Remove ImagesJennifer Strimple’s Home Team Builders
May 31, 2012
Custom home builder Jennifer Strimple, owner and president of Home Team Builders, brings a breadth of knowledge and experience, as well as love for the construction process to her clients. Photo by:Sandy Groover.
Strimple said building is her true calling in life. She has degrees in both construction technology and engineering design graphics from East Tennessee State University and began her career in commercial construction. After marriage, children and a move to North Carolina, Strimple worked as an estimator and manager for local commercial construction companies and has overseen the building of more than 50 facilities ranging from office complexes to CVS pharmacies.
In 2005 she earned her general contractor's license and stepped out on her own. With her husband, High Point Fire Capt. Eric Strimple's support, and the vision and encouragement of her late father-in-law, Clifford Strimple, she started Home Team Builders. Her father-in-law had a vision of Home Team Builders as the most successful custom builder in the triad. It is his vision and high standards that Home Team strives to maintain.
Strimple said one of the reasons people choose her company is the teamwork approach her construction philosophy embodies. Her clients become part of the team. Buyers participate in all aspects of the building process. Strimple guides them from start to finish so that building a house is painless for them. She says the process should be enjoyable. She knows that buyers have heard horror stories about building custom homes, and wants them to understand that it need not be like that.
Strimple said, "I always tell people that I'm not building this house for me – I'm building it for them. It's 100 percent about how this house is going to fit their needs and fit their daily lives." She said she doesn't want her customers to feel as though they are stuck with whatever the builder does. Strimple wants her homes to fit the needs of the customer's family, so she listens carefully to what her clients say they want and need. She said she understands what the client is talking about and can translate their ideas into the home she builds for them. And, because Strimple is the mother of four children, twin teenagers and a 6- and a 7-year-old, she has great insight into which design features will work for a family.
Strimple said many of their customers come to them with nothing more than ideas and inspiration. Home Team can take these ideas from concept to reality. Others bring us a full set of plans that they already know they want. And, still others want to take one of Strimple's award-winning plans and make it their own – mixing and matching certain rooms and design elements to create a true custom dream home. "It's never a 'no' with Home Team," said Strimple. "We will do our best to give the client what they want, and have fun in the process."
Because Home Team's customers become friends, Strimple is able to take potential clients to the homes of those friends to show the type of work Home Team does. Home Team doesn't have models – their friends are happy to open their homes and tell people about the experience they had working with Strimple and her team.
Satisfied customer and friend Debbie Pryor, a retired banker, recently said about Strimple, "She is so qualified. I have a daughter who is handicapped. Jennifer came up with ideas I hadn't even thought about that make our lives so much easier."
Clients like Pryor have helped Strimple heighten her awareness of the needs of the physically challenged, as well as baby boomers who have aging parents that need to live with them, and older adults who want to stay in their homes. "Aging in place" is a popular concept in home construction. It not only takes into consideration the needs of older people, but it incorporates what is known as "universal design," which accommodates people with diverse abilities. Strimple is in the forefront of tackling those issues, just as she is with the "green" building movement.
Strimple became a certified green professional (CGP) in 2008. Using that knowledge, Strimple can make a important changes and updates to standard building practices, building her clients a better home and one that is proven to save them money now and in the future.
Saving clients money fits right in with Strimple's construction philosophy. One of her priorities on a project is staying within the client's budget. As she guides the client through the design and construction process, she will help them make choices that will keep them from going over what their budget allows.
It's obvious when you talk with Jennifer Strimple that she thoroughly enjoys the whole process of designing and building homes. She finds satisfaction in being involved in every detail, from working with the customers, overseeing the actual construction, communicating with the subcontractors and vendors, to dealing with advertising and accounting. She said, "Every one of them are certainly made to fit my customers' needs, but they're my creations too, and I love that about it." When she hands the customer the key to their completed home, she's handing them part of herself.
Currently, Home Team has a home under construction and for sale at 8314 Lilly's Circle in Jessup Ridge. It has over 3,900 square feet, 4 bedrooms, 4 full bathrooms, a study or fifth bedroom on the main level, main level master bedroom with his-and-her closets and a separate dressing area. The kitchen is open to the family room, and there is a screened porch and grilling deck.
To learn more, call Jennifer Strimple at (336) 215-6688 or visit www.hometeambuilders.net.