How TO Find The Right Builder For YOU!

People understand every builder is the same. When you're looking at building, you need to be looking for the builder that specialize in your style and what you're wanting. The dearer price might actually be giving you more value for money than the cheaper price actually is. Your response to what you're wanting there, you've got to start asking, are they actually the right fit for you or not?

The best decision to choosing the right builder for that.

Hey, guys, welcome to the Builder's Edge. I'm Norm Wales from Norm Wales Constructions. Now, for me, the whole purpose of this podcast here is to bring a little bit more awareness around the construction industry. I've been feeling for many, many years that there's not enough helpful information out there to support you guys to make the right choice. Now, we are a smaller family independent building company and we're not here to build everybody's home, but we would definitely love to be able to work with you to facilitate your dream home. But if we don't build your new home, we want you to be able to make the right decision in choosing the right builder for you. So hopefully the information that I'm able to provide through this podcast can be informative and helpful that you can now create your dream home. So I hope you enjoy and thanks for watching.

So, Norm, in this episode, I want to talk about homeowners choosing their builders. What key factors should homeowners consider when it comes to making the best decision to choosing the right builder for them?

Yeah, I guess it's important that people understand that not every builder is the same, you know, so every builder is completely different. You know, everybody builds a different style of home. You know, some people might specialize more in double story homes, some people on stumps, some people, you know, might be more of a Hampton style. Like, there's many different styles and, you know, looks and things there. But a lot of builders, you know, get compared to being equally the same. And it couldn't be any further from the truth, you know, it's more like an apple to a banana to an orange, you know, so it comes down to when you're looking at building, you need to be looking for the builder that specialize in your style and what you're wanting specifically. So if you're looking at engaging a builder and trying to find the right builder there, you know, if you do your groundwork there and see some of the past constructions that they have done and you think, oh, look, you know, that's a bit of a fit, you know, for yourself there, you know, Reach out to them. But if you're engaging a builder and they've never constructed what you're looking at, you got to sort of question, are they going to be a good fit for what you're wanting?

Yeah, absolutely. What I guess on that, why would it be important for people to look beyond the price? Like, if they're looking at a quiet versus acquired, you know, why is it, why is it important for homeowners to look beyond just that price?

Yeah, look, if people are sort of just comparing builders by price, like, it's almost like when you go buy a car, you know, like you, you don't compare a car just by price from one mate to the next make. They're all going to have different ingredients and different features in those cars. So you can't compare them, you know, equally the same, you know, and unfortunately, you know, a lot of people do get caught up and trying to compare things equally that aren't equal, you know, but when it comes down to, you know, comparing things on price, you might find that just so you've got two prices here, that the dearer price might actually be giving you more value for money than the cheaper price actually is. Like, that dearer price might be able to be compared to the cheaper price if they compared things equally. So it's about understanding what you're actually getting in the actual build itself and the expertise of that builder and what they actually craft and deliver themselves.

I mean, you speak to a lot of homeowners throughout Bundaberg and I'm sure you hear a lot of stories as well. But what would you say is probably the biggest, I'll say, mistake that homeowners make when choosing a builder?

Look, we have come across customers in the past that have built before and, you know, they've now come to us to build them their home and they've shared stories that they've built with someone and they never got to have a choice of, you know, what their fixtures and fittings were or their, their locks or their floor cabinets, or if they did have a choice, it's only A, B or C to select from, you know, So I guess that's where people learn through that there into an expensive exercise going down that path. But not all builders are going to offer the, the flexibility and the customization, you know, that some customers want. Some people are quite happy just having, you know, a smaller range to select from. It really comes down to what you're wanting from your home to the, the builder that you should be selecting.

I mean, what, what's what's, what are some practical ways for, for people to do this? I mean, is it a, is it a game of just going through people's different websites, looking at past testimonials, looking at Google reviews, looking at, you know, videos or how can people actually make a better decision? And at what point do you kind of got to stop looking at the marketing and sort of get down to what really matters?

Yeah, look, it's probably like the deer in the headlight sort of stuff there. Like you should be looking for a builder that is proactively educating the industry in itself there. But yes, you know, you've got websites and, you know, billboards and things like you mentioned there. But once you sort of start narrowing down who you feel might be a good fit, then it's a matter of testing the waters with those couple of builders that you think are a good fit and seeing if they're actually going to be the right choice for yourself. By ringing them up, setting up a meeting, you know, going down the path of asking all your questions and concerns and seeing who you relate more to, you know, having good discussions with another building company there, they should be able to put your mind at ease with what your requirements are and the direction you're wanting to go.

Are there any red flags like in that process? They figure, oh, crikey, straight away, if you see like what are some of those red flags at the moment? You seem like, oh, there's a tell.

