Building a House Interview.......
 

Hey all!! I know there is ALOT of "LIFE" experience on this website just due to the number of members and people who frequent this website.

My wife and I are meeting with a home builder this afternoon to talk with him about building a house using one of his floorplans. We saw one of his houses and met with him briefly that day, and liked what we saw.

Anyway, just wondering what are some good things to ask him during the next few weeks before he actually begins construction. We're not planning on signing anything today, just meeting with him to narrow down cost and how close he can get to our max price on the house we like. I've searched the net a little on what to ask a builder and have come up with some pretty good basic questions like:

1. Interest rate increase during build/contract and earnest fees.
2. Where and when we choose cabinets/tiles/fixtures/carpets/ and how we establish how much we can spend according to the price of the home.
3. Warranty
4. Termite treatment (we're getting a VA loan)
5. Appliances
6. Heating and cooling systems efficiency/heat pump.
7. What landscaping is including.
8. References in the neighborhood we're building in and can we speak/see their homes as well?
9. Service after construction. (What if settlement cracks develope on drywall after construction, how fast will you come out to repair??

Did I miss anything? My wife and I built before, but the first time, we REALLY didn't know what to ask and didn't really do our homework, so the experience was rather bad, to the point where we're really leery about building again, but here we are 10 years later, considering building again, except this time, it's for real. The other house we built was only an $80,000 house. This house is over $200,000, so you can imagine our uneasyness.

I APPRECIATE ANY AND ALL COMMENTS OR SUGGESTIONS!!
Craig

Re: Building a House Interview.......
 

1st is he a custom builder or a cookie cutter? find out what is included in the contract assume nothing get it all in writting (for you and your builders sake) plan every thing well in advance, making changes during the build is going to cost more in time and money. look at his past projects, you could talk to people, just keep in mind there are always issues that come up and some people get upset about it. ask how he would handle those issues. check on the crews doing the work. framers, plumbers, roofers, electricians, the trim guys, painters, hvac crews... the list is long, but they should all hold there owne insurance unless the work for the builder (not as subs) and they should all be "legal". find out how his jobs are run, are they clean and safe? do things walk away from time to time? do his projects sit for any long length of time without progress? how long is the avrage build... take this last one with a grain of salt, projects always run over. find out what insurances you need to have on the home while its being built. theres alot to think about and alot that can go wrong. just throwing some things out there for you

c-dub

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Congrats...I would ask for a reasonable construction time guarantee. Good thing 200k will build you a nice house there. It sure won't where I live..

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find out what type of payment schedule there is. how much to begin and than at what interval the next payment would be required. usually this revolves around the work so much for when it passes the framing inspection, again for when the dry wall goes up and again at closing.

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We just built about 4 yrs ago. We looked for several months for a lot and found a 2 acre lot in a small development in the middle of nowhere. Approximately a year later we decided to build. I bought plans for a 4200ft house then I was layed off so we downsized to about 3200.

The financing we used was through our local bank, they give you a construction loan for the lot and then grant draws on the construction. At the end of construction the loan is converted to a mortgage. There are quite a few fees involved.

I acted as my own general contractor, the hardest part was to find a builder that would construct the shell of the house. Which is also where we had all of our problems. We chose a large local builder which represented themselves well. However after the paper work was signed the nightmares began. I would also find other build sites, don't ask but secretly find the owners and talk to them. Also do some work and talk to thier current and past contractors. Our builder only sent us to people that he was on good terms with. Once we were in the neighborhood other home owners told us of thier nightmares with the same builder.

Acting as my own general contractor was more work but affored us alot more home with some very expensive extras. We also purchased alot of items for our home off ebay. Things like ceiling fans, Baldwin door handles, faucets, etc. Just as two examples we purchased one gold plated Kohler faucet list $900 for around $200, I also snagged a $1200 Casablanca ceiling fan for about the same.

Good luck, and don't get too stressed.

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I'm in the HVAC biz and we don't do any new home construction beyond occasional room additions and other types of remodeling with custon builders. But we do a lot of service work on newer homes and find too often that the HVAC systems are always the area that is used to cut corners to allow for other upgraded cosmetics to keep overall cost down.
The problems we see are in 2 story housing is that the second floor areas are not adequatly (sp) feed with air flow, and therefore, they are sometimes 8 to 10 degrees warmer in the summer than the first floor. That is something I could'nt stand at night.
Don't let them skimp on the system and it's design. Zoning the first and second floor is an option with seperate temp control.
Bryant/Carrier have a very nice zoning setup with the Evolution control, but this is usually the higher end system and would need seperate duct systems for the 2 seperate zones.

Good luck

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fyi, if you do supply your owne light fixtures make sure they have the UL stickers on them. nothing worse than a home owner showing up with antique lights at the end of a project, just to tell them they need to have them re-wired.

