Educating Homeowners About the Benefits of Modifications with Top Podcaster & General Contractor Chris Lalmolia

Chris Lalomia, CEO of The Trusted Toolbox, discusses his business and the challenges and benefits of home renovations for older adults and people with disabilities.

He emphasizes the importance of prioritizing professionalism and trust in the handyman industry.

Lalomia also talks about the growing trend of multi-generational homes in Atlanta and the need for home modifications to accommodate aging parents.

He highlights the need for proactive modifications to prevent falls and improve safety, and the importance of educating homeowners about the benefits of these modifications.

Lalomia also discusses the challenges of working with older adults and their families, including managing different opinions and addressing feelings of guilt and anger.

He encourages homeowners to view modifications as a lifestyle change and an opportunity to improve their homes.

The conversation covers various topics related to home remodeling and aging in place.

Chris Lalomia discusses the importance of integrating accessibility features into home design and the work he does with the National Association of Remodelers.

They also touch on the challenges of deferred maintenance in older homes and the need for upgrades to plumbing, electrical, and other systems.

The conversation highlights the role of home technology in improving comfort and safety, and the importance of starting with key rooms like the bedroom and kitchen when planning for aging in place.

They also discuss the benefits of zero-step entrances and the conversion of carports into garages for safety and security.

Takeaways

Prioritizing professionalism and trust is crucial in the handyman industry.

Home modifications are necessary to accommodate aging parents in multi-generational homes.

Proactive modifications can prevent falls and improve safety.

Educating homeowners about the benefits of modifications is essential.

Challenges in working with older adults include managing different opinions and addressing feelings of guilt and anger.

Modifications should be viewed as a lifestyle change and an opportunity to improve the home. Integrating accessibility features into home design is important for aging in place.

Deferred maintenance in older homes can decrease their value and pose safety risks.

Home technology, such as smart home features, can improve comfort and safety.

Starting with key rooms like the bedroom and kitchen is crucial when planning for aging in place.

Zero-step entrances and the conversion of carports into garages can enhance safety and security.

Sound Bites

"I started the business in 2008. And if everybody remembers what that was, that was the start of the recession. So timing has never been my thing."

"A lot of people are moving here because it's a big distribution center and it's also a great quality of life."

"Once a person falls, they are four times more likely to fall."

"You can actually integrate them into the flow of the home and you don't even know they're there or that's what they're there for."

"Our home is our number one asset. It is 100% our number one financial, emotional asset."

"The housing stock in the U.S. is very old. 90% of the housing stock was built before 1990."

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Background

05:00 Starting The Trusted

Transcript

Janet Engel (00:01.91)
Hello everyone, thank you for being with me today. And our guest is Chris Lalomia. He is the CEO of the Trusted Toolbox and he is a licensed general contractor in Atlanta, Georgia. Chris, thank you for being with us today.

Chris Lalomia (00:20.932)
Hey, Janet, looking forward to it. I know you and I have talked quite a bit over the years, so I am excited to come on the podcast and kick it around a little bit with you.

Janet Engel (00:29.03)
Yes, and I want to tell everyone that you also have a podcast that you started three years ago. It's called the Business Safari and it is listed as one of the top five podcasts and you get about how many like a few thousand downloads a month, right?

Chris Lalomia (00:49.52)
I do like well at 3 ,000 downloads an episode. Yeah, the small business Safari. We help other people who are thinking they're scaling a business or trying to start a business and try to get out there and give them some information. But you're very generous and saying the top five were the top 5 % so but still excited about that as well because it's starting to show that our listenership is digging what we're putting out there.

Janet Engel (01:10.578)
Yes, and it is very entertaining. I was lucky enough to be a guest on it and had a great time with you and your co -host. So hopefully we'll do it again. And then I also want to tell our listeners that you are also the co -host of a local radio show in Atlanta.

Chris Lalomia (01:30.48)
Yeah, absolutely. I got a chance to get on extra 1061063's All Four Seasons Home Show that goes out every Saturday morning at 9 a It's a taped show. not a call in show, but we highlight good contractors here in the Atlanta area, but also offer a lot of home advice and home tips for anybody, whether here in Atlanta or anywhere. So it's out there in podcast land as well called the All Four Seasons Home Show. And I joined that group earlier this year. So I've been really excited and a lot of having a lot of fun with that.

Janet Engel (02:01.344)
And you guys record from the Braves Stadium, which is a lovely place. If people haven't visited, they renovated the Braves Stadium a couple of years ago, and it's just beautiful. I've been there for a couple of concerts. I went there for your radio show. And honestly, I'd love to live in one of those buildings near there.

Chris Lalomia (02:25.624)
I know, right? I have such a good time when I go over there. It's such a cool area. It's a tourist park and it's called the Battery. What I've just found out this week is that there are teams around the world that are flying in to look at what the Braves have done, Atlanta Braves, just to see how cool it is and what they can do as an organization and as a business. And I was like, yeah, that's really interesting to see that they actually are on the forefront that worldwide they're having people fly in just to see it.

Janet Engel (02:55.751)
Yeah, I'm not surprised. I went there for the Warren, I'm sorry, I'm getting his name Morgan Wallen concert a few months ago. It was amazing. And it was sold out. He played two days in a row and

and then I went there for another event, went there for your radio show. It's just such a fun place and so many great restaurants and they have nightclubs and it's safe. You can walk from your hotel to the Battery. We had to do that for the Morgan Wallen concert.

