Ep.#118: Custom Homes Done Right, T.Murphy Construction

We sit down with Auburn home builder Tim Murphy to hear how his company grows from small service work into remodels, renovations, and full custom builds. 

We talk through common construction misconceptions, what entrepreneurship really demands, and how a design-build process can make a home feel truly personal. 

• licensed Auburn home builder services from renovations to custom builds 
• career path from Auburn Building Science into large commercial construction 
• returning to Auburn to build a local, community-driven construction business 
• why some older-home remodels cost more than a teardown rebuild 
• guiding clients through multiple options to protect value and budget 
• family life with three kids and staying busy with sports 
• entrepreneurship realities like long hours and slow seasonal periods 
• affordable custom home building through in-house floor plans and 3D renderings 
• designing around real lifestyles like kids, pets, and storage needs 

www.tmurphyco.com

Transcript

Welcome To Good Neighbor Podcast

SPEAKER_00 0:00

This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Susanna Hodges.

SPEAKER_01 0:11

Welcome, and with me is Tim Murphy, and Tim owns Tim Murphy Construction. Welcome, Tim.

SPEAKER_02 0:19

Thanks for having me on today.

SPEAKER_01 0:20

Absolutely. Tell us about Tim Murphy Construction. What all do you guys do there?

SPEAKER_02 0:26

All right. So we are a licensed home builder local to Auburn, and we specialize in everything from smaller remodel renovations, alterations, up to full custom builds. Everything in between, it could just be simply a retile on a shower, or it could be your forever house that you want to custom build. We can help you there too.

From Commercial Work To Auburn

SPEAKER_01 0:46

Awesome. So I've known you for a few years now and um have been uh able to watch your business grow, and it has just been a wonderful ride for you. Tell us a little bit about your journey. How did you get started and how did Tim Murphy construction come to be?

SPEAKER_02 1:05

Yeah, absolutely. So a long life uh career path in construction. So no new journey there. It's been since about 2013 when I graduated Auburn Building Science. I was thrusted into the commercial construction world. We did large-scale uh multifamily apartments. I've done oil and gas, uh, traveled all over the US and even the world. And uh when I got married with my wife and we started having a family, it pretty much looked at our lives and said, where do we want to be and what do we want to do? And that brought us back to Auburn. And so it started out as a smaller, smaller journey with just a small service company. And as the needs grew and everybody got to learn who we are and what we could actually be capable of, I just kept getting asked the question over and over, would you help us? Would you help us? We can't find anyone else. And so it it really the community is what drove me to where we are today. And and um I've been so thankful to have their support 100% of the time.

Remodel Or Rebuild Misconceptions

SPEAKER_01 2:07

That is that is amazing. And I've seen some pictures of your work, and it's just uh just beautifully done. Um so you've been doing this for a while. Are there any kind of misconceptions um that you've come across that people have about either home construction or remodeling?

SPEAKER_02 2:25

Oh, quite a few. Yeah, absolutely. Um there's there's a couple different misconceptions. Typically, we get um we get a lot of people who want to come in and and try to salvage, say, uh, a house that's pretty old with a lot of foundational issues and doing a remodel. And um, you know, sometimes doing a remodel is not always cheaper than just a teardown and rebuild. Um, we've had a couple of those come by that once you start adding up the amount of foundational work that you have to do to correct the age of the house. And these are typically your 70, 80-year-old homes, which are beautiful. But once that house reaches a point that it's almost too far gone, that's when you really say, are you actually getting your biggest money and value? And that's what we help people uh with every single day. We say, hey, let's think about this. I'm not just gonna take what you want to do and say, okay, we're gonna do that for you. I'm gonna say, hey, let's think about these three other options. And a lot of the times they'll say, Oh, we didn't even think about that. Because they don't see it every day like we do. But that's a huge misconception that we've seen is that sometimes the remodel is not always cheaper than a more significant rebuild.

SPEAKER_01 3:33

Okay, yeah. So sometimes you just get an idea in your head and you don't really realize there are other ways and other options. Yeah.

Family Life Outside The Jobsite

SPEAKER_02 3:41

Mm-hmm. All the time.

SPEAKER_01 3:43

So let's talk about you for a minute here. What do you and your family like to do for fun when you're not remodeling or building a new home for somebody?

SPEAKER_02 3:52

Oh man, um all kinds of things. So I've got three kids, uh, eight-year-old, a six-year-old, and a three-year-old. Um, we're very much into the sports activities now, so I coach my son's baseball team. And uh that's you know, three nights a week there. And then um younger daughter is uh she's in chair camp, and so always running her around. So a lot of our a lot of our day-to-day is just enjoying the kids' time, going to the parks. We do um sporting events, you know. It's we live in Auburn, so we're pretty Auburn proud and go to the games, you know.

