Reaching the stage in your building process where you are now looking for the right company to bring the vision of your dream home to life can be exciting and stressful because of how important it is to make the correct choice the first time around. The decision to hire a builder, if done flippantly, can have drastic implications for your budget as well as the quality of the home itself. In Panama City, Florida, home builders and construction companies are dime-a-dozen. That’s why we believed it would be helpful to create this short checklist for hiring the right builder to handle likely the most important investment you will make in your lifetime.
Interview Your Builder
So, you’ve finally decided upon the style of home you want to begin constructing, but you’re unsure who exactly to hire to actually complete the project. After looking at dozens of websites of home builders in the Panama City area, you finally compile a shortlist of your favorite prospects that you would like to explore. Our recommendation is not to simply close your eyes and point, but to treat this as a job interview– you being the potential employer.
A few points to focus on when interviewing builders:
- Do they have any history of working in the area you intend on building?
It is sometimes the best decision to hire someone who is local rather than from outside of the area. During Hurricane Michael, many contractors were relocating to Panama City to gather as much work as possible, but without any intention of completing the projects and quickly fleeing the city, money in hand. There are numerous stories of people placing their trust in non-local companies only to be taken advantage of. Hiring a locally based home builder reduces this risk because they can be easily contacted when any issues arise.
- What kind of reputation do they have?
When narrowing down your list of contractors, look for indicators of their reputation as a builder. Conducting a simple Google search can reveal the experience of others who have gone through the same process. Are their experiences positive or negative? If negative, don’t automatically rule that company out, but ask the contractor pointed and specific questions based upon the information you gathered from the negative reviews. Other tools such as Better Business Bureau (BBB) and Yelp can be incredibly helpful for finding evidence of a company’s reputation.
Reviewing Their Portfolio
Once you have conducted interviews and have investigated the new home builders to the level that makes you feel comfortable, it’s imperative that you also examine their portfolio before moving forward with the project.
Ask the builder to provide examples of their work, photos, addresses, and even contact information of previous clients. By contacting other individuals who have worked with your builder in the past, you may be able to gather a good insight into the process. You may even be able to have an opportunity for an in-person look at their property to see their workmanship and attention to detail.
Conclusion
Selecting the right contractor or construction company to build your custom home is probably the most important step in the home building process. Our recommendation in sifting through a saturated market of construction companies is to take the additional step to treat your interactions with these companies as an employment interview. Choose a company that is located in or near the area you wish to build unless they have an outstanding track record. Search online for indicators of their reputation using tools such as Google, Yelp, and BBB, and don’t be afraid to ask tough questions when you discover bad reviews. Finally, review their portfolio by examining photos of their work as well as asking for the contact information of their previous clients.
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