Is it better to build a new home or remodel an older one?
No one will be surprised to hear us argue that building a new home is a better choice than remodeling, just as a remodeling contractor would argue the opposite.
So, with our professional bias disclosed, here are some objective reasons why we believe buying a new home provides greater benefits than remodeling.
Some tips for getting the most from this important step
Most builders are happy to provide a list of people for whom they have recently built homes. They encourage prospective clients to call these references and ask about their experience and level of satisfaction.
Professional builders do what is needed to keep everyone out of harm’s way
There’s no getting around it: construction can be a hazardous job. We say “can be” because professional builders respect those hazards and equip and train their workers to mitigate safety issues as much as possible. By doing so, professional builders protect their businesses and their clients from liability.
When building a new home, controlling costs is the key to staying within budget
It’s safe to say no one likes cost overruns or unpleasant surprises on a project. New home construction is no exception. As a professional builder, we understand how critical it is to establish and maintain a budget that everyone can rely on from groundbreaking to the final walk-through.
The least expensive option may not be the best value.
Choosing a home builder based on the lowest cost per square foot or the lowest sales price may not provide the best value. For an investment so important to your family’s future, the least expensive option can be a risky bet.
Beware the disorganized builder
Investing in the design and construction of a new home is a daunting task—and something most people do just once or maybe twice in a lifetime. The last thing you need is a builder who doesn’t have it together.
Why does that matter? Simply put, homebuilding is an increasingly complex effort.
Tested and proven work, products, and materials
As a professional builder, we understand the importance of meeting or exceeding the expectations of our homebuyers. We stay current with trends in residential design and construction. We offer choices that fit each client’s budget and lifestyle. At the same time, we commit to high quality standards—both for our work and for the components we use to build each new home—and to staying on schedule and within budget.
Partnering with your builder for the best results
Home-building has changed significantly over the last hundred years, especially since the 1950s, when the housing industry boomed after World War II. Building a home in a classic, hands-on way is far from standard practice these days, as home construction has evolved from a trade or craft to a systematized process with many moving parts.
How the best homebuilders insure homeowner satisfaction
Have you heard of a “punch list”? This is construction industry jargon for a checklist of things that need to be completed, repaired or replaced. It’s a quick and easy reference to the status of the work, as well as a useful way to communicate with our trade partners and clients. Most importantly, the punch list is a key tool to make sure our homes meet the high expectations of our custom home buyers.
The best companies build quality assurance systems into their practice.
What separates great builders from good ones? A lot of things do, but part of the answer is that great builders are obsessive about small details. And taken together, those small details leave a big impression.
Most builders really want to do good work for their customers. They strive to craft high-quality homes and respond quickly if the customer has a serious problem like a leak after move-in. At the same time, many builders lack formal systems for finding and correcting small errors during construction and for making sure they don’t happen in the future.
