From left, Savannah Heskett Beck and Sarah Oliveira teamed up to form Savvy construction Co. in October. Both have a background in real estate sales and investment. Photo by Frank Lopez

Two Central Valley real estate professionals have teamed up to start their own home renovation and construction company.

Sarah Oliveira and Savannah Heskett Beck, founders and co-owners of Savvy Construction Co. in Clovis, officially opened their business in October and are already busy with current projects and more in the pipeline.

Along with home construction, the company also does home renovations for investment properties.

Both Oliveira and Beck are Central Valley natives and have been friends for more than seven years. Oliveira said she was impressed with Beck’s rising real estate career, work ethic and visionary mindset.

Oliveira’s family has been in the real estate and construction industry for four generations. Her grandfather was Spalding Wathen, who with his various companies including Mansionette Homes, has built tens of thousands of homes in the Central Valley since 1953.

Wathen died in 2005, but his family carries on the business to this day.

Oliveira started selling real estate right out of college in Southern California in the late ‘90s. She moved back to the Central Valley to sell Mansionette Estates after her grandfather passed.

Eventually she got her broker’s license, shifting her role to the construction side of real estate — working with buyers, trade partners, banks, and learning the schematics of building a home.

Beck is a Fresno Pacific University grad who jumped into real estate right out of college seven years ago. Beck’s husband joined her in business flipping houses around two years ago.

Beck said that with the popularity of house flipping shows such as “Flip This House” or “Flip or Flop,” many people get a false hope that they will be able to make a lot of money. But there is a lot of strategy aside from just finding a house that needs extensive renovations, she said.

Beck said she sees a lot of starter homes that people have flipped that did not get quality remodeling work. That made quality construction performed by professionals a priority for her company.

After plenty of talk about joining forces, Oliveira and Beck officially partnered to create Savvy Construction Co.

“We had chatted about partnering for flips and projects, and it made sense for us to join up for a construction business,” Beck said.

Since starting a few months ago, Oliveira said the company has already established relationships with great clients.

“We’ve been so busy, and it’s a good blessing to start off strong. It’s very encouraging,” Oliveira said

The current workload is focused on remodels and various home improvement projects. The goal is to foray into new construction, and that work is already being discussed.

Beck said they started their company at just the right time.

“I think it was a great time for us to get started in the construction world because there is such a need for it,” Beck said. “A lot of the [local] contractors that are established are so busy and not taking on new business, which left a lot of room for us slide in and start building reputations and getting referrals.”

Beck and Oliveira use social media to get the company name out there, generating inquiries for construction bids. They are currently working on about 15 bids.

The goal is to continue to grow the company and help people complete the visions that they have for their homes.

Along with Oliveira and Beck juggling work with Savvy Construction and selling real estate, both are also mothers. Oliveira has three young girls and Beck has a young boy and girl, keeping both busy.

Oliveira said she is grateful for everything while trying to balance her life as a mother and entrepreneur.

“Hopefully we inspire others, and other moms and other woman that they can do this too,” Oliveira said.

Beck is grateful to be able to work with Oliveira.

“It’s been amazing to partner with another woman who has kids because she understands what a being a mother is and what having a home is, but also having a business, so we could really help each other,” Beck said.