Corner Lot Identity Crisis

Who knew there could be so much confusion over an address?  Well, we found out.  And our customer, Brian, was very patient as we muddled through the resolution with the Town of Holly Springs.  

Turns out that the address of a home on a corner lot depends on which direction the home faces.  And to further confuse things, when the house faces one direction and the garage another (as is the case with Brian's side load home), everyone seems to have a different opinion of what the address should be.  

The lesson we learned...we need to take the time to be sure everyone is on the same page.  And not just the town and our vendors, but also the gas company, the electric company, and even the mail man.  And more importantly, we learned that we should take this on OUR shoulders...rather than hope the customer figures it out on his or her own.  

Thank you Brian for sticking with us and for asking for help.  You were right, it's our job to figure this out.  

PS.  Congratulations on your closing today!  Garman Homes is lucky to have you for a customer.  

Check out the back of this home!

We are so excited to be building such a beautiful home in Fairfield!  Thank you Bobby & Niha for the opportunity.  I can't wait to hang out on that screen porch.  

Bridgewater Towns...Dan's Art Project

Dan busted out the scissors and tape to help us visualize how the building would look...
Dan, we were impressed!  Who knew you and Martha Stewart had so much in common?

Btw, we took "the best" and made it even better.  Just you wait...

Did Jim get out of his car?

Mike couldn't believe I bought lots 142 & 143 Bridgewater.  He said to Alaina, "Did Jim get out of his car?  Did he see how these things drop off?"  Tasked with running Garman Homes last spring while I was starting Go Realty, Mike was not so happy to find I left him with two super-steep lots.

Mike's decision was immediate and clear...put these lots on the market and sell them to some other poor smuck.  OK, got it.

When I returned to daily operations last fall, I was as scared as Mike to start these lots.  I had no idea how the grading would work or if we could control our basement costs.  I admit, I was chicken.  And I admit, no, I didn't get out of my car.

Then, the craziest thing happened.  Dan Morse (our new Dir. of Construction) stepped up and said he and Gerry could figure these out.  Boasting 10 years of Toll Brothers experience and hundreds of basements under his belt, Dan appeared confident.  In fact, Dan relished the challenge of proving me wrong.

And boy...wrong I was.  These two homesites turned out to be gorgeous.  The basement foundations went in perfectly.  The house plans that Dan & Gerry chose were just right.  And best of all, both homes were sold before we hung the drywall.  Wow.

I'm lucky to work with people who step up and prove me wrong...on a regular basis.  Thank you Dan & Gerry!

Clearing in Wedgewood!

Our newest community, in Cary off Evans Road. 27 homesites. Can't wait to get started!

Good Attitude Addendum

I will fire you for a bad attitude.

When you start at Garman Homes this is one of the first things you will hear me say.  And I mean it.  Just ask the Employment Commission.  A few years ago, when I wrote "Bad Attitude" in the box for the "Reason for Termination," they called me.   They couldn't believe that attitude rather than job performance was the basis for the termination.  I gave them an earful.

When we sat down over the holidays to rewrite our purchase agreement, we wanted to include the "Good Attitude Addendum" to be clear with our customers how important this is to us.  Quite simply, it's not enough to want to build a home with us, we also ask you to have a good attitude.  Seriously.  Can a company ask it's customers to have a good attitude?

Absolutely.  Read our Good Attitude Addendum, decide for yourself.

We get by with a little help from our friends...

Last week each of us at Garman Homes got all dressed up for the 25th annual MAME Awards. Don't let the name fool you, MAME stands for Major Achievements in Marketing Excellence...we didn't (and wouldn't) attend a ceremony where they might give out awards for hurting people. Ironic name for marketing awards, no? I digress.

So we got all dressed up, piled into my swagger wagon and headed on over to North Ridge Country Club. We were really excited about the venue because one of our very favorite Garman homeowners (and very first buyer of our best-selling Edenton plan), Brian McEnteer, is the General Manager at NRCC. Brian & his wife, Mary are like Hall of Fame Garman Homes Rockstars. They're on our website. We adore them.

And the night lived up to all of our excitement and then some.

First...we got the best table in the house. The very back table right next to the bar. Our visibility was second to none. Key at awards ceremonies.

Second...we won! Build Like a Girl took home Best Blog by a builder.

Third...Brian made us feel like total Rock Stars. MAME is a cash bar event. So you can imagine how we were the envy of the room when after our win for Build Like a Girl we had a bottle of champagne sent to our table in celebration.

Such a great night...here's to all of you...here's the us...here's to many more nights like that!