Magic Steve

Magic Steve, a.k.a Steve Nixon, is a junior manager at Oak Creek Homes in Tyler, Texas. He got his nickname when a banker misunderstood his name and it stuck. Oak Creek Homes is a 52-year-old Texas-based company that builds its own homes with 33% more wood products than competitors. They also have a seven-year home guard for customers. Magic Steve addresses the misconception that manufactured homes are unsafe during storms, explaining that they are regulated by the federal government and have stricter construction standards than site-built homes. He advises those considering a career in the industry to have a passion for sales and mentions the potential for unlimited earnings. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for tuning in to Your Home Talk, Living Your Best Life with Luke. Today, we're going to have Mr. Steve Nixon, a.k.a. Magic Steve, all the way from Tyler, Texas, in Oak Creek Homes. So don't forget to like and share this podcast, and keep on tuning in. But first thing I want to ask you is who you are, where you work, and tell me a little bit about yourself. Yes, sir. This is Magic Steve. I'm located here at Oak Creek Homes in Tyler, Texas. I'm the junior manager for our retail store here. Okay. And I want to ask you, some people want to know how Magic Steve came about. So if you can elaborate on that, that would be great. Absolutely. Everyone asks that question. Magic Steve is kind of corny, but it works when it comes to marketing and advertising. So a long time ago, we was at a banking conference, and I introduced myself, and one of the bankers misunderstood what I said, and thought I said Magic Steve, and all the guys around there, the bankers, kind of laughed about it, and so I told her, no, that's not what I meant, corrected her. But a couple of days later, I started getting emails from these bankers, good morning, Magic Steve, ha, ha, ha. And so it became a little joke, then about six months later, I was going to do a commercial. I did a lot of commercials, and I was going to do a commercial, and so there was a new producer, and that producer asked me, he says, okay, what's your name? I said, Steve Nixon. He said, no nickname, and I said, no. But then it hit me. And so I told him the story, he says, hey, let's use it. So we use it as a commercial, as Magic Steve, to draw attention to me, and from there on, it's history. That's been it. How about that? And something I want to ask you is, is how did you become involved in the manufacturing laundry room home industry? How'd you become? Man, it's been a blessing to be in the industry, but what happened was, I purchased a manufacturer home from Napier Mobile Homes in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, back in 1991 or 92. And I just came out of college, and playing ball, and purchased a manufacturer home, working at Sears in the automotive department as a salesperson. So Mr. Napier liked my personality, and saw my energy, and asked me would I be interested in selling manufacturer homes. I said, hey, I kicked it around, thought about it. So that's how I got started. Purchased one, and went to work with the guy that I purchased the home from. Wow. How about that? And I want to ask you, you mentioned you were at Oak Creek Homes, so what inspired you to join that team, or to be a part of them, or any core values of theirs that stuck out to you? Oh, absolutely. The majority of my 31 years of the business has been in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Before I came to Oak Creek, I was with a company called Southern Kernel. And I loved that company, and doing a lot of business with them, and I got a heart there. But my children got older, and I told myself when they get older and can take care of themselves, that I was going to leave that market and find something else. Had a banker friend of mine reach out to me, and said, hey, Oak Creek Homes and Tyler has a position available. And he told me about the area, and told me about the store. So I did some investigating of geographically, of Tyler, Texas, being in East Texas, and Oak Creek. And was very interested in this company, it's a 52-year-old company. We have two manufacturer retail, excuse me, two manufacturer factories. We have 20 retail stores. And I've just seen a great opportunity to actually work for the builder. A lot of our competition, what they do is they sell for factories, but hey, I work for the factory. We are the builder. And I have a lot of things I can get done quicker and faster because we are a factory-owned company. So I guess that kind of leads me to my next thing, the unique qualities of Oak Creek Homes. I guess that's one of the biggest, is that you build your own product right there. Yes, we build our own product. It's a Texas-based company. We sell in, they sell in several different states, of course. One thing about Oak Creek is we put 33% more wood products in our homes than a lot of our competition do. And also as a retail store, we have to have a third-party engineer sign off before any of our vendors or our contractors are paid. We get funded by the bank like any other retail store, but we have to have a third-party engineer in the state of Texas sign off, allowing