Red Pear Luke said:
One Question I have for this thread (great thread BTW) is....
What are some initial qualities and items to focus on when choosing a builder?
- Does appearance matter when one drives up in a BMW vs a beat-up F250?
- The timeliness and ease of communications?
- How would you recommend going about choosing one? Or rather - what approach do the builders in this thread take when approaching new potential clients?
Some builders believe in the big shiny truck is a way to project how successful they are. We dont, but i dont really pre judge any builder for what they drive. We drive a bunch of older f250 and f350s.
Most of the time, the builder is just the manager. We're a little different in that my partners and I own the business and we also super the jobs. So I am not needing to hire out the super role or add in a other layer communication.
I think communication is the most important aspect of a good experience. What ways, how often, how available is the builder going to communicate with you?
The questions id ask when selecting a builder(the builder isnt necessarily obligated to answer all of them):
1. How long have you been building?
2. Have you ever been sued or been a participant in a lawsuit over one of your projects?
3. Have you filed for bankruptcy?
4. How long have you been with your subs? (I've been with most of mine for 20+ years). Youre not just hiring the builder, youre hiring his team. Length of time usually shows you that the builder and sub have a good relationship, the sub gets paid, and that quality issues have either been resolved or are rarer.
5. Are you open to amendments to the contract?
6. How do you handle change orders, both necessary ones and owner initiated ones?
7. Do you attend education functions?
8. Are you active in the building community? Are you on any professional leadership boards like hba, green building council, cbrc, air, etc.?
9. What happens if you, the builder, miss something on the plans?
10. How do you communicate with me?
Get references. Go to ongoing and completed projects.
If I were going to try and find one, id start with the hba and then follow that trail. Depending on where you are, there might be hundreds of members. Your designer or architect or real estate person will have established relationships and preferred builders they can refer you to.
Id also talk to friends or neighbors that have built in your neighborhood or city and see if their experience went well.
We're a small, family company so it would feel different coming to us and then visiting one of our more glossy competitors.
We do almost no marketing. Our budget is practically 0. 99.99% of oir projects have come via word of mouth or referral. We've also done quite a few architects homes which has helped. We just finished one that was next door to a previous project and the neighbor liked it so much we worked for them.
The other key is the architectural plan. A plan is the accountability partner for both you and the builder. The better the plan, the less questions their should be. A plan lacking detail leaves lots of room for interpretation, which likely leads to mismatched expectations or inaccurate pricing.
If youre designing a custom home/remodel, id definitely recommend to get a builder on. Oard during the design phase. We usually sign a consulting agreement to provide pricing and expertise as the plans are developed. This means your project is much more likely to fit your budget than be surprised at final bidding.
