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Home Builders Basics

Understand what a residential home builder is to select the right professional

By A Antonow
If you are in the real estate business, you may eventually want to hire professional home builders for the construction of new homes so you can then sell or rent those properties. New home builders create residences from the ground up, often from floor plans or architectural drawings. Some builders create new homes from your designs while others manufacture homes from established floor plans in new-construction communities. In the case of the former, you can often customize the home or ask for specific amenities. Some new home builders are part of larger companies that take your home building project from idea to completion to financing.

A builder can help create a unique property that a real estate investor can sell or rent, or a builder can construct new properties--a popular choice with the homebuyers to which real estate professionals cater. Whatever your reasons for needing a home builder, consider the following to master the home builders basics before entering a professional relationship:

1. Find the right home builders for your project;

2. Checking local home builders' credentials through consumer groups;

3. Understand the fundamentals of the home building process before hiring any professionals.

 

Select residential home builders that can cater to your specific needs

There are many different types of new home builders. Some work on individual homes on an as-needed basis, while some custom home builders work only in particular developments. Some builders are part of established companies that also employ engineers, architects and designers, while other builders offer semi-custom homes with a basic floor plan or design that they can alter somewhat to meet your needs.
Try: SinglePointe Real Estate offers a useful guide not only to finding the right new home builder, but also to negotiating with that contractor. ThinkGlink offers some useful tips from WGN-TV Show Notes for finding the right home builders.

Rely on home builders associations to find a qualified professional

Although many businesses assume that consumer organizations are for private individuals only, they are also a wonderful resource for companies that want to know how builders treat their customers. In addition to browsing building association websites for information pertaining to customer satisfaction, you may want to contact these organizations for current home builder licensing requirements in your area.
Try: Visit the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) website to learn how to choose a builder and to get information about licensing and other requirements for new home builders in your area. Use the Ginnie Mae checklist to determine what features you are looking for in new home construction and what you might want to ask your new home builder before breaking ground.

Learn what builders offering residential home building do and how they can help you

Home builders can create the home that you desire - whether you are working from your own blueprints or from a floor plan approved by the building company. You can expect builders to keep you up-to-date on the construction schedule and to communicate with you about your needs and wants. However, it is also important that you listen to your builders, since they can inform you of certain problems with the plans, designs or lot where you are building.
Try: B4UBUILD.COM provides a useful guide to building a new home, which includes a sample schedule, sample contracts and even how-to videos. It's a great resource for understanding your responsibilities in the home building process and understanding home builders' responsibilites. Bridgegate Construction offers a step-by-step explanation of what to expect from building a new home; it provides a great description of what you can expect from home builders.

 

  • Don't overlook the power of a simple search engine when considering a custom home builder. Type in the name of your builder or the name of the building company you are considering and run several searches, appending words such as "complaint," "problem," and scam to see whether other customers have had problems with the company.

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