Shawn Horton will admit there are days he wished he was donning a jumpsuit and helmet, leaping into the seat of a stock car and careening more than 100 miles an hour around the Charlotte Motor Speedway.

“It was my dream job. I always wanted to be in NASCAR. I always pictured myself in that moment, driving around the track … I love NASCAR,” Horton said.

After graduating from University of North Carolina Wilmington in 2000, he came close – landing an internship with the Charlotte Motor Speedway’s sales and marketing department.  

But while the opportunity to work for such an entity provided a good foundation for growth, Horton believed it was time to focus on another career passion that would soon move just as fast as Jeff Gordon: real estate.

“I’ve always been interested in real estate,” said Horton, 35, and now broker and owner of the Trusst Builder Group. “Just how the industry worked and the overall business of real estate was just very interesting to me.”

Horton declined a full-time job at the Charlotte Motor Speedway in 2000, setting his sights back to the Cape Fear Region where Wilmington was rolling in new growth and
opportunity.

He quickly landed at what was then called Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Realty, where for $8 an hour, he completed mostly clerical work at the region’s largest realty firm.

“I stuffed envelopes, made copies, answered phones … that sort of thing,” Horton said.

While on the surface Horton’s job was enough to scrape by, it was his behind-the-scenes dealings that would change his career trajectory.

“I got into the business,” Horton said of his new career path. “I met all kinds of people and builders at Sea Coast that educated me on the market … they really taught me a lot during my time there, and [current company president] Tim Milam was a excellent mentor.”

Realizing the potential of what would become the region’s most heated real estate market since the completion of Interstate 40 to Wilmington in 1990, Horton and future business partner, Keith Keller, founded Trusst Builder Group in 2004.

Together, the two forged a partnership with Hearthside Builders, which has been manned by local real estate juggernaut Sandy Wood since 1992.

“Hearthside has constructed over 30 communities all over the region,” Horton said. “It was there we gained a footprint in the region.”

It wouldn’t be the only thing he would gain.

Horton met and married Wood’s daughter, Sarah.

“For five years she never even paid any attention to me,” Horton joked. “But it all worked out.”

In the mid-2000s, Horton said there was plenty of work to keep the firms busy.

The region, at the time, clocked a growth rate that was comparable to the booming western cities of Phoenix and Las Vegas. People were buying houses and moving to the Wilmington area in droves – and keeping up became hard to do.

“The key was knowing who our buyers were,” Horton said. “Our buyers were empty nesters, active adults or retirees that were looking to downsize but still demanded the top quality custom home building and amenities.”

Horton said understanding their key demographic has been instrumental in growing his firm’s business, which officially merged with Hearthside Builders in 2012.

“Our buyers are after a low-maintenance home and community,” he said. “We never strayed away from that model, and it has worked well for us.”

Horton said last year’s home sales were on par with what the firm experienced prior to the start of the Great Recession in 2008 – posting more than 150 new homes sold throughout the region.

“We could sell more, I know we can sell more,” Horton said. “But our business model is to ensure quality home in a reason time frame, and by over-promising, we risk breaking away from a model that has been successful for us.”

And 2014 may be shaping up to be a banner year for the builder.

Trusst Builder Group will soon build more than 130 new homes in the future The Forks subdivision – a 45.88-acre development planned near the Cameron Art Museum in the Pine Valley area. The firm also continues to see swift sales in Brunswick Forest and other
communities in Leland.

The firm also recently partnered with Wilmington-based Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Advantage to purchase a 6,250-square-foot office building at 481 Olde Waterford Way in Leland – solidifying the company foothold in northern Brunswick County.

While the last couple of years have improved, Horton said his team also learned a lot during the recession.

Having constructed the first 300 homes in the Brunswick Forest development – mostly during the recession – the firm weathered the storm from sales within the sweeping development, Horton said.

But that wasn’t enough.

“We were getting people who wanted us to build outside of our communities on lots that they owned in other areas during the recession,” Horton said. “We looked into it and realized there was a market for this.”

In 2008, the firm unveiled its Home Calls Program, where buyers can choose from a portfolio of homes offered by the Trusst Builder Group and have them constructed in a neighborhood of their choice.

It was a hit – now accounting for roughly a third of the firm’s sales, Horton said.

“You weather the storm, and you learn a lot coming out of it,” he said. “We adjusted our business model to reflect what the customer wanted, which was a blessing.”

Horton said his firm has plans to grow this year, especially in northern Brunswick and New Hanover counties.

While projects come and go, a proactive development team continues to open more doors and set records for the Trusst Builder Group.

“We have always had a great team, and I think that is the most important thing during all our success,” Horton said.

“Surrounding yourself with great people leads to great things happening. We’ve got some rock
stars on our team that are making things happen.”