Tips on choosing a dream home contractor

big mansion

Building your dream home is an unnerving experience, enjoyable if everything seamlessly goes according to plan but catastrophic if wrong decisions are made right from the start. One of the most important decisions you will ever make in your life is choosing the right contractor for your dream home. To save you research time and sleepless nights of worry, below are a few tips on choosing a home contractor for your dream home.

What to consider when selecting a dream home contractor?

Expertise

There is no substitute for expertise. You must choose a skilled contractor with a solid portfolio and all the right papers. These papers are a license and insurance. These not only cover the worker if he or she is injured on the job but also cover your house while it is under construction.

mansion

Ask questions

Before beginning any project, you have to meet with the dream home contractor to discuss the project to determine your needs, goals and ideas and how they can be fitted to your budget parameters. As such, you need to choose a contractor who has good communication skills right from the start. Ask questions on anything that appears mysterious or confusing. A good contractor should be able to address all your concerns in a timely manner.

Referrals

The best contractors do not need to advertise, they get most of their business from repeat customers or word of mouth referrals from satisfied customers. You can get good references from trusted friends and family members or people in the construction industry such as material suppliers and architects who frequently deal with contractors. If possible, you can visit the contractor’s previous projects to get a clear picture of his or her record of accomplishments.

big mansion

Contract and budget

You need to understand the contract your contractor is offering. There are two types; a fixed-fee contract where you pay no more than the contracted amount and time-and-materials contract where you pay for the cost of materials and for the time the contractor and his or her team works. If you are working on a strict budget and projected costs, the fixed-fee contract can benefit you, but if you want to allow dynamic changes to the project, the time-and-materials contract is better for you.

Construction of your dream home is a team exercise involving many parties from the design expert to the contractor and it takes months of meticulous planning and actualization of these plans. If you have the wrong team or team member, many things can go wrong costing you precious time and money. Hopefully, these tips on choosing a dream home contractor will make the selection process smoother for you.…