Around that same time, Shawn began renovating houses for himself and his wife of three years, Zaia, as they are building their own portfolio of homes which include rentals and new construction. He is the owner and founder of BIG BOX BUILDERS, specializing in home renovation, maintenance and construction. Shawn’s life changed and he was gifted with his “life’s work and ultimate calling” after connecting with Lizzie Leggs, his first GentriBrokers client, when he called her, trying to buy her land in North Nashville, and they befriended one another after she simply would not sell, after his two straight years of trying. Shawn asked Lizzie, “Well, what is it you want to do with your property? Help me understand what your plans are for it.” Lizzie explained that when she purchased it twenty years ago she had wanted to develop it and build on it. She didn’t know how and her family wasn’t able to help her. She had retired and didn’t have the money to do it. Since Shawn had many, many relationships and clients who were investors and some of those, builders, he thought of bringing in one and facilitating a deal, and working some sort of agreement for one of them to develop her property with her and he could be the real estate agent in the deal, selling the finished houses. Shawn would be shocked by what would happen next. Most investors would not participate in the deal. They would only be interested in buying the land for themselves. Or, if one would become interested, they did not have the resources necessary to actually move forward in the deal and it would stall.

Befuddled with it, Shawn took the leap of faith himself and asked Lizzie to develop the property with him. She agreed and GentriBrokers, LLC was born and had its first deal. Currently, Lizzie and Shawn are preparing to build three houses. Fully pleased by their progress, Lizzie brought on the rest of her properties to develop with Shawn and since that time, word continues to spread that there is a local developer assisting families to guide them through the Metro redevelopment and building process. There is a great interest and community response. Metro city government has been supportive and complimentary of Shawn’s work. Most recently, District 21 current City Councilman Brandon Taylor remarked, “Shawn is a good developer and is doing the type of work that is helping communities.”

Shawn is currently working on refining the model and seeking additional funding to help. Depending on each family’s financial situation, his land development and consulting fees are often structured to be paid out at the end of each project, which at the moment, results in significant upfront costs being “out of pocket” for Shawn, his wife and family of four. That funding gap impedes progress and slows the work and that is unfortunate for families as city property taxes, national inflation and build costs continue to soar. “Families are under tremendous financial pressure. And it is disheartening to know you have the land and should be able to participate within the booming Nashville real estate and land development markets, but more often than not, that is not happening.” Shawn’s goal is to press the matter and to provide solutions for Nashville families and clients on a wide-scale basis.