If you’re considering building a new construction home, you certainly have lots of questions. However, there’s one key question to ask before all the others when selecting a home builder – Which home builder will you work with?
With over 23 years of combined experience in residential real estate and high end custom home design, we often hear these two questions –
- “How much is it going to cost?”
- “How long will it take?”
There’s nothing wrong with these questions as price and timeline are important factors in determining which home builder you will hire. But besides these questions, there are other important questions you need to ask before building your new home.
It’s important to note that there are hundreds of options in Houston alone so, you’re first option is to narrow down your selection pool. As a custom home builder ourselves, we get asked all kinds of questions and all these questions make a lot of sense. That being the case, we advise first time home owners to never shy away from all the questions they have in mind as the answers to these concerns can be the difference between owning the home of their dreams and one that’s not (or worse).
To help you find your fitting match, we’ve put together the following list of questions to ask a custom home builder.
Questions to Ask Your Home Builder
- How long have you been building (custom) homes?
- What licenses do you have? Are you insured?
- What differentiates you from other (custom) home builders?
- How many homes have you built?
- Do you have a portfolio of the finished (custom) homes you’ve built?
- Do you have testimonials from past clients I can view?
- Have you ever been sued by a customer?
- Do you include landscaping in your custom home design process?
- Do I need to find land myself, or do you help acquire land?
- What are the estimated taxes on the property?
- Do you have a financing plan established?
- Have you built the home-style that I’m looking for before?
- Can you show me some finished photos that fit my home style?
- Do you only build from existing floorplans, or can I provide my own set of plans?
- How do you determine the cost of my custom-built home?
- Do you build model homes that I can tour? If not, can I set an appointment to tour a home you built for another customer or one of your homes currently under construction?
- What features are included in the price?
- Which features are standard and upgradeable?
- How much can I customize my home?
- What are the energy-saving features of the homes you build?
- Can you make my home energy efficient?
- What’s the average time your team takes to build a (custom) home?
- Do all decisions need to be finalized before construction begins?
- Can we make changes to our custom home during the building process?
- Do you use contractors?
- Who will be overseeing the construction of my home?
- How do I pick the colors, materials or fixtures for my custom home?
- How will we communicate before, during and after the construction?
- What new home warranty do you offer?
- Do you perform quality assurance inspections during construction?
- After I move in, will you be able to fix anything if it stops working/breaks?
- What is your process for inspections throughout construction, final walk-through, and to address any matters that need to be corrected or finalized?
While this list is by no means comprehensive, it can help you start conversations with home builders. Don’t hesitate to ask if you have specific concerns or features you want to include in your home.
The excitement of finally being able to start the construction on your new home may make you want to rush through this process, but take your time. It’s definitely worth it. Remember that you’ll be working with a home builder for months so, you want to make sure that you know who you’re working with and that all you’re questions and concerns are being answered clearly and truthfully.
Build with Luminous Homes
Luminous Homes provides exceptional single-family residences committed to exceed expectations by capitalizing on over 23 years of combined experience in residential real estate and high end custom home design. Each home we design and build are held to a higher standard of quality, ensuring that our clients move into a home that exudes superior craftsmanship, insightful design, and coveted features.
Start your home building journey with Luminous Homes.
Let us know how we can help you build your dream home.