SPEAKER_01 4:27

Absolutely. And those, I tell you what, the you've got three kids, eight and under, man, they keep you busy. You're you're uh you and your wife are really just uh traveling them around, right? You're a taxi.

SPEAKER_02 4:39

Yep, yep, and we'll be a taxi for quite a while, but that um that job does not pay. So I still work.

The Real Cost Of Entrepreneurship

SPEAKER_01 4:48

That's funny. So part of the reason I do this podcast is I like to encourage people to follow their dreams of entrepreneurship just like you did. And you know, sometimes when you're trying to build your business, you you come across hardships or obstacles that you kind of had to overcome to keep going. And can you describe some of those things that you've run across, whether it's personal or in your business, that made you stronger and your business stronger?

SPEAKER_02 5:15

Sure thing, yeah. Um, so I'd say one of the hardships, it's it's the time commitment. Um, you know, a lot of people get into this to be their own boss, so they pick their own hours. I tell you, uh, I mean, I've always always a hard worker, but as far as hours towards something, I've spent more hours building these businesses and and trying to grow than I ever did with another employer. So um if you're looking to work for yourself to shorten your hours, I would say this is may not be the one for you. Um eventually, right? Eventually, right, yes. The early stages, you've really just got to hunker down and do it. Um couple of the other hardships I would say is is um it it takes time. You know, it's not always the busiest time. There are definitely slow periods. We've had them over the years where um you know we we're busy as is all get out in July, August, September, and then December, November, or January roll around. We may not have but one or two jobs going, and and it gets bleak, and you start thinking, oh man, did I make the right decision? We're not making any money. Um, but it's it's uh it's a cycle of the business.

SPEAKER_01 6:27

You that's right.

SPEAKER_02 6:28

There's gonna be some slow periods, but just keep keep working hard and it'll pay off.

SPEAKER_01 6:33

That's right. I know, and I think that's true for any type of business. You have your ups and downs, and you just have to push through those downs until you get to that level where the downs don't affect you as quite as much as they used to. Yeah.

Affordable Custom Design Build Process

SPEAKER_02 6:45

Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 6:46

Well, tell me uh one thing that you wish people knew about Tim Murphy construction that they may not realize.

SPEAKER_02 6:54

Oh, great. Um, so one thing they may not realize is um truly our capabilities. Uh, we are what I love to call a custom home build on an affordable budget. And we truly go full custom. I mean, all the way down to drawing your floor plan on the back of a piece of paper to start, right? I mean, it's it's and we're completely flexible when people come to us and they have a need, we truly care about the need to sit down and say, you know, we're gonna spend three hours on our first consult just because we want to know your lifestyle. Hey, you do do you have kids? What kind of rec you know, extracurricular activities do they have? Oh, you have a dog. Do you want the dog to have a crate in the house? Like it's it's the it's the level of detail that we go to. Um and and and then the fact that we do all of our designing in-house. We are through a design build. Um, we do your floor plan, we do the 3D modeling, the rendering. Every bit of that's done in-house, which ultimately saves the customers a significant amount of money versus going to you know an architect or someone like that who does incredible work, but they they have higher fees. And and um we just get very, very personal when it comes to the build, and we want to make sure we capture every every one of those wants and needs into your build.

How To Contact And Nominate

SPEAKER_01 8:17

And it's a very what you're doing is very personal. People really um get very attached to their homes and their remodels because it's their life. So you definitely want someone to walk walk with you through the entire process. So um that's uh definitely a plus with your company. Well, how can people find out more about you and get in touch with you?

SPEAKER_02 8:39

Yeah, absolutely. So obviously we're online, uh, tmurphyco.com. Um, you can also give us a call at 334-5397000. You can also just shoot us an uh email, info at tmurphyco.com. But any one of those, you're more than welcome to reach out to us. Uh, we're very quick to respond. I got a full-time office manager, and she manned that phone religiously. So um we're we're here for you.

SPEAKER_01 9:08

Awesome. Well, thank you for joining me, Tim. I've really enjoyed learning more about you and about Tim Murphy construction. Thank you.

SPEAKER_02 9:15

Yeah, thanks for having me. You have a great day.

SPEAKER_00 9:19

Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast Auburn. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to GNP Auburn.com. That's gnpauburn.com. Or call three three four four four four four four two nine seven four zero four.