A house or a home?
A house or a home?
Ever since I could walk, I was on the job site with my dad, a contractor in the Santa Cruz area of California. We would work on homes within a 2 hour radius, depending on how slow the economy was. I worked with him until around the age of 20. I relocated to Bend, almost two decades ago, and re-entered the construction world as a builders helper. I thought to myself, I should be a contractor, it's so easy. The general contractor I work for just rides around in his truck and I do all the work, while he makes tons of money. After being a general contractor for 13 years, I can see how naive those thoughts were and man I sure have learned some hard lessons.
In the mid eighties my dad started to work on tract housing in Salinas, a bedroom community to the San Francisco bay area. Once he got in good with some of the builders there, he was busy for decades and ended up working on thousands of new homes. I never really enjoyed working on the tracts. It was always very fast paced and it was always about the bottom dollar. I did enjoy when we would work on custom houses. We could take our time and do a really nice job. We would interact with the homeowner and their families, adding a more personal connection to the job. After becoming a contractor here in Oregon it took a while for me to slow the pace down a little and work at Oregon speed. This was so very important for me. Through the years I found my niche and what I loved doing. Working with clients directly on their existing homes. I had great remodel experience and ran with that.
When I look back on all the years I honestly can't remember all the hundreds of homes I've helped in the construction of, but I do remember the happy faces, the ones that were thrilled with the job I had done for them. Houses had slowly evolved into what I call homes. A home to me has an emotional connection. Where your kids take their first steps, you laugh, you cry, your safe place in a cold world, your friends and families get together and make memories. I realized that I wasn't just doing jobs anymore, I was building relationships. It had become more than a means to an end. This all became very obvious when I became a father. The work I crafted will become part of the memories of little kiddos for years and years. So I would always try to put love into my work.
I bring these thoughts with me into the real estate world. When finding a home for my clients, it's so important to me that we find the perfect place where they will experience their most precious moments, making memories for years to come.