How to survive the home building process- 5 real-life lessons

So you have decided to build a home and don’t know where to begin. My husband and I built our home almost two years ago. We were living next door to where our home was being built, so I was on the job-site everyday. I know how stressful it can be. I hope to share with you what I learned so that the process may go more smoothly for you. The following is a five-step guide to what I learned from building our home.

1. Choosing the right contractor- Please do not make the same mistake we made. We spoke briefly to a contractor that was recommended to us by our Realtor. The day of our first meeting we hired him and signed the contract. Boy were we naive and foolish. That is not to say that a contractor you meet through a Realtor won’t be wonderful. He may be great. Just don’t take the Realtor’s word for it like we did. My recommendation would be to interview several contractors before making a decision. When interviewing the contractor, you should ask for names and phone numbers of past jobs he has completed. See if you can meet with them and see what kind of work this contractor does. If he is unwilling to give you that information, he’s not the contractor for you. The following are a list of questions you should ask when meeting with a contractor’s past clients.

• Was he on time?
• Did he show up on the dates he said he would?
• Was he easy to work with?
• Was he organized?
• Did any problems arise during the job? How did he handle them?
• Were you satisfied with the sub-contractors he used?
• Did he complete the job by the date that was discussed?
• After your home was built and the job was complete, did you have to call him to have small problems corrected?
  
• Did he return your calls and then follow through with correcting the problem?
• Overall are you satisfied with the quality of your home?
• Overall are you satisfied with how he performed his job as the contractor?
• If you were to build another home, would you hire him again?

2. The contract- So, you have interviewed all the contractors and have chosen the right one for you. What’s next? The contract. This part of the process can be very scary and overwhelming for anyone. You are literally signing your life away. What’s to be scared of, right? Well, I have one thing to say about contracts... get EVERYTHING in writing. This may sound tedious and you may think you are bothering the contractor. But if you think about it, having everything in writing protects him too. If he is not willing to go over everything with you in great detail, then you may think more than twice about not hiring him.

The contract should list in great detail things such as electrical allowances.

• What things are included?
• Do you get a light pole for your sidewalk?
• Do you get a garage door opener?
• How many exterior lights are included?
• Are any security lights on the sides and back of the house included?

If these things are not discussed during the signing of the contract, you will end up in the same position as I was. The contractor calls me one day and tells me that if I want a garage door opener it’s going to be X number of dollars extra. I was not happy! How silly of me to think that the garage door opener was included. It was never discussed in the beginning, so I was not prepared. Those situations happened more times than I can recall. So my suggestion is to take care of all of those things in the beginning.

3. Your motto- Repeat after me, “I am the boss, I am the boss, I am the boss.” You ARE the boss now and if you don’t have a backbone yet, you better grow one fast. There will be times during the building process when you notice that something is not done right. It can be as simple as a light fixture put in the wrong place or as major as the wrong color hardwood floors being installed. These are times that you have to speak up and be the boss. Even the smallest problems that you notice have to be addressed as soon as you see them. That is why it is also very important for you to visit the job-site every day to check on the progress. Keep in mind that this is your hard earned money we are talking about here. You have hired this contractor to provide a service for you. If something is not done right or you have a question no matter how small, you must speak up. If you do not have a backbone and stand up for yourself and what you want for your home, you WILL be taken advantage of.

4. Extra costs and requests along the way- When you begin building your home, tell your contractor to notify you when any additional charges arise. When my home was completely finished, I was presented with a list from the contractor of additional fees for things that I knew nothing about. The list included such things as the fee for having the power lines buried in the backyard. I assumed that those types of things would be covered in the contracted price of the home. So, had the contractor shared these costs with me as we went along, I would have been more prepared in the end.

There may be changes during the building process that you want to make.

For example, we decided that we wanted an 8’ garage door opening instead of the standard 7’. I told the contractor and he said it would be taken care of. Several weeks into the job, the framing goes up along with a steel beam in the garage. I asked him when he came over if it was a 7’ opening and he said “Aww no. You did say you wanted a 7’ door.” It was too late. The framing was done and the steel beam was in place and could not be moved. Now you may ask, did I get it in writing that I wanted an 8’ door garage opening? The answer regrettably is no.

I have learned from that mistake and insist that you get everything in writing. Any changes you want to make or anything you ask to be done along the way, get it in writing. You will be glad you did.

5. Extras that are worth the money- Always keep an ongoing list of any extras you are spending money on. Investing in nicer cabinets and flooring may only add a couple dollars to your monthly payment, but will add a lot to the resale value of your home.

Some things are better to do while your home is being built.

The sidewalk is a good example. If your contractor is like mine, a sidewalk will not be included in the price to build your home. I highly suggest that small jobs like that you have done during the home building process. If you wait until later you may have a difficult time finding a sub-contractor that will come out to do a small job such as a sidewalk. I know from experience. I called lots.

Another thing you may want to invest in during the building process is a brick front porch instead of a wooden one. Your front porch will be the first thing that your guests will see as they begin to enter your home. Unfortunately we went with the wooden porch and less than two years later, it has warped steps and loose nails. If I had it to do over, I would invest in a brick front porch in a heartbeat. There is little maintenance and it is very attractive. Besides do you really want to rock in a rocking chair on your front porch that has warped wood? Not too relaxing.

There are many upgrades you can do. The options are endless. Keep your budget in mind but do splurge on things that are easier to have done while the home is being built.


Overall the home building process can be extremely stressful but exciting. Once your home is built, there will undoubtedly be things you wish you had done differently. Don’t be too hard on yourself. My mom has always said that it takes building three homes to finally get everything right.

Building a home is also a learning process that will payoff in the end. My best advice in getting through it is to be on the job every day and keep up with what’s going on. Ask lots of questions and don’t be afraid to speak up when something is not right. Remember you are the boss and it’s your money!

Good luck and hopefully you won’t need a wig by the time your new home is ready. I’m only kidding, sort of. In all seriousness, I wish the best to anyone who is going through the building process. It will be a challenging time, but it will all be worthwhile when you’re relaxing in your new home.