When you Google Home Builders in my area you’ll no doubt get a long list of results. How do you know who to pick? There is no magical one size fits all answer but I’ll give you a little insight from behind the scenes along with some tips to consider.

I’ve been selling real estate now for 21 years and in that time seen a lot of things. Most buyers, and agents, simply think about how the house looks and how friendly the builder is. While I agree these are good things to consider, you’ll need to go deeper if you want the big picture.

The Builder – Him or Herself As A Person

I know, seems odd, I mean we’re not looking to make a new BFF so what gives with that headline? I have found that a persons character often falls not only into what type of quality they produce, but what type of experience, communication, and follow up you’ll receive after the homes closed.

Here are some tips if you want to know more. If you’re out and about in a neighborhood they are building in, without being pushy about it, drop a subtle question to some of the sub subcontractors about the house and casually feel them out on their experience with the builder. You’d be surprised how many subs will give you an earful, good OR bad when you simply ask.

Another tip would be if you know any Realtors that have worked with that builder. Not the representative themselves, but as an outside agent doing a transaction. See what their experience was, because trust me when I say the experience buyers see and have with a builder is sometimes very different than the behind the scenes with an agent.

Its A New Home So No Need For An Independent Home Inspection

Seems logical right? I mean the city has been inspecting the home since day one to ensure it’s up to code and safe right? The answer to that is yes, but, did you notice I only said up to code and safe. I didn’t say those two things make it right! No home is perfect including new construction homes. You have the right to conduct your own independent home inspection. The builder may not be happy that you are doing your own inspection, oh well! The contractor or builder may have overlooked, missed, forgotten or installed something wrong. New homes are not immune to imperfections and faults.

Let me be blunt, up to code doesn’t equate to done correctly, safe doesn’t equal quality. While we’re on this note, and not to bash any other agents out there but you’d be better off to have an agent that knows construction. The biggest issues in homes are often the most subtle and ones that 99% of home buyers wouldn’t have even noticed unless pointed out.

Home inspections through the building process are code and safety. In fact many inspections are done through photos. Did you know that rarely, if ever, will a city inspector get on the roof before he or she signs off on the inspection? Yes, that’s 100% true, they look from the ground and sometimes photos the builder will just send in. There are countless items in a home that are like this.

As a former builder myself, I have a sharp eye when walking through these new homes. While there are some awesome builders out there who take great pride in their work there are far to many poor ones. I have had many people I know build and as they post photos of their new home going up and how much they love their builder I can often see things that may be up to code and may be safe but are not at all the best way to do it.

So, buyer beware of your home builder but not scared. There are many great builders out there and the experience should be fun. I’d like you to call me for help but if you don’t that’s OK. Our goal is to hopefully at least get you thinking about ways to protect yourself from a bad experience and get you the best home possible. If you would like to speak to our team about building please use the form below, we’ll get right back to you.