How to Hire the Right Custom Home Builder
Everyone has a different idea of their custom dream house. Some people want spacious and airy rooms while others may prefer a terrace garden. Some people want luxurious living spaces with elegant décor, while others may choose a simple home reflecting their values and traditions.
If you have been nurturing one such dream for years, it’s time to hire an Oahu Custom Home Builder. Custom home builders allow you to translate your dream into reality. They carefully listen to your every requirement and use their expertise to turn them into beautiful custom houses.
Hence, choosing the right custom home builder is quintessential to a pleasant custom home building experience. Here are a few tips that can help you in hiring the right custom home builder.
1. Get recommendations
When looking for an Oahu Custom Home Builder, you can start the process by getting referrals from friends and family. You can also ask your neighbors about the services they used for their custom home building.
Also, enquire whether they were satisfied with their services. Ask specific questions about construction quality, transparency, communication skills, and business principles.
If you do not know any person who has recently undertaken home building services, a google search or local yellow pages could be the ideal source for your research.
Online searches allow you to search for custom home builders in your preferred location. You can also check the client ratings and reviews to assess the services of your prospective home builder. Your realtor or architect can also provide you with suggestions for reliable and reputed custom home builders.
2. Check their past work.
Also, go through the home building company’s website and have a look at their past projects. Looking at their portfolio will help you understand their craftsmanship and aesthetic choices. However, in the era of editing and photoshop, pictures are not reliable enough to base your decision.
3. Conduct an interview
Shortlist a few custom home builders even when you have your favorite in mind. We recommend choosing 3-5 builders to interview them in person or over a phone call.
Some important questions to ask your Oahu custom home builder is:
• How many years of experience do you have in building custom homes?
• Do you provide any warranty on your construction projects? If yes, what is the duration of such a warranty?
• How many construction projects have you undertaken of similar details and scale?
• How many projects are you working on right now?
Custom home building is a detail-oriented and complex task. If the builder is working on many projects, this can impact the quality of their work severely.
4. Visit their previously constructed
Once you have short-listed a few Oahu custom home builders, you can ask them for the contact of their past and present clients. Most custom builders will be happy to do so and may even take you to visit one of their past or current projects with the approval of the homeowners.
Visiting the current projects will allow you to see the professionalism and quality of construction work.
5. Get an estimated cost.
Ask the builder about an estimated project cost. Make sure you have discussed all the design features before asking for the quotation. You do not want any shocks during the construction process.
However, we strongly recommend giving preference to construction quality over the lowest quotation.
6. Assess their communication skills.
Communication skills play a significant role in choosing your custom home builder. They should listen to your design requirements and formulate a plan to incorporate all the design features while maintaining your budget.
If you feel there is a lack of communication or your opinions are not being respected, you should continue your search for the right home builder.
7. Have a written agreement.
Have a written contract that includes all the details relating to the scope of work, design features, the estimated timeline, and the approximate cost of the project. The contract should also mention the escalation clause and the duration of the warranty on the construction work.