In Florida, custom home construction is on the rise. But how do you get started on building your own home?
Old properties are just getting older, increasing the risk for pests and infrastructural problems. However, new custom homes are more resource-efficient and can be designed precisely to your taste.
You may already know this much, but working with a builder is a different challenge. Luckily, our handy tips can help you collaborate smoothly with your builder while they’re building a new home for you.
1. Verify Their Reputation
Before you reach out to any builder, double-check their reputation and licensing. Otherwise, you could be hiring someone bad at their job or not qualified to do it — or both.
To double check their licensing, you could simply ask them to show a company to show you theirs. Any legitimate custom home builder would be happy to do so.
Alternatively, look them up in Better Business Bureau. However, remember that not all businesses are listed with the BBB. For a surefire confirmation, you could contact Florida’s Secretary of State.
Afterward, ensure they’re the people you want to work with. Most companies will have Google reviews written about them. You could also scour their website’s testimonials page to see what people love most about their services.
When you do scour these reviews, ensure that they have good ratings and that the strengths former clients have listed are those that you’re looking for.
2. Come With Drawings
So, you’ve found your perfect builder. But before you schedule the first meeting, prepare drawings and blueprints of your dream home.
Don’t draw amateur, rudimentary drawings, either. Instead, have an engineer prepare them, structural calculations and all. An engineer can also correct your vision if any of it’s structurally unfeasible.
Otherwise, your builder in Fort Myers, FL will have difficulty offering an estimate. This will unnecessarily prolong the building process and potentially burden their workload. Some builders may not work with you at all unless you have a more precise design drawn out.
3. Get Everything in Writing
Of course, with any professional partnership, it’s essential to write up a contract. This contract should establish how much the client should pay and what jobs the builder must complete to receive payment.
Make sure this contract is as detailed as possible, too. Include desired design choices, expectations, and more.
Doing so keeps both the homeowner and the builder accountable. It also ensures that your home will be built as expected and sets an excellent precedent for your impending professional relationship.
4. Communicate Clearly
There are plenty of great custom home builders, but not all are great communicators. So before you settle on a builder, ensure that all parties can always be on the same page.
During your first meeting, you’ll get a good idea of how they’ll communicate conversationally. You might want to consider a different builder if they’re not personable and/or professional enough for your taste.
Some clients prefer to be more hands-off with their projects. But for most, frequent communication is imperative so that the client receives regular updates and ensures that all parties are on the same page.
Are they available through email, call, or text? Which method do they prefer? How frequently will they realistically be able to contact you?
You’ll be working with your builder for months during this project. So you both must establish your preferred communication styles at the outset.
5. Be Realistic About Your Budget
When building a new home, the cost is a tricky but necessary component to consider. But unless you’re incredibly well-financed, there will be limits to your building design. Your builder will help you understand and place these limits.
They might even let you know how you can cut costs while maintaining your design as best as possible. However, it would help if you also understood which design aspects you’re absolutely unwilling to budge on.
This way, you’ll have peace of mind if your design does require modifications. Even after these modifications, you’ll still have a dream home that honors your vision.
6. Let the Builder Manage the Project
Clients shouldn’t be hands-off with their custom home projects. Otherwise, they may realize too late that they’re unsatisfied with the final product.
However, that’s no reason to micromanage builders and the project. Ultimately, they’ve had years of experience and have managed a bulky portfolio’s worth of building projects.
Not only is it unnecessary to micromanage them while they build your new home, but it may also be counterproductive. You may prolong the building project by insisting that you have more control over the project.
Being overbearing can also strike discord between you and your builder. Although most builders have a high threshold for stress, everyone has their limits. This can consequentially lead to a lack of communication, which is dire and detrimental to your building project.
Building a New Home — Not Possible Without a Great Builder!
By building a new home, you construct a residence that’s perfect for you — specifically you. But to finally reach this point, you must be able to collaborate with the people tasked with bringing your vision to life.
At Coral Isle Builders, we offer some of the best custom home building services in Coral Isle, Florida and surrounding areas. That’s because we understand how important honoring our clients’ residential dreams are. Contact Coral Isle Builders today if you’re a Floridian local that needs a great custom home builder!