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Home Builders
The process of finding and selecting the right home builder to construct your new dream home can appear daunting. This page explains the process of finding and selecting a top quality home builder that is best suited to construct your new home and the process of getting them at their lowest possible price. To discover a quality builder right now, visit our Top 5 Sites for Home Builders displayed below.
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Builder Selection Guide
The selection of your builder is one of the most important steps in the process of designing and constructing your new dream home, so you need to know what qualities to look for in a builder and know what questions to ask to determine which home builder is going to be the best to construct your new home.
We will look at builder selection from all angles including:
1. How to find suitable builders in your area
2. How to determine which builders are going to be best suited to the construction of your home
3. Assessing the builder's classification and construction style
4. Deciding on the top three or four builders for your home
5. Getting a estimate of construction cost from the builder
6. Final selection of the best builder at the best price to construct your new dream home
1. HOW TO FIND SUITABLE BUILDERS IN YOUR AREA
The first step is to find a quality custom builder who is suited to construction on your site and house classification. You can do this quickly and easily by browsing quality builder’s websites (we have a number of quality links above). Most quality builders now have websites which will include photos of previous work they have done, information on their construction team, past experience, awards they may have won, and other information which will give you a good feel for what type of builder they are.
Other ways of finding local builders is to look up a builder directory (which can be found by using the search facility on this site) and going through the builder listings in the directory. This is not as effective as you only see an ad which will only give you limited information on each builder.
By visiting the area you intend to build in you will probably see other houses being constructed which will have the builders contact details displayed on their site sign.
2. HOW TO DETERMINE WHICH BUILDERS ARE GOING TO BE BEST SUITED TO THE CONSTRUCTION OF YOUR HOME
When looking through the many builders that are available in your area you need be specifically looking for the builders strengths and potential weaknesses in an attempt to create a shortlist of around five or six builders. Points to consider include:
• Are the types of homes they build similar to what you want?
• Does there construction seem to suit your site? (See the next section for more information on builder types)
• Will they build in your area?
• Are the finishes and style appealing to you?
• Are they an established experienced builder?
• What are the qualifications of their construction team?
• Have they won many awards?
• Will they make the building process easy?
3. ASSESSING THE BUILDER'S CLASSIFICATION & CONSTRUCTION STYLE
There are three general types or classifications of home builders available:
• PROJECT HOME / PRODUCTION BUILDERS - usually build 50 to 5000 homes a year using a range of stock plans developed by their company. Will usually be the cheapest builders but also the least flexible.
• SEMI CUSTOM HOME BUILDERS - usually build 20 to 50 homes a year also using mainly stock plans but are generally more flexible in altering their designs to match the clients needs.
• CUSTOM HOME BUILDERS - usually build less than 30 homes a year using specifically designed house plans, normally prepared by your architect. Custom home builders are more client and quality focused and tend to specialize in high end houses although this is not always the case.
Each of these builders usually has a preferred building style that suits different types of housing lots. Selecting the right builder for your building site / lot will save cost as the builders are more efficient when they are using this form of construction. The three basic types are as follows:
• FLAT SITE SPECIALISTS: Most project/production home builders have homes that are suited to flat type sites but will turn out to be more expensive if you need to modify their designs to suit are sloping site.
• SLOPING SITE SPECIALISTS: These are sloping site specialist companies that have many designs that suit sloping sites but may not be as price competitive on a flat site as a traditional slab on ground flat site construction specialists.
• INDIVIDUAL ARCHITECT DESIGNED CUSTOM HOME SPECIALISTS: This group of builders specialize in building individually designed homes which are usually designed specifically for a client by an Architect. Architect designed custom home builders tend to be slightly more expensive as each home is totally different, but the service and attention to detail you will get from these construction companies will be superior and your new home will be individual in style and stand out from the rest.
It is important to use a builder who specializes in the type of home you are proposing to have built. If not you will either find yourself paying too much for a basic home or having a builder who does not have the high quality attention to detail you are after.
4. DECIDING ON THE TOP THREE OR FOUR BUILDERS FOR YOUR HOME
Once you have your top 5 or 6 quality builders selected you should contact each of these and discuss with them your building proposal. From this you will get an idea of their level of service, how much time they are willing to give you and a general feel for the company. You should also ask for at least three previous clients that the construction company has built for in the past and speak to these people to get additional info on the level of service of the building company. The questions you should ask should include:
• Did the builder finish on time?
• Did they make the process easy?
• Did they provide advice on material and fitting selections along the way?
• Were they flexible in letting you make changes to the design along the way if required?
• Did they charge you for extras that you were unaware of at the beginning of the job?
• Were there any surprises along the way?
• Did they communicate with you effectively throughout the building process?
• How would you rate the quality of construction?
• Were you satisfied with the end result?
From these questions and from speaking with each of the builders you should be able to pick the top three (or four) builders who you feel most comfortable with and who you feel are keen and excited to join your team in making your dream home a reality.
5. GETTING A ESTIMATE OF CONSTRUCTION COST FROM THE BUILDER
Once you have finalized your building plans (very important as any changes you make during construction are likely to cost significantly more than if you had them in the original design) and determined your top three builders you should ask each of them to estimate the cost of construction your home and provide you with a quotation to complete the work as well as the estimated time frame they would require to complete the work. It is normal for a quality builder, especially a custom builder to take up to four weeks to estimate a new home, particularly if it is a unique Architect designed home.
