About Andy Nelms

and

The Nelms Team LLC

I was born in Macon, Georgia, the son of Wallace and Lucille Nelms. Dad was a real estate salesperson and mom was a procurement officer at Warner Robbins Air Force Base. I grew up not knowing what I wanted to be and then one day while attending Wingate College in Wingate, NC, I found the love of my life. No it was not a girl, it was computer programming. I determined that I could make a career as a computer programmer and I knew I would love it, so I set my sights on learning as much as I could about computers and programming. Within four years I was working for the University of Georgia as a computer programmer and as they say the rest is history.

I went on to have a successful 24 year career as a software developer working for such companies as Martin Marietta, BMC Software, Boole & Babbage Software and Bank of America. Then one day after 24 years of doing the very thing I loved, my job was shipped to India. After it happened twice in the same year I realized that a career in computer programming was no longer a viable option for me. I was then 47 years old. What to do? All I knew how to do and all I thought I could love doing was software development.

God had a different plan. I was overcome with a desire to finish my college education so I returned to UGA and began again to complete my four year degree, this time with a major in Russian. I wanted to teach Russian. Why Russian you might be wondering? My wife, Stephanie, and I lead mission trips to Russia each year.

The photograph to the left is me in Russia in 2004, in my traditional beard and shopka (Russian hat).

Our mission trips were born out of a calling God placed on my heart in 1992. Ever since then I or my wife and I have lead people to Russia to help teach children about Jesus. We also work with teens and adults. We do this because we care about people and because God gives us no choice but to do it. If you would like to read more about our Russian ministry please visit my ministry web site www.4inthefire.org.

But I digress... so within a year of the decision to teach Russian I realized I was losing some of my hearing and further realized that it would be difficult at best and maybe impossible to teach a language to others when you can not hear the spoken language very well. I changed my major to Statistics and was 3 courses away from finishing my degree when I realized that the three courses would take four semesters to complete. I could only take them sequentially and the first one was not going to be taught that semester. So I changed my major to Mathematics Education, thinking I could finish it in two years.

Along the way, I regained my confidence that I had lost when my computer programming career had ended. I learned that I was good at statistics and mathematics as well as computer science. But God still had not revealed to me what His true intention was.

As God is likely to do, just to show you who's the boss, He will change your life's direction in a heartbeat, and He did that with me. I woke up one morning and realized that my college education was finished, at least for now, and that I was to return to the work force and become a REALTOR®. Thus began my career in real estate. I now had a firm background in computer science and web design, mathematics and statistics and a God given desire to help people buy and sell real estate.

Now you might be thinking that this career in real estate was something from left field, but in reality I already had a background in real estate. In the early 1980's I was a real estate investor. I bought a few properties and rented them out, but it was nothing to write home about, though I did develop a taste for real estate and I was enthusiastic about real estate investing. Then my computer software career took off and I forgot about real estate for a long time.

Over the years God has changed my heart in many ways, but one relevant to this discussion is that He placed in me a desire to help people. He started this by getting me involved in teaching adults in small group settings, which I have done now since 1994. The heart of small group ministry is to help those in the small group. It is not just about teaching the Bible. The heart of our Russia ministry is about helping children, teens and adults. God has truly placed in my heart a desire to help others, and that shows in my career as a real estate agent.

Family & Ministry

Stephanie and I married in 1994 and we have no children as of this writing in 2007. We travel to Russia nearly every year to do missions work there. As a member of my local church I teach adult Sunday school to a group of about 15-20 adults and I have done so since 1994.

Philosophy

I care about you and your home purchase or sale.  My reputation is on the line every time I do business.  My business is built on referrals and I cannot afford to have any client disappointed in my customer service.

I have recently come to believe that

" Adversity does not build character, it exposes character".

Tom Gillette at GRI III 2007 in Savannah, Georgia

 

His reasoning, in part, is that if prisons present one with adversity and they most certainly do, then they would be the best places to build character. Well that surely isn't happening.

 

So what does that have to do with my career in real estate? There are many times in the course of a real estate transaction when I, as a buyer's agent or as a seller's agent, come under fire and experience adversity. My hope is that you will see my true character exposed, a character which has been built through a relationship with Jesus Christ.

However, if you remember only one thing about me, remember that I work to please an audience of one and that one person is God.  Therefore everything I do will be honest and above board.

If you are ready to do business, call or email me right now.  If you do, then pack your bags, because you will soon be moving.

Andy Nelms