BUILDING YOUR DREAM HOME WHILE LIVING AFAR
By Bob Delia
Many people are faced with the dilemma of wanting to build a new home in some distant area while still living in their present home. This can bring fear to the heart, but can also make the planning process more complete and thusly make the project go smoothly.
Once you have selected a piece of property, get an architect involved and have them meet you at the property and look over the site. They can give you loads of suggestions as to where to situate the home, best lighting, code requirements, any construction problems, and best of all keep an eye on things.
Selecting a builder is the next effort. Once you have plans, you should get local references and seek out at least three builders. I have found that talking to the bank manager where I opened an account was useful. He knew many of the local builders and gave me several quality names to talk to. The local Better Business Bureau may also provide insight. You can never get too many references! During the selection process, talk to prior customers of the builders to see how satisfied they were and look at homes under construction. A good builder will not dance around your questions, direct answers to any questions should be expected. This part of the process is the most critical. A poor choice of builder will be a major headache down the road and your dream home will become a nightmare.
Lastly, make sure you have a contract that clearly states what you are getting, how much it will cost, when it will be completed, and that all insurances, bonds, and legal issues are in place with the builder. There are a lot of low quality builders out there…… beware!
Plan to visit the site at least once a month, twice a month if you can, with the selected builder and go over the project. Look at the progress, workmanship, and see that what you are paying for is being done.
Do your homework and the process can be rewarding and painless. Take shortcuts and you will not soon forget the experience!
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