Choosing The Best Location For Building Your Home

When you begin the process of building a new home, there are several key things to do that will help you to be more satisfied with the end result. It is important to be clear with the Builder of your home that they understand the blue prints and features of your home. If your builders don’t catch your vision, it is going to be hard for them to create the home you are imagining. But, structure aside, a possibly more important factor of building a home is location.

Even if you can afford to build the perfect dream home with all of the features and upgrades you can imagine, you will never be fully satisfied with your home if it is not in a location that also meets your dreams and needs. The following suggestions are things to consider when choosing the location of your first home. Whether you want to live in a small subdivision, the big city, or the countryside, the actual terrain of the area you are hoping to build in is very important. There are several reasons why the terrain is an important factor.

First, your home is going to be permanently placed in the environment your builders construct in. If you don’t like the scenery when you initially build there, chances are you will grow to dislike it more as time goes on. Secondly, terrain is a key factor in the location of your home to determine if it is going to be structurally sound for your foundation. While living by a lake or stream may be desirable to your scenic tastes, keep in mind that if the area gets a lot of precipitation, flooding is likely to occur at some point. Hiring professional builders is a good idea when choosing the location because they will help you to determine potential hazards of the environment. Some types of soil crumble and decay over time, and building near a fault line can be a potential earthquake hazard.

Aside from the physical features of the land, the surrounding area may be a deciding factor on where you want to build. Based on career opportunities, distance from shopping, schools, airports, etcetera, a certain area may appeal more to your wants and desires than others. Also, buying property in growing areas may be beneficial for future resale if you ever decide to move.

Take into consideration all aspects of the land and surrounding areas before deciding on a building location. Planning ahead and working with professionals will help you to make the best decision on where to build your home.Know more about Builders.

Building Your First Home Builders

When building your first home, there are several steps to the process that can make the process less stressful and more rewarding in the end. While there is much to do when moving forward with the purchase and construction of a new house, it can also be a very rewarding process. By planning ahead and making educated choices, your first home building experience can be enjoyable and exciting. Find A Prime Location

Just like the old saying, “Location, Location, Location” is true for building a business, it is also the case in home building. While you may believe you have found a great deal on land, get a better understanding of your investment before purchasing. Location is not only an important factor in the value of the price of your new home, but can also add to the value of your home based on its safeness and firm foundation. Before purchasing land, have professional builders look at the soil and other physical land features to determine if it is at risk for any natural disasters such as flooding, earthquakes, or landslides.

Find a Builder With a Good Reputation Finding a builder you can trust can be tricky. Talk with friends and family to find a builder you can trust will pay off in the end. There are also agencies that will list a builder and you can read reviews and comments from past consumers.

Select Features and Upgrades

If you are building a home with a company building a development of similar homes with comparable features, designs, and layouts—you will need to sit down with the builders and determine which features you would like the base model of, and which you would like to upgrade. Most models come with standard features included. What comes included in the most basic building price varies between builders. Before agreeing to the purchase of your first home, make sure you know what your price includes, and what obligations your building company is under with that price.

Make it Your Own- Customize

Whether you are building your own unique design, or are going to build a pre-fabricated home, make the home your own. Customizing paint, cabinets, flooring, window coverings, tiling, etcetera can give your new house the comfort and familiarity of home.

In conclusion, building your first home can be a very exciting and rewarding process. By planning ahead, you will have more freedom in the decisions that surround the home building process. Homebuyers who work closely with the builders usually find higher satisfaction in the finished project. Know more about Builders.

How to Hire a Remodeling Builder

Builder - Hiring a builder to remodel your home sounds like such a simple task. Your home is dated or too small. You have some ideas. You want to see them in real life. You hire someone to go to work. You pay him money. What happens?

Unfortunately, the home improvement industry ranks among the top five sources of complaints year in and year out for the Better Business Bureaus. Scams that involve construction and home improvement are persistently top among issue the BBB has to deal with. In fact, they recommend avoiding any contractor who advertises in a local newspaper or sticks a flyer in your mailbox. Simply put, you are putting yourself at risk to getting ripped off.

Their advice is to hire a local builder with a good track record and the references to prove it. They should be licensed, bonded and insured and willing to sign a contract with you.

Beyond those suggestions, you should also never hire the first contractor you meet. It is important to get at least three bids to compare pricing and timeframes for completion. When it comes to contracts, you want to make sure never to allow anyone to begin work on your home until there is a signed and written contract in hand. This contract should have a start date and an expected completion date as well as exact costs being detailed and the disbursement of payments during the remodel. It is a cliche, but you need to read any and all fine print.

