Looking for some advice. In hindsight, what would you do differently if you had to do it again ?

https://builderbrigade.com/

When I was still working we required a contingency as part 9f the budget. People balked at first but it came into play a great majority of the time.

jja79 said:

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When I was still working we required a contingency as part 9f the budget. People balked at first but it came into play a great majority of the time.

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Was this a percentage and if so, how much of the total build?

Corps_Ag12 said:

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jja79 said:

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When I was still working we required a contingency as part 9f the budget. People balked at first but it came into play a great majority of the time.

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Was this a percentage and if so, how much of the total build?

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Our bank required 10% last year, unless you could prove sufficient liquid assets to remove it from the budget/approval process.

We did that to keep ourselves honest and make it "more difficult" to dip into contingency and force us to stay on budget. We ended up using about 25k in contingency to splurge on a few plumbing and lighting fixtures.

10% unless as another poster said there was sufficient liquidity to remove it.

We also used an independent budget review. Having closed thousands of construction loans we had a pretty good handle on what a budget should look like. For example if a line item should have been 14-16% of budget but was 9% that required a call between our construction manager and the builder for explanation and resolution. I feel like a lot of potential problems were resolved that way.

jja79 said:

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10% unless as another poster said there was sufficient liquidity to remove it.

We also used an independent budget review. Having closed thousands of construction loans we had a pretty good handle on what a budget should look like. For example if a line item should have been 14-16% of budget but was 9% that required a call between our construction manager and the builder for explanation and resolution. I feel like a lot of potential problems were resolved that way.

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Yep. Our builder did this as well and had worked with our bank many times over the years. Two points where this happened were roofing and landscaping.

We moved in on DEC 24th, so I did landscaping myself this spring and had planned that from the start. We had an extremely simple roof and far fewer sq ft of roof vs sq ft of home that bank construction manager had missed on the plans. But bank called it out and had the call.

One thing to keep in mind all the expenses after you get done with your build: Landscape upgrades, A/V, window treatments, furniture, outdoor lighting, patio furniture, etc.

Also, try and do as much as this stuff as you can outside of the builder. No point to pay him their mark up and stuff you can easily coordinate on your own. We did everything listed above including an aggressive landscape job but saved thousands doing it on our own.

Higher chance that we buy a small amount of acreage and build. It's a tough decision to buy an existing home or try to build to get a product more to our specifications. Pros and cons to either decision.

Select builder and/or contractors based on detailed referrals from prior clients. Communication style, responsiveness, and accountability are what you're looking for. Select or design home with reliability/simpicity in mind. I've found that it's worth the added expense for upgraded HVAC, water heaters, commodes, and appliances - all things that are a pain to repair and replace. Also design things like water heaters in accessible locations, like a garage, not attics. Avoid "contractor grade" for anything that matters - you'll be replacing it soon. And finally, if I had to do it over again, I would require that my builder remove ALL trash before the final grading, sodding, landscaping. Every home I've owned has been a minefield of buried construction materials and builder garbage.

Agree with the comment about trash. I stayed on top of them but still had problems after the fact. In hindsight, I'll be much more of a hardass if we ever do full custom again that they do EOD trash sweeps, no excuses.

For the HVAC, ours works fine and I was involved, but I'm still convinced at times it's not properly sized, and I don't love how they ducted the returns on my downstairs units.

Use good caulking. Don't let them cheap out. Again, I was mostly on top of it but I know where they used cheaper stuff as a couple of years in its already getting replaced. Where I saw them use the better stuff ff, zero issues.

Overall, I'm very pleased with our home and our overall process. The builder never pushed back when we pointed out concerns, etc. Above is really nitpicky, but when you spend as much as we did you have high expectations.

Big back porch wth gas and water stubbed out in case you ever want to build a kitchen area