Before you build a new home....

Are you aware of what building a new home really means?

Some important things to keep in mind before you choose to build.

1. Your home builder is not licensed. Homebuilding is an unregulated industry in Texas. Considering how complex the homebuilding process is, how serious the consequences are if it is done incorrectly, and how much of the consumers’ money is at stake, you might expect west Texas homebuilders to have to answer to some scrupulous regulatory authority. Unfortunately for the buyer, this is not the case. Business license in hand? You can be a builder, too!

2. In order for your West Texas homebuilder to build the houses with all those neat amenities the public is demanding, corners are cut. Low-quality and substandard construction techniques have always plagued the U.S. homebuilding industry.

3. West Texas home builders make profit off of quantity, not quality. Compare eating at your local fast food place to a fine restaurant. Your home builder makes a profit off of being more like the local fast food joint!.

4. The municipal inspectors will not protect you from your builder’s substandard work. City inspectors in West Texas are tasked with enforcing the minimal building codes adopted by their cities.

5. Your new home third-party warranty (that’s right, your builder farms these warranties out to others) may not protect you. West Texas home builders sometimes really hard-sell their 10-year warranties, as if they have considerable value. Read the fine print. Did you know that your structural warranty will only actually cover anything if the distress causes the house to become uninhabitable? Will that protect you in the event that you want to sell your home someday? Sorry, no.

6. Your West Texas home builder is not selling you a custom home most of the time, though they may call them custom anyway. Truly custom homes are designed by architects and constructed on property already owned by the person having the home built. All the rest are off-the-shelf production houses that bear little, if any resemblance to their custom cousins. These builders assume that the buyer doesn't know any better.

7. Your West Texas home builder’s “Builder of the Year” award is a joke. There are too many organizations to count that award these bogus titles. Most are either Texas builder organizations or subsidiary companies formed just for the purpose of distributing phony awards to their members.

8. Your West Texas home builder doesn't hire skilled craftsmen to build your new home. Most construction crews working for production builders are hired on a lowest bidder basis. Many are even crews headed by one maybe- knowledgeable tradesman and several laborers picked daily from a temp agency!

9. Your West Texas home builder doesn't know the building code, anyway. Along with all of the other negative aspects of being unregulated, your home builder isn't required to be certified in the adopted building codes. He relies upon his unskilled subcontractors to know how to perform the work at hand. I could elaborate at length about this one! You would not believe how many builders I've come across that have no idea how the home is built: again, see #1.

10. Your West Texas home builder will often attempt to convince a buyer that his own inspector will be inspecting your new house in an attempt to prevent you from hiring your own Licensed home inspector. Let me ask you, How independent can the builder’s inspector be if the builder is paying him?

In conclusion, don't fall for it! Hire a LICENSED PRO! Protect yourself & your investment!