Chris Lalomia (03:33.058)
I did not have you pegged as a country music aficionado. I love it, Janet. Look at you.

Janet Engel (03:37.09)
Well you know I'm actually not so I got that I got those tickets because they were given to my daughter and and then she couldn't come and she had already invited a friend and her friend flew up here to go to the concert and so I got the ticket and at first

Chris Lalomia (03:40.644)
Ha ha ha!

Janet Engel (03:59.782)
I really wasn't too excited about going. I was doing it just to accompany her girlfriend, but it turns out I had a great time and now I am a huge Morgan Wallen fan. And every time we go out on Lake Lanier, I tell my husband, we've got to play Morgan Wallen.

Chris Lalomia (04:12.312)
Inui.

Chris Lalomia (04:17.176)
I love it. See, nothing beats live music. And like you said, that venue, it's safe. It's a great place to go. And that's why I have a lot of fun going over there and taping the episodes is because I get to get out, you know, and it's during the day when we go and do them and you get to see the environment and just so you just pick up so much energy when you're there, which is a blast.

Janet Engel (04:37.002)
You do, yeah. All right, well, let's get to it because I invited you on my show because you own a very successful business in Atlanta. It's called The Trusted Toolbox. And I want you to tell our audience about how you started your business and what your focus is and how you've grown it because it's pretty impressive.

Chris Lalomia (05:00.816)
So I started the business in 2008. And if everybody remembers what that was, that was the start of the recession. So timing has never been my thing. So that's what a strike one against me. But what I wanted to do was start the trusted toolbox as a handyman concept, but I prioritize professionalism above all else. I wanted to put a professional spin on historically unprofessional space where people can come to your house and you can trust them. They'll communicate with you. They'll also do the work that you're looking to have done and provide that service.

Janet Engel (05:08.824)
Yeah.

Chris Lalomia (05:30.768)
for a lot of us who are time -starved homeowners. And so we started in 2008 and just me and another guy. Today I have 15 handymen and then I have five people in my office who schedule them. We also have a remodeling division that does baths, kitchens, and decks, as well as basements. So we've grown and I've also started a new division in Athens, Georgia, which is where the University of Georgia is. And I have three technicians out there along with a manager.

where we've been able to provide that professionalism and it's proven out because if you go look at our Google reviews, we're closing in on thousand Google reviews with a 4 .7 rating with 4 .8 in the last three years alone. It just shows that I think we put it together. The processes are there really helping homeowners with a lot of the little things that we just don't have the time, skills or the tools to do. So that's where we've really hit our stride here in Atlanta.

Janet Engel (06:27.724)
Well, that's great. And how have you seen the business change over time? You've told me that Atlanta is a transient city. We also have pretty good weather year round, a very short winter. And it is an attractive place for people to retire or people who now have jobs where they can work remotely.

also are moving out here. Tell me how that has changed and also if you've seen more clients that are 50 and older and needing to do more renovations. And I also want you to tell me how was 2020 because you've told me stories before about building emergency ramps.

Chris Lalomia (07:22.458)
That's right. So in general, Atlanta is a very diverse economic base. You know, my my start to the in this business was out coming out of professional America and corporate America and doing all that. So we have a very diverse economic base here. And a lot of people are moving here because it's a big distribution center and it's also a great quality of life. You mentioned that the seasons are usually pretty moderate except the summer, which is blazingly hot, especially lately.

Janet Engel (07:51.266)
If you had been to South Florida, you wouldn't say that.

Chris Lalomia (07:54.818)
Exactly right. See, and this is probably as far south as I'm willing to go because I am I'm a Yankee at heart, but this is it for me. But what I found here is that we're a lot of transients. You know, I moved here and when I talk to other people, a lot of people have moved here for jobs or for otherwise quality of life, and especially during COVID. I heard that as well. And so when you're transient, you don't have that inherent network that you would have. So.

If you were born and raised in Miami, if you were born and raised in Michigan or New York, you had a family, your father -in -law, your father, your grandfathers, your uncles, your aunts, people would help you with your home. And here we didn't have that network and we didn't know who to call. So what we did is we developed friend groups and the friend groups here in Atlanta are strong. And what I found is that our kids drive our personal life, you know, depending on the ages that you have.

And with that friend group, that's who you're relying on to find out advice or to get help in your home. And what's happened here is that in 2008, a lot of transients. But what I have found in here now in 2024 is that a lot of these transients are here, but they became the anchors for their families. So the people from the Michigan's and the Illinois's and the New York's and the Pennsylvania's and the Maryland's, they moved here, but now they're moving their parents down here and moving them into the base.

One of the things that's really nice about Atlanta is that we're the city of trees. We also have a lot of elevation changes. So our basements, which is where I'm coming live to you here, I can look out on my pool. I can look out and it looks like a beautiful thing. When you're in Michigan or if you're in Florida, know that basements really aren't a thing because you can't have them down in Florida and up in Michigan. They're usually like cellars because it's very flat. So what I found is that the anchors that have moved here, and these are the

Janet Engel (09:21.538)
Mm -hmm.

Janet Engel (09:39.477)
and

Chris Lalomia (09:44.036)
We're 30s, we're 40s are now in their 50s and maybe even their 60s are moving their parents here and building out those basements and they're becoming the multi -generational home here in the south because it's a better quality of life. It's easier on the parents. If you're coming from up north, you're not shoveling snow all winter. And that's what I have found is that more and more people now are really, I guess I wouldn't say they're putting roots here, but they're definitely the anchor family.