Sign look, real simple telltale signs. There is if your builder is going to be a good fit, therefore you like, obviously communication is a big thing and running your project on time. So if you feel there's a builder that you think could potentially be a good fit with yourself, simply give them a call, you know, and leave a message, send an email and see how long it takes them to get back to you. You know, if they're not quick to respond or you know, open to be communicating like that in the early stages, how is that going to go through a construction process? You know, are they actually going to be able to communicate you through the whole staging of the build? So doing little tests like that at the initial start, you know, it could be a good way to save a lot of money to see if they're going to be the right fit. They might look like they're a good fit on paper and like I said before, they might have the big flashing lights and their billboards there, but it's the customer service there, you know, and there's further things you can do even in Your meeting, when you sit down with the builder, ask them the hard truths of things, ask your questions and concerns, see how they actually answer your questions. And if you feel that it's a validated response, well, you're taking great steps forward to building a good relationship to construct a beautiful home. If they're moving around a bit and avoiding the question and you know, not quite fulfilling, you know, your response to what you're wanting there, you've got to start asking, are they actually the right fit for you or not?

I mean, does, does the size of the building company matter?

Look, I think the size of the building company doesn't necessarily matter depending on what you're wanting. But I do believe.

They need to be a reputable founded building company.

You know, like there's some fantastic builders, you know, starting up and we've all got a crawl before we walk a little bit as well. But it's important to sort of see that they are investing in themselves and their company as well. Like, you know, you really need to be looking for someone that's been around, you know, the industry for a while. You'll soon be able to figure that out by actually having conversations with them because they should be able to be very helpful and give you other suggestions and ideas. But you know, generally speaking, you know, if they have a shop front, you know, an office complex or someone, a professional little residence there for you to go to, you know, they've invested themselves in the market and they're obviously going to be around more than just the one builder or a couple of years. Unfortunately, you can sort of see a lot of people still working out of backs of trailers and bits and pieces. And there's no disrespect to them not being good carpenters, but they've also got to have the tools around them to be able to run a successful professional building company as well. And we do find a lot of those sorts of ones that don't have the facilities nor the skills there to be able to facilitate the, the full package of what's required to run a successful building company.

I mean, could it be a, you know, you've got these guys out of the back of the ute, then you've got, as you said, a professional storefront. Is, does it get to a point where these larger volume builders, how different will the experience be for them? So if I'm, if I'm a family, I'm looking to choose a builder and I'm wanting a personal relationship with my builder. We're looking to build our forever Home.

Is it?

Is it? Would you suggest that it's wise going with these larger kind of companies where you, you know, they've done, they're pumping out 60 to 100 builds a year.

Or look, you know, go into a larger project building company that may be a good fit for some people. Do you know what I mean? It really comes down to the investment that they're willing to make and the overall quality of the home they're wanting. You know, if they're purely focused on quality, having the flexibility of change and having that forever home that the attention to detail has been put in there, a smaller, independent custom design building company is going to be by far a better fit for that. Whereas if you're sort of looking at potentially just getting a home and, you know, moving on in a couple of years and you're not, not too phased about the overall finishes, you know, potentially you're more of a project builder, you know, may be a better fit for them.

Yep. Love it. So what, what final advice would you give? It sounds like the best steps to take when choosing a build a few is work out what you want then, then create a short list of builders, contact them, get, start, get getting to know them, create a bit of an action plan, process of elimination with them, find any early red flags and begin talking. Begin talking?

Yeah. 100. Yeah. You know, like, obviously once you begin that conversation, once you've deselected all the other builders and you're moving forward, the ones that you believe might be a good fit there and going through your own little process of what's more important to you and what you think that builder is going to bring to the table and offer to yourself there is really important. But look, the biggest thing is that you've got to feel comfortable because the journey that you're on, it is a long journey and you also want to be able to have that confidence that even after the home is completed, you can still reach out to your builder and have that great relationship with them. Yep.

So even post construction is just as important.

Most definitely. It's probably more important than the pre construction, to be honest. Like, like a good building company should always stand by their product and be there to support their customers.

Yeah, love that. Well, on that note, Norm, I'm going to get to our get to know you Norm question and we're going to wrap up this episode.

All righty.

Thank you, sir. All right. Question of the day.

Okay, Norm, what's something you used to believe strongly in but your opinion has changed over time?

That's an interesting question.

Yeah.

Look, I believe.

It might have to be down to like the technology route there. Like. Okay.

You know, I've never, never been a huge. In the early days of technology, you know, just thinking that it's, it was all for the worst. You know, there's been some features and benefits of it but I truly do believe they're now like the, the power of technology and where things have evolved and grown to like it's, you know, a very fascinating place and time that we live in at the moment. So yeah, I believe that my mindset has shifted a lot to, you know, the technology aspect of things. Like I guess it was, you know, when we first had, you know, our daughter there and I thought to myself, oh look, I don't want to be a, you know, a tablet person or you know, playing games and those sorts of things there. But I guess as time went on, you know, allowing them to use a tablet for the activities and the learning and the knowledge that you can get from, you know, those sorts of things there, it's very empowering. So I think it's a balance between it there. But yeah, I'd say the technology aspect of, you know, allowing that growth and the continuation of that. So it's probably shifted quite the opposite way there now. Cuz I'm very big on all the new advancements and how things are. So I think it's just a matter of finding the right tools and the technology that's out there to that's most suitable.

Love it. Super insightful. So as always, thanks Norm.

Thanks mate, appreciate it. Cheers.