About Us
Southern Impression Homes was established in 2016 by father-son duo Chris Funk and Carter Funk, though their journey started years earlier. Chris Funk has always had a down-to-earth work ethic shaped by years of competitive equestrian riding and summer work on horse farms. His commitment earned him the number one National Ranking by winning the North American Championship in the Equestrian sport of 3 Day Eventing.
“Horses teach you to overcome your bad days pretty quickly because there are a lot of them in the horse business,” says Chris Funk. “They get hurt a lot. You spend a lot of time preparing for a competition, you show up, and they roll wrong in the field that night. They're limping, so you can't take them in. They teach you that there is a lot of work, but whatever bad day you think you got, there's another good day on the other side. Just keep on pushing.”
Chris Funk has always had an entrepreneurial spirit. He arrived at Flagler College in St. Augustine, Florida, in 1999, and during his free time, Chris began his business journey by launching a wholesale dry cleaning venture. His practical approach was encouraged by his father, who partnered with him to expand into full-service laundromats in the St. Augustine and Jacksonville areas, offering niche services like fire restoration cleaning, an intensive, but lucrative industry.
During the economic downturn of the late 2000s, the Funks began exploring ways to generate additional income. They started reinvesting profits from their laundry business into purchasing foreclosed homes on Jacksonville's Northside for close to $10,000, restoring and upgrading the properties, and renting them out at a fair price. As the Funks accumulated more capital, their rental property portfolio expanded to over 100 homes. Their success drew the attention of outside investment groups, which hired the Funks to find, buy, refurbish, and manage rental homes. SunCoast Property Management, LLC was established to handle the property management duties.
In 2016, with their sharp market instincts, Chris and Carter Funk sensed a shift in the purchase-rehabilitate-rent landscape and began diversifying their approach. Under their new business, Southern Impression Homes, the team started seeking out and buying underutilized parcels of land, where they built their build-to-rent (BTR) homes. With years of evaluating and improving aged properties, the Funks used what they learned to design BTR homes that could withstand years of tenant habitation. Instead of quick, cheap finishes, they invested in durable options that required minimal maintenance, reducing repair and replacement costs.
“Because we had managed so many older homes, we stepped back and said, ‘Okay, what is broken in what we're doing?’” says Funk. “Carpet was one of them. Laminate countertops were another. We went with vinyl plank everywhere. We decided we're going to do granite countertops everywhere. These were not options. They were mandatory. That's how we built the house because we didn't want the owners coming back to us and saying, ‘Hey, my turn cost is too high, or why am I replacing my countertops?’ We tried to fix as much of that as we could upfront, which, honestly, at that point in time, made our product really superior to starter housing.”
Using a network of general contractors, Southern Impressions Homes was building BTR homes and communities for itself and various investors throughout Florida and into Georgia. Once again, in a moment of remarkable foresight, Southern Impressions Homes brought the entire workflow in-house just before the COVID-19 pandemic. The Funks took the opportunity to improve their processes, creating homes that set the standard for BTR construction.
Business skyrocketed, and while his team managed each project from start to finish, Chris was constantly working to secure investor funding. With a strong track record of investor returns, Chris’s results were impressive but very time-consuming. This changed in March 2021 when the Builder Advisor Group evaluated the company and suggested that some large investor organizations might be interested in acquiring Southern Impression Homes.
Chris and Carter ultimately decided to partner with the Sumitomo Corporation Group, a Japanese-based integrated trading company founded over 400 years ago that operates across various industries through its global network. The Funks and their executive team valued Sumitomo’s ethically-driven business practices, its commitment to sustainability, and the trust it places in its partners. Today, Southern Impression Homes operates much as it did before, with Chris Funk leading the company, offering exceptional service and BTR portfolios to a diverse range of clients, from small investors to institutional clients, now backed by the security of a well-funded, international partner.