Janet Engel (10:10.474)
Mm -hmm. Well, yes, I can see moving my mom here one day, and that is particularly why I bought this house, because it has a walkout basin.

It has a full bathroom. It actually is a wheelchair accessible bathroom. Not just the doors, but actually circulation in the bathroom. But I would have to call you to make that shower a curbless shower because right now it has a five inch threshold. But other than that, it would be very good for someone using a wheelchair or a walker or just someone who needs more space.

Chris Lalomia (10:41.978)
Right.

Janet Engel (10:51.168)
So tell me what are the most common kind of requests that you get in your business, particularly for either people with aging parents or people with disabilities.

Chris Lalomia (11:05.818)
Well, you actually hit on one and you know, we all have had and had to experience life changing events, whether it's the birth of a child, whether it's a divorce, a marriage, those are big life changing events. Well, another life changing event is deciding that mom and dad are going to move in with you or mom and dad in -laws, boy, are moving in with you. boy. So I again, hats off to your husband. So getting your mother to move in. So I again, a little jokes.

Janet Engel (11:31.38)
My mother doesn't meddle though.

Chris Lalomia (11:33.56)
Okay, good. All right, we like that as long as we have boundaries, mom, you got to have boundaries, please. Thank you. What I found is that with that life changing event, that's where you have a big change. And what we joked about in our podcast that I told you about is that when COVID hit, everybody was starting to really freak out about having their loved ones in an assisted living facility, because they heard that that was the beginning of COVID, where it was going to really hit bad. And what we found was we had to do is emergency ramps.

Janet Engel (11:37.719)
you

Chris Lalomia (12:02.8)
Hey, I've got to move my dad out today. Can you guys build me a 20 foot ramp in the front of my house so I can bring him home this afternoon? Well, it doesn't work like that. And we can't work that fast. But we did put in a lot of emergency ramps. So that change in life modification is a big one. And we're usually. But what I found is that a lot of people start with just the one thing that's the barrier. So I got to get them into the house. So that's a door. And then once they're in the house, they realize that a lot of these doorways aren't built for

Janet Engel (12:18.924)
Mm

Chris Lalomia (12:32.76)
a walker or a wheelchair. So they have to start taking doors off to get things out of there. So we usually start with small things and work our way up to what the bigger things are going to be.

Janet Engel (12:43.831)
That's a great point because that's one thing that I mentioned in my CAPS classes that people don't usually call you until they have a big problem. Something like I can't get inside my house or I can't get on and off the toilet or in the bathroom without assistance. But if someone needs a bathroom renovation, they probably also need other work to be done in the house. And that's where it takes a skilled person to be able to assess the home and give

educate the family on what it is that they need and how they can improve safety in the home and prevent falls.

Chris Lalomia (13:23.824)
And I think a lot of times we talk about safety, but safety is an insurance. And nobody wants to buy more insurance than they need, right? When we always talk about insurance for our home, for our car, life insurance, nobody ever says, hey, give me the most expensive policy out there. Take me to the most expensive provider. Give me three times more than I need and charge me way too much. What do we always do? We always say, give me the lizard, give me Geico, give me the cheapest. Hey, give me 15 minutes and I want the cheapest one I can get.

I think a lot of times with safety, people look at it like insurance and they go, you know, just just give me the bare minimums. You know, can we just put the suction cup grab bar on mom's shower so she's all right? And literally have to talk people out of that going. That's actually going to be 10 times worse than if we just didn't do anything. Because if you know what I'm talking about with those suction cup, they're usually they're there for kids, not for adults who are perhaps going to have a fall. So.

Janet Engel (14:12.15)
Right.

Chris Lalomia (14:22.81)
That's usually where you're at and it's hard to educate people because they don't want to hear that. And that's not the sexy stuff. This isn't a new front door. This isn't new countertops. This isn't a new bathroom. This isn't new cabinets. It's not a new splash of color. It's that stuff I have to do because I need to do it. And if I'm a good son or if I'm a good son -in if I'm a good daughter, I'm a good daughter -in -law, I got to do it. And I got to do that because they're the people who raised us, but you don't do it because you're like, wow, this is going to be great and exciting.

Janet Engel (14:54.708)
Is there

any marketing strategy that you use in particular to talk to clients and caregivers about how they can make that modification. And then it can also be something that's attractive.

Chris Lalomia (15:12.876)
Absolutely. And that's what we talk about is that this is a lifestyle change and you're doing the right thing. You know, so when you talk about marketing, one of the things we talk about, even in our sales strategy is to, to applaud those people because sometimes they don't get told, Hey, you know what? You're being a good son. You're, being a good daughter. Good job. You know, we're all sitting there saying, that we have to do that. But when somebody says, Hey, you did a great job that allows you to put your guard down. Now let's do a little something for you as well. While we're here.

Because if we're here and we're doing some things, what do you want? Well, if I am going to move mom and dad in, you know what I've always wanted is I've always wanted to be able to do this. And one of the things this is, is, you know, go ahead and let's go ahead and upgrade my kitchen. Let's go upgrade some appliances because we'll need more cooking. Now, this isn't something that we sell as a company at the trusted toolbox. But again, what we're trying to do is help them understand that this doesn't have to be.

