Before you sit down with a real estate agent or builder to talk about having a new home built, the experts recommend that you do a little investigative work.
(photo courtesy of Joe Mahoney)
From visiting homes and exploring neighborhoods, to looking at and pricing various products, being well-informed will help the process go much more smoothly.
Mark Waring of Bain Waring Builders says a good place to start is by looking at houses and subdivisions to see what you like and where you might like to live.
You can tour homes and neighborhoods by visiting model homes or going to Parade of Homes and Dream House tours that are held annually. The information you gather will help you to decide on location, home style and even decorating.
"If they have that narrowed down, then that is one more thing out of the equation," said Waring.
Go to the bank
The next step is to go to the bank. "You have to make sure that you can qualify for the purchase of a property, so you have tocontact a mortgage company right away to make sure you qualify and your credit is OK," said Duane Bookheimer, sales manager for Equity 1 Mortgage and Financial Services Corporation.
Bookheimer says a real estate agent or a mortgage company can pre-qualify home buyers and give them a pre-qualification letter to take to the builder.
"Most builders have a clause that you need to apply for a loan in five days and what we do is contingent upon a pre-qualification letter," said Waring. "Some builders will not even apply for a permit before they get that letter."
"Before the builder breaks ground, you close on the loan, pay the points, put in the down payment and lock in a rate. Then you do a soft closing at the end after the house is completed and you receive your CO [certificate of occupancy]."
After pre-qualification the next step is to do some shopping and learning. The information you gather will be of great value when you sit down to make selections and sign a contract.
Lighting and wiring
"One of the problems is people who are building . . . agree to a lighting allowance and it ends up being way lower than they would want once they get into selections," said Randy Rollins, owner/president of House of Lighting in Carytown. "So as a consumer you want to do some intelligent planning and be educated about lighting costs."
Rollins says you should go into a lighting store, look around and ask questions. You can then be involved in the decisions about where the wiring will be placed in your new home. "The next step is to work with the floor plan and the placement of the lighting so that we make sure it will provide the light where you want it, at the level and intensity you want for where it is installed. That way the wiring can be planned for the particular lighting you want."
Planning ahead for special lighting is also a must, says Rollins. "It could take eight to 12 weeks to get some kinds of lighting fixtures. If they start early enough they can get what they want."
Flooring options
Research on flooring will help during the building process, because it involves so much more than just choosing hardwood over ceramic tile.
"There are 20 to 30 species of hardwood floors and oak alone has a number of different grades," said Tripp Costen, vice president of operations for Costen Floors Inc. This showroom allows home buyers to look at everything from vinyl to ceramic, carpet to hardwood.
"If you come in to shop for ideas, we would find out what you want and where you want it. We would try to talk you out of hardwood in the bathroom area because it has too much moisture and humidity and is not the best choice. We would find out where you want carpet and talk about options. We would also talk about price."
Buyers would learn that old heart-pine with more of a rustic grade is good for a country look and that a wider board in a hardwood floor gives you more of an open, contemporary look. Narrower boards make a room look bigger and if you have dogs or kids you might want pre-finished flooring that is more durable.
"The main thing we want you to leave with is having a lot of ideas so that you can tie your flooring into your lifestyle, your furniture and your wall coverings," said Costen. "We try to help you bring it all into the big picture."
Choose windows carefully
Homework is necessary when choosing windows, too. John Headley, sales manger at Ruffin & Payne, says there is a wide variety of styles and brands of windows. The price for the same sized window can vary from $110 for shop-grade to $500 for premium.
"If you do not know what you want, then the builder will recommend a window or a couple of brands of windows and let you . . . pick one. The builder bases his price accordingly," he said.
The choices include such things as low-e, argon-gas filled glass, maintenance-free exteriors, grills set between the glass or applied to the interior, different materials and colors and warranties. "Different things are easy to replace in the home, like trim or interior doors, but you get into quite a large project to change windows. So choose your windows wisely from the get-go," said Headley.
The builder's protocol
Even if you make all the selections for the products in your home, you will eventually have to work with the builder and adhere to protocol. And unless you have an endless supply of money, you also have the constraints of a budget.
"Everyone comes in and thinks they want this and they want that, but unfortunately they cannot always fit it into their budget," said Philip McKinney, marketing/sales for Bromac Construction.
Waring says that home buyers need to understand that most builders work with specific subcontractors and suppliers. "I do have specific suppliers, but for a lot of my things I have an allowance, so I am going to spend that money someplace. If [the home buyer] wants to buy at a specific place, they can, but if something is broken or damaged, they will have to go back and replace it at their cost. If my supplier provides it, then they have to replace it at no cost to you. My price is based on my subs and my suppliers."
There are hundreds of other products that go into the building of a new home. And while you may not be well-educated about everything, it is a good idea to have some knowledge about the materials and the process before you get started.