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If referring to the ceiling fan Casablanca is a brand. Ours is hard wired but the controls are wireless. It has all different programs you can run in the summer for and automatically speeds up with the heat. It also has a winter setting to reverse the direction and send heat back down. I put fans in just about all my rooms. For some reason I like a little air movement all the time.

Re: Building a House Interview.......
 

Thanks for the tips! Looks like we're going to go with the builder we interviewed today. We actually settled on a larger house because it was more house for the money than the one we were thinking about yesterday. Now, the fun begins.

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Yeah, this was an important question for me, and the builder said the system we're getting is a 95% efficiency system. We talked to one of his customers tonight and their highest electric bill has been $95. Not bad. They haven't even had to turn the heat on yet, been running on the heat pump only, and it's been cold here (down to 10 degrees).

Re: Building a House Interview.......
 

Heat pump with the gas furnace is a good choice to consider. We have done quite a few of that setup this year since the rising cost of gas. Plus the 95% efficiency with variable speed blower will get ya $200 tax credit and certain high end heat pumps can recieve another $300 bucks

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Good info!!

Re: Building a House Interview.......
 

Getting a little off track guys .

Basics of picking builder .
1. Chk. BBB
2. Chk. County records , you will be able to see if any complaints or uncompeted work .
3. Chk. and verify his cont. , bus. , Workmans comp., and bus. ins.
4. References
5. Have them do all permit and application paperwork with all municipalities .
6. A complete list of materials , fixtures , appurtenances to include part and model numbers .
7. Complete list of all sub-contractors to include mailing address and phone numbers.
8. The cheapest price is not always the best !!!!!!!!!!!!!! You get what you pay for in this business . Although most area go through all types of insp. there is work out there that is attrocious . Good luck
You never stated if you are buying into a development or an existing lot .

Look for your own bank for fianancing .

The price range your looking at should not be any problems . Its when you get to the high end stuff that you really need to do background chks.

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I agree, my wife and I had our house built spring of 2004 and it's a two story and we had the problem of trying to keep the upstairs and downstairs the same temperature.

When we built our house we paid for a lock and key job. My parents built a 3500 sqft. home in 1998 and subcontracted it out. The built it for less money and is better quality. They found a floor plan they liked, took it to an architect and had the changes made they wanted and bought some land to build on. By sub-contracting their house out it appraised for $75K more than it cost to build it the day after it was completed. 8 years later if they were to sell it today they would profit $200K from it. My wife and I sold our house last month and made $11K on it in 2 1/2 years. Just something to consider, hope you get the home you want.

One question about the VA loan, do you have to pay PMI on a VA loan if you don't have 20% to put down?

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her is a link to various tax credits
http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?...pr_tax_credits

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Is PMI mortgage insurance? If it is, that's one of the nice things about a VA loan. There is no PMI or down payment required, but there is what is called the VA funding fee. For first time VA users, the funding fee is I believe 1.5% of the loan amount. For a two time or more home buyer, (which is what I am), that funding fee goes up to 3%. The VA funding fee is waived though if you're a disabled veteran, which I am. Even though I'm in the reserves and can't collect both my reserve military pay and disability pay, I can still use my disability rating for benefits such as this, then when I retire, I will be able to collect the disability pay and my retirement pay from the military.

Having a VA disability is saving me $6800 on this loan since I've used a VA loan 3 times before. :)

Anyway, generally, all fees and closing costs required from the buyer are just financed into the loan with no down payment required. That may or may not be a good thing, but in this case, my wife and I plan on this being a long term home, (if not our last), so rolling those costs into the loan really isn't an issue.

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Get quality windows with Low-E glass. Vinyl windows are near zero maintenance, while aluminum isn't bad either. Don't skimp on insulation! Our house was poorly insulated and always seems to have a chill in the air-even though there are no drafts. Get plenty of HVAC system too. Ours has a more difficult time cooling the far end of the house. Same way with the water heater-get something plenty big. Put these systems on the first floor in a utility room or closet if possible too. We have all of this in the attic and I hate it. The water heater were to bust, it would ruin our celing in the garage and kitchen (even with the drain pan the tank sits in).

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didn't read all the replies...but my families buisness has been residential construction for over 30 years (not me tho lol). Make sure that you right down any little thing you can think of, and try to get it in up front. Think of all the things you like and don't like, not only about where you have llived, but any other places you have been. It is not a prblem to change up after construction begins, but it's not cheap either. Some things like cabinets and appliances can be picked at the last minute, but just make sure the layout is the way you want it. My parents have built several places for themselves, and there is always one more thing they would change LOL. And get as much as you can afford, space wise...it is better up front than to add on later. Take the garage as an example...it is less $$ to make it bigger new, than to add on later.