I have to do this. It's I get to do this and I can do a couple other things with it. The other thing that we do talk about is that you also have usually a double buying power strategy. So if I'm moving mom and dad down here and to do this, I get to use their money as well as my money to do things and we're going to pool our money. And so we're to do something a little bit more than we used to. We've been saving our money for it. Now we get to do some of the cooler things. So some of the stuff that we've done is

put the bigger TV down in the basement area where grandma and grandpa are, but that's where we can go watch our sports, have our family events, maybe watch a family movie. That has happened as well. So that's been pretty cool.

Janet Engel (16:37.569)
You're okay.

Janet Engel (16:47.958)
Well, I like that. And tell me what are some of the biggest challenges that you face when you are doing a renovation for an older person or someone with a disability?

Chris Lalomia (17:00.814)
Right. Well, you said older person. So you're leading me right into that. Yeah, those old people get cranky. And I can say that because I am becoming one. But no, that's not it. What we found is that now there's not just two people to satisfy. You know, it's four people. And usually we have four different opinions on what it's supposed to look like or four different opinions on how long it's supposed to take. And I would tell you, the other thing that I have noticed and you probably see this way more than I do, but I've learned this from you.

is that some of the older folks are feeling guilt because they're moving in. They're now becoming a burden on their family that they didn't expect to happen. And that guilt manifests itself to us as an anger. Is that they're mad at us for coming in to do the work, but they're really not mad at us. They're just, you they're just feeling guilty that they're putting the burden on their family like this. And I learned that from you and talking with you. And I've actually coached my guys on that as well. Is that

We have to realize that when we're in there and we're in the house that we have four people we're trying to satisfy, which is hard when you're trying to get in there and get some work done. But you have to understand, you some people don't want you to invade their space as much. And again, a lot of us who are older, we equate time as money. And if we're there longer, people think we cost more. Or if we go back and use our old value system of, you know, well, back in the day, I used to be able to get a gallon of gas for a quarter.

And when it hit a buck, actually, my dad threatened to cancel all cars that we were never going to drive again. So if you think about all those, I'm still living that, you know, I can't afford a dollar a gas and you're like, Hey, man, we're paying three, four or $5 a gallon though.

Janet Engel (18:34.241)
Yeah.

Janet Engel (18:41.108)
Yeah, that's funny that you say that. You must be really old, Chris.

Chris Lalomia (18:47.65)
really old. I don't remember the quarter stuff. do remember my dad saying shut it down at a buck though.

Janet Engel (18:53.954)
So how do you approach educating homeowners about the benefits of being proactive versus waiting until an event has happened?

Chris Lalomia (19:09.402)
So we talk a lot about in staging in the emergency situation we're talking about that ramp costs more that we just talked about. Yeah, we did put some of those emergency ramps in and yes, I did charge more. You have to face it everybody. I had to push somebody else out. I had to prioritize my resources. I had to un -prioritize other things. I'm gonna charge a premium if I have to be pushed in a position where I have to deliver something quickly and switch my resources. If you think about it and plan it out a little bit more,

You can actually go at it with a budget and the budget that feels better for you because you know the expenses coming. And that's another big thing that we tell people is that for a lot of us moving our family down here, that's an unplanned expense. You're like, yeah, I kind of like you even said, you know, I'm going to move my mother here. OK, Janet, are you and your husband actually putting money away right now to do those modifications and getting ready for it? And you're in the business.

And even if you err in the business and you you're saving a little bit, just realize how many of us out there aren't. And so when we do it, it's an unplanned expense. And so therefore it feels like a lot more money. So what we try to talk to everybody about is let's let's think through this. And the other one that we really try to coach people on a lot is that this modification doesn't mean that the next person is going to hate it or doesn't devalue your home or the money that you're spending now doesn't

Janet Engel (20:13.152)
Mm -hmm. Yeah, you're right.

Chris Lalomia (20:34.486)
actually come back out when you go to resell your home. If you do it the right way, a zero entry shower is good for anybody. Your kids would love to run into a zero entry shower. Yeah, does it cost more? Absolutely. But it doesn't automatically trigger the, I can't get over a five inch curb. Therefore I'm handicapped. No, you're not. It just is a really cool way to go into a shower. And if you've ever been on vacation and some of the tropic areas in the Mexicos or the tropical areas, a lot of these things, they're

Janet Engel (20:42.123)
Right.

Chris Lalomia (21:03.918)
their showers are zero entry anyway. That's because they're in an area where they can do it.

Janet Engel (21:10.016)
When I went to Spain last summer, we stayed at several Airbnbs and they all had curbless showers.

Chris Lalomia (21:19.224)
And the thing you didn't say right off the bat was, wow, this is for old people. No, you went, hey, this is a really cool, sleek design. All sleek and modern, yeah.

Janet Engel (21:24.101)
no, because they were all modern. Yeah, because they're not for old people. It's like you said, everyone benefits from a curbless shower.

Chris Lalomia (21:33.2)
So that's, but it's hard to talk about that because again, we're coming at this from the beginning of insurance. And we've actually used the line that you've brought up to us. You brought this up now to me twice. And once a person falls, they are four times more likely to fall. And that's the best positive PC way I can say it, because I had been saying a lot worse before, is that what I used to say in my family is once they fall, we're done.

