Fairytale at Stonegate

Frequently, we as consumers enter into business transactions jaded by our previous poor customer service experiences. All I’ve ever heard about building a home and working with contractors are nightmares and tales of woe. With Garman Homes, these preconceptions disappeared with every interaction. Each and every interaction has been incredibly smooth and all Garman employees have treated us like we were the most important customers they had. After this experience I don’t think I’ll ever purchase a new home if it wasn’t built by Garman. I know this is lengthy but fewer words wouldn’t have done the experience justice…

The Backstory

On a whim my husband and I put our house on the market…it sold in six days and had to close within a month…we went on a 48-hour house shopping binge landing us in Stonegate. We found a house we liked by another builder, and tried to buy it…but received poor service. We continued to try to buy anyway because we wanted the house but then we had an idea…

The Fairytale

We googled Garman Homes, found their website, after about 3 minutes on their website we called our realtor and asked her to set up a meeting with Garman. They give $1000 to Habitat for Humanity for every house they sell, why wouldn’t you want to buy from them?

The NEXT day, we were greeted by the contractor Chris, the sales manager Alaina and the OWNER Jim! We were given a tour of a recently framed structure that could potentially be our new home. The tour was animated, amusing and well organized. They had never built this model before and we had no idea what it was really going to look like when finished.

When we left the meeting, we felt like we were treated right, certainly in contrast to the previous experience. We were treated like people not as a sale, an important Garman difference. Before we even got home, we knew we would be purchasing a home from them, even though it meant we would be "homeless" for a month.

Keep in mind there were still available, finished homes in the neighborhood that could have closed on the same day as our previous home. Due to their incredible customer service as well as their commitment to doing the right thing for their customers and community we elected to put ourselves in a temporary lurch just to have the opportunity to work with Garman.

The entire building process felt like a fairytale, it was nothing like what many of our friends have struggled through when building. Garman was extremely conscious of any errors on their part, often taking responsibility before we had a chance to notice. Chris always greeted us with a smile and was happy to answer our questions even if we showed up unexpectedly (as we often did). Even the Wells Fargo staff made the lending and closing process seamless.

After a month of living with friends, we have now been in our brand new Garman home for two weeks and we continue to receive phenomenal service from the Garman employees. They haven’t discarded us after closing as many builders would have done. They continue to check on us, stop by and follow through with unwritten promises of small things they would fix after we moved in. They have honored all agreements, both oral and written. I don’t know what their actual business motto is but "Do the right thing" seems like the perfect way to sum up our experience.

My husband and I have truly enjoyed our Garman Homes experience and would recommend to anyone if they ever have a choice, to choose Garman. Thank you, Garman Homes for raising the bar for customer service!

Lesley
lesleyrcoe@gmail.com

Habitat Blitz - Looks like a House Now!

Monday morning started early for the Garman Homes G-Team. Before 7 a.m. our team was on the job site checking and rechecking the house before the rough-in inspections. The framers, plumbers, HVAC guys and electricians were all there to walk with the inspector to be sure everything was just right! There were trucks everywhere!

By 10:00 AM we received the green light to insulate the home, and by lunchtime Cortes Construction was hanging the drywall. It’s hard to believe we just started the home two days ago. On the outside, Stock Building Supply was installing the siding and finishing up the porches. Like contractors should, they started with the front of the house so that everyone could see their progress immediately.

It was great!By the time we were cleaning up on Monday evening, the drywall crew was applying the second coat of mud to the walls. Even as we left, we knew they would be there most of the night so that the next morning we could start running the interior trim and installing cabinets.

— Jim Garman

jim@garman.net

Habitat Blitz - Calm Before the Storm

Our trade partners agreed that they would prefer to work hard on Saturday and leave Sunday for a day of rest. I thought they were crazy! After all, we only have six days to build this entire house — I couldn’t imagine leaving the house idle for an entire day! But I was wrong; it worked out.

Our only activity on Sunday was the electrical. Imperial Electric ran the wiring and they had the job site to themselves. They accomplished their work quickly and expertly and packed up. The home was ready for inspections on Monday morning!

On this quiet day, I want to take a moment and describe the benefits of the Advanced Energy Program that we are following on our Habitat for Humanity home. As the owner of Garman Homes, I have weighed the costs and benefits of such energy programs and, so far, we have not committed to taking the plunge. But, with this Habitat for Humanity home, I admit that I am now a believer.

Thanks to 10 to 12 key building techniques and materials defined by this program, Cesar’s home will have an electrical bill of less than $25 a month. That makes a BIG difference for him and his finances. Thank you to Chatham County Habitat for Humanity for teaching us about this powerful program.

