Hello hello! Welcome to the Hey Homeowner Podcast! My name is Chelsey Morphy, I am the owner of Potts Design & Co., a boutique architectural design business where we design creative new homes of all sizes and renovation. I’m also the owner of Homeowner HQ, a new home and renovation educational and support platform where we help homeowners from start to finish of their home project. And I believe I was put on this earth to help as many homeowners as I can get the home of their dreams. 

This has been something I’ve been dreaming about for years and I’m so excited to talk about home projects in a way that I don’t think people are talking about them. Honestly and openly.

I love the work I do with Potts Design & Co., designing homes since 2006, but we don’t get into the experiences that others face because we’re focused on the design. Even more so, I love the work I do in Homeowner HQ, where we work closely, from beginning to end, and we share our stories and experiences we have faced in our projects, but because we’re supporting and helping each other along the way, we are fortunate to have very few of the stories we’ll be sharing here.

To give you background as to why I do the work that I do, and why this podcast is launching now, I was lucky enough to grow up on job sites. My dad was, and is still to this day, a well known carpenter. The day I fell in love with design was the day I visited one of my dads job sites. A 15,000 square foot estate in a prestigious area of West Vancouver. This was back in the early 90’s so this type of home was a rarity. 

It had a 2-story library with rolling ladder, a tennis court, a pond large enough to hold a dock, of course it had a pool and hot tub, but it also had a cave to hold the pool supplies and mechanical room. There was a 6 car garage, 2 types of kitchens (in the house, not a suite), a theatre room where you swear you were at the theatres, and features everywhere you looked.

I’ve heard that Oprah stayed there, but we never knew for sure. 

I went to school for architectural design and in the middle of my schooling, at 19 years old, I got my first job - designing a 5,000 square foot new home for a lovely couple who wanted to give me a shot. I have spent the last 18 years designing homes of all sizes, including a tree house, a tiny home on wheels, a 3,000 square foot carriage home, a hops farm timber-frame building, backyard offices, million dollar custom homes, hundreds of renovations (including one that my father built 20 years earlier), and so much more. I have spent hours and hours on job sites, worked with general contractors, interior designers, engineers of all kids, and am nearing completion on my own personal design and build project on 15 acres.

Because I grew up with construction running through my veins and a contractor and carpenter on speed dial, I realized that all this information I had learned growing up was not the norm for most. And then going to school, starting my design business, and undergoing my own personal new build project - all this information was a privilege to have, and I soon learned that with this privilege came a responsibility. 

While my home was getting build, I realized that while I had the understanding of the processes, the hires, the budgeting, the finishing, the EVERYTHING - how were homeowners doing this alone?

I began having more and more conversations with homeowners, and realized that they were winging it, figuring it out as they went. This thing that cost thousands and thousands of dollars and they were just figuring it out as they went!? 

If they didn’t have trust in or want to pay for a general contractor, they would do it themselves and hope it worked out. Without any knowledge of what to look for if it didn’t turn out. 

If they hired a general contractor, they would put all their trust in that one person to do everything for them. Be there to answer all their questions, help them with making decisions, managing their budget, and so much more, all while doing their actual job managing the project.

Home improvement scams placed #4 on the list of Top 10 Riskiest Scams across Canada, 44% of home projects went over budget and spent an average of 38% more than planned, and, while this survey was done over 10 years ago, 12% of couples admit to considering a divorce during a home project. 

The problem is, we think HGTV and what we see on social media is reality. It doesn’t take long to do, there’s always a couple of hidden extra costs, we’ll just have to postpone renovating a room, and at the end everyone is thrilled but still on budget that couldn’t even cover the cost of your standard appliances..

Homeowners go into their project blind, trying to learn an entire industry as they go. 

And then, what’s worse, is no one talks about it. They hide their horror stories out of shame and embarrassment. And I completely get it. We make hires who tell us it will cost x and it soon doubles, even triples. We’re ashamed of making that hire, or think maybe we miss understood the quote. Whatever it is, it’s a true story. And I’ve heard my share of them.

This is the reason I created Homeowner HQ. A place where homeowners won’t feel ashamed of asking questions, where they’ll learn the process and know what comes next in their project, where they’ll be able to easily manage their budget, get help with making homeowner decisions, and so much more - All from professionals who aren’t busy working on their house and whose primary goal is for them to succeed in their home project. 

I want to start talking openly about our projects. Not just the Pinterest perfect home at the end, but what it took to get there. 

Homeowners who have a bad experience in their new home or renovation are more likely to turn around and sell their home. On the flipside, homeowners stay just in spite. Whether that’s driven by dissatisfaction with the final outcome (or worse, ongoing problems), or the desire to move on from a negative experience, either way we don’t want you to have a bad experience. And this starts with talking openly about the project. 

So here is what you can expect from the show. Every 2nd week we’re going to be sharing true stories, written in by you, the anonymous listeners and homeowners, about your new home or renovations project experiences - the good and the bad. The highs, the lows. 

They’ll be short minisodes. About 15 minutes long. Because we know you’re busy. And if undergoing your own new home or renovation project then we know you're VERY busy. I know I am.

These stories may shock and yet they happen time and time again. But this isn’t to scare you out of a home project. This is a learning experience. At the end of each story, I’m going to be sharing what could have been done to minimize or completely avoid the chance of this happening. The point is to know what could happen and what you could do about it.

Every other week we’ll be sharing stories from our perspective, the professionals. They’ll be personal, educational, and once again short because we’ve got work to do on-site or in HQ.   

I’m so excited you’re all here and I can’t wait to get started. I want this show to reach as many people as possible. 

SO here’s a few things you can do to support the show. 

1. You can rate and review. You can subscribe to the show. And, one of the fun things that we’re doing is we’re requesting that, in your review, if you don’t know what to write, tell us the vision of your dream home. 

For me it’s a quaint home, under 1,500 square feet, on large acreage. Maybe some animals in the yard, some really great outdoor spaces for entertaining, and minimal but cozy interior. Only what you need and nothing else. Sounds like a dream to me.

So if you don’t feel like leaving a detailed review, totally cool, then tell us your vision of your dream home. But that’s the first way, is subscribe, rate and review. We so appreciate it. It helps boost our ratings and it helps more people discover the show.

The 2nd thing, share us with someone you know is going through or about to go through a new home or renovation project. If you liked what you heard or took something away from it, tell your friends, that’s a huge support for us.

The 3rd, write in your stories! Go to homeownerhq.co/connect and fill out the form. We’d love to hear them, help you through it, and if you’ve already been through it, just sharing your story will help so many others who may end up right where you were. Your story doesn’t have to happen again.

I am honored to share your stories and experiences, and I can’t wait to hear your feedback. So this is episode 1, explaining what this podcast is all about, and next week we’re starting with a pro story followed by a wild story from you, the listeners. Yes this one was already written in and it’s mind-blowing. You’re not going to want to miss this.

Thanks so much for listening and we’ll see you next week!