WEEK ONE
Embark on your dream home journey with excitement and anticipation. Whether you’ve chosen a perfect lot or sketched out a floor plan, each step brings your vision closer to reality. Let our passion for craftsmanship guide you as you embark on the path to discovering your dream home.
This article will give some helpful tips on how to choose a builder for your custom home.
Navigating a new home build can be overwhelming. Ease the stress by considering key factors when choosing your builder. Learn from the hindsight of others who have successfully completed their journey. Their insights have shaped our roadmap, ensuring a smoother, stress-free experience in building your dream home.
Selecting the right builder is crucial to avoid construction nightmares—budget overruns, delays, and hidden issues. A well-chosen builder ensures a smooth, enjoyable, and creatively fulfilling journey, resulting in a state-of-the-art, environmentally friendly dream home. Make a wise investment that brings joy to your family and safeguards against potential issues in the future.
So let’s start our discussion …
When do I choose my builder?
Before we jump in to answer this question. We’re at the point where you chose the “path” you are taking. If your goal is to build a dream home, carefully crafted just for you, perhaps it’ll be your “forever home” then read on as that’s what the discussion is here. We aren’t all the same and if, for you, simply getting the drawings done and selecting features from a predetermined menu is your goal then we deal with that approach in other blogs, but here we are dealing with a complete custom home where the myriad details are carefully considered and chosen, so if that’s your goal , read on……
This is a good juncture to consider “Do I have the time?”.
The sheer volume of decisions to be made and the commitment is often a surprise, so carefully considering what you have on your plate and how busy your schedule is is worth pondering. Of course with a professional team of architects, Interior designers and the builder the work can be delegated but ultimately it needs your attention and seal of approval. Worth thinking about…. !
While it may seem natural to finalize plans before engaging builders, this approach can lead to budget surprises. A low bid might omit crucial design elements, necessitating costly redesigns. Discover the efficiency and insight an early-involved builder provides, avoiding frustrating delays and budgetary challenges.
You may be hesitating here and thinking – “why would I chose the builder when I don’t have the design done and he hasn’t or can’t give me a price on my home as the drawings aren’t complete”.
If you adjust your approach and think of the custom home builder more like a great realtor who helps and guides through the selling of your home………You have a budget for the listing price for your home and know that, given the realtor’s reputation he will do a professional job marketing your home and that assures you she will get the best offers from the market. So similarly with a professional builder, agreeing on a budget at the beginning and agreeing on how he’s compensated, then you engage early to use the builder’s experience to weigh in on the designs and selections and guide the budget will bring optimum results.
Opt for your builder early, ideally during lot selection or, at the latest, at the start of the design phase. Building a team with the architect ensures alignment between your home’s design and budget. Early involvement fosters ‘value engineering,’ offering creative solutions and cost savings from the outset. Consider Construction Management or Cost Plus contracts for a win-win scenario, providing confidence in the process and outcomes
Here are some of the benefits
THE BUILDER WILL:
- Work closely with the architect in reviewing a workable design and offer insights to best materials and building methods.
- Develop the build schedule as the architectural plan develops.
- Provide design suggestions and modifications based on lots of past experience.
- Produce a budget to guide the design process and make early corrections, ensuring that all those “wish list” items are included
- Provide valuable construction expertise & product insight based on long experience.
- Listen closely to your goals and vision so that by the time the build process starts your builder will understand the myriad details that perhaps don’t get onto the drawings but have been part of your “dreams/ wish list”
- Work to value-engineer & propose cost-saving options.
- Help avoid pitfalls. A close review of the drawing details from “another set of eyes” can often catch mistakes early in the process.
- Suggest high-performance building techniques and performance paths to increase health and comfort.
- Review energy efficiency and with best practice third party verified programs such as Energy Star and NET ZERO to not only build a healthy home but save on fuel bills and the environment
in this early “pre-construction phase” of the project, you’ll have a realistic budget in hand, a design that’s been reviewed, vetted and value engineered and perhaps more importantly the build team will already have a working relationship established, so once the permit is issued you can hit the ground running, with confidence!
WATCH OUT FOR OUR NEXT ARTICLE ON HOW TO CHOOSE A BUILDER!
