The 4 Garman Differences - The G-Team

We get a lot of 'who and what are The G-Team' questions. The G-Team has been defined a few different ways. Starting with 'the best smelling, best looking...plumber, HVAC guys, electrician, etc...' This usually gets a laugh since we're not really choosing our trade partners 'beauty pageant-style'. But like a contestant in a beauty pageant, we are expecting the winners to uphold all the values we hold sacred. After all, if they cannot fulfill their duties, the runner up gets to step in. That's just how it works. Pageant rules.

So the G-Team 'who' is our collective group of trade partners. From our brick mason to our electrician to our drywall and paint crew. The G-Team is out there onsite building our houses and representing us.

The G-Team 'what' is how we follow up after the close when the house we build becomes your home. Our first visit back to your home is an operational check-in. You've been living in your house for a little over a month and we want to make sure it is functioning well. We invite the G-Team operational partners back to inspect their work, as well as address any concerns you have about how the house is functioning. Our second visit back to your house is near the 1 yr mark. This visit is more of a 'fit & finish' once your home has had a chance to settle. No doubt you have some nail pops, caulk and grout touch ups-all that is to be expected and we can help you with that.

What makes it DIFFERENT than other builders customer care/warranty programs?
-First of all, we don't call it customer care, that would be lame. It's the G-Team, baby.
-Second, it's proactive, we call you and review any items prior to your G-Team so trades show up ready to rock.
-Third, the G-Team doesn't come to only fix what's wrong-they do that AND they inspect the house to make sure it is operating efficiently and optimally.
-Fourth, the G-Team is an experience and it happens on 1 day to save you time and get you back to living in your home FAST. No one wants to sit around all day waiting for someone to show up-we aren't the cable company.

The 4 Garman Differences - Give it Back

Give it Back.  This is our favorite.  We started with our first house in 2007...giving back $1,000 to Habitat for Humanity for each home!  In 2008, we gave more cash and we also sponsored a Habitat Blitz home...building from start to finish in less than seven days!  In total, we have donated $43k in cash to Habitat and partnered with our trades to sponsor the $50k blitz home.  In these tough times, we are very proud to have helped out.

I also must take a moment to confess that we have not been able to keep up the pace of $1k per home to Habitat this past year.  It breaks my heart to admit this...I'm still hoping we can catch up!  But for the moment, we are going to focus on all the other ways we give back (see future posts), while we rebuild our finances to once again help Habitat.

Someday we will build a village for Habitat for Humanity.  I promise.  \JG

Meet Gerry & Dan!

This picture has not been digitally altered...these guys are seriously HUGE.  Gerry & Dan were our top draft picks in 2010 and wow...did we get lucky!  Both these guys come prepared with great construction experience and built-in good attitudes.  

You will get to know them more in future blog entries and on Facebook...but for now...we just wanted you to be aware of who the giants are who are running our job sites.  Welcome guys!  

The 4 Garman Differences-Guaranteed Close Date

A few days ago Mike (aka El Presidente, Bossman, The Man Behind the Curtain) and I were discussing a house (not one of ours) that had a completion date of, "July/August." I couldn't help but chuckle a little when Mike gave me that delivery date...since its not so much a date as it is 62 possible dates.

The Guaranteed Close Date is one of the boldest Garman Differences. It is pretty much the equivalent of Babe Ruth stepping up to bat and pointing to the area where he intends to knock it out of the park. Yep, that bold.

In fact, when agents (who don't know us) first learn that we will give their buyers a closing date on a house that doesn't yet exist they go through a whole range of facial expressions. Starting with 'seriously?' moving onto the hybrid 'there's no way/why would you promise something you can't deliver' and finishing with 'alright hot shot show me whatcha got.' After all, we're offering their buyers $1000 if we miss it.

Have we ever missed one? Yes. Actually we've missed 3 out of about 100. Pretty good, right? It's not about never missing a date. It's about setting a deadline for all of us. Because when you have a task with a deadline and a task that you intend to complete 'as soon as you can' which one tends to get completed first? Deadline. Every time. I guarantee it.

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