So often buyers shop for a home and judge each builder by what they include. While it seems logical, it can hurt you more than you believe possible. You have to ask yourself this question: Do I want a quality home that's going to last and appreciate without me putting a bunch of money back in for repairs and upkeep, or do I just want a pretty home with some flash?"
Builders like to confuse the process by distracting you with cookies, coffee, and crown molding. If you don't want crown molding, "included" doesn't mean free. It just mean that it's already in the price of the home, with a healthy profit margin added. Sometimes you can remove an item and get a credit, however most will remove the cost of the item and leave in the profit they want to make for that upgrade.
Before you begin looking for a builder, there are two lists you must create.
First, sit down and start a "New Home" journal. Begin by making a Wish List. List everything you can think of that you would like in your new home. Don't consider the list an option. When you have what you think is the complete list, go back over it and put the items into one of three categories: Needs, Wants, and Wishes. This list will help keep you focused on what you need, want, and dream of, and away from what someone wants to sell you.
Second, create a list of Quality Requirements. If you have very little personal knowledge of homes and how they are built (which is most people), the list may be short, so let me help you. Where I live, new homes in Tulsa are almost all built on a slab because of the clay and sand. Anytime a home is built on a slab, it must have a post tension foundation for structural integrity and longevity (I will do a full blog on post tension foundations later to help you verify if it's actually true post tension). On the quality requirements list for a new home in Tulsa, a buyer should add Post Tension Foundation. If a home is to be built in the Great Lakes area, there would be an entire list of quality requirements for a safe and leakproof basement.
As an example, I've created a partial list of Quality Requirements for a new home is Tulsa Oklahoma:
What quality of materials are being used.
What brand of HVAC system (Heating Venting and Air Conditioning)?
Are the shingles 30 year architectural shingles?
Are the appliances a quality name brand and residential grade, or just builder grade?
Is there rebar in the concrete around the home (driveway, front porch, and patio)?
Are the windows low-e with argon gas?
Is Dupont Tyvek house wrap used?
What is the R value of insulation in the walls?
What is the R value of insulation in the ceiling?
Are they using Radiant Roof Decking?
Full brick home?
What guttering come on the home?
Is there a patio, is it covered, and what size?
Is home prewired for security system?
What is done on homesite for landscaping? Is sod included?
What size amp electrical service?
How wide and how deep is the garage space?
What size is the water heater?
Are the gas lines in the home black pipe (steel) or CSST (corrugated stainless steel tubing)? As a note, I prefer black pipe.
If a two story home, are there seperate A/C units for each floor?
If a two story home, are the stairs built with 2 runners or three? Nailed, glued, and screwed?
I think you get the idea by now. Focus on quality, and the cost of the home at the quality you need. Then add in the upgrades and items you want. This will keep you from being a victim of the dirty word "included". Remember that you don't want to be sold a home, you want to invest in the right home for you. In the next blog, I will get into shopping builders and their land, and factors for choosing the right place to build your new home.
If you have any questions about building a new home in Broken Arrow, a new home in Owasso, or the Tulsa area, or if you have any questions about builders and making sense of what they include, and don't include, you can reach me by e-mail: Shaw.newhomes@yahoo.com, or by phone at (918)409-5195.