the consumer to know that it is done correctly. So that's just a big plus. And it's plus we have a seven-year home guard that we give to the customer. And it's a lot of extra perks to it that takes care of the consumer, takes care of the retailer, and also the factory. Awesome. That's awesome. And as Magic Steve, how do you bring, let's say, a touch of magic to the world of manufactured homes? Well, one thing is, it's not what magic knows, it's who magic knows. Not what I know, it's who I know, I'm trying to say. There you go. So exactly. I've been in the industry 31 years. I know the bankers. I know the vendors. I know the factories. It's not always what you know as an individual, it's who you know, who to call and pick that phone up and call that banker, ask the right question. But I've done it all. I've done the service. I do all the financing. I do everything. So throughout a period of time, I've learned who to call and to ask the right questions, build the relationships with your banks and your factories. And by getting this and getting your name out and trying to have that good name, it helps you to bring that magic touch to your consumer when they're trying to make a deal for it. Absolutely. Absolutely. Now, down here in the South, we recently just had a tornado yesterday. I mean, it completely crushed Panama City, Beach, Florida and came up here, caused horrible winds and damage and all. And I want to ask you, some people say, well, I'm not going to buy a manufactured home because every time there's a bad storm, they tell us we have to evacuate if we live in a manufactured home. How can you crush that myth? You being Magic Steve, what is your response to that? So number one, a lot of times the weather channel, your local news will say those things. Those people are not educated of what they're saying. They are referring back to the early years when it wasn't HUD regulated and we didn't have the construction that we do today. So basically what I do is I explain to them by being in the industry of manufacturing monster, I have built 200 homes in my career, holidays in my career, so I've seen all type of construction. I've seen it back in the early 90s when and today and what our houses are made of today. The same wood products it is. You know, we can go out there and build you a house on a slab and construct it and there's no engineers that have to go out. There's no inspectors that have to go be out in the rural areas. But with a manufactured home, you know, it is regulated by the federal government before it leaves the manufactured plant. When you do a monster, you know, it has to be inspected through that state. So there's a lot of regulations more than our site build houses are out there today. And when it comes to, you know, the tornadoes, man, I tell these people the best place to be when a tornado comes is six foot underground in a storm shelter because you never know what mother nature calls us. But a lot of what we have to do in our industry today is, number one, we have to educate the consumer allowing them to know if they need to start thinking, don't think about what was back in the older days or, you know, we need to think about how the home is constructed today. You build that relationship with that customer, give them the feedback they need, you know, and documentation, then, hey, they feel so much more comfortable. But because of the weather channel and because of the news, say those things, they're not educated. I was doing some marketing back in Hattiesburg with a local station, you know, and they were doing all my advertising. And once again, I saw this guy, come on the weather, you need to get out of your manufacturer homes, you need to leave them immediately. Well, I called him and asked him where did he get this information. I educated him on what he did not know. So that's what we need. It's like getting everybody in a panic. Oh, it does. They put everybody in a panic and put a stereotype on our industry. So basically, the factories and the owners, we need to get out, which our industry is doing a lot better getting the knowledge to our consumers of the difference in a manufacturer and a modular home in today's environment. Absolutely. And something else I want to ask you, kind of bouncing off of that, we have listeners that are hesitant to get in the business. They don't know what the market's doing now, they don't know if the money's going to be there, they don't know if the sales are going to be there. So what advice would you give to somebody that's considering a career in this industry? What could you tell them that would maybe be a positive note? Of course, there's challenging days, but what's something positive we might can share with them? Absolutely. So the first thing I have to say is you have to have a passion in sales. You have to have a passion helping people. If you don't have the passion, it may not be for you. So by saying that, you have to have a passion. And number two, everything is a sacrifice in life. Getting into a new company, going to a new job, you're making that sacrifice. One of the unknown secrets in sales is the manufactured industry. There is no cap on what, you know, an individual can make, but the good thing about it is we are affordable housing. When the market in our brick and mortar houses sky high, everyone turns into our industry and the manufacturers. So I say you got to work hard, have a passion for it, give yourself a couple of months to build your pipeline up, and man, you can make a great income in this industry because it offers a lot. And it has supported my family for almost 30 years. Absolutely. And, you know, people, they refer to most of these homes as trailers, and I can't stand that. It's a cuss word in our industry, if you say it that way. