While the nation is essentially still recovering its realty market, here in Texas we are experiencing a different kind of home property problem. With so many businesses and families moving to our region, the north-of-Houston towns of Spring, The Woodlands, and the Conroe/Lake Conroe areas, our property problems are about a dearth of houses. For my clients who aren't finding a good choice of homes available, many are considering the sensible choice of building. A family happy to build has lots more liberty with where they might like to have their home. It's a great opportunity to design your dream house...in an ideal location. Want a home built by Lake Conroe? Want to consider living on acreage that allows for a couple of horses? These options are extremely available to a family if building is a consideration.
Finding a trusty builder will then become the issue. But this, too, is a problem that melts away if certain smart steps are taken. Here are the top 5 home building tips that I suggest:
1. Find Your Lot or Acreage
With your real estate agent, look at available home sites. One of the benefits to building is that you have so very much more freedom in choosing your general location. With a property agent you can easily whittle down to a list of home sites that fit your needs: work commute distance, area services, neighborhood features, deed limitations.
2. Start Off With an Approved List of Reputable Builders
You can research the best home builders through researching the Attorney General's website, or check the BBB and Angie's List for reviews. There is, on the other hand, a fast way to detour that headache. When you build or purchase a house, it's a mortgage bank that actually owns the house till it is paid off, so you can be absolutely certain that the mortgage bank can offer you a great list of dependable home builders. Talk with a loan officer who does new construction loans. Try and get five builders to interview. Stick to that list.
3. Interview
Take the time to reasonably interview your list of builders. Remember, you'll be interfacing with these people continually across the time it takes to build your home. Find the builder with whom you have a good connection, with whom you feel at ease asking the hard questions, and with whom you feel you can successfully communicate thoughts and concepts, and that each accurately, and solidly, understands the other. Also be certain to evaluate the following:
- Will this builder's approach to the home building process be a technique you believe will provide means by which you can stay on time and on budget?
- Is this home builder's base of operation a satisfactory distance to the site for your home? The closer, the better.
- Tour other houses built by this builder.
Once you have found your favorite two or three from the list, take the time to re-interview to make sure that you agree on the best fit for you.
4. Have Your Agent Review the Contract
A great and under-utilised function of a real estate agent is to check home building contracts before signing. A realty agent can identify or discover oversights, find further opportunities for saving money, and could be a final and sure defense to make sure that the home you are about to build is entirely the home you have in mind.
5. Get Your Own Inspector
It's an additional investment of approximately $300, nevertheless 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 a few hundred on yet another set of eyes to ensure that everything is as it should be. At the very best your independent inspector might reveal a serious issue that needs to be addressed to make your home defect-free.
There have been some great Hollywood movies that have amusingly pictured the private hell that may be the home building process, and shows like "Holmes on Homes" ® are an advisory reminder that the home building industry is riddled with dodgy builders. Yet with a little planning, and following these home building tips, by being equipped with a real estate agent, the guidance of a home loan officer, and the assistance of an independent inspector, you'll find that to design your dream house and build it is no nightmare at all, but a dream-come-true.
Finding a trusty builder will then become the issue. But this, too, is a problem that melts away if certain smart steps are taken. Here are the top 5 home building tips that I suggest:
1. Find Your Lot or Acreage
With your real estate agent, look at available home sites. One of the benefits to building is that you have so very much more freedom in choosing your general location. With a property agent you can easily whittle down to a list of home sites that fit your needs: work commute distance, area services, neighborhood features, deed limitations.
2. Start Off With an Approved List of Reputable Builders
You can research the best home builders through researching the Attorney General's website, or check the BBB and Angie's List for reviews. There is, on the other hand, a fast way to detour that headache. When you build or purchase a house, it's a mortgage bank that actually owns the house till it is paid off, so you can be absolutely certain that the mortgage bank can offer you a great list of dependable home builders. Talk with a loan officer who does new construction loans. Try and get five builders to interview. Stick to that list.
3. Interview
Take the time to reasonably interview your list of builders. Remember, you'll be interfacing with these people continually across the time it takes to build your home. Find the builder with whom you have a good connection, with whom you feel at ease asking the hard questions, and with whom you feel you can successfully communicate thoughts and concepts, and that each accurately, and solidly, understands the other. Also be certain to evaluate the following:
- Will this builder's approach to the home building process be a technique you believe will provide means by which you can stay on time and on budget?
- Is this home builder's base of operation a satisfactory distance to the site for your home? The closer, the better.
- Tour other houses built by this builder.
Once you have found your favorite two or three from the list, take the time to re-interview to make sure that you agree on the best fit for you.
4. Have Your Agent Review the Contract
A great and under-utilised function of a real estate agent is to check home building contracts before signing. A realty agent can identify or discover oversights, find further opportunities for saving money, and could be a final and sure defense to make sure that the home you are about to build is entirely the home you have in mind.
5. Get Your Own Inspector
It's an additional investment of approximately $300, nevertheless 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 a few hundred on yet another set of eyes to ensure that everything is as it should be. At the very best your independent inspector might reveal a serious issue that needs to be addressed to make your home defect-free.
There have been some great Hollywood movies that have amusingly pictured the private hell that may be the home building process, and shows like "Holmes on Homes" ® are an advisory reminder that the home building industry is riddled with dodgy builders. Yet with a little planning, and following these home building tips, by being equipped with a real estate agent, the guidance of a home loan officer, and the assistance of an independent inspector, you'll find that to design your dream house and build it is no nightmare at all, but a dream-come-true.
About the Author:
Lauri Kent is a seasoned real estate broker and agent with Keller Williams of Lake Conroe, Texas. Acquainted with the best home builders serving Lake Conroe, Montgomery, and Magnolia, TX, she offers these five home building tips to be sure the process of building your ideal home is a great success.
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