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The BBB isn't worth a crap. We went to them when we had problems with our builder. The builder could have "had" tons of complaints, but as long as the BBB settles the complaint. They erase the complaint off of the builders file, or at least it doesn't show to anyone checking thier history.

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It is probably not an issue there, but is the developements water permit already approved. Water is at a premium here and there are new developments in my area with new homes built that the owners cannot move into as the developer did not get the pemitting.

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We're building in an established subdivision which already has 300+ homes, was established in 1998, and will have about 300 more built when the subdivision is done. Lot prices increase on the 1st of Jan from the $41,900 we paid to $51,000. We got in just in time.

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400 square feet per Ton (12,000 BTUs is a Ton for the uninitiated) for AC/Heating max. AC is the more critical (sizing wise) of the two unless you happen to be in a snowbelt/New England type environment.

Stay away from zoning or the like if you like to keep your life simple. In the long run it can create problems as the A/C guy (Joe Blow Suckfinger Heating and Air) that you get to come out on a Saturday night might not know how to fix it while the one who puts it in won't answer the phone till Monday (or can only put you on the list of upset homeowners that weekend). I know this happens as we are Mon-Fri only. I have been doing HVAC and Energy Management/Controls for 13+ years and definitely would never want it in my house...

As for brands I agree with Bryant or Carrier (same company). Best for the long haul and efficiency are the pricier Trane units.

Make sure to ask about The SEER rating. If you are not familiar with it it is the energy efficiency rating. It should be 14 or higher. 13 is the minimum allowed here in CA. *NOTE* The higher the number, the higher the price tag...Usually.

And finally, Double pane windows....

Hope this helps

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Put your money into things you cannot upgrade or add easily later. Thinks like house wrap, upgraded insulation and sheathing, windows, cabinets, good quality trim and fixtures (but not excessive). You don't want to mortgage (and pay 30 years interest on) items you can add later.

Give a lot of thought to extra electrical outlets and ceiling fan mounts. Add electrical outlets outside too, particularly in the garage (wall and ceiling). Consider an outside spigot that can be for soft water (car washing only).

Have cable for broadband and TV installed everywhere. Also, speaker wire, phone lines and even ethernet for home networking.

Avoid the temptation to upgrade excessively (Been there!). Choose upgrades carefully. As far as appliances & landscaping, you will be better off providing these yourself and not mortgaging these items (if you can). You will get better pricing and not be paying mortgage interest on these.

Most builders like people to wait almost 1 year and fix all drywall issues after the house has properly settled. Avoid wallpapering too early for the same reason.

Your interest rate is generally not set until 30 - 60 days of "closing". Odds are they will not go up and could even come down some before you "lock". Look at CD rates right now, they are actually LOWER on longer term CDs. This is an indicator that rates are not going higher, rather lower. If you have a 20% down payment look into conventional private mortgages too. No PMI, no "funding" fee and you only have to pay "points" if you want a lower interest rate, thus closing costs can be minimal. Plus, less restrictions. And you can shop rates.

Do NOT build the most expensive house in the neighborhood.

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Good advice. I'll look into that! The house is a shell right now. It has a roof and the siding is on, but no drywall yet. Good time to ensure there's plenty on insulation inside the walls.

Fortunately, my builder is all over that one. He's got outlets everywhere, above the fireplace where someone may want to plug in lighting, and places where a wall mounted plasma or large screen TV would go. He's even got them outside where you can't see them for like christmas lights, etc. He's going to pre-wire the family room for surround.

See above. That's standard with this builder.

Yea, I can understand that. We met with the realtor last night where we signed the contract and offer, and she went over the "allowances" with us. I'm thinking if I can do better on the allowance's, then that's that much less money I'll have to finance in the loan. Probably wouldn't amount to much, but $1000 is like $6.00 off the payment.

Exactly. We went into two of his houses, and one of them had a drywall crack above the master bedroom door. The house was finished in September, but with the cold winter and inevitably, spring and summer will be upon us, he said he told the owners that they should wait until at least spring, that way, he can come in and fix everything at once because settling is inevitable.

That's the advice my lender gave me. I wanted to lock now because the rate is 6.125%, but the lock would cost $2250, which was refundable at closing, but that's more money than I wanted to tie up for 4 months. She said the same thing you said about rates, and recommended we "float" for a couple of months. She has a "rate watch" program which notifies them of impending rate increases at least an hour before they increase, which she then would notify me to make a decision at that time to "lock" or wait.

We don't have to worry about that one. We're building a $225,000 house, and have easily have $250k-$300k houses all around us. We're in good shape there.

Thanks for all the advice. I'm happy to know that is looks like we're covering our bases pretty well.