As a professional builder, we are practiced at taking a client's concepts and ideas and transforming them into three-dimensional reality. It is a skill we have honed over decades. It is our work and our passion.
For our clients, translating their vision for their new home into words can be both challenging and frustrating. Putting a mental vision or a feeling into words is not easy. A strategy we recommend to our clients is to let pictures do the talking for them.
To start, gather a stack of home and lifestyle magazines and scan through them for photos of homes, rooms, and other features that match those in your head. When you see something you like, cut it out and set it aside. Similarly, if you see an article about a particular feature, floor plan, material, or product that sparks your interest, clip it out, as well.
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Q: Why do builders sometimes send another company on a service call?
A: New-home builders rely on a variety of trade (or specialty) contractors, such as electricians, plumbers, and heating and cooling experts, to help build a new home. Part of their contract is servicing their work. Who can fix the leaky faucet better than the person who installed it? While the builder is ultimately responsible for making sure warranty work is documented and performed, he will rely on trade contractors to make warranty service calls on his behalf and to his standards … and to your satisfaction.
Choosing a builder based on the lowest cost per square foot or the lowest sales price is likely not getting the best value. It's buying the cheapest home. No doubt about it, there is some cheap housing out there right now, but is "cheap" the best way to go?
Common sense tells us that there is a premium to be paid for a superior home. By that we mean a home that has more exacting standards, performs well over time, maintains its value as an investment and is built by a builder who stands by his work. Let's take a closer look at these higher initial costs and why we believe it is worth paying a reasonable premium for such a home.
Better Materials. Professional builders who build to a high level of quality have higher standards for the materials that go into their homes. They cull lumber piles for the straightest studs and send the warped and knotted ones back to the lumberyard. They inspect and confirm deliveries, protect materials from weather, seek out the best warranties and track problems to weed out poor-performing materials.
When a company insists on that level of quality and provides that level of attention and care, one would expect to pay a bit more. Like cheap houses, cheap materials can deliver substandard results that often cost more to repair or replace than the premium you might pay upfront for a higher-quality option.
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