Homebuilder reviews. Anyone know of sites i can look at?

[rootaxs]

With rates going down and home prices forecasted to be more affordable my family thought it should be wise to start looking, at the very least, for new homes.

In that regard, does anyone know of any good homebuilders and/or review sites? Our top picks at this moment are Beazer Homes, Ryland Homes and Perry Homes.

Any other info is gladly appreciated.

Thanks

 

[rahvin]

Build your own style, don't go with the 6 house plan crap you get from those big developers. Find a set of plans you like (there are a lot of places that have 10,000 house plans), hire a contractor and build a house (after you buy property).

 

[rootaxs]

Sounds like a good deal. But i'd still need to know which homebuilder and/or contractor to go with. Any ideas on where i can get some reviews for them? Or perhaps some government/consumer organization that might?

Thanks for the tip

 

[rahvin]

The problem with choosing contractors is that 90% of them are theives. When you go for the big builders you trade in half the theivery for 50% lower quality work. I can't tell you how to pick a contractor. Myself I would do the general contracting myself and handle everything (it requires a lot of time), General's typically charge 5k-15k (that's a lot of savings). Finding good contractors and sub-contractors is generally really hard to do.

The general rule of thumb I have heard is find a good honest drywall contractor and ask him about good framers. Use his recommendations to find a good framer and ask the framer who does good foundations, etc...

If you do the generaling yourself be prepared for a lot of hassle with guys that say they will charge $x, then end up charging you $y and not finishing the work. (and never ever pay them all the money till they are done, in fact never give them enough money that it's cost effective for them to cut tail and run on you).

The big thing you need to do is start asking around. Talk to people that have built recently, hang out at home depot. And DEFINATELY educate yourself about the costs, risks and what you want BEFORE you start.

PS always ask for references and call the references and ask detailed and pointed questions about their satisfaction with the work, ask if you can come by and look.