Mortgage Motivation
Mortgage & Motivation advice that you can use in your life!
Mortgage Motivation
Baton Rouge's Real Estate Growth: A Conversation with Jenna Griffin from Manuel Builders
Ever wondered what it's like to create your dream home from scratch? Then, you'll love our chat with Jenna Griffin, a building consultant at Manual Builders. This episode is a treasure trove of insights into custom home building, as Jenna unravels the complex process of designing a home that's perfect for you. She speaks candidly about the challenges faced, particularly the leap of faith involved in moving forward without a tangible concept and shares how she helps clients visualize their future homes through visits to homes under construction.
Dive deeper into the second part of our fascinating discussion as Jenna throws light on the upcoming communities in Baton Rouge. Get a glimpse of how Manual Builders is contributing to the expansion with offerings such as pre-sold and move-in ready homes, spotlighting their ongoing project, Highland Lakes in Denham Springs. You'll appreciate Jenna's emphasis on clear and open communication, a cornerstone of the Manual Builders' ethos, as they strive to make their customers feel like family. This episode is a must-listen for anyone interested in custom home building or understanding the real estate landscape in Baton Rouge.
JENNA GRIFFIN
Building Consultant, Baton Rouge
(337) 427 - 6104
Jenna was born and raised in Baton Rouge, LA where she began her customer service adventures. From having a small bakery business to being a dental office manager; serving others has always been her passion. She attended ULL for her undergrad which is where she discovered that she actually enjoyed running for fun. Jenna became a building consultant because she genuinely enjoys helping others develop their dreams into reality. In this case it is bringing their dream home to life. She loves meeting new people and forming lasting relationships. By being an active listener, focusing on the details, and always having a positive attitude she does a great job of making the homebuilding process a smooth one. For Jenna, seeing the pure joy on a customer’s face when they see their home for the first time is the true reward.
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Welcome to this episode of Margage Motivation Advice you Can Use in Life, and today I have a good friend, jenna Griffin, with Manual Builders working on our custom division side. Right, yes, I actually do both so.
Speaker 2:I do the custom and development side for Baton Rouge so to help me about the Baton Rouge territory on the custom.
Speaker 1:What's the points when, where? What's the bill zone? Help me out with that.
Speaker 2:Really, we are on the west side of the river, to almost like Hammond Louisiana, and so all the way down Highway 12. If you got property out there, then we got a house for you.
Speaker 1:Absolutely, and we spoke about that earlier today. Jenna is actually a building consultant, but she also works in the community side and we'll talk about the community side also shortly. But if you own property or want to purchase property and custom build your home, you can take any plan that they have and any elevation that they have. And we can, they can. I say we have to like a party.
Speaker 2:I mean, you are absolutely.
Speaker 1:They can customize it to your needs. Okay, so, as a consultant, when the consumer comes in, what are some of the things that you go over with them to get them started?
Speaker 2:And basically I just go over the layout of the home that they're wanting or needing and then we dive through all the plans together and figure out the best possible route for them to go. From there we can modify, add things, take things away, and I just help them through that entire process. Make it go smooth.
Speaker 1:Make it go smooth right, and that's one thing. If you're looking to custom build a home, manual is a great stop for you because you can do everything under that one roof and now they're getting everything available in Baton Rouge. I think previously if you were in the Baton Rouge area, when it came to certain points you drove to Lafayette, right, Correct. But now they're doing everything in Baton Rouge for you. So we're really excited about expanding in that market and the showroom there is really nice and they can make all their selections. And let's talk about selections and some of the base things that come with the house that a lot of people don't realize the upgrades they get with the manual home, which is what y'all call base. So let's talk about those things.
Speaker 2:So some base things is like laminate wood flooring. That's in our base pricing. You can get chandeliers and pendant lightings. There's some places that you go and those are considered upgrades, even like a framed mirror. That's all included, everything from one really good thing that I absolutely love that we do in our company is that we have our own cabinet shop and so all of the cabinetry in each home is made to order, so it's not sitting in a warehouse, it's physically being made and cut to those specifications because each home is different. So that's something different and special that sets us apart from other builders.
Speaker 1:And that's the biggest misconception. I think that's out there. If you build an, a manual custom, you're not building the house on the site. The house on the site, the plan on the site, is just a footprint. Yeah, you are going to literally go in and move walls and add square footage and design the home to meet your family's needs, and a lot of people think, oh, this is what you get and they don't understand until they get in. So I always try to make that point.
