting corners. The short answer: relentless standards, a smarter mortgage strategy, and a system that keeps 13 projects on track without the chaos that sinks timelines and budgets. We open up about our first full year at Land2Homes and what it takes to deliver turnkey manufactured homes that feel great on day one—and still pencil out.

We walk through the real levers of affordability in the Tri‑Cities: pairing quality manufactured homes with below‑market mortgage rates so the monthly payment rivals older inventory. You’ll hear how we decide when a home is truly ready to list, why we’ll delay a week to fix trim or stabilize stepping stones, and how that patience pays off with faster sales and happier buyers. We also share the unglamorous parts, like mowing sites ourselves or troubleshooting underpinning delays, because those choices protect the final product and keep carrying costs in check.

Land remains the bottleneck, so we spell out exactly what works: unrestricted parcels or those that allow manufactured homes, water at the road, power nearby, manageable terrain, road frontage if subdividing, and no flood zone surprises. For agents and landowners, we explain how we buy, subdivide, and partner—paying full commissions and relisting with you when appropriate. And for buyers, we talk about why today’s manufactured homes are a different breed: tighter fit and finish, thoughtful layouts, and a true turnkey handoff that includes landscaping and the details most people overlook.

We’re still learning, still traveling to industry conferences, and still refining a task‑driven workflow that reduces errors, speeds schedules, and saves money without adding headcount. If you care about attainable housing in Northeast Tennessee and want a candid look at how quality meets cost, press play. Subscribe, leave a review, and share this episode with someone hunting for land or a first home in the Tri‑Cities.

To help you to navigate the home buying and mortgage process, Jonathan & Steve are currently licensed in Tennessee, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and Virginia, contact us today at 423-491-5405 or visit www.jonathanandsteve.com. 

Transcript

Welcome To Benchmark Happenings

SPEAKER_00 0:01

This is Benchmark Happening. Brought to you by Jonathan and Steve from Benchmark Home Loans, Northeast Tennessee, Johnson City, Kingsport, Bristol, the Tri-Cities, one of the most beautiful places in the country to live. Tons of great things to do and awesome local businesses. And on this show, you'll find out why people are dying to move to Northeast Tennessee. And on the way, we'll have discussions about mortgages and we'll interview people in the real estate industry. It's what we do. This is Benchmark Happenings, brought to you by Benchmark Home Loans. And now your host, Christine Reed.

Landa Homes Year One Recap

SPEAKER_01 0:45

Welcome back, everybody, to another episode of Benchmark Happenings. And really today we wanted to focus on another business segment here with um Jonathan Tipton and Steve Reed with Lanta Homes. So guys, thank you for being here today.

SPEAKER_03 1:05

You're welcome. You had to twist our arms a little bit, but we're here.

SPEAKER_01 1:08

Well, it's all well, you know, Steve, it's not too hard, but Jonathan, you're just I have to twit I really have to twist your arm.

SPEAKER_02 1:16

I'm here today. I'm not gonna say anything because it's such a privilege having Jonathan. I'm just gonna let him do all the talking today.

SPEAKER_01 1:24

Yes. I don't know about that. So I have two of my favorite guys here today. Uh Steve, my uh awesome husband, and then Jonathan. So uh let's, you know what? Let's it's been a while we've talked about that we've talked about Landa Homes. So hey, what's what's up with Landa Homes? Give us an update.

SPEAKER_02 1:45

Well, I guess we could look back on last year, which was Landa Homes actual first year and first full year in business. We were we were we had about maybe two-thirds of a year in 24 and uh really set a good foundation in 24, and in 25 we fell a little short of our uh goals, but we were we were pretty close, and uh so we're going into 26 very optimistic and have several projects going. So things are looking great.

Managing 13 Projects At Once

SPEAKER_01 2:16

All right. So, Jonathan, give us your take on land to homes.

SPEAKER_03 2:19

So, like he said, we got several things going. It's we're getting to the point now to where we're having to manage multiple at a time, and we've got 13 projects total. Um five of those we already have houses on the ground for. So um we're moving along. It seems to be picking up a little bit. The hardest part still finding land, but we've had a few that we've been able to find here recently, so that's been nice. But um we're up to 13 now.

SPEAKER_01 2:46

That's great. That is great. And and the the they're easy to sell, aren't they? I mean, it's just not meeting the the you know affordable housing for East Tennessee.

