newhomesinsouthcarolina

The major advantage in building a custom home is that you get a completed home that ideally meets your needs, both in terms of function and quality. Here are a few basic tips to help choose a builder and keep your project on track:

Get references - Never hire a builder until you have visited other homes completed by the builder. Ideally, get the address of every house the builder has built in the last few years and contact several of the owners randomly. Don’t expect a perfect report card. Building a house is tough business and it is almost impossible to make a homeowner happy at every turn. Ask what each owner might have done differently if they could build the house all over again.

Pick a day and time to meet with your contractor each week and in person. Don’t ever miss this meeting - it will keep the project on track, keep costs and changes to a minimum and establish a great working relationship. Make sure that all “change orders” are reviewed and signed during the meeting. Above all, make sure that your builder agrees in writing to the weekly meeting in your contract.

Visit the builder’s other working job sites – It is important you make sure the South Carolina home builder runs a tight organization. Specifically, look to see if unused materials are organized and protected from the weather. Make sure that there is some evidence of a temporary workspace to review plans. Insure that garbage and construction waste is routinely removed from the job site. Also, investigate to make certain that work begins and ends each day on a regular schedule – same time, every day.

Make it clear to your builder that you expect progress every day of every week. Your money is being used to build a house that you cannot move into until it is completed.

Don’t expect your builder to have every answer right away – It is okay to expect some minor deviations from what is planned. You will have fewer surprises cost-wise if you take the time to make sure every possible item is included in the construction price. Before making a commitment to use any builder, make sure you have a list of what is included in the price and what is not. If you add something extra in mid-build, that will result in additional time and expense to the builder. Never expect changes for free.

Building a house is a wonderful and exciting experience. With a reputable home builder in South Carolina, you will move into your new house on time, within budget and as a happy customer.