Today we’d like to introduce you to Gregory Monette Jr.
Hi Gregory, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I personally started in commercial banking where I mainly worked on underwriting real estate loans for all kinds of real estate – homebuilder lines of credit, new construction for apartments, office, retail, residential development and corporate businesses. During that time period, I grew a much stronger passion for real estate, investing in a few fix and flips and lands deals here and there on the side. I really got hooked when I partnered with my brother to purchase a 5-acre tract back in Beaumont to do my first land subdivide. We purchased the land back in late 2020, replatted it then sold it to builders and land buyers. I had no idea what I was doing but I learned a ton from the deal and knew that it was something I wanted to continue doing career-wise. I eventually learned about the Master’s of Land and Property Development program at Texas A&M and decided to enroll. Little did I know that enrolling in that program would guide me on a path of becoming a land developer and builder.
After much consideration, I decided to leave banking and landed an opportunity to work for Friendswood Development, Lennar’s Houston Land team (the experience with my 5-acre flip likely helped with that too). After doing several land and lot acquisitions and learning from one of the nation’s largest builders, I decided to start doing a few deals on my own. I bought a few lots in Northeast Houston and needed a builder, so I searched online and met my two partners, Saud Aziz and Luke Garcia. We later found out that they we all worked for Lennar, Luke on the construction side and Saud on the sales side. They had branched off to start their own company and needed a land guy to help them grow. I was the missing piece!
We worked on a couple deals for about 6 months then I eventually decided to go all in with them. We all focused on our strengths – Luke on construction, Saud on sales and me on land acquisitions, financial underwriting and operational structuring. We grew our company from 4 custom homes in 2022 to 50 homes on scattered lots in Cleveland, Anahuac and Dayton in 2023 and this year we got into our first community, The Villages at Westpointe, a 500-home community in Dayton, TX alongside national publicly traded builder Century Communities and two regional builders First America Homes and Davidson Homes.
It’s very difficult to get into a new subdivision with larger builders especially since most developers only work with the top 30 or so builders including the publicly traded ones. This speaks volumes to our team’s hard work and dedication to the company and others’ belief in our company including the developer (Waterstone Development) who gave us a shot! We are truly grateful for our team, Charles with Waterstone Development and anyone else that supported us to get there.
Going from being an employee to creating opportunities and operations to scale the company took a ton of work and pure grit from the 3 of us and our team. We learned the hard and tough lessons of entrepreneurship but continue to grind daily for all of our stockholders (our families, contractors, team members, municipalities and all the homeowners that choose us to purchase their Home from. We grew our team from 4 to 15 people from 2023 to 2024 and have all 3 land, sales and construction departments just like at our larger cohorts.
We have a few other communities lined up for 2025, some of which are with our former employers and publicly traded builders. We were also named in the top 50 builders in Houston by starts and closes in Q2 2024. Our goal is to do 300-400 homes a year like we did at the larger companies that we worked for and be on the top 25 builder list by 2027.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Not at all.
Because we’ve grown so fast, we’ve had to learn quickly and adapt just as fast.
For the company, we had some hickups here and there that could’ve taken us out but we always figured out a way to make it work. Anytime the going got tough, we’d huddle up in our 15′ x 10′ office space, turn on the projector and start brainstorming together on our Easel Pad. When we put our brains together, we somehow always found a solution to overcome whatever obstacles came in our way.
Personally, unlike most people, I did not have a big savings account before I made the leap from corporate (I don’t suggest anyone do that especially if you have a family) so it was feast or famine for our household. There were several times where we’d have big closings lined up and then we’d end up either extending or cancelling on some deals and of course that meant no money but then the next month or so, we’d be back in the clear. It was a roller coaster personally that first year in.
I also have to point out that I’m a naturally introverted person so doing phone sales was tough for me. During 2023, I was solely in charge of cold calling to get land deals and implement marketing strategies to grow the company. There were days where I’d just stare at the phone or I’d make one or two phone calls and give up for the day. It taught me how to grow through discomfort because the whole company and the 60+ trades/sub-contractors and their families were relying on me to deliver so I made it happen. I’m a firm believer in the quote…You have to be comfortable being uncomfortable because that’s the only way you can grow.
We still face challenges however I feel that the core of being an entrepreneur is being a problem solver and the more you grow, the more complex the solutions will need to be.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Hart Homes and Hart Development Partners LLC (Hart Homes land team) is a Houston-based real estate development and homebuilding company that provides full turn-key services from land consulting, subdivision development and homebuilding. We use robust systems to streamline construction and sales processes.
Hart Homes builds predominantly in newer subdivisions in the Houston MSA with their current community being in Dayton, TX, about 40 miles east of Houston. In addition, Hart Homes also partners with investors or land owners looking to build on their lots and hire Hart as a general contractor or builder. To-date, Hart Homes has built and delivered 100+ homes in 2023-2024 with a pipeline of over 200 homes coming in 2025 and 2026. The leadership team of Hart Homes has significant experience from the public builder space, including the likes of DR Horton, Lennar and LGI Homes where they’ve each either acquired 100s of lots or built and sold 100s of homes.
The company started with 4 custom homes in 2022, grew to 50 homes in 2023 on scatted/in-fill lots in three different submarkets and to 70 homes in 2024, entering our first subdivision at the Villages of Westpointe in Dayton, TX alongside regional builders Davidson Homes, First America Homes and Century Communities (NYSE: CCS). In the Villages at Westpointe, we have 6 different floor plans with homes starting in the low $200s all with a minimum of 3 bedroom and 2 bathrooms. All of our plans are on our website at Harthomestx.com.
Hart Homes has full operations from back-office support, sales, land and construction to support growth for building in subdivisions and masterplanned communities, development and partnering with investors as general contractors and builders.
What sets Hart apart is our solutions-oriented mindset, willingness to collaborate with investors and real estate professionals and our teams’ focus on providing quality services to our investors, partners and homebuyers. Our primary focus is providing affordable housing for first time and repeat buyers.
Whether you’re looking to build your first two homes in Houston as an investor or a 200-home subdivision, Hart Homes has the team and systems to deliver homes on time and on budget. We also provide land consulting services to help you turn your land into opportunity. Our goal is to continue to develop relationships with investors, realtors, partners and municipalities to become a household name in the Houston residential new construction market!
We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
I’d say faith and persistence moreso than luck has helped us to get to where we are today. I believe that just showing up daily allows you to get lucky every once in a while.
I remember a few times where I’d be tired and not want to either make a phone call or attend a networking function but then I’d go and end up getting a big (land) deal out of it or a solid connection that turned into something big. Some days I’d wake up having the worst morning but then I’d get an email or a call from someone saying “hey, here’s a new land deal opportunity for you to look at” just out the blue and it’d be just what we needed for the month.
I think when you’re constantly planting seeds even on your worst days (when they count the most) you’ll get lucky and rewarded just when you need it. Also, when things seem to be going great, bad luck is right around the corner to punch you in the mouth. You just have to remain humble and locked in on your Big Why and stick to the plan.
Pricing:
- Varies by community but $195k – $275k homes
- Land services – 10% cost plus
- Homebuilding services as builder – $20k – $30k per home
- Land Acquistion services – varies by product size and quantity
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.harthomestx.com
- Instagram: harthomestx
- Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/harthouston22/
- Other: https://www.hartdevelopmentpartners.com
Image Credits
Allison Kolafa Photography
