Building a home

[12intheBox]

My family and I are thinking about building and I was hoping to get some non biased info. Has anyone ever had a home built before? Anyone out there a builder? Just looking for some tips on how to choose and negotiate with a builder on the front end ....

 

[RhodyRams]

do some research on homes that they have built
check out BBB for any complaints and if they were resolved
most states requires contractors to be Licensed and Insured. You can find out if they are on state web site or at least find a phone number to call for info ( http://www.nclbgc.org/index.html )
Get several prices..most builders quote by the sq ft of the home being built.


There are alot of other contractors needed to build..excavators, foundation, concrete, electrical plumbing hvac roofers siders sheetrockers plasterers etc etc etc. Sometimes your best bet if not sure about the process is to hire a General Contractor that will handle everything. Sometimes more expensive, but they usually can schedule all the above as needed, instead of your builder saying " well we can do anything until electrician gets here to install the conduit ...." and then work stops for a month because the electrician isnt under contract yet or whatever.


Hope this helps. If I think of any more I will post it here. Any questions PM me

www.kelseysexteriors.com

 

[Dodgersrf]

The first thing I would do is find some homes in your area being built and walk them. Weed out the contractors that you wouldn't want building your home.
Next. Set your budget. The same square footage home an vary drastically, depending on options and design. Comparing apples to apples is key. Do you want to build a Toyota Corrolla or a Mercedes-Benz Convertable. Bids may or may not reflect quality of materials and fixtures.
Low bid is usually low for a reason. High bid doesn't always lead to better quality either. That's why it's incredibly important to see first hand what a contractor actually builds and how timely they build it.
Don't be fooled by photo albums. It's not hard to place someone else's work in your album.
We actually had a competitor place an add on a freeway billboard with our work on it. They were notified and had to remove it.

 

[fearsomefour]

I am just starting to developing a piece of land....had to jump through a hope right up front about an endangered fox habitat being where the property is.
Starting with the basics, getting an address for the property, getting power put in and a water tank and well tests done.
If there is any "dirt work" or prep work that needs to be before actual construction starts, I would start there with the city/county.

 

[Mister Sin]

Tell ya what. My sister in law just build a home and used Angie's List reviews to pick a contractor and that dude was the laziest fucker I've seen. He left the yard a complete cluster fuck. Full of 50lb rocks he pulled from the ground diggin the septic tank. He left some metal fence post laying in the ground to let grass grow around and later he run over by a lawn mower. He left bails of rope to also have grass grown, getting mowed over and bending blades in half....twice so far. He didn't put a sub pump in the crawl space and didn't put up a moisture barrier under the sub floor. The dry wall in al closets was laying loose, didn't get gutters put on....it is just a complete cluster fuck.

I would also recommend what a previous poster said. Inspect some other homes they have done. Word of mouth isn't shit unless it comes from a source you trust. And as much as I am not a fan of unions(don't get political on me here)...Union work, to me, always seems to be the better option. The training they receive and the pride in what they do seems to stand out to me when it comes to new home construction.

 

[Dieter the Brock]

Good news !!! Congrats

Building your own home is both he best experience and the worst combined - but man is it worth it

There are some great tips above - here are my views after my home building experience and my upcoming construction that's about to start in mid June

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I would suggest strongly in getting a construction loan - even if you have all cash - the bank helps regulate payments and draws to contractors. This will keep you from having to deal with the all the headaches and it'll give you someone to back you up. banks and their inspectors will ensure that everything is correct before issueing payment. It keeps everything from ever being informal and too relaxed. And there is nothing worse than a contractor asking you for more money when nothing is getting done for what you already paid

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This will be your second job.
Be aware that nobody cares more than you. Being onsight daily is key so you can track progress and ensure things are moving along. This is the best advice i can give, but be prepared. It'll take up a lot of space in your mind

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Your contractor is now part of your family - not really but yeah - it's like a marriage. Make sure the one you find is someone you can hang with and listens to you. Cause the dude ain't going anywhere for a year or so

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Study up on basic home building, just so you are well versed in the basics of home construction - by the end you will sort of be an expert anyway but i promise you it's better to have a clear vision going forward than great hindsight

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Review the budget like it was your last will and testiment. There will be a lot of numbers for things you may not have been aware - so you needed so ask questions. Also a major thing i found with construction was that the costs for things like slab, electrical, framing, roofing, drywall, are all relatively consistent from sub to sub, i mean there will be price differences but you may like one persons work more than another and want to pay a little more. But where you get fucked is allowances. The finish out of your home is where you have to be 95% sure about what you are putting in your home. For example -Contractors will put in tile allowance for $3 a square foot, and appliance allowance is like $3500. And that may look good on paper but when you see what it gets you, or better yet what it doesn't get you, you'll be upaet to say the least. Especially when your wife sees that marble counter top but you only have an allowance for level 1 granite.

You gotta make sure you are getting exactly what you want cause outside of the actual construction of your home, the finish out is where you're really gonna find yourself going over budget.

Due to allowances being bid so low i had to come out an extra 150k out of my pocket - that doesn't sit well with anyone

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Research the sub contractors too. For all the great ones your contractor may have, there is always someone who isn't all that great. Feel free to propose your own subs if you have someone you really like.

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Nothing will be 100%
Hearst Castle has leaks
It is impossible to have everything go perfectly, so expect to have some issues along the way.

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Find your happy place. Get a mantra. Buy some weed. Do something to keep you from feeling uncomfortable with certain aspects of yoir project. Like when you come by your home site around lunchtime only to see a bunch of dudes relaxing in what will be your kitchen, smoking and heating tacos on a hotplate with ranchero music at full blast, and they don't seem to give a shit who you are - you're gonna get a little annoyed. But it's only temporary. I suggest learning a little Spanish and asking for a taco - own it

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After your home is complete - it's still mot complete. Keeping on your contractor to follow up on warrantees and fixes and punch lists is vital to your mental well being. My contractor was horrible and it suckshaving to be perceived as the bad guy for calling and insisting on action. The contractor wants to put your home in the rear view mirror but it just doesn't work that way. Make it clear what the wxpectstions are after completion to ensure they will be on top of fixes and any warranty or problem that may arrive - cause they will arise

Excuse any typos - i removed auto-correct frim my phone !

Good luck my Ram brother in your building adventure!