Affordable Housing Bottlenecks: Ryan Basye Built 3 Homes Before Omaha Issued 1 Permit
Show summary
In this episode, Ryan Basye shares his journey in real estate investing, focusing on affordable housing in Omaha, Nebraska. We discuss the challenges of bureaucracy, opportunities in the market, and how collaboration and community impact drive his mission.
Key takeaways
- Permitting delays in a bigger city can be severe: Ryan Basye's team built three homes in a smaller town in the same time it took to get one final permit approved in Omaha.
- Affordable housing has little competition because margins are thin by design; operators either need scale or another income source to sustain the work.
- Large nonprofits like Habitat for Humanity can absorb losses from donor funding but also foreclose on a significant share of homes placed with buyers, something that doesn't get publicized.
- On Deck Housing has completed 6 units in the last year and a half and is targeting 20 houses/units per year, including converting buildings (e.g., an office building into four units) to hit scale.
- Government grant programs tied to the 'big beautiful bill' offer towns of certain sizes money for workforce housing, letting towns get houses built essentially free to retain city employees and vital workers.
- Build a 5% contingency into renovation budgets because unexpected issues (like discovering a bee's nest or raccoons in a ceiling) will come up and need to be absorbed financially.
- Strong contractor networks come from in-person relationship building over years; Basye has worked with the same plumber and HVAC tech for 15+ years, relationships that started through personal connections like weddings and kids' sports.
In this episode
- 00:00Cold open: three homes built elsewhere in the time Omaha took to issue one permit
- 02:09Introduction to Ryan Basye and his Omaha/Iowa markets
- 03:50Bureaucracy and permitting as a bottleneck to affordable housing
- 06:28Why there's little competition in affordable housing
- 08:4820+ years in real estate: background in finance and lending
- 10:02Scaling On Deck Housing to 20 units a year
- 11:15Networking in a 'big small town' and building trade relationships
- 12:55On Deck Housing's mission: foster care youth, seniors, transitional housing for women
About the guest
Ryan Basye is a real estate investor and broker/agent based in Metro Omaha, Nebraska, also working across the river in Iowa. He has been in real estate since 2003 (20+ years) with a background in finance and lending, and now runs On Deck Housing, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit focused on building and renovating affordable housing.
Listen to the audio
“We literally built three homes in the amount of time it took us to get a final permit in the city of Omaha.”
Ryan Basye
“The lack of competition is due to the fact that there's no money in affordable housing. That's hence the name.”
Ryan Basye
“They get on the news and say, 'We got this house for this person, they're going to get their first house.' Six months later, they take the house back, and that never hits the news.”
Ryan Basye
Questions answered in this episode
Why is it so hard to build affordable housing in a city like Omaha?
Ryan Basye says the regulatory and bureaucratic layers required to get permits cost both money and time, which adds directly to the cost of the housing product. He gives the example of a smaller town outside Omaha where his team built three homes in the same amount of time it took to get a single final permit approved in the city of Omaha.
Why isn't there more competition in affordable housing development?
Basye explains there's little competition because there's not much profit margin in affordable housing by definition. Smaller players have to either operate at scale or have another income source to subsidize the work, while larger nonprofits like Habitat for Humanity can absorb losses because of large incoming donations, though he notes they also foreclose on a notable portion of the homes they place people in, which doesn't get publicized.
What is On Deck Housing and what is its scaling goal?
On Deck Housing is Ryan Basye's 501(c)(3) nonprofit focused on building and renovating affordable housing in the Omaha, Nebraska and Iowa area. They've completed six units in the last year and a half and are aiming to scale to about 20 houses or units per year, including converting buildings like offices into multiple housing units.
How did the 'big beautiful bill' create an opportunity for workforce housing?
Basye mentions that the bill offered grant money to towns of certain sizes for workforce housing, meaning those towns can essentially get free houses built to help retain city employees and other vital workers, which in turn supports the local economy and neighborhood.
What financial practice does Ryan Basye recommend for renovation budgets?
He builds in a 5% contingency on renovation budgets because unexpected issues always come up once you start a project, such as discovering a bee's nest or raccoons in the ceiling, and you have to be prepared to absorb those costs.
How did Ryan Basye build his network of contractors and trades?
He says Omaha is a 'big small town' where he's two degrees away from everybody. He found his electrician, plumber, and HVAC contractor by getting out and meeting people in everyday life (one plumber was in his sister's wedding, another contact met at a kids' baseball game), and he has worked with some of the same trades for over 15 years as their businesses grew alongside his.
Resources and links
Full transcript
Ryan Basye (00:00)
The bureaucracy side of building is probably similar in bigger cities. The regulatory side—just the bureaucracy and the amount of layers you have to go through to bring affordable housing that everybody’s calling for—yet you have to go through all these hoops, and those hoops cost money. Those hoops cost time, and all of that adds to the bottom line of a product you could provide.