If a remodeling builder asks you for an initial deposit more than 25% to 30% of the total costs, be wary you’ve hired a lemon. The industry standard is a quarter to a third up front, a few installment payments throughout depending on the length of the job and final payment upon completion. Never pay in cash. Use a check or a credit card and get a receipt each time.

Besides a contract, the other written document you want is a warranty. The contractor must be able to warranty his work and the materials for at least one full year.

Another often overlooked tip is to check a potential contractor to see if there is any criminal history. You never, ever want to hire anyone with a criminal past. They may have made some mistakes and perhaps they have turned things around, but let them work on someone else’s house, not yours.

Finally, ask the builder for referrals from past clients and actually call them. Ask the contractor if you can see his portfolio of past work. You want to make sure the builder has the ability and skills to translate your vision into a reality.Know more about and Builders.

Now Hiring a Green Builder

Builder - As more consumers are growing increasingly aware of the impact civilization has upon the earth, people are looking for more environmentally friendly ways to build and remodel homes. Find a green builder is not unlike finding any other type of professional: you have to know what questions to ask before you can find one.
The construction industry has been slow at incorporating sustainable practices in their work. During the economic boom when new construction starts were over a million per year, it seemed like few builders had much of an appetite to get LEED certified and to build eco-friendly homes. Now that the real estate market has plummeted and new construction was all but wipe off the face of the map, those contractors who were still in business decided to take a good, hard look at the products they were producing and how to build them smarter, more cost effectively and more efficiently.
The result has been quite impressive. Newly constructed homes now are coming equipped with such green tech as waterless water heating systems (there is no water heater full of water that must be heated before it comes out of your faucet) and 90% efficient furnaces that do not experience the kind of heat loss like traditional duct work experiences. Solar panels are popping up in cities where the sun’s light can be captured and turned to energy. Even the small things like energy light bulbs and lights triggered by motion sensors all contributing to reducing the footprints of those who use them.
To find a qualified green builder, the best place to start is not by asking your friends or family for a referral. Chances are most people you know do not know a certified green contractor. Rather, contact your local home builders association or association of REALTORS for a list of certified green contractors. You can also search the web for help.

Green builders that are LEED certified make some of the most qualified contractors. LEED stands for Leaders in Energy and Environmental Design and is used as the benchmark for determining how eco-friendly a building is, from concept to design to final product. The contractors who receive the LEED certification are held to a high standard and understand fully what is involved in building a green home or converting an existing one to a green home.
No matter how you found a potential green builder, it is important to speak to past clients and ask to visit past projects. Just because a contractor has a certain certification does not mean they are also reliable, responsive and results-driven.Know more about trade association and Builders

Finding a Quality Local Builder

Builder - If you live in the UK and you are looking to hire a qualified local builder, there are four easy steps to follow if you start your search online. The relationship between contractors and consumers has been strained lately, but there are organizations whose aim is to restore the confidence and fidelity between consumers and trade associations.

In the past, people have often sought for general contractors by going to the internet and searching various trade directories. This method may work fine looking for the phone number of a builder, but they do not offer any consumer protection whatsoever. Just about anyone can post themselves for hire on an internet directory without having to first go through a vetting process. All they have to do is pay a fee to be made available to the public. The result is an unwary consumer being duped into hiring an under-qualified contractor to perform a service on his or her home.

If you pause to consider, why would a qualified and expert contractor need to advertise his services in the first place? Would not the expectation that a true professional and craftsman would have enough business from past clients and from referrals that there would no need to pay a fee to show up on a directory?

In fact, if you are looking to hire a good local contractor, the first place you should begin your search is by asking family members or trusted friends for a referral. Once you have a name or two, compare them to a professional trade association, like a national association for builders, to find out if the builder is a member of the trade organization. Becoming a member of a trade organization requires a contractor to meet strict criteria and maintain a professional code of ethics as well as being reviewed by their peers.

National Builders Association

Builder associations will also check references provided by a contractor, will verify the relevance and authenticity of their certificates and licenses as well as ensuring that all liability insurance is maintained. The feedback from other consumers posted to the online website will also help provide positive criticism to a contractor, and, in the event of something going wrong, a builder association will provide mediation.

So, go to an association of contractor’s website and post the job you need done. You will get quotes emailed to you from prospective contractors to which you can review at your leisure and ask more questions. Once you find the right builder, you can then hire them and once the work is complete, you will provide feedback to the association to help improve the performance of the builder.Know more about Construction and Builders.