While the nation is still recovering its real estate market, here in Texas we are experiencing a different kind of problem. With so many families and businesses moving to our region, our real estate woes are about a lack of homes. For my real estate clients who are not finding any homes available, many are considering the thought of building. A family willing to build has a lot more freedom with where they want their house. It is a great opportunity to design your dream home... and putting it in an ideal location. Would you prefer your home to be located by Lake Conroe? Are you interested in living on horse-friendly acreage? These options are open to a family if building is a consideration.
But then, identifying a reliable builder becomes the issue. Yet this is an issue that dissolves away if certain smart steps are taken.:
1. Find Your Ideal Home Site.
With your real estate agent, look at available lots or acreage. With a real estate agent you can easily whittle down to a list of home sites that fit your needs: area amenities, deed restrictions, work commute distance, neighborhood features.2. Begin With an Approved List of Reputable Builders.
You can certainly investigate the best home builders on your own. You can research the attorney General's website, you can check the BBB and Angie's List for reviews. But there is a quick way to detour that headache. When you build or buy a house, it is a mortgage bank that actually owns the house until it is paid off. You can be sure that the mortgage bank will give you a reliable list of trustworthy home builders. Speak to a loan officer who specializes in new construction loans. Get five builders to interview. Stick to that list.3. Interview
Take the time to thoroughly interview the builders on your list. You will be working with these people constantly throughout the home building process, from clearing the land to final touches. The builder needs to be someone with whom you feel comfortable asking the unvarnished questions. A good builder will also be someone with whom you feel you can easily communicate thoughts and ideas. Also be sure to assess the following:- Will this builder's approach to the home building process be one that will keep you on time and on budget?
- Is this home builder's base of operation close to your home site? The closer, the better.
- Tour homes built by this builder.
4. Have Your Real Estate Agent Review the Contract
A great and under-utilized function of a real estate agent is to review home building contracts before signing. A real estate agent can often discover oversights, find further opportunities for saving money, and can be a final defense to make sure that the home you are about to build is entirely the home you have in mind.5. Get an Independent Inspector
It is an extra investment of about $300, but it is worth every penny to have your own independent inspector go through your house at the final stages of the building process. At worst, you have spent money on just another set of eyes to make certain that everything is as it should be. At best, your independent inspector could discover a major error that needs to be fixed to make your home defect-free.There have been some great movies that have humorously described the personal hell that can be the process of building your home. Shows like "Holmes on Homes" provide us with a cautionary tale that the home building industry is teeming with disreputable builders. Yet with a little planning, by following these home building tips, by being armed with a real estate agent, by the guidance of a mortgage loan officer, and the help of an independent inspector, you can find that building a home is no nightmare at all, but a dream-come-true.
