Garman Supports Go Koman Team

Pick a Color...but save the drama for your mamma.

Michelle's first assignment as Guest Buyer was choosing exterior colors.  A process that should be a joyful expression of color but sometimes turns into a torturous debate over which 6x6 sample of green has too much gray and whether or not you'd like that same 6x6 sample spread over the wide expanse of a new house...it's not always an easy decision.

So in order to protect us from exterior color confusion (ECC for those in the know) I fired up our Flickr studio pictures and showed Michelle some of the houses we've built and the colors we've used.

I could tell almost instantly Michelle was not going to have any problem deciding on colors.  She quickly weeded out the colors she didn't like with subtle hints like, 'ew, not that' or the more cryptic, 'wow...' (eyes wide with disgust)...I love a girl with strong opinions.    

Michelle's vision for a sophisticated gray palette came together easily...our only lingering question...do we select a matching gutter color for a seamless look or do we go for high drama and pick a dark contrasting gutter color?  After much squinting and pensive facial contortions as we surveyed the colors chosen so far (no cameras allowed during this phase) we decided we should go for it!  High drama...black gutters.  Hot stuff!  We knew it wouldn't be the right look for everyone but surely someone would drive up and love this house because of the gutters.  Right?

Maybe.

But a few days later neither of us was feeling the drama as much so we opted for a safer matching gutter color.   And even as I type this I can already hear our future buyer speaking the words, 'I love everything about this house...I just wish there was a little more drama on the exterior.'

Drama, indeed.  We shall see...

  

Michelle and her exterior masterpiece...

Meet Michelle, our first guest buyer...Take Two!

Hi, my name is Alaina.  I'm full of great ideas but I'm not always great on the follow-through.  

It feels really good to get that off my chest.  

Once upon a time...in a land as far away as early May...I had a great idea to blog about my friend, Michelle.  Michelle is our first guest buyer...a title you can read all about below.

I'm re-posting my original post about Michelle for two reasons:

1.  I felt the need to confess my follow-through sins.

2.  Michelle has a great story to share.  And there are many more posts to come.   

This is my friend Michelle.  Everyone, meet Michelle.  Michelle, meet everyone.

Before I tell you why I'm introducing you to Michelle, lemme tell you why I love this picture of her...

#1.  It was taken in Italy.  My favorite place in the world.

#2.  Her shirt says, 'Stay at Home Rock Star.' It doesn't get much cooler than that.

#3.  Happiness is infectious and looking at this picture makes me smile.  We can all use more of that.

Back to why I'm introducing you to Michelle...

Michelle is our very first guest buyer.  Guest what?  What's a guest buyer?  Well...I'm glad you asked, fictional voice in my head.  A guest buyer is a title I made up for Michelle so she could get the experience of building a Garman Home virtual-reality style.  Now some of you quick folks out there might be asking...why doesn't Michelle just build an actual Garman Home?  Why go virtual?

Because Michelle, like most of us, prefers to own just one home at a time.  And she already has a home.  A home she tried to sell so she could buy one of ours in Sunset Oaks.  But it didn't sell.
[insert sympathetic-yet-not-surprising sigh here...maybe some of you have been there-done that.]

When Michelle sent me an email and told me they were taking their home off the market I was genuinely sad.  Sad for her knowing what she would be missing.  Knowing how excited she was at the prospect of building her own home.  I know what a cool experience it is to get to build a home from scratch...I get to live vicariously though each and every one of the inventory homes we build.  I get to pick out all kinds of cool stuff...funky tile, souped-up wide-plank floors and even the occasional custom slab of granite that makes me dizzy with visions of elegant dinner parties dancing in my head.  I am spoiled by the new home experience.  I didn't want Michelle to miss out on that.

So I decided to offer Michelle the virtual experience of building a new home.  Why not?  As far as reaching your target demographic goes, it doesn't get much better than having someone who would buy your house design it for someone who could buy your house.  And because I work with the best people on the planet, when I first proposed this idea they didn't ask about all the how's, when's and why's...they just offered their full support.  Which, I gladly accepted.  

So to recap:  we're building the house Michelle would have built...but not for Michelle...for someone else...who shall be named later...but Michelle's gonna pick out all the stuff for the house.  And in the meantime, we're going to chronicle Michelle's experience here.  And it's gonna be cool because...well...that's just how a Stay at Home Rock Star rolls.

Mandi makes secret door

The back of the Full House

Cool, right?

G-Team visits

We all know that buying a new home is an exciting, anxious, stressful, and overwhelming experience all at the same time. At Garman, we clearly understand this and we strive to make the whole experience and transition as smooth and stress free as possible!! Nothing relates to this more than our 45 day warranty and our 1 year warranty.

With out a doubt, its hard to catch and grasp the functions of a new home with the walkthroughs we do before the closing date. Obviously, we go over and critique all the measures of a new home during these walkthroughs. Whether it's explaining the HVAC and plumbing systems, or the functions of each applicance, or even how to maintain the granite/tile. We want the homeowner to feel as comfortable as possible upon their first day moving in.

What helps create an even stronger bond, is the assurance that we will be there at the 45 day mark of their closing, to go over any and all questions or concerns they may have. At this 45 day mark, we go ahead and bring in the installers of the HVAC, plumbing, electrical, painting, window/door, etc..... Pretty much every and any outfitter that had a process in building the home. Some might say its overkill, but at Garman, we want that great look of satisfaction from the homeowner as if to say, "this is why I built a Garman Home"......

At the 1 year mark, we again come back and look into any and all issues that may have come about since closing..... This is great because after a full year, the homeowner is even more accustomed to their home and helps build that sense of comfort and reliability to an even higher degree!

Both warranties are a great attribute to the homeowner and Garman. It allows the homeowner to keep their beautiful home as pristine as when they first moved in and it allows us to build an even a stronger bond and also the chance to live up to our already great reputation!!!

- John Douglas

Thanks C&W Concrete!

There are very few things that are not "fixable" in construction. If the framers goof up and frame the door at the wrong height, they take 30 minutes, tear it back apart and frame it correctly. If the plumbers cut a pipe too long, they just measure and cut again. (Measure twice, cut one is great in theory but happens very little in reality). If the electricians forget to put in a plug, they take 15 minutes and put in another one.

There is one thing that is very permanent and costs a whole bunch of money to fix if it's done wrong. It's CONCRETE! It's heavy, permanent, and virtually "unfixable". If it is fixed, then most anyone can see it. It has to be ripped out and replaced. The ripped out stuff has to be hauled away. It's a pain in the butt, expensive to do, and costs a lot of time. That is why it is soooooooo important to have a good concrete trade partner and we have the best! The name of the company is C and W Concrete. Ronnie Chambers is the owner. Scott Chambers is his son and runs the crews. Pedro is the foreman.

I don't want to jinx it, but they just don't make mistakes. These guys are great at what they do and we love them for it. Thank you guys! Our customers thank you, also. Garman Homes is honored to have you working with us!

- Dan Morse