Say goodbye to Auntie, Uncle. You know, once they fall, that's the death sentence. The spiral begins. And that's the un -PC way to say it. Now I've said it out there for your group. But, but it's true. You know, we've had a, we've had an elderly parent fall and you're like, my gosh, they cracked their hip. boy, this is going to be a long recovery effort. It's going to bring on other sores. It's going to be bringing on other problems. But I did not realize that people were four times more likely to fall because they lose their

their stability and their mojo and they lose their confidence.

Janet Engel (22:36.226)
with a hip fracture, they're more likely to die in that year. So if you're a woman, there's a 33 % chance that you're going to die in that year. And if you're a man, it goes up to 37%.

Chris Lalomia (22:54.564)
Yeah, see, mean, that's back to the insurance thing. Why do these things? I can't put this ugly grab bar in my shower. I'm like looking, man, I'm in my 50s. I get a grab bar in my shower. I'm good with it.

Janet Engel (23:08.854)
And you can choose an attractive grab bar. You don't have to buy an unattractive one. You can buy one that doesn't even look like a grab bar. That's the importance of planning because then you can plan for it and you can actually get the renovations that you want that include safety and comfort, but are also aesthetically pleasing and are going to increase your home value.

Chris Lalomia (23:14.158)
Right, exactly right.

Chris Lalomia (23:33.572)
Yeah, you hit it right on the head. There are some really attractive things out there now. It's not just your commercial grade, hospital grade grab bars or fixtures. You can actually integrate them into the flow of the home and you don't even know they're there or that's what they're there for.

Janet Engel (23:50.619)
Yeah. Chris, tell me about your work with the National Association of Remodelers. I know you're on the board and I recently joined as a member. I haven't been to that many meetings unfortunately, but I plan to attend more. Tell me about your work with NAHRI.

Chris Lalomia (24:13.902)
Yeah, so I got involved with Neri because I wanted to be with people who are more like me when it comes to thinking about remodeling and homes. There are a lot of shady characters in this business and we've all heard the horror stories and you all know them. But this group is a group that pledges to work ethically and responsibly through education of not only their members but of the consumers. And so I slowly got involved.

And then I got Valen told to come in and help. Actually, somebody asked me if I could look at the books with my financial background and I said I would. But then I started to meet some really good guys. And some of these ladies that I've met and these men that I've met and these business owners have been phenomenal. And it's just raised and elevated not only my game and my company, but my view of what we should be doing and what should what what consumers should be doing. Because for a lot of us, our home is our number one asset.

Janet Engel (24:46.721)
Mm

Chris Lalomia (25:08.816)
It may for a lot of us. It's not only our number one financial asset, it is 100 % our number one financial comma emotional asset. This is where we raise our families. This is where we've been told this is where you put all your money. A lot of us have been. You've probably used the joke house poor. I mean, I did it way back when I said here's our budget and of course we went 1 .25 higher than I wanted to. I actually was 1 .27, but who's counting? Yeah, but that was my wife.

But we did it. But so that's a big deal. So why are we cheaping out? Why are we looking for the cheapest deal? Why are we trying to find the cheapest alternative to keep up with our home with all the things that are going on out there? You don't do that with your car. You don't not change your oil every three or five thousand miles, depending on what you do. You always do it. So why are you not putting the maintenance in? Why are you not doing that stuff? So Neri has been a really good educator for me.

Janet Engel (25:39.658)
I don't know.

Chris Lalomia (26:04.592)
Now I actually have a national network. on the national board as well now and it's really exposed me to what it can be and what this industry should be and it's been very exciting. It's also helped me out plan my business and figure out the economy and the trends that are happening out there and then also find some really cool things.

Janet Engel (26:23.682)
Well, I'm glad you mentioned the issue with deferred maintenance because the reality is that the housing stock in the U .S. is very old. So 90 % of the housing stock was built before 1990. And that means that not only are our houses outdated, but houses that were built before 1980 were likely to be built with narrow hallways, small bathrooms.

small bedrooms, narrow doorways. And this is one of the main factors making the aging in place market grow. It's not just because we have 10 ,000 baby boomers turning 65 every single day until the year 2030, but it's also because the housing stock in the U .S. is so old. And that's where your industry as a remodeler

really comes into play because you are the professionals that are going to help people solve this big issue. And apart from the housing stock being so old, we also have a lot of deferred maintenance where older people.

have never remodeled their spaces. So what I know doing home health for so many years, I would walk into homes where I felt like I was walking into 1965. It was 2018. So how, what can you tell us about that from your perspective?

Chris Lalomia (28:04.068)
Well, first I would tell you that I think olive green shag carpet may be coming back. And if not that definitely the orange wallpaper. I don't know if the yellow wall phone would come back, but so no.

Janet Engel (28:10.911)
Okay.

I've seen it and I've seen the orange and brown shag carpet too.

Chris Lalomia (28:20.061)
I bet you have. So one of the things that we've seen, especially here in Atlanta, in Atlanta, we are not landlocked by any water source or tributary. So we can sprawl wherever we want to. And so we can sprawl up into the mountains. We can sprawl all the way down to Florida, all the way up to Tennessee. We had nothing stopping us. That joke aside, what I'm talking about is that you still need to stay local because the average commute here in Atlanta is one of the worst in the nation.