-Jim Garman
jim@garman.net

Habitat Blitz - Wow! What a Great Start!

Today was unbelievable! I have never seen a group of people so fired up to build a home! This morning Allan’s Quality Construction arrived before 7 a.m. to begin laying out the walls and organizing the panels for a quick start. After a quick blessing and opening ceremony with the Chatham County Habitat for Humanity team, the house sprang to life! It was like watching time-lapse photography — within an hour all the exterior walls were erected and by lunch time they were swinging the roof trusses into place.

Weather Master HVAC was not scheduled to start until 2 p.m. but, rather than wait, they donned their hard hats and worked side by side with the framers installing duct work and vents. By the time the roof was complete at 1:30, the HVAC was done and Carnell’s Plumbing started their installation.We made a few trips to the store: caulking for windows, more nails, button caps for roofing paper. But, overall, everything came together beautifully.

And, best of all, everyone had a great attitude! Our Habitat for Humanity homeowner, Cesar, was in the midst of all the chaos helping to erect the signs, carrying materials and giving encouragement to the team. What a great day!

— Jim Garman
jim@garman.net

Garman Homes Gives it Back!

Garman Homes is thrilled to be a part of Home Builders Blitz 2008! I just met with our team this morning to check that all systems are go ... everyone answered with an enthusiastic, “yes!”

Allan's Quality Construction is sending an army of people to start laying out the walls at 6:30 a.m. this coming Saturday morning. Carnell's Plumbing and Weather Master HVAC will follow up at 2 p.m. that afternoon to knock out the rough-ins. Imperial Electric will jump in on Sunday, and by Monday afternoon we hope to hang sheetrock!

Once Cortes Construction wraps up the sanding, the Stock Building Supply Team will dive in with the cabinets and interior trim on Tuesday. On Wednesday, Coleman Floors will install the flooring and we will prepare the home for final inspections on Thursday.

In our world, building a home usually takes 75-90 days. To pull off a house in less than a week during Home Builders Blitz, everyone has turned their standard procedures upside-down. Thank you to our trade partners!

And thank you to Cesar and his family who will be purchasing this home. His hard work and enthusiasm during the preparation has been an inspiration to our whole team.

-Jim Garman
jim@garman.net

G-Team Crib: Pinehurst Edition

Welcome to the first in a series...G-Team Cribs: Pinehurst Edition! After countless requests to glimpse inside the home of a Garman Homes Rock Star, we got lucky! Kristi and her beautiful daugther Kailey took time out of their busy schedule to show us through their Garman Home in Amberly. Check it out!
Credits... Rock Stars: Kristi & Kailey. Camera & Editing: Emily LaDue.

Oak Hall Party - Great Idea!

Jim Garman, the G-Team, my family and I would like to say “Thank You!” for the wonderful experience that we had yesterday. The neighborhood party was held in our new home (well, we close in 3 weeks..); I must say that we were very surprised at how many folks actually showed up to welcome us to the Oak Hall neighborhood! It was nice to be able to meet them ahead of time and to know that this area is so warm and inviting and full of friendly people.

A little background… Our family of 5 has been renting a small place in Apex for 4 years now, and we had decided that it’s time to move into something a little more spacious. Our search included the Cary, Apex, Morrisville, and Holly Springs areas. All four towns have good reputations, and our choice to go with this Garman home in Oak Hall was based on several factors: sidewalks, a pool, good-sized yards, established greenery, friendly neighbors, lots of kids, physical proximity, etc. Two things that immediately caught our eye was that this house had an interestingly open floorplan, and that it’s fit and finish was well above-and-beyond what the other big-name builders are putting out. What we are getting in $$/sq. ft. is phenomenal; you could easily drive just 10 miles away and pay A LOT more for the same house (no joke, similar floorplans in Cary are ~$100k more!).

The Garman Homes team has been polite, accommodating, and eager to help. I should mention that this includes EVERY member of the team, from the sales crew to the construction crew. I have showed up randomly throughout the building process and have had conversations with many of the workers, all of whom were very willing to answer all of my questions, every time, and with a smile no less! A nice touch to know that the people building your house are happy with their job and will take ownership of their work.

…yes, I am all caught up in the excitement of buying a new home. … no, I don’t work for Garman and I don’t get anything for posting this blog. I just think that when making a purchase of this magnitude, the purchase should have value and the customer service that goes along with it should be of value too, and Garman homes deserves a pat on the back for giving us both.

We are moving into our new home at 205 Muses Mill Ct. on 04/24/08. Stop by and say “Hi!”. After we’ve been there awhile we will probably submit an update to this blog, so keep posted…

The Smith Family, --- Jim, Melanie, Hannah, Jesse, and Taylor