When you are thinking about building a new home, good communication is key in getting the home that you want and expect. A builder can give some very good input for your home based on years of experience in building and working with other customers. However, it’s the job of the homebuyer to let the builder know what they want. If you are looking for certain features in your home you need to let your builder know. Photos or drawings are helpful; this will insure that the builder understands exactly what you want. They can also be shared with the sub-contractor doing the work to ensure that they understand as well.
You may not know everything that you want in your new home right up-front. A good builder can show you plans and options for those plans. They will help you customize the plans based on your budget and needs. A pre-construction meeting will help you as a home buyer to understand what you are getting, and give you a chance to ask questions or change things that you may not love. Don’t be afraid to ask questions and take notes.
After construction has started, things can move fast. If you change your mind on a color or style that was previously decided on, you will need to contact the builder right away, this will ensure that you get the change that you want with minimal fees involved. If you see that something doesn’t look right, don’t be afraid to call and ask about it. Some times subs get used to building the standard house and overlook a change. The sooner the builder is aware of it, the easier it is to change. When a new homebuyer tells the subs what they want and leave the builder out of the loop things get missed. It’s okay to communicate with the subs building your home; this will give them a good understanding of what you want. It will also give you a chance to ask them questions. However it is the builder’s job to make sure the job is done correctly, and if they don’t know to watch for something that you had requested, it might not get done the way you wanted, it may not get done at all.
Every new homebuyer wants to save money, it is also the builder’s job to shop around and find the suppliers that will give you the best deals. Often when home buyers try to save money by getting a similar product at a box store and not through the builder’s supplier, they get inferior products, the order isn’t ready on time and holds up the building progress and they don’t have a warranty on the item. It’s very frustrating to home buyers to find that they have done a lot of running around and the money they saved is less than the cost of the gas they used. Let the builder do the work for you and enjoy the process. Building a home doesn’t have to be a stressful time. It should be exciting.