And what we're finding is that people want to stay closer and closer so they're starting to move in as opposed to moving out because the communities become so bad. So as we do this, we have to work with what's there already. And so when you start looking at and assessing your home options, you can buy something, tear it down, and then build something to today's standards. Or what most of us do is we buy something and then we say, well, we're going to renovate it. OK.

let's renovate around the existing bones of this house. They don't build them like they used to. So what do we do? And so what I found is that they're doing it and they're doing it, if they do it the right way, they'll take one room and do it really well and then work their way across the home. And that's one of the areas because again, money, no object is one thing, but for a lot of us, money is a big object and it's a big hurdle for us to overcome. as we do it,

We usually attack here in the U S we attack our kitchen first because that is our family living area. That is our family gathering place. Think about any time you guys get together as a family. Now you break bread and you go to the kitchen and then from the kitchen, if you can build it out and it's not a choppy home, you put your TV very close to it. because again, second thing for us is the TV is very important for a lot of us or at least a big gathering space. we're opening up homes a lot more than we used to.

Janet Engel (29:54.837)
Mm

Janet Engel (30:04.673)
Mm

Janet Engel (30:10.604)
Mm.

Chris Lalomia (30:14.682)
Formal living, formal dining rooms are a thing of the past. People want great rooms and gathering spots for the family to get together and to enjoy each other's company. And that's what we're seeing.

Janet Engel (30:26.878)
Yeah, yeah, that's a great point. And what about the deferred maintenance? What are you seeing in terms of people, especially younger people, buying the homes of people that have passed away or have moved into a senior living community or some other type of setting and they've inherited this deferred maintenance?

Chris Lalomia (30:52.452)
This has been a really tough one. This is a great, this is a great one to talk about. I've seen a lot of different stuff for my grandparents who were World War II veterans, know, first generation Sicilians here in the U .S. and first one's born here. And you know what? I lived with it for this long. So can you, you know, toughen up, right? And my dad got that same gene. You know what? It's good enough for me. It's good enough for you. You can deal with it.

But the deal is it was good enough for you then, but it's not good enough for me and my family or for me to sell it to somebody. Because what I have found is that if we're going to go try to turn this asset around and this is our family inheritance and this is my family's way of passing something down to sell in this situation is that people who are buying a home don't have the same vision that you'd want them to. People don't look at this house and go, okay, I can see that I can

blow out this master bathroom and bedroom and I can make this the ensuite and I can get that I can take all these people don't have that vision. so free. Right. And so most people want to move in ready home today. Right. And so if in this in the situation where we're trying to sell it there's a lot of deferred maintenance and deferred maintenance takes away from the value of your home. And today here in twenty twenty four we're moving away from a complete sellers market.

Janet Engel (31:58.954)
Unless you're an interior designer. Yeah.

Chris Lalomia (32:19.28)
into more of a balanced market of seller -buyer market, which means that you're going to have to start doing some work on the house and you're not going to automatically get a 20 % uplift on your home price. So you're going to have to do the work. Deferred maintenance is a big deal. Most people today are shying away from DIY. And you can see that in the Home Depot and Lowe's earnings reports, the DIY market is going down. But what they are and where they're focusing is people like me, contractors, because people want

Janet Engel (32:39.478)
really?

Chris Lalomia (32:47.224)
others to come in, do the work so they can go out and do the enjoy themselves and their lives and their families and and the things that they're good at. And so I think you're going to see that more and more as a trend here in the market. So if you're selling, that's one thing. If you're going to keep the say, I'm to move into mom and dad's house, you know, here in Atlanta, I'm going to move back into the city where grandma and grandpa grew up. Even though I moved way away, I'm going to move back because that's where the epicenter is. That's the fun stuff. So I'm moving into this old home. But now I want to make it like mine.

I want to do things like knock down walls and move things. But before we do that, I've got to upgrade your electrical system. We might have to upgrade your heating and air. Your plumbing may not be up to where you want it to be. It may be old galvanized pipes that are getting closed up. So there's a lot of these other things that just aren't sexy, but you got to do them. And people don't want to hear that. They're like, I can't believe this is costing me thousands. And you don't see it.

Janet Engel (33:36.768)
and that people don't see it. Yeah, you're right. It's like you don't see it. So you know that the carpet's problem and the laminate countertop, but the thing is that with deferred maintenance comes upgrading the plumbing, upgrading the electrical, and now it has to be to code.

Chris Lalomia (34:01.402)
I got a great story of one right now. They're getting the house. So it was his father's house and he's moving his son into it. And it's down in a great area of Atlanta. I mean, it's a choice spot. Beautiful. And he said, Hey Chris, this is what we're doing. And what do you think? And here's the deal. It's plaster homes and grandpa, his dad, let it crack and everything is cracked all over the place. said, there's just not a lot of plasterers anymore. said,

You got options, right? First option is to go in there and patch it up and tell your son that it's just called character on the walls, right? A lot of holes and you put some cracks in there. You make it look good. Option two, you can't find a good plaster or anymore, so we're not going to be able to really craft it in perfectly, but you might be able to find one, but you're going to pay for it. said, and option three is what about taking it all off and going back with drywall and drywall will last longer. He'll have a clean house. He'll also start to un.

uncover a lot of things in the home that probably were needed to be upgraded anyway because dad wasn't doing it. I said and it's pretty expensive and it doesn't feel good but you know what he'll start out with really clean clean smooth walls and be able to open it up like he wants. they're in it and this is a friend of mine and they're in the option they're they're in the stage right now of weighing their options and seeing what they want to do.