Great example: there’s a smaller town outside of Omaha. We literally built three homes in the amount of time it took us to get a final permit in the city of Omaha.
Meghan Escobar (02:09)
Hello everyone. Welcome back to the Real Estate Pros Podcast. I am your host, Meghan Escobar. Today, I have the pleasure of sitting down with an individual who is very passionate about the affordable housing crisis that we are facing today. Also, he is a top investor in the state of Nebraska, and I will let him tell his story. But I’m so happy to have you on the show here today, Ryan Basye. Welcome to the Real Estate Pros Podcast.
Ryan Basye (02:37)
Thank you for having me.
Meghan Escobar (02:38)
Absolutely. Love having you here. And so for the audience that might not have an idea of what a top investor is or what affordable housing even means, give us a 30,000-foot view of what your focus is these days and what markets you’re operating in.
Ryan Basye (02:59)
Sure. So the markets I’m in are Metro Omaha. We also do Iowa because it’s right across the river. We do a lot of investment property as a broker/agent here in Omaha. Omaha’s about a million people, for people out there that fly over us all the time. It’s a very stable, low-vacancy, landlord-friendly investor opportunity.
That said, we’ve turned a lot of our attention to affordable housing—whether it’s building it or remodeling it for rental opportunities—just to help folks in this crazy inflationary market that need a roof over their head. Most of the people we deal with are good people. Their paycheck is just gone somewhere in the month. So they need better options than what’s available today.
Meghan Escobar (03:50)
Yeah, I can agree with that. And I kind of want to hone in on that a little bit because one thing that caught my attention when we were chatting beforehand was—and it’s a tricky subject, right? Because you can’t say too much, however we need to know—what was the biggest issue that you face when it comes to getting these projects going? You mentioned the bureaucracy. Can we talk a little bit about that and why that’s a bottleneck for you in these situations?
Ryan Basye (04:20)
Absolutely. The bureaucracy side of building is probably similar in bigger cities. The regulatory side—just the bureaucracy, the amount of layers you have to go through to bring affordable housing that everybody’s calling for—yet you have to go through all these hoops, and those hoops cost money. Those hoops cost time, and all of that adds to the bottom line of a product you could provide.
Great example: there’s a smaller town outside of Omaha where we literally built three homes in the amount of time it took us to get a final permit in the city of Omaha.
So that type of slowdown affects us. We need a better way, or we need to move that program to towns that are more open-ended to doing that—which is great because the big, beautiful bill that was passed, regardless of your politics, offered towns of certain sizes grant money for workforce housing. They can literally get free houses that we can build for them in their town to help keep city employees or vital workers of all types in their town, which helps their economy and helps the neighborhood. And that’s the goal.
Meghan Escobar (06:28)
Yeah, that’s a beautiful goal. And I can tell the passion that you have behind it. I also asked you about competition, and you mentioned there really isn’t much on that side of things. Of course, on the broker side of things as well with the company, but your main focus right now is to really get these projects going. And when I asked you about competition, you mentioned that there’s not really any, and I’m curious to know your thoughts behind that. Do you think that’s because people don’t want to deal with the challenges and bottlenecks that come with it, or why do you think so many people are shying away from it?
Ryan Basye (07:04)
Well, the lack of competition is due to the fact that there’s no money in affordable housing. That’s hence the name. It’s affordable to them because we’re not making a lot on the backend. You have to want to do this, and you either have to do it at scale—which you can’t do if it takes a year to build one house—or you have to have another income source, which I’m fortunate to have.
So the other players in the field, if they’re small, all work together. Now the bigger ones—you’ve probably heard of Habitat for Humanity—they get so much money coming in that they don’t have to play by the same rules as us. They don’t have to worry about selling houses at losses sometimes. But they also foreclose on half their houses, which people don’t know about. They get on the news and say, “We got this house for this person, they’re going to get their first house, and they helped us build this house.” Six months later, they take the house back, and that never hits the news. They can operate like that because they have a big budget.
Meghan Escobar (08:06)
Yeah.
Ryan Basye (08:07)
And that’s fine, but we want to get folks into homes that they’re going to be able to afford and live in. Whether they outgrow it or not is fine; we want to give them the keys and let them drive it.
Meghan Escobar (08:19)
Yeah, absolutely. Thanks for sharing that. I think that’s the kind of stuff that people don’t talk about enough, and what separates folks who are here in the game just for a transaction to create a significant commission check versus individuals who are here to make a difference, make an impact, and create some change. So thank you for sharing that.
So, you’ve been in the game for a while. Is that safe to say? How long have you been in the real estate world?
Ryan Basye (08:48)
20 plus years, since 2003.
Meghan Escobar (08:50)
20 plus years! So over those 20 plus years, Ryan, is there a moment that you go back to where you’re like, “Things got real”? A challenge, a deal that went sideways, or a time that you had to pivot really fast?
