By Kathy Bowen Stolz
When Hurricane Katrina swept through New Orleans in August 2005, it reshaped thousands of lives forever. One of those lives was Jay Hays’ of Hays Homes, for the floods that inundated New Orleans led him to a new career and a new city.
You see, he was a young Realtor and rental property owner in his native New Orleans when Katrina’s side effects swept 10 to 15 feet of water into his own home and his rental properties and stopped most real estate sales in the city.
“I enjoyed real estate – everything about it. But after renovating my first rental property, I started falling in love with the building aspect of it. I bought more properties and fixed them up. Katrina flooded every house I had, and I had to start completely over; however, in the process of tearing out and replacing walls, I learned about what’s behind them, and I became fascinated,” he admitted.
Although Jay and his soon-to-be wife Lynn’s future was already in the works in their hometown of New Orleans, they were forced to relocate. Serendipitously Lynn was offered a clinical sire at Lafayette General on her path to become an ultrasonographer, leading the couple to Acadiana. Shortly after her graduation, the Hayses decided to open their own 4D ultrasound company, Sneak Peek Ultrasound, in 2007. Jay spent the first few years helping to grow their business while managing his New Orleans rental properties. But he had bigger aspirations of his own.
His original goal was to develop a 21-acre property, but quickly he and others realized he had a knack for building. With 11 years of renovation experience, Jay became a licensed contractor 2012. One thing led to another, and nowadays Hays is building some of the finer high-end homes in the greater Lafayette area; he prides himself on providing the best final product in each of the 12 to 20 houses he builds in a given year. Hays Homes’ products range from $250,000 to $2.5 million, with its speculative homes in the lower price range.
He noted that his spec homes typically sell the first day they’re listed because buyers know they will get the same quality construction as in Hays’ custom homes because he uses the same subcontractors, which he carefully screens. “Because I’ve done the work myself, I can train the subs on what I expect. I’m probably a little more picky than most builders. I can watch a sub for an hour and tell if they’re going to work for me.”
He added that his homes are known for their custom details of trim, cabinetry, antique wood beams and doors and unique ceilings, which he often uses to create a “pop” in the room. Even the spec homes have LED lighting throughout and HDMI prewired cables plus antique and reclaimed beams in them.
Hays Homes can be found in Lafayette, Youngsville, Broussard, Abbeville and Maurice. Jay said he prefers to stay within a 30-mile radius of Lafayette so he or his foreman Nick Pepper can check on the daily progress of their homes, a check-in that’s an important part of the company’s customer service because he relays that progress to each client daily. Jay said his priority is going to the job sites to ensure their progress.
As owner, he handles all of the bidding, estimating and scheduling for the company, while Nick assists with walk-throughs with the homebuyers and the subcontractors. Nick is the only direct employee.
Jay said he also enjoys the inherent variety in building. “I’m doing the same thing every day, but not really. While I might be doing the same actions, I’m working with different people, which keeps the job exciting.”
This busy father of three meets with potential clients several times before taking on a job to make sure he understands what the clients want in their homes. He asks them to bring photographs of what details they want, and he really likes bringing those ideas to life for his clients. “I like somebody showing me something that they like, and then I create it for them. I like being to take something they have in their heads and make it a reality.”
And he noted that he has developed a reputation for keeping homes within budgets. He attributes this skill to listening carefully to his customers and translating those desires into numbers. “I take this seriously as a business in terms of numbers. I know what it will take to get the house built the way the client envisions it. I always have my customers’ best interests in mind when ordering materials and hiring subs. I will work overtime to ensure they get the best possible price.”
It’s also important to Hays’ business to have an ability to understand the clients’ preferred communication style. Some clients want their information by phone, others by text and still others by email. He recognizes that a busy surgeon wants his/her daily update early in the morning before starting work while a stay-at-home parent may have the flexibility to stop by the job site more than once each day.
Both Jay and his foreman are eager to please, Jay asserted, because of their retail sales backgrounds. In addition, “people have to like you and trust you” when they’re making a major purchase, such as a house. His wife reminds him occasionally that they’re both in businesses where they deal with people at two of the biggest events in their lives – having babies and building houses. And oftentimes those events overlap for their clients!
To Hays it’s important to treat everybody the way you want to be treated yourself, and that approach seems to be working, for Hays Homes gets 90 to 95 percent of its business from word-of-mouth referrals. “If you build one or two ’right’ houses, the word gets around.”
Jay said he doesn’t want to have to avoid people because he’s ashamed of the way he treated clients or the quality of work on their houses after a project is finished. Instead, he wants to be able to sit beside people without shame, whether it’s at church, a crawfish boil or his son’s sporting events. He added that some clients told him, “You know why I hired you? I see you around town.”
As far as Hays Homes’ future is concerned, Jay said that it’s at a good point. “I want to keep the business where I can manage it. I’m enjoying it. Nick is enjoying it. If we’re in the same place and at the same pace in five years, I’d be pretty excited.”
You may contact Jay Hays of Hays Homes at 337-504-8297 or [email protected]. The office is located at 1720 Kaliste Saloom Road, Suite A2, Lafayette, LA 70508.