I'm one of those absurdly lucky people that loves their job. Like loves it so much that most days it doesn't feel like work at all.
I manage the sales team for Garman Homes, a small local builder in Durham, NC. I get to work with a group of really smart and wonderful people who also wake up loving their jobs. Now this isn't fiction so, yes, we all have our moments but for the most part, we all feel really fortunate to get to do what we do.
I've been in real estate for 6 years and during that time I've stayed safely on the sales side of the building world. A few months ago I started thinking it might be cool to build one of our houses. So I called up Jim Garman and said, 'I think I wanna build one of our houses...can I do that?'
Now Jim Garman isn't your typical builder. For starters, he drives a Prius, not an F-150. Which is why I wasn't terribly surprised when he said something to the effect of, 'You should totally do that!' A few more conversations later we decided it would be really cool to blog about the experience of a sales manager crossing over to the construction side of things...
So here we are. I'm building a Davis 'C' on Lot #175 in Bridgewater. Bridgewater is in Holly Springs, NC and Holly Springs is known for two things: small town charm and really tough home inspectors. Oh and fantastic Philly Cheesesteak sandwiches at Fat Phillies-so really three things. Two out of three ain't bad but that third one means I'm gonna need some reinforcements.
That's where Gerry comes in. Gerry is a Rock Star...he's the construction manager at Bridgewater and he's gonna teach me how to build a house. Gerry is a REALLY good sport. I mean, obviously, if he's willing to put up with 'Bring Your Sales Manager to Work Day' for the next 3 months.
We started our house this week. We hope you'll follow our story here.
- Alaina Money
Want to pick up where this entry left off? We rearranged the blog entries for Alaina's first house so you can read them in order.
