How To Quickly Find The Right Builder For You

Calling potential builders for the first time can be a daunting experience.  

So what should you expect from that first phone conversation and what questions must you ask your builder before having an initial site consultation?

Today we give you the questions to ask your builder in that first, all important phone call!

When building a custom home the relationship with your builder is the most fundamental component to making sure your project goes well.  

Finding yourself locked into a ‘cheap’ contract, where variation after variation for items you need but weren’t included, not only sucks the life out of the relationship with your builder, but also bleeds your bank balance dry for years to come!  

 

There are thousands of custom home builders out there, in your first phone call with them, you want to know that they will;

1. Give unbiased advice
2. Not be afraid to give you a  realistic idea of cost, based on what it actually cost to build a similar home
3. And that they have a good track record of finishing projects on time

This means they must be able to offer you the following three things;

1. Access to an online client portal that shows;
   • Your inclusions
   • Your project schedule
   • Your site diary and daily photo updates
   • All communication you have with the builder and his project team
2. A detailed Initial Site Consultation report that includes;
   • Their standard inclusions
   • Their guarantees
   • Their timeline for design and Council approval
   • An expected cost of your build that is realistic
   • And an indication of any Council related issues that may affect your budget
3. A plan for taking your design ideas and having them crafted into a design for your home, that meets your budget

In addition to these basic things you also want to assure yourself that your builder is capable of professionally running the design and build of your new home.  

To help you make sure you have the right questions ready to go for your builder here a list of great questions to ask;

Initial Phone Call Questions

• Do you have an online client portal where you keep us up to date on how our project is progressing?
• Do you back this up with a regular site meeting, how regular? (Hint, the answer should be at least fortnightly)
• Who are those meetings with?
• Are your contracts fixed price?
• At what point in the process will we have to sign a building contract with you? (Hint, the answer should be at the point of gaining Building Rules Consent and not before)

• What happens if we sign a contract and you realise you missed or forgot something?
• Can we have an example?

We also have bonus questions for you at the end.

When you hear the answers to those questions you will know whether this is a builder you can get to know and trust.  If they are able to easily and clearly answer the questions, you know that they are organised and have a proven system for making sure you become a satisfied home owner.

Building yourself a new home means working alongside your builder for a period of time, from the initial meeting through to the final handover of keys, can take as long as 18 months.

So make sure that you don’t waste your time meeting with a heap of builders when you could easily weed out the ones that don’t work for you with a simple phone call!

Would you like to see our bonus questions to ask your builder on the initial phone call?

Click the link below to sign up and get the list of questions that will make sure you pick the right builder for you!