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. So what are some, maybe some misconceptions that you often encounter about manufactured homes? And that kind of bounces off what we talked about, but what are some other misconceptions you may hear about them? Well, you know, the misconceptions of it is, you know, before I think it was 1976, it was not regulated and it was classified as a trailer. But after then, it's HUD regulated by the federal government. So, you know, and those misconceptions is that, you know, they're thrown together and they just, and they're delivered on, you know, the thing is, I don't want my house to be delivered on a trailer. But the thing is this, anybody that builds a site-built home, your material is transported on a flatbed trailer to that location. Your home, you know, and like I said, I've built 200 homes. When they're building their home, they're framing the house up and it came a storm. Let's say it's been raining three or four days, there's no roof on that home. All your wood is being exposed to Mother Nature and all the elements, you know. Well, when you build a manufactured home, building a manufactured plant, it is built under a manufactured environment. It never gets wet. So number one, that should be a plus to everybody. Then plus also, when you've got your land prepared, you don't have to wait six months and all the material is laying out there and all your landscaping is not correct. Come out, boom, bang, and you got your home out there. So it's building a manufactured environment out of the weather than a site-built home is. And plus the cost of it. Yeah. Yeah, a lot faster. And in today's society, we're all about how quick can I get something. And well, if you're looking for a home that's regulated by the federal government, a modular which is regulated by the state it's built under, built under the international codes, just like a brick and mortar house is, you can get it faster, quicker, and it stands up a lot more wind than people realize. Yeah, because it's going down the road. That's really it. They're going 75 miles. Yeah. Down the road. And, you know, you build a house, a brick and mortar house, then you don't know anything about it. But, hey, this home is going down the road, being transported, again, 60 miles per hour wind, and it gets to your property and everything looks okay. That's right. So, you know, a manufacturer, a modular, you know, if you don't want to build a site-built house and, you know, it's not for everybody, of course, but if you don't want to spend that money, spend that time, hey, manufacturing a modular is the way to go in our economy and also in our environment today. Absolutely. And here's a question for you that's going to give you an opportunity to kind of shout out Oak Creek Homes. So, can you highlight any unique features or customization options that Oak Creek Homes offers to their customers? What is something that sets you guys apart? What is a unique thing about you guys? So, one thing about Oak Creek, we have two factors. We have the Lancaster facility in Lancaster, Texas, and it basically is a volume factory. Then we got our Fort Worth factory, which is more of a customization that you can do a lot of changes to it. But the one thing that sets us apart is that we have a particular line of houses called the Smart Cottage. You may have seen that Smart Cottage in the Biloxi show this past year. We'll have it in a double section. Yeah. So, it sets itself apart in our competition. You know, we have a lot of different floor plans. Just on the outside, inside, it's the outside appearance. Some people say, you know, I just don't want a standard look. Well, with us, we can build a Smart Cottage with dormer windows and gives it a lakeside look to it, a lake house look to it. Also, we build a, our modulars, even our manufacturer, we build six, 12 hinged roofs. We put dormers on those and you look at it, it's like looking like a site-built house. Can't tell no difference. So, there is a specialty that Oak Creek does that kind of sets themselves apart from our competition. That's awesome. That's awesome. And that can lead into what I want to ask you. What motivates you on a daily basis, Steve, to continue making a difference in the manufactured home industry? What makes a difference is, hey, man, I get up every morning and say, I can't wait to get to work. I'm looking forward to get to work because people come into the office with a dream. Their dream is, I don't know if I can get finance, I don't know what we can get finance for or this is what I'm looking for. But I can take their dreams and make it a reality, put it all