Ryan Basye (09:02)
I have a background in finance and lending, so I’ve always planned the money side of it. I’ve been fortunate that we haven’t had losses in that regard. On our budget, if we’re renovating a place, we have a 5% contingency, which for your podcasters is crucial—because there’s always something that comes up that you don’t know, and you only find out by doing it. Whether it’s something you’ve never heard of, or you open a wall and there’s a bee’s nest or raccoons living in the ceiling, you’ve just got to roll with it and make it happen.
Meghan Escobar (09:37)
Love that. Great piece of advice, right? You’ve got to face the challenges as they come and cross that bridge when you get to it.
Ryan Basye (09:43)
Yes, exactly. It’s something different every time. That’s where all the experience comes from, and that’s where all the stories come from. If you talk to people in real estate, it’s the ones who have actually flipped houses or been landlords who have the best stories, because they go, “Let me tell you about this one.” You can share stories with landlords all day long.
Meghan Escobar (10:02)
Yeah, I bet. Talk to us a little bit about what you’re focused on scaling, or what problem you are focused on solving.
Ryan Basye (10:12)
Okay. What we want to do is scale On Deck Housing so that we can start churning out about 20 houses a year. That’s our goal. We’ve done six in the last year and a half. We’ve learned the lessons, learned what to do and what not to do, and we have models for units because we’ll do some renovation stuff as well. If we can turn, say, an office building into four houses, we’ll call that four units.
We want to do 20 units a year just for scale and to help the community, because the need is just there. So if there are people out there that have scaled something like this, or have worked with nonprofits and government insight—not the Chicago “who do we bribe” insight, but the actual “who do we talk to and how do we work it through” insight—that’s what we’d love to partner with or talk to and collaborate on. We’re getting there; we’ve got the system down. It’s just between time and capital, we’re running thin.
Meghan Escobar (11:15)
Wow, amazing stuff. We also touched a little bit on networking and creating relationships. For you, Ryan, I know you’re involved in some pretty incredible groups, but what has made the biggest difference for you when it comes to creating those types of relationships and growing your network?
Ryan Basye (11:35)
We’re fortunate that here in Omaha, we call it a big small town. I’m two degrees away from everybody. When we were flipping houses, we reached out to find an electrician, a plumber, or an HVAC person. The fact that we’ve been working with some of those same people now for 15 plus years has helped their businesses grow as well.
The plumber, for example, was in my sister’s wedding. The HVAC technician was working nights from his other job to get his own business started, and now he has his own business. The plumber—yeah, we met at a baseball game with our kids. All that stuff actually happens when you’re out there talking. You’ve got to get out, shake hands, and talk to people to make your network as good as it can be. And when people see your passion, they care as much as you do. That’s the goal.
Meghan Escobar (12:29)
That’s the whole truth. People can feel that, whether you’re just BSing or it’s something that you hold near and dear to your heart. So I agree. Thank you.
Before we wrap up, I’m curious to know if there’s anything else you want to share with the audience that maybe we didn’t cover. I think we hit a lot of really valuable points, but is there anything that you feel like you just want to extend out to the audience?
Ryan Basye (12:55)
Sure. There are plenty of ways to tackle affordable housing wherever you’re at in the country, and everyone’s going to have their own challenges. If they have questions on stuff that we’ve done, we’re happy to share it. Our story is available at our website, ondeckhousing.org. We are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit.
We also have rental properties here in Omaha for kids who age out of foster care, seniors who are on Social Security disability (which is tiny), and we do some transitional housing for young women who are in trouble and need help. So it’s not just selling houses; it’s helping the community.
Meghan Escobar (13:37)
That’s amazing. And Ryan, we’ll be sure to drop that link below so when folks are listening, if they want to connect with you and be a part of this project or help you grow, they’ll be able to connect directly with you. Outside of the website, are there any other areas or places where people can find you? Are you guys active on socials, or do you want to provide an email or phone number?
Ryan Basye (14:40)
Sure. I’m honestly not super active on the socials, but you can find Ryan Basye if you can spell it right: B-A-S-Y-E. My website is getagoodhome.com—that’s easy to find and see. That’s where a lot of stuff we’re doing is online. We do some videos, but mostly we don’t like to film our tenants or the people we’re helping. But we’ll film a lot of properties, and you can see a lot of that stuff there.
Meghan Escobar (15:07)
Awesome stuff. All right, and we’ll be sure to drop those links below, folks, so you don’t have to pause, go back, or write it down. You can just click on the link below.
All right, Ryan. Well, thank you so much. I really appreciate your time, your story, and more importantly, the passion that you brought to the show today, which I think was the most valuable. So I want to thank you again for being here. We most certainly need more people in these spaces who have their head in the game the right way. So thanks again for being here.
Ryan Basye (15:38)
Thank you for having me.
Meghan Escobar (15:38)
Absolutely.
And for those of you who are tuning in, if you got any value from this, please be sure to hit like and subscribe. We’ve got more conversations coming in every single day with operators like Ryan here, who are building real businesses with real people in real time. We’ll see you on the next episode.
