While the country is essentially still recovering its real estate market, here in Texas we are experiencing a different sort of real estate problem. With so many businesses and families moving to our region, the north-of-Houston cities of Spring, The Woods, and the Conroe/Lake Conroe areas, our property woes are about a dearth of houses. For my clients who are not finding a good choice of houses available, many are considering the obvious choice of building. A family happy to build has a bunch more liberty with where they want to have their home. It's a good chance to design your dream house...in a best-for-you location. Prefer 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, as well, is a problem that dissolves 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 consultant, look at available home sites. One of the advantages to building is that you have so much more liberty in choosing your general location. With a real estate agent you can quickly whittle down to a list of home sites that fit your needs: work commute distance, area services, neighborhood features, deed restrictions.
2. Start Off With an Authorized List of Reputable Builders
You can definitely research the best home builders through researching the Attorney General's website, or check the BBB and Angie's List for reviews. There is, however, a fast way to detour that headache. When you build or buy a house, it is a mortgage bank that owns the house until it is paid off, so you can be sure that the mortgage bank can provide you with a great list of trustworthy home builders. Chat with a loan officer who specializes in new construction loans. Try and get at least five builders to interview. Stick to that list.
3. Interview
Take a bit of time to fairly interview your list of builders. Remember, you will be interfacing with these people continually throughout the time it takes to build your home. Find the builder with whom you find you have a good connection, with whom you're feeling at ease asking the difficult questions, and with whom you feel you can successfully communicate thoughts and concepts, and that each accurately, and consistently, understands the other. Also be certain to appraise the following:
- Will this builder's approach to the home building process be a process you suspect 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 property where you are building? The closer, the better.
- Tour other houses built by this builder.
Once you've found your favorite two or three from the list, take a little time to re-interview to make sure you agree on the best fit for you.
4. Have Your Real Estate Agent Review the Contract
A great and under-utilized function of a real estate agent is to check home building contracts before signing. A real estate agent can identify or discover oversights, find further opportunities for saving money, and could be a last and sure defense to be sure that the home you are about to build is totally the home you want.
5. Get Your Own Inspector
It's an extra investment of about $300, but it is worth each and 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 couple of hundred on just another set of eyes to ensure that everything is as it should be. At the very best your independent inspector might expose a big problem that must be addressed to make your house defect-free.
There have been some great Hollywood movies that have humorously showed the personal hell that may be the home building process, and shows like "Holmes on Homes" ® are an advisory reminder that the home building industry is loaded with disreputable builders. Yet with a little planning, and by following these tips on home builder selection and management, by being equipped with a realty agent, the guidance of a new construction home loan officer, and the assistance of an independent inspector, you'll be able to 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, as well, is a problem that dissolves 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 consultant, look at available home sites. One of the advantages to building is that you have so much more liberty in choosing your general location. With a real estate agent you can quickly whittle down to a list of home sites that fit your needs: work commute distance, area services, neighborhood features, deed restrictions.
2. Start Off With an Authorized List of Reputable Builders
You can definitely research the best home builders through researching the Attorney General's website, or check the BBB and Angie's List for reviews. There is, however, a fast way to detour that headache. When you build or buy a house, it is a mortgage bank that owns the house until it is paid off, so you can be sure that the mortgage bank can provide you with a great list of trustworthy home builders. Chat with a loan officer who specializes in new construction loans. Try and get at least five builders to interview. Stick to that list.
3. Interview
Take a bit of time to fairly interview your list of builders. Remember, you will be interfacing with these people continually throughout the time it takes to build your home. Find the builder with whom you find you have a good connection, with whom you're feeling at ease asking the difficult questions, and with whom you feel you can successfully communicate thoughts and concepts, and that each accurately, and consistently, understands the other. Also be certain to appraise the following:
- Will this builder's approach to the home building process be a process you suspect 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 property where you are building? The closer, the better.
- Tour other houses built by this builder.
Once you've found your favorite two or three from the list, take a little time to re-interview to make sure you agree on the best fit for you.
4. Have Your Real Estate Agent Review the Contract
A great and under-utilized function of a real estate agent is to check home building contracts before signing. A real estate agent can identify or discover oversights, find further opportunities for saving money, and could be a last and sure defense to be sure that the home you are about to build is totally the home you want.
5. Get Your Own Inspector
It's an extra investment of about $300, but it is worth each and 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 couple of hundred on just another set of eyes to ensure that everything is as it should be. At the very best your independent inspector might expose a big problem that must be addressed to make your house defect-free.
There have been some great Hollywood movies that have humorously showed the personal hell that may be the home building process, and shows like "Holmes on Homes" ® are an advisory reminder that the home building industry is loaded with disreputable builders. Yet with a little planning, and by following these tips on home builder selection and management, by being equipped with a realty agent, the guidance of a new construction home loan officer, and the assistance of an independent inspector, you'll be able to 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 professional real estate broker and agent with Keller Williams of Lake Conroe, Texas. Conversant with the best home builders serving Lake Conroe, Montgomery, and Magnolia, TX, she offers these five home building tips to be certain the process of building your perfect home is a success.
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