If you are looking to build your custom dream home in Northwest Indiana or Southwest Michigan, you need to know that you are buying a quality home from a reputable home builder – one with the experience to get the job done correctly. Here are our tips to help you choose the best luxury custom home builder.
Make an initial list of custom home builders.
This takes research! Get online and search to your heart’s content for “Indiana or Michigan custom home builders”. There will be no shortage of builder websites. Most luxury home developers have experience building many styles of homes. Given some thought to the style of house you want, and add to your list potential builders that either specialize in that style, or have experience in building many styles of homes.
Local real estate agents may also be able to help you in your search. Agents have an in depth knowledge about everything Real Estate in your area. They will know many
of the luxury home builders personally and know which ones have a quality reputation and build a quality home.
Ask friends and relatives for recommendations. Ask about builders they have dealt with directly, or ask them for names of acquaintances who have recently had a good
experience with a builder. Word of mouth advertising is huge for custom home builders. Reputations travel quickly, but don’t rely on just one source. Sometimes a builder can have a particularly difficult build with one client and it may not accurately reflect their true reputation. But, if you hear bad things from multiple people … move on!
Contact your local home builders’ association to obtain a list of builders who construct homes in your area. You can find your local HBA at nahb.org/findanhba .
Generally, builders like to stay within a 150 mi radius of their home base. Daily site checks, monitoring progress and quality control can be quite time consuming. If your home builder is spending a lot of time in his car rather than working for you… That is not a win/win for anybody.
Narrowing your list
What Questions Do I Ask The Home Builder? Call up your top prospects and set up a time to Interview these home builders to get the answers to all the questions you have. Here is a list of questions to ask builders from the NAHB (National Association of Home Builders)
Some builders in Northwest Indiana and Southwest Michigan build spec homes, which allow potential buyers to see a live portfolio of their work. And if you visit on a weekend, there is a chance that you may catch them there doing final touches or meeting with potential buyers.
Another way to narrow your list is to drive around some of the subdivisions they build in, where homeowners may be outside doing chores or errands. Introduce yourself and say you are considering buying a home from the builder who built their home. Talk to several owners and try to get a random sample of opinions. People love to give their opinions, both good and bad! The more people you talk with, the more accurate an impression of a builder you are likely to get.
Some questions to ask home owners include:
- Are you happy with your home?
- If you had any problems, were they fixed promptly and properly?
- Would you buy another home from this builder?
Wrapping It All Up
Take along a notebook to record the information you find about specific builders and homes. Doing so will help you to make comparisons later. If you are really energetic, start an Excel spreadsheet with the Pro’s & Con’s.
Generally speaking, home builders in Northwest Indiana and Southwest Michigan, especially those in Porter, LaPorte, St. Joseph and Berrien counties, all have pretty good reputations. There will always be a few bad apples, but following these steps and doing your homework should help you avoid them and end up with a home that you truly love.
If you think you are ready to move on and take the next step, check out our Home Buyers Dictionary. It will quickly educate you on the construction industry and real estate commonly used words.
If you have questions you would like to ask us… contact us