Janet Engel (35:21.314)
Well, at least they have a lot of equity in the home, especially if it's in a good area in Atlanta. Well, then that's a no brainer. You want to renovate.

Chris Lalomia (35:33.872)
Exactly. That's what I was telling him. Like I said, you realize, you know, cause he even said, I forget the numbers, but it was dad bought the house for 50 ,000, maybe 40 ,000. Doesn't matter. And today it's over worth over a million dollars because the location I'm like, you know, you can do a lot with that. And I know what I'm telling you guys is a lot of money. said, but when you start to put it in perspective and what you want to do, and if you really fix this house up the way you want, then your son's sitting on a great.

Janet Engel (35:47.221)
Yeah.

Chris Lalomia (36:01.424)
piece of land and a great home in a great area where he gets to have a lot of fun with his life because a lot of younger people and I again I say that a lot of 30 somethings want to be closer to things and they want to have easy access to a lot of fun. They want to go to the Morgan Welland concerts. They want to go hang out with their buds and do all this stuff. They want to be shackled to their house.

Janet Engel (36:22.9)
Right. What do you think about the role of home technology and how that is going to help people live more comfortably in their homes, especially older people or people with disabilities?

Chris Lalomia (36:38.894)
That has been one of the biggest challenges that I've seen is that I see the benefit myself for having a smart home enabled home, but I've seen that it's really hard to sell to people who are a little bit older and aren't used to it. So what do I mean? Well, you walk into a room instead of saying, Hey, a Alexa, I don't want to say it too loud because I'm here in my house. I've actually turned on lights in my home. I've raised blinds in my home when I didn't mean to, but

You can come in and say, Alexa, I'm home. Please turn on the lights and you can have a package set like just like that. And when you tell older folks that you can do that and guess what? Lighting as you and I have talked about, lighting is one of the easiest ways to prevent falls. Because if you light things up, you'll see that there might be something in your way. And so I have enabled that in my home and it's really simple, but it's been a really hard sell.

Janet Engel (37:25.961)
Mm -hmm.

Chris Lalomia (37:36.624)
because it does feel a little bit like Big Brother. A lot of these things that we've all been taught as kids and saw the movies and saw the AI bots take over the world, we're a little nervous about it. But when you start to embrace it and see it, it's really cool. You can turn on TVs, you can turn on lights, you can dim lights, you can open up blinds, you can lock front doors, you can find out if your garage door is open or closed. You can at 10 o 'clock at night,

Janet Engel (37:49.068)
Mm -hmm.

Janet Engel (38:02.74)
Mm

Chris Lalomia (38:04.218)
close your garage door, turn off all your lights and not have to worry about getting out of your bed. Think about some of those great things in the middle of the night. If you have to get up and go to the bathroom, you can just say, Hey Alexa, turn on bedroom light. Boom, it's on. And you're not worried about if you drop something or a pillows on the floor and you trip over.

Janet Engel (38:21.93)
Or if you have motion sensor lighting, then you don't even have to speak to Alexa. Lights just turn on as you approach.

Chris Lalomia (38:29.828)
And then you have the motion sensors. Yeah, exactly. So there are just so many features and functionalities that are out there that are available to people at a very good price point. You think about a security system. One of the things that we've been talking about a lot here at the Trusted Toolbox is everybody thinks that that's a really expensive thing or they think, you know what, I'm going to do it the minimal. So I'm just going to buy one ring camera for my front door. OK. But if I buy a second ring camera,

Now what? Okay. Well, are they hooked together? Well, they are. Yeah. Okay. All right. Well, are they hooked with your alarm company? Well, no, because it's ring. Okay. So are they hooked with your lighting systems? Well, no, that's different, but you can actually put them all together and it's pretty easy. As long as you think about it smart in the beginning, again, using smart as a term, you can actually put everything together where it will work like you thought and all from one spot. And whether it's Alexa, whether it's a Google,

whether Sonos, which is getting into it, whatever your ecosystem is. We've been talking about this quite a bit. If you build on that, I think you'll find that you can actually talk to your house. So that way, mom and dad are in the basement and they want to get a hold of you, but they can't get to their phone. They can actually have Alexa broadcast a message to everybody and people can come down and see them. And those are little things that are great.

Janet Engel (39:53.94)
Is this a service that you provide at the trusted toolbox?

Chris Lalomia (39:58.512)
I actually have just started working because we work with so many disabled adults. We do a thing called Champions at Home. This is Champions Place here in Roswell, Georgia. It's done a great thing for enabling disabled adults who are physically disabled, but mentally really sharp, who want to stay independent in their lifestyle. We've actually helped them not only at their facility in Roswell, but also they have 90 families they support and going on their way to 200 this year.

here in the metro Atlanta area and we've become, because I believe in it so much, we started out helping them. Now we've become their sole provider of choice. And now I have a smart home enablement technician on staff. And so we're starting to do that work as well.

Janet Engel (40:43.426)
That's wonderful. And since you brought that up, what is your working relationship with occupational therapists in terms of helping you do home safety evaluations or recommendations for older adults or people with disabilities?

