When walking through a showhome, it’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of building your dream home. Each home has a distinct look and unique flair.
What not everyone realizes is that a showhome rarely represents what comes standard. In order to get that same hardwood floor or unique kitchen cabinets in your new home, you may need to pay more.
Doing your homework when searching for a home builder is definitely worth the extra effort to find the right one. And this starts with asking our next two questions.
Question #4: What comes standard?
New home builders and some larger custom home builders (in comparison to a single contractor) will have a specification sheet, which will list all the features that comes with your home. This is a great place to start and learn more about will go into your new home.
For a better understanding of specifications (aka specs), here’s an article that goes into more detail about them.
Question #5: What options and upgrades can I choose? How much can I customize?
Once you’ve seen your preferred builders’ standard specifications, you may want to upgrade some of the materials, features and selections to turn your house into your ultimate dream home (who wouldn’t?)
Each builders will have their own focus, of course, and upgrading will look different across the board. Some are builders’ priority is to give their customers the lowest price possible. Typically, these builders keep their costs in line by offering a set number of floorplans and a limited number of cosmetic upgrades.
At the other end of the spectrum are custom builders who will build a truly unique home with no expense spared (and by expense, we mean cost to the buyer).
Between these extremes there are the rare builders who focus on quality and personalization, while offering a range of floorplans and designs with options available for you to choose from.
For instance, Broadview Homes’ mission is to provide the highest quality home at an affordable price. This means throughout our process we look to provide the most value to our customers. Standard features have been chosen ahead of time to deliver superior quality and longevity. Often, this means our basic specification already includes what may be an upgrade for another builder. Because we’re doing this for all our customers, we can offer this ‘upgrade’ at a greatly reduced price. In the end, our customers benefit from these types of choices.
What else should you ask a builder? Read the full series:
Question #1: Do I like this builder?
Question #2: Is the builder qualified and reputable?
Questions #3: What plans does this builder offer?
Question #4: What comes standard?
Question #5: What options and upgrades can I choose? How much can I customize?
Question #6: How and when can I make changes?
Question #7: How energy efficient are the homes you build?
Question #8: Who do I contact with any questions and who will oversee the construction?
Question #9: How often and when will I have access to the home during the home building process?