SPEAKER_03 2:58

Absolutely. So a lot of them we've actually sold before they've even been gotten finished. Um but we aren't having a whole lot of trouble with any of them being sold at this point, based on the price point and what's out there and you know, plus when you partner it with Benchmark, we give them a below market rate. So you're comparing, you know, a$220,000 house that you could go buy, or you could go buy one of these for$250 or$260 and have a payment very close to the same with a rate difference. So it works out well. So yeah, we're not having a whole lot of trouble selling them at this point.

Selling Fast And Pricing Strategy

SPEAKER_02 3:29

That's awesome. I'll tell you where we're having trouble listing these or or getting them ready to sell. We're so picky. We went out yesterday to look at one uh that we have in Piney Flats. And if we would have been pushing it, we could have probably already had it listed and sold, maybe. Um, but we're so picky. We just don't want to put the property out there until it meets our expectations, our standards. And so we're not just trying to push a property on people. We want it to be really, really nice. We want to stand behind what we sell, and uh so we take a little bit of extra uh pains, I guess, or efforts to make the property good before it even hits the market. So yeah, we could probably have a couple more out there for sale now, but we've just held them back from the market.

SPEAKER_03 4:19

Yeah, Steve and I have been known to get out there and do some landscaping or do some other things because it's we can't get somebody else to do it or it's not done how we want it to. So we've been a little picky with that, but hey, it's good.

SPEAKER_02 4:30

I mean it Well, we look back on our best landscaping job, and it was the one we did. Yes, absolutely.

Quality Control And Perfectionism

SPEAKER_01 4:36

Well, and I think the two of you uh your work ethic is superior. It is both of you are um perfectionists, you want things done well. Uh nothing is ever halfway done, either one of you, and uh Steve, you had mentioned expectations with Land to Homes and your product. So, Jonathan, can you expand just a little bit more on what are your expectations and how you provide this turnkey solution to clients?

SPEAKER_03 5:06

So sometimes we have to reel each other in because sometimes we go a little too far. But I mean that's not a bad thing. I'd rather be too far and reeling each other in as the other way. But we just try to make sure that when when it's done, it's a turnkey product. I mean, everything from the landscaping to the mailbox, I mean, everything is done. They don't have to do anything other than move their stuff in. And it looks nice. I mean, I don't want a bunch of three and four foot tall weeds somewhere. I don't want the stepping stones to be out of place or you know, wobbly as you walk up to the door. I mean, just little nitpicky stuff that a lot of times, but I mean it matters, and you can and people can tell a difference in those things, and we definitely can.

Turnkey Standards Buyers Notice

SPEAKER_02 5:43

I mean, we don't want trim pieces to be, you know, we don't want you to be able to see uh daylight behind trim. We want everything all the trim on the walls inside to be correct. We don't want cracks in anything. We want all that fixed, you know, prior to a client having to call us, or maybe it'll turn someone off on a house if they look at it and it's not fixed. But I will have to say um it's really hard to manage 13 projects. Um, but kudos to Jonathan. He has set up a phenomenal system that we're still fine-tuning that system. But Jonathan, if you can you talk about that system a little bit and kind of how it's helped us and helped us keep maybe part of our sanity.

SPEAKER_01 6:25

Yeah, we there's a great testimony yeah to your all's partnership. I mean, and Jonathan, you are like the technology, computer, whiz kid.

SPEAKER_03 6:37

I don't know if I'd go that far, but I've learned it.

SPEAKER_01 6:39

But I didn't mean to interrupt, but yeah, tell us about that.

Building The Workflow System

SPEAKER_03 6:42

So I've built out a system that basically reminds us of every step of the process all the way through. Because what and and we're again, we're still fine-tuning it and we're still getting it to work. But by the end of the day, once it's done, you're gonna be able to say when I check something off, if something that Steve needs to be doing after that is next, it's gonna automatically tell him he's gonna know to do it. So all we'll have to do is literally log in, go to one screen, and it's gonna have a list of everything for every project that each person needs to do. So it's helping us stay on track a little bit. Um, we're still kind of getting used to it. And you know, there's days it's like, oh crap, I hadn't been in there in four days. I've done and then I start clearing stuff and then it makes stuff that hit to Steve or vice versa that may be late or something. So we're still working out the kinks with it, but it's but it's gonna help us stay on track. And I I mean we did one or two at a time, but I don't know without this, we couldn't do we definitely couldn't do 13, but I don't even know if we could do three or four. Yeah. So um, but it's been very helpful.