To ensure you get their best price It is important to let each of the builders know that they have been selected as one of your top three potential builders and that you are also obtaining two other quotations / bids and that you want their best price quotation first time. Do not let them know who the other builders are that make up your top three.
The idea here is to create a feeling of competition between the builders to ensure you get the best price possible. By only going to your top three builders they will all feel they have a great chance of getting your job and put in the required effort to provide you with a tight price. If you go for too many builders for this they may feel there time would be better spent elsewhere and submit a conservative (higher) price.
Encourage the builders to ask as many questions as they need to to avoid making too many assumptions. When you answer one builders question inform the other two builders of the clarification. You need to ensure they are all pricing the same thing so you can accurately compare their prices once they are submitted.
6. FINAL SELECTION OF THE BEST BUILDER TO CONSTRUCT YOUR NEW DREAM HOME
By the time you receive the quotations you will have a closer relationship with and feeling for each of your top home builders. You will have also seen how they performed during the quoting stage which may give an indication of how they will be throughout the construction process. You can also gauge their competency by the questions they may have asked you thought this process. If they asked a lot of questions to clarify exactly what you want then this could be a great indicator that they pay significant attention to detail and therefore you will probably finish up with a better product. You will get a feeling for this from each of the builders along the way.
When you have received the prices you will need to compare each of them against one another. You need to look carefully at what each of the builders have included and excluded to be able to compare their prices properly. What have they left out? What have they excluded from their price? Are there any additional costs that are not included. It may be worthwhile engaging a quantity surveyor or building estimator to do this for you to ensure you are not missing anything. This is important and may save you thousands down the track.
You need to get to a point here where you can compare each of the builders price apples for apples. ie so they have all included the same work. This can sometimes be difficult as they may have made different allowances for items such as tiles, carpets, bathroom fittings, kitchen appliances etc. You need to list these items out and add up what each of the builders have allowed for each item.
Look at the estimated construction time also as the faster you can get it built the better.
Once you have established which of your top builders are the lowest priced, which builder is likely to build it the fastest and who you perceive to be the best operators who you are most comfortable with you need to make your final decision and sign a contract with your number one home builder.
By following our guide you can feel comforted by the fact that you have done your due diligence and should have made the right decision. From there you should keep in close contact with the builder throughout the construction process, to ensure everything is proceeding as planned and that you are getting what you are paying for.
As we pointed out earlier we have links to the websites of our top five recommended quality builders at the top of this page. You should start by looking at their websites and establishing if they are suitable to be one of your top five potential builders of your new dream home.
You should also browse the rest of our site which includes informative guides to all aspects of the design and construction process of your new home, including or top five links to architects, interior and landscape designers, smart home automation technology, home security systems, appliances, stair lifts and home theatre equipment, even pools and hot tubs.
Feel free to contact us with any further questions or advice if required.
WANT MORE INFORMATION?
Click on the links to a few of the best quality custom builders above and have a look around their sites to get a feel for what they are about. To find more quality builders you can use the search feature at the top left of this site.
Additional Resources for Home Builders
Home-Builders.com
Nationwide index of homebuilders.
National Association of Home Builders
The National Association of Home Builders is a trade association that helps promote the policies that make housing a national priority. Since 1942, NAHB has been ...
Home Builder's Association of Maryland
Trade association featuring news and resources for professionals and the public. Features information on its design shows, conferences, councils, education and events.
What are the bloggers saying about Home Builders?
One fear is that if a partner runs into financial trouble, Lennar and other home builders could find themselves battling with lenders that demand they make good on the partnership's total outstanding debt. Florida builder Technical ... source..
Home builders, buffeted by at least $19 billion in losses since 2006, plan to ask Congress to help stop the bleeding. source..
Central Kentucky home builders say the credit crisis . especially banks tightening up on loans for builders and buyers . is hitting them hard. Not only are fewer houses getting started in Lexington, fewer homes are getting finished as ... source..
Chicago home builders, developers and agents — Act now by emailing your Senator and Representative at capitolconnect or call their offices using the NAHB toll-free legislative hotline at 1-866-924-6242.Earlier this week the House of ... source..
News about Home Builders
With the foreclosure crisis continuing to push down the housing market, the volume of new homes being built has slowed to a crawl. But despite the national economic upheavals, several local builders said they see signs of a housing turnaround. In ... source..
Here are two: noticeably fewer houses being built throughout the region, and more half-completed houses dotting the landscape. Central Kentucky home builders say the credit crisis — especially banks tightening up on loans for builders and buyers ... source..
Home builders in Connecticut are looking to February and March for signs of whether construction will pick up next year. That's typically when builders start applying in earnest for permits to build homes in the spring and summer, and is a gauge of ... source..
An update on the new Fresno Pacific University campus to be built in Visalia will be presented by Merrill Ewert at the Home Builders Association of Tulare/Kings Counties' general luncheon meeting Oct. 9. The cost is $20 and includes lunch ... source..
LONDON -- Only radical action by the U.K. government will invigorate the housing market and help meet its target of building three million new homes by 2020 as the housing shortage deepens, according to builders and housing specialists. The need for ... source..
KENNEWICK - It's a tough time to be in the housing market, but these Hermiston builders say they found a niche. They're trying out new materials that could save you money. Bulldog Investments LLC says these wall panels will cut the home owner's ... source..
Looking for more information on Home Builders?
Try some of the other pages in this section: Home Builders Luxury Home Builder, Building Contractors, House Builders, Project Homes, Production Homes, San Diego Home Builders, New Construction Homes, House Construction, Plumbing Fixture, Plumbing, New Home Builders,