Chris Lalomia (41:05.104)
So currently we work with three different groups of occupational therapists. Well, they'll come in there and they'll look and then they'll ask us to come in and give us, give us some ideas. But also, right now with one of the groups, which I've really enjoyed this relationship a lot better is that they come in and say, this is what we want to do. Can you give us the best value opportunity as opposed to just saying, please do this? And so we'll come in and say, well, you know, instead of doing, for example, a door, you know, you can take the door out, you could do a pocket door.

Janet Engel (41:27.478)
and

Chris Lalomia (41:34.724)
but we could also do those hidden hinges. There's some other ways that we have seen that you can make things a little more affordable in some areas that maybe aren't as high use and not as big of a deal. And then they can put the money in some other areas and then also be able to offer some of the smart home enablement with the switches. And it's been, it's been a lot of fun learning about this industry and this is totally different than handyman stuff. This is not just coming in and fixing some drywall. This is

putting the right switches in, putting the right outlets in, putting the right enablement around the home. And with Champions Place, they have partnered with Google and Google has invested in them. So we do a lot of Google Home enablements with them.

Janet Engel (42:18.406)
that's wonderful. So my last question is, what kind of advice would you give to homeowners who want to age in place and they want to plan and make an investment in their home for it to be more comfortable, but also be worth more when they sell it? What do you recommend they start with?

Chris Lalomia (42:46.8)
Yeah, it's so funny. I just wish my friends would take my advice because I have and he's my friend, even though he's my buddy's dad. He is 91 years old. He won't take my advice. I told him, start in the bedroom and work your way out. Use your most, you're at your age and he's still 91 and he's just literally sold his business, but he works in his business five days a week. He's a very active 91 year old.

And I said, can we start in your bedroom, your bathroom, work into your kitchen and then work over into the garage? Those are your three most used rooms right now, right? You go into the kitchen, you and your wife prepare a meal and then you watch TV in the room next to you and then you go to bed. Can we work on lighting control? I said, let's just put some motion sensor lights in. That's all I wanted them to do. And he's like, yeah, we'll get to it. I said,

All right, let's talk about these three steps that go up from the garage into your home. Have we thought about perhaps maybe doing a ramp? No, we can't do that because I'm I'm fine. We don't need to do that. And I told him, I'm like, I wouldn't even walk up three steps into my bed into my garage for my garage carrying groceries. I said, that's just too many steps, And so here's my advice. Start with the rooms that you go in. And here in the winter in Atlanta, we keep saying that a lot of people told me, hey, you guys have

12 months a year you get to work on homes. I'm like, that's true. But we still do the same thing you do up north. And that is in the winter, January, February, March, we go to three rooms. A lot of us pull into our garage, we go into our kitchen, we may go change our clothes in our bedroom, come back out, prepare a meal, watch TV, do whatever we gotta do, commune with the family, go back to our bedroom, go to bed, and do it all over in the morning. So you're only in your bathroom, your bedroom, your kitchen, your living room, and then you're out in the garage again.

You're not looking at your deck. You're not going outside in the back. it started in those primary rooms. That's where I tell everybody spend your money there. Spend some time there. Think about it because that's the rooms you use all the time.

Janet Engel (44:44.194)
Thank

Janet Engel (44:53.3)
Yeah, and I would say especially your entrances, build at least one zero step entrance from somewhere in your house and the best place is the garage because you have protection from the elements, you also have motion sensor lighting, it's the most comfortable place and the most common place that we come in and out of our houses.

Chris Lalomia (45:17.2)
I use that with my guys too. said, hey guys, don't forget, tell everybody I have one way to get in that's really easy. Because I have to make, have to dumb it down. I can say real easy. What do mean? I said zero entry, know, no barriers. It gets too technical. So we have to say really easy, but you're right with it. Especially here in the South, know, a lot of us have carports, but there's also, but garages are becoming more and more mainstay.

Janet Engel (45:26.07)
That's really easy.

Janet Engel (45:35.168)
Really?

Chris Lalomia (45:44.836)
We see lot of conversion of carports into garages anyway. So that's a great idea because it's safe. That's a big thing. You can close the garage door and then you can start to work your way into the house. And that's a safety feature as well. And that makes you feel better about your loved ones.

Janet Engel (46:03.134)
right? It's a safety feature for fall prevention and it's a security feature to prevent being the victim of a criminal act.

Chris Lalomia (46:11.824)
correct. I agree 100 % which is unfortunate we got to talk about that.

Janet Engel (46:15.062)
Well, Chris, it was so much fun having you on and I'd love for you to come back in the future and tell us about the success of your podcast, The Small Business Safari and also your local radio show. And you're doing so many things. Several times I've been on the road and I've seen your van or your truck on the road. And then I go to see if it's you, but it's never you.

Chris Lalomia (46:42.552)
It's not me. I'm unmarked so I can sneak up on my guys.

Janet Engel (46:46.098)
All right, Chris. Well, thank you.

Chris Lalomia (46:52.762)
Alright, well thanks everybody. Look forward to helping you if ever I can. Chris Lollomere at The Trusted Toolbox. Go check us out at .thetrustedtoolbox .com.

Janet Engel (47:01.902)
And you can listen to his podcast, the Small Business Safari. And I'll put that in the show notes too.

Chris Lalomia (47:08.141)
Absolutely love to hear you.

Chris Lalomia (47:12.592)
Yeah, love to. I'll connect with anybody. I give everybody 30 minutes of my time. No problem. Love to talk to you.

Janet Engel (47:16.802)
All right. Thanks, Chris.