SPEAKER_02 7:42

That's a true assessment. I mean, and it I I really believe that what he built out is gonna give the the clients and the the buyers um a better product in the end because we're not gonna forget things, it's gonna be a repeatable process. Um so it's the end product, the end result is gonna be so much better, but also the journey to get there for us is gonna be so much better, and it's really leveraging technology. And by leveraging technology, you can hire less people. When you hire less people, you don't have to charge as much for your product. So I feel like we're being very um uh cost conscious with the product and with what we're doing, and you know, that system, I don't know how you really quantify how much it's gonna save you or save ultimately the client, but but I really you know there's a dollar figure there somewhere that it's gonna save people on the cost of the house by leveraging that kind of technology.

SPEAKER_03 8:44

So well, and before we had it, I mean we'd we'd be like, hey, did you do this? Oh crap, I forgot that. And it was something it might be something that two or three things have to go after.

Tech, Cost Control, And Speed

SPEAKER_02 8:54

So I mean you've held up two or three other things because you didn't do your part of the process.

SPEAKER_03 9:00

Correct. And that that could be, I mean, the way these things get financed, I mean, that could be eight hundred or a thousand dollars a month in costs that are accruing there as things don't get done. So it does help us get it done a little quicker. I mean, we still have delays, and but typically our delays now are always around, for instance, we've got one now that was a little bit delayed because we couldn't get the underpinning done. Um, he was way behind and then the weather and everything else, and it just kept pushing behind. But it's not because we weren't ready. Uh everything else was ready. It's just, you know, making sure that everybody's on track. But that's the challenge. So we'd still see some of that, but it's not because one of us has forgot it for six weeks and we're rushing around at the end of the day trying to do it.

Scheduling Delays And Sub Relations

SPEAKER_02 9:43

So it also relationships with your subs that are doing your work because we're not having a fire drill for those guys. We're like, hey, here's what's coming up. Yeah, you know, we we kind of are more prompt in getting them our needs and what they're gonna have to put on their schedule instead of calling last minute, uh-oh, we forgot to tell you this. We need you out there tomorrow. So it helps you manage your subs better, and it's really just I mean, all the way around.

SPEAKER_01 10:11

You know, that's so that is key, Steve. I mean, that's so important because you know, building those relationships and and you all you all have to have relationships with so many different people for this whole process from start to finish.

SPEAKER_03 10:26

A lot more than I would have expected.

SPEAKER_01 10:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 10:28

I mean I mean it's a way a lot more.

SPEAKER_01 10:32

So when you first started this, did you guys ever expect that you would be this far along or that it would be as much so much work or um I think secretly I hoped it would be, but I don't think realistically I would have ever thought we would have had 13 going and you know, and even have any some sort of sanity.

SPEAKER_03 10:51

And st and we're still doing loans. So I mean you still we're still doing that as well. So it's like, you know, I would have never thought it would have grown to that point.

SPEAKER_01 10:58

Right.

SPEAKER_03 10:58

But uh I mean I think secretly hopeful, but I don't I didn't think it was gonna be there.

Capacity, Goals, And Sanity

Joy Of Building Versus Loans

SPEAKER_02 11:03

Would I mean realistically it's really exceeded and and we've you know we put some pretty big lofty goals in place. Uh that's good. And so we're I mean this year we want to close 15 properties we want to sell and close and uh next year even more. So we're we're kind of keeping the keeping the carrot dangling out there, kind of at a you know, big dream type pace, but uh so far we're we're hitting on all cylinders and learning, you know, we've learned a lot, and it's not easy. I never dreamed it would be. You mentioned did you think you'd have to have that many relationships, talk to that many people, there would be this much to do. And there's been days where I've thought, man, this is hard. And I can't imagine doing it without a partner, without Jonathan. Um, I couldn't do it, and um and I wouldn't want to do it, and it's like, man, this would be a this would be a really tough thing to start by yourself. And it hasn't been easy even with two people because we still do loans, we've still got you know employees to manage, that kind of thing. So um it it's been eye-opening as far as the difficulty, but I'm glad it's this hard or everybody to be doing it, I guess.

