Elissa Hammond — Dec 16, 2020
The building of our home went well. Pre-building was the most challenging part, and that’s where this company stands out. We had l…
The building of our home went well. Pre-building was the most challenging part, and that’s where this company stands out. We had land under contract in Silverton and nothing was happening. Of course the various entities who needed to sign off on a building permit and loan were all weighing in, and the work needed was slowly happening. But I had never imagined that just getting started would take so long, and it was sort of infuriating at times. Jim reassured us and focused on what we could control.
Jim met with us periodically as we went over modifications to the house plan we’d found to make it semi-custom. We continued to discuss costs and ways to decrease costs and/or improve the end result. Since we were living with extended family 35 minutes away, going to Silverton was out of our way, as was Mulino. Jim always came to us to talk, and often he would ask if we’d been out to the land recently. He suggested camping there, going sledding when snow fell, and pointed out the many features our site afforded us. I figured nothing was ever going to work out since progress was at a glacial pace. But we did slowly try his suggestions, and it helped us get through the waiting phase.
Besides caring about our overall experience, I also appreciated that Jim advised us on all of our decisions, but he left it up to us instead of making it about him. We know he didn’t always love what we chose, but he did find a way to be positive about it and support us.
We certainly ran into obstacles, and Jim found solutions. He went to bat for us on some big and small issues with the county, the bids from subs, the availability of materials, etc. This could have put us on an emotional roller coaster, but he didn’t pass the anxiety and concern onto us unless he had to. That buffer decreased the stress of home-building significantly.
I was a little surprised at first that he tended to be late to meetings. But like anyone attending closely to the details and caring about people, he had good reason to be late. We learned to adjust for the Jim time zone, and we were never disappointed. When he was with us, we had his full attention.
The one item on our wishlist that we never fully got ahold of was a timeline showing us when to expect certain decisions. Most of the time, this wasn’t a problem, and it got better as the process went forward. I think we figured out that with some plans you can’t spell out a timeline; you just have to roll with it.
We love our new home, and we are working with Jim still as we finish the upstairs and basement. We plan to build a barn with him as well. This company doesn’t need a slogan (or even this review—word of mouth keeps them plenty busy), but a good one would be, “Build your dream home with us and live happily Bever after.” Thank goodness they don’t need marketing help!
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The building of our home went well. Pre-building was the most challenging part, and that’s where this company stands out. We had land under contract in Silverton and nothing was happening. Of course the various entities who needed to sign off on a building permit and loan were all weighing in, and t…
The building of our home went well. Pre-building was the most challenging part, and that’s where this company stands out. We had land under contract in Silverton and nothing was happening. Of course the various entities who needed to sign off on a building permit and loan were all weighing in, and the work needed was slowly happening. But I had never imagined that just getting started would take so long, and it was sort of infuriating at times. Jim reassured us and focused on what we could control.
Jim met with us periodically as we went over modifications to the house plan we’d found to make it semi-custom. We continued to discuss costs and ways to decrease costs and/or improve the end result. Since we were living with extended family 35 minutes away, going to Silverton was out of our way, as was Mulino. Jim always came to us to talk, and often he would ask if we’d been out to the land recently. He suggested camping there, going sledding when snow fell, and pointed out the many features our site afforded us. I figured nothing was ever going to work out since progress was at a glacial pace. But we did slowly try his suggestions, and it helped us get through the waiting phase.
Besides caring about our overall experience, I also appreciated that Jim advised us on all of our decisions, but he left it up to us instead of making it about him. We know he didn’t always love what we chose, but he did find a way to be positive about it and support us.
We certainly ran into obstacles, and Jim found solutions. He went to bat for us on some big and small issues with the county, the bids from subs, the availability of materials, etc. This could have put us on an emotional roller coaster, but he didn’t pass the anxiety and concern onto us unless he had to. That buffer decreased the stress of home-building significantly.
I was a little surprised at first that he tended to be late to meetings. But like anyone attending closely to the details and caring about people, he had good reason to be late. We learned to adjust for the Jim time zone, and we were never disappointed. When he was with us, we had his full attention.
The one item on our wishlist that we never fully got ahold of was a timeline showing us when to expect certain decisions. Most of the time, this wasn’t a problem, and it got better as the process went forward. I think we figured out that with some plans you can’t spell out a timeline; you just have to roll with it.
We love our new home, and we are working with Jim still as we finish the upstairs and basement. We plan to build a barn with him as well. This company doesn’t need a slogan (or even this review—word of mouth keeps them plenty busy), but a good one would be, “Build your dream home with us and live happily Bever after.” Thank goodness they don’t need marketing help!
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