Speaker 2:Well, yeah, the floor plan can be manipulated in so many different ways that not one say, take the David, one of our most popular plans. We won't have one David that looks exactly the same out there, because people do little customizations to it that are not that stock plan anymore. So no matter what you do, it's always going to be customized.
Speaker 1:Right, and you can also change the elevation of the home. You know you can choose elevation of a Chamelea with a David footprint right, absolutely so you can swap them out. Talking about base, though, let's go back to that. One thing I was so impressed with was the granite. The granite is thick, and explain that, like you know granite countertops come included.
Speaker 2:You have maybe about six different color differentiations that you can choose from. We also now offer a quartz that comes included in the base as well.
Speaker 1:Really, I thought that would have been an upgrade Right.
Speaker 2:So now we offer quartz and it's going to be, you know, your basic whites or your grays, but that's been a huge game changer for us as a builder and to have that thick granite. Now we have quartz and things like that.
Speaker 1:So what do you feel is the biggest challenge that the consumer faces when they meeting with you, like what are some of the toughest decisions that they have to make? That you help navigate them through.
Speaker 2:Honestly, I think it's saying yes initially, not just to the appointment, but to move forward without walking through a home, because really you're seeing the footprint right on online or looking at it on a piece of paper, but until you get inside it's like am I gonna like it? So to overcome that, I started taking a lot of my clients out into the field and letting them walk through that particular home in construction so they can see okay, yeah, this is gonna fit my needs. My kids would love that space over there. You know, this is perfect for a nursery right next to the master bedroom and things like that, and so that's helped me to help my clients better by giving them the opportunity to actually see it, feel it, walk it, in a sense.
Speaker 1:Well, we're excited to have you. We're super excited about expanding and the Baton. I know you've been there a while but actually turning that into a showroom and then being able to go there to make all that selections I know that area is just gonna really enjoy having y'all there and, not to mention as much as me, you'll get back to the community everywhere is that y'all go. Y'all are just constantly giving back. So thank you for joining me. Today we have Jenna Griffin, which is the Baton Rouge division, but not only does she have the custom side. Right now I want to talk about the communities that are in Baton Rouge. So where are the communities?
Speaker 2:let's talk about that and what's going on there, so we only have one right now, but there's another one coming down the pipeline, so stay tuned. One of them is called Highland Lakes. It's in Denim Springs, okay, and we have about probably 75% of it filled already. There we have spec homes available. So if you're looking for that move-in ready, we got you covered. Or if you want to pick your lot, pick your plan, do it what we call it a pre-sold. We have you covered there too. So it just depends on what you want. You can pick everything out from your granites to your paint colors on the pick your lot, pick your plan. Or if you're just ready to move into a home, and you don't want to go through that.
Speaker 2:You want to move in 30 days? Yeah, we got you covered absolutely give me that 30 day clothes.
Speaker 1:Where is the subdivision? Again, give us the name of it.
Speaker 2:So it's in Denim Springs, it's called Highland Lakes and it's off of the Jubin exit and Livingston Parish. So you take the Jubin exit, go about 12 minutes north and you're there and so please give my good friend Jenna Call.
Speaker 1:she's in Baton Rouge, and how would one reach you?
Speaker 2:Yes, you can call me at 225-317-4040. That's my direct line and I mean you can call text however you want to reach me and you're gonna answer yeah and be there for you and at one point I want to really make about what she said today on your challenges don't let anything keep you up at night.
Speaker 1:Communication is key and they do a great job communicating with you and if you're unsure, she'll bring you through a home any fears you may have, discuss them with you. They can't help you if they don't know what that is and they do a great job of navigating and making sure you in a comfort zone, not only on the building side, but on the lending side also. We don't want you staying up at night. We're gonna work with you, we're gonna communicate, make sure you're comfortable moving into that project and then, once you go into that project, they'll do a great job helping you with just a one-stop shop, getting you from the beginning all the way to the end and absolutely and and, furthermore, pass the end.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so you become friends and family absolutely so. We want you, part of our manual family and our GMFS family, here and give us a call, and if you can't find Jenna, give me a call and I'll find her for you, right?
Speaker 2:she'll help me down absolutely.
Speaker 1:Thank you so much for having me.