SPEAKER_03 12:16

So that's and it's been fun. I mean, it's been fun learning it, it's given, you know, a different perspective on things. Um I've really enjoyed, you know, loans are fun, but this side, people don't care about the loan. They care about the house. The loan is just a mechanism to get them to the house. So we get to actually participate in the other side, and you know, they're getting excited. We've got one now that I mean we're almost done. I mean, he texts me every few days, he's excited as he can be, and you know, just been great to work with. So it's just been it's been fun to kind of get to do that too. Because we've we've never been a part of that side. We've always been on just the loan side, and it's very much I mean, you it's a necessity, but it's very much the afterthought of looking at a house. You don't think let's go get a loan and then let's go talk to a loan officer. So we get to participate in both sides of it now. So it's kind of fun.

Entrepreneur Mindset And Grit

SPEAKER_01 13:05

Well, that's great. Well, that was one thing I was gonna ask about because I I mean the the both of you have just really truly enjoyed land to homes and what you're you have built. It I know like living with Steve and I've just seen just like a renewed energy in him and he loves it. Um so tell us a little bit about that. Just just you know, I mean, really, you guys kind of put it out there. I mean, how many people in the mortgage industry is doing something like this? I mean, I think it just speaks to your vision as partners, um, both of you being entrepreneurial in spirit. So uh for all those entrepreneurs out there, um speak to that just a little bit.

SPEAKER_02 13:54

Uh well what I would say is if you've got the vision to do it and you've got the willingness to work really, really, really hard.

SPEAKER_01 14:03

But I think that's the key, right?

SPEAKER_02 14:05

It is. Uh if you think it's just you know, it just falls in your lap, but that's just a farce that you see on some late night TV advertisements. Um it's real work, it's not pretty sometimes. Um I guess why we're enjoying it so much is because we already had the background from getting to do and and I I'm like Jonathan, I still love doing loans, but doing the kind of the no, I mean I'm sorry to say it like this, but the boring loan side to be able to see both sides and get getting to help them find their house, pick out their lot, you know, kind of the fun side of it. So now we kind of get to see both sides and that's really cool. But for entrepreneurs, you can do it, but it's a heck of a lot of work and it's a lot of investment, yeah, time and money.

What Land Actually Works

SPEAKER_01 14:54

I think that's what I've seen with with this podcast. We we you know, like I interview so many entrepreneurs, and that is the key. It's truly the work ethic behind it. You have to be willing to work hard, put in the burn uh of any success. None of it's ever easy, no matter what what you're in, right?

SPEAKER_03 15:16

And be willing to do things outside the norm. I mean, if you'd have told me two years ago I'd be out doing landscaping or whatever, I'd have probably laughed at you. But I mean, at the end of the day, both of us have said that like if it needs to be done, it's gotta be done. Right. And if we I I mean, now there's certain things I don't know how to do or Steve doesn't know how to do, but you know, I if I knew how to underpin one, I'd have probably already done that on this last one. But I don't. So, you know, but the things that we can do, I mean, I'm not gonna sit around and he's not either and wait on somebody to do something. We just do it.

SPEAKER_01 15:50

Well, and I can I can uh testify to that because the two of you, Jonathan, I still have that uh picture in my head when you guys uh needed to couldn't get your properties uh mowed. So you just went and rented a big piece of equipment and the two of you just went at it all day.

SPEAKER_03 16:10

And I will say we had a heck of a lot of fun on that one. We paid for it, our allergies paid for it, and my eyes were sore for a few days because I've who knows what got in them, but we had a heck of a lot of fun. One of the fun days at Landah. Yes, it was.

SPEAKER_01 16:23

Well, I mean, Steve showed me the videos of of him videoing you, Jonathan, doing 360s on that piece of equipment.

SPEAKER_02 16:30

Oh yeah, we were having fun. We just hope these Tennessee Reynolds is not listening to this podcast. Yes. We had a little too much fun on their equipment. We did. Well, you gotta make the best of it. And we we actually I think we even talked about this in the beginning. We're like, hey, when this stops being fun, we're not gonna do it.

SPEAKER_01 16:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 16:49

Yeah. So I don't see it stopping any time.

Calls For Land And Agent Partners

SPEAKER_01 16:52

I don't either. I I I see it continuing to grow and and uh it like you said, the the hardest part is the land is is finding that property that so what type of properties are you guys really what's the what's in that niche of what you really need?

