When Emily joined Petros Homes as a community sales manager five years ago, little did she realize that what she did for her clients in helping them identify and build their dream home would lead her and her family to build their own special home in Medina County. Utilizing her career expertise and real life interactions as a template, Emily worked toward a goal of finding the perfect home while at the same time, creating an enjoyable and rewarding homebuilding experience. The desire to accommodate their growing family as well as take advantage of the lowest home lending rates in history, were all that Emily and her husband Rob needed to begin their journey. After searching and viewing what seemed like endless properties in the re-sale market and continuously losing out on securing one, Emily realized the answer was right before her eyes. What she did each day for her clients that purchased a new home in the communities that she managed became the driving factor and inspiration to choose building a new home instead of battling it out in the the re-sale market.
Now that her family is settled in to their new home, Emily is full of personal insights to share about the experience and is certain that the decision was the right one and the process she experienced would prove to be a valuable tool that she can now share first hand with other potential new home building clients.

What do you like to do for fun?
We like to spend time with family. We also enjoy entertaining at our home and always having family and friends over.
What prompted you to think about moving?
We needed more space for our growing family. Our last home was not functional and taught us a lot about what we needed in our next home. Also, a huge driving factor in moving was to take advantage of the market by getting top dollar for our older home, while borrowing for our new home at an extremely low interest rate.
Given you work for Petros Homes, did you evaluate other builders or options when considering your next home?
We looked at the re-sale market for about 10 months before we found land to purchase through a friend. The re-sale market was a pretty draining place to try to find a home. We were out-bid on many homes. I only considered other custom builders because, at the time, it was a little bit outside our build radius—I was not sure Petros Homes could build in the area we owned land in. I quickly realized that it would be hard for me to trust anyone else building my home. The people I work with I trust, respect, and consider to be my friends. I knew if I was going to be spending the money to build, I wanted a quality-built home by Petros Homes only. After finding out Petros could build my home in the location I had land in, made the process pretty special for me.

What was it like being on the other side of the process? What was the best part about building for you?
I really enjoyed being on the other side of the process. I feel like it helped me to really explain in greater detail the process and what to expect. I also now understand my buyers better and what they go through emotionally. It is an emotional rollercoaster building a home—your nervous, so excited, happy, sometimes you question your selections, if you made the right decision or not, or your anxious to get in. So, it really helped me relate to my customers more and strengthen my relationships with them because of it.

What is your favorite feature in your home and why?
This is a hard question since I love a lot about my home. I would probably say my kitchen, its so beautiful, spacious, and bright. We have almost 11 ft. ceilings with a beam detail that makes it a decorative space. We are able to prep any meals, have a ton of storage space which was so important to us. We can entertain as many people as we want and not feel crowded, it is just a great space!
Any advice for others who are considering building, things to consider, important points about the process?
The advice I would give to others considering building would be to ask yourself what you love about your current living situation and what you do not like about it. This will help you design your new home to meet your needs. There are no stupid questions, ask as many questions as possible to ensure you are understanding what you are getting and not missing anything you may want to add. Trust the process and your builder, we have a process that works and we will ensure we give you a quality home. While there is no perfect process, it is all worth it in the end to build a custom home for you and your family.
To learn more about joining the Gentrys as a new Petros homeowner, visit our Build On Your Own Lot page or contact a sales associate to schedule a personal appointment!