together and make that family. They may have lost a house from a fire or it may be their first time, a young couple that ever got into a home, you know. Put their dream home to a reality, put it all together, see that smile on their face, see the reviews that they give you by helping them make something happen that they had a dream. Everyone has a dream to get into their own home and I love seeing that. I love it when they come to me and say, we went down the road to our competition, we cannot get finance, what can we do? So once again, that little magic comes out in me. I say, well, tell me your issue. I pick the phone up and I say, look, if we can do this, this and this, I can get it done for you. So when they're being told, no, somewhere else and I can get them done financially, I can get it done the right way. Once again, a dream came true, a magic's touch has been touched and I'm all happy. That's what makes me get up every morning. That's what makes you magic Steve, right there. There you go, man. You're telling them yes when they've been told no. Yes, and I will not quit until I know that there's no other way that our banks or we can do it. Then if there's a way, I'll tell them. Even if they end up not purchasing, I'm sure you're following up with them, you know, months later so they remember you so whenever they do get their situation right, you know, that's just simple, you know, customer service and of course, sales training right there is keeping in contact. Well, and the thing is, keep them, yeah, keep them in contact, let them know what's going on and updating them. So Matt, since you asked that question, I'm going to throw this at you. I had a young couple first time coming in, got them financed, fell in love with the house but where they was putting it at, they have some family issues with the land so they had to step back so they have to wait a little bit, find some other property. So we're going to help them find a property. Well, I get an email from the corporate office that says, great job. Now look at it, the people are not buying the house no more. So I went and to Oak Creek Tiler Google Review and talked about Magic, how we helped them, how I communicated with them, how I was straightforward with them. Even if they didn't buy a house because of this scenario, they gave me a five-star review because of I was doing what I love doing. That's awesome. That's awesome. And for young buyers like that, how do you approach educating those types of buyers who might know the benefits of choosing a manufactured home? Well, that's the thing. A lot of times when we talk to them, I tell myself that when people come in here, they can be younger or older, you just have to start and educate them every step of the way. Talk about the credit, talk about the finance, talk about where they're going to put it at, talk about what is the monthly payment you want it to be at. By doing this, you can create that home. Okay, now this is what you can afford by what you're saying. It all just works out. And sometimes you may have to tell that customer, hey, this is what you got to do to get your credit score where it needs to be. And it's just not come in here, they got a bad credit or et cetera. Okay, sorry, I can't do nothing for you, out the door they go. You go that extra mile to build that relationship and put that magic touch on it. And that's what I've done. I build relationships and that's how I keep my customers coming and coming back. That's right, absolutely. They remember Magic Steve, I'm sure, for years. Absolutely, sir, absolutely. So, just a couple more questions and then we'll wrap this thing up. You mentioned reviews and feedback from customers. In this industry, how important do you think that is, especially when you've got a competitor two miles down the road? Oh, man. The one thing, Mr. Leonard Napier, first place that I worked at, and also George Campbell at Southern Kernel, both of these guys are deceased, great mentors in the industry. Get Magic where he is today. The thing they have taught me all along, they say, Magic Steve, whatever you do, you take care of your customer after the sale. And that's what I do. If the factory's not trying to do it, I reach out to the factory for them. I keep those customers. Because service does matter. At the end of the day, that's what they're going to do a review on, is the service. So, the most important thing is taking care of your customer after the sale. Absolutely, that's very important. And I think that is all the questions that I have for you. And I thank you so much. And at this time, if you want to give a shout out to Oak Creek Homes, tell them where you're located, how they can get in contact with your team, you go right ahead. Absolutely. This is Magic Steve, Oak Creek Homes, Tyler, Texas. And guys, you can locate me and Tyler at the Oak Creek location. My number is 430-205-4151. If you have any questions, hey Luke, thank you for everything that you do for our industry. And getting this information out. And I hope your podcast goes good and is successful. Thank you so much, Magic. We'll be in touch and thank you for coming on today. Absolutely, guys. Thank you very much. Thank you. Bye-bye. Bye-bye.