SPEAKER_03 17:09

So what we need really is unrestricted properties or they can have restrictions as long as double wides or single odds are allowed. Typically we do double wides. Um so double wides being allowed, manufactured housing allowed. What we run into that we can't use is when you've got wording with the restrictions of no mobile homes or you know, sometimes trailers can fall into that. Um so we, you know, there's some case law behind that, so we can't use some of those, but really just unrestricted and something that we can work with that's just not on the side of a hill and you know, ideally has water uh at the road because a well can get pretty expensive.

SPEAKER_01 17:44

Right.

SPEAKER_03 17:44

Um, but you know, water at the road unrestricted, and you know, not up the side of a hill is really the main three case.

Manufactured Home Quality Today

SPEAKER_02 17:51

Power poles pretty close. That's nice to have too. Yeah. And uh the other thing, and a lot of people list property and they think this is a huge plus, stream running in running through property, creek running through property. Well, we don't want anything in a flood zone because flood insurance is so expensive. So when we see creek running through property, it's like uh ding ding ding, you know, does this have flood insurance? So so what he mentioned, those top three or four things and flood insurance, and that's kind of what we're looking for. We like to have three-quarters of an acre if we can to an acre or more. And uh so yeah, or we'll buy three or four or five acres and chop it up into parts into an acre each.

SPEAKER_03 18:35

So yeah, we're we're looking at beyond those, we're looking for road frontage. So when we're chopping them up, we're looking for road frontage so we can chop up, you know, we could go and cut a road in, but that gets pretty expensive. We hadn't hadn't ventured out that far yet. Um so when you when you're cutting it up, I think road frontage would be something to add to that.

Closing, Contact, And Next Steps

SPEAKER_02 18:52

Yeah, yeah. And we're just always trying to learn. I mean, we're very open to learning, you know, what we we want to have an imagination, but when you're learning, you've got to be careful. You don't want too big of an imagination because you end up losing a lot of money. And uh so we're going next week to a conference in Louisville, Kentucky.

SPEAKER_01 19:12

Awesome.

SPEAKER_02 19:12

And uh it's three days, it's one of the largest in the U.S. And so we go there and just act like sponges. We just, you know, we talk to a lot of people, we try to see a lot of new product, and I think that will help our clients on this end, you know. The the the more we know, I think it will help them to make better decisions and get a better product. So we're looking forward to going to that for three days next week. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 19:38

Absolutely. That's wonderful. Well, anything else you guys want to share?

SPEAKER_02 19:44

Just if anybody has any property you want to sell, any land, you know anybody with farmland uh they want to sell a lot, we'll do a one off lot. Um, we're looking for any of that. Any realtors that are listening, we love working with agents. So if you have any land. We'd love to look at that, buy it from you. Uh if we end up, you know, putting a house on there and listing it, you know, and it's not sold before it gets listed, we'll list it with you. So always looking to help agents with their because we pay full commission if you know if it's listed or if an agent brings us a client.

SPEAKER_03 20:17

So um, and then if you're wanting to buy a manufactured house, um reach out to us. We can help you navigate through that. And we can also help you as far as on your own land. We've not done a lot of that yet, but we know how to do that a little bit. Okay. Um so if you do have your own land you're wanting to put a house on it, that's something we can look at and help you with too.

SPEAKER_01 20:36

So Yeah, that's great. And these homes are quality. People don't realize the standards of manufactured housing today.

SPEAKER_03 20:44

I didn't realize it until we had actually gotten in our first one after we had ordered it, and I was very pleasantly surprised at how it felt and how everything, you know, was put together. They're beautiful. Yeah, they really are.

SPEAKER_01 20:55

And go to our um go to the land to homes website and also uh we're on Facebook, Instagram, uh we post a lot of those pictures and stuff so you guys can see inside of uh these beautiful homes. And so I'm looking forward to an update when you guys get back from your uh conference. So thanks for being on today, and you're all's land to home shirts. Look really nice that you all have. Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 21:23

This has been Benchmark Happenings, brought to you by Jonathan Tipton and Steve Reed from Benchmark Home Loans. Jonathan and Steve are residential mortgage lenders. They do home loans in Northeast Tennessee, and they're not only licensed in Tennessee, but Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and Virginia. We hope you've enjoyed the show. If you did, make sure to like, rate, and review. Our passion is Northeast Tennessee. So if you have questions about mortgages, call us at 423 491 5405. And the website is www.jonathansteve.com. Thanks for being with us, and we'll see you next time on Benchmark Happenings.