5 qualities you want in a home builder
Building a new home? See below for some of the qualities to look out for when you select your builder. Shopping around for someone who not only suits your budget, but project more broadly can make the construction process a lot less stressful.
Vision
Especially if you haven’t had the budget to hire a design professional such as an architect, having a builder that can make suggestions to suit a high quality finished home is ideal. Sometimes this comes as a result of experience, but it’s also a passion for good design that’s functional and suited to your needs. Therefore, it pays to research builders beforehand to see examples of their work and whether their style appeals to you. If you’re more conservative however, best advised to stay away from a builder who is more experimental, as an avant-garde house that ‘defines’ itself in your street may be too innovative for your aesthetic senses.
Connections
Some people just seem to know everyone, online these people are called influencers. But before this was the good old fashioned black book. You want a builder that has an extensive network of other tradies, wholesale retailers and other building related contacts. This is ideally not a bunch of his or her mates who are looking for work, but experienced and established professionals that routinely work on builds together. Not only will this save you money, but also time as having people work on site who know each other will mean they can get on with the build more efficiently.
Attention to detail
Having mentioned expediency, you want a builder that won’t cut corners in order to finish a project on time. Be prepared however, to potentially pay more to compensate for reasonable delays that were unforeseeable. At the very least, you’ll want a builder that will present the options to you so you can decide whether to adjust your plans or fork out more to get your original design built.
Honesty
As mentioned, delays and other issues are common when building a new home. Whether your home builder is in Geelong, Melbourne or elsewhere across Victoria, factors from weather to suppliers going into administration can adversely effect building timelines and budgets. In this instance, honesty is the best policy. You should be informed of problems concerning your build, but a good builder will also have some options to present to you to mitigate the situation. This will mean that your builder is ideally a good communicator and has an ability to converse with a variety of people who are involved in a project in order to get the job done.
Mad skills
Hopefully this is obvious, but in addition to the above, you need a home builder that can do what they say they can – build you a house! A willingness to learn new things is also useful as you’ll find these types of people will develop broader skill sets over time, rather than sticking to one specific focus.
