Dealing with a home builder and building your retirement home can be stressful, and there are a few traps for the unwary.  I received a call this week from a client who owns a gorgeous high bluff water front lot on Bainbridge Island.  She and her husband are near retirement, and they found a home builder on the Island and began making plans to build their dream home.  This home will be the fulfillment of a long term plan they have had for many years to build their financial security for their retirement years and then to build their ultimate home and live happily ever after.  That’s the plan for most of us, right?

Home Builder Nightmare

Unfortunately, as they began striking up conversations with people on the Island, they learned their home builder had a trail of bad relationships, unpaid subcontractors, and a questionable history as a home builder.  And then they found out that their house was to be the last home the builder intended to build.  He was planning to move overseas.  I’ve said it before, and I’m compelled to say it again, “Truth is stranger than fiction.  You simply can’t make this stuff up!”

Unfortunately, they had advanced the builder $6,500.  Fortunately, they had not signed a contract yet, and so they would only lose the $6,500.  They can ask for it back, of course, but they’ll never see a dollar of that money.  There’s no doubt about that.  I practiced real estate law for 20 years, and I’ve seen this same scenario many times.  The attorney’s fees to chase the money would exceed any recovery, but typically the builder has already spent the money anyway.  This is an example of a case when it is a good time to cut one’s losses and chalk it up to an expensive education.

Finding a Good Home Builder

Finding a good builder is something I’ve written about extensively.  I’ve written about the exact scenario above and other similar nightmares, and I’ve described precisely how to avoid these traps for the unwary and how to find and identify the best home builder.  Here are some of those articles.  These articles were written with 20 plus years of experience of hearing from hundreds of clients, each of whom had trouble working with a home builder.  You could say that the lessons in these articles, and the other articles on this blog about building and working with contractors, cost many people hundreds of thousands of dollars from the school of hard knocks.  Why not take advantage of the lessons they paid for, and from which you can now benefit at . . . let’s see, how much?  Oh, absolutely free on this real estate blog.

• Sequim Home Builder: Price Guarantee
• Sequim Home Builder Does it Again
• Who Should I Hire First – Architect or Builder?
• Your Sequim Home Builder and Quality
• Home Builder Needs Adult Supervision – True Story

Home Builder Works With Architect

You might wonder how the client in the story above found that builder.  Their architect gave that builder a high recommendation.  Turns out there may be a cozy relationship between the two.  Great.  I wrote a very important article about the danger of hiring an architect first, and it is a very real problem.  Read the article above about “Who Should I Hire First – Architect or Builder?”  If you read that article, you’ll see a very ugly comment from an architect who tells me how out to lunch I am.  Since the client above just lived through the exact scenario I described in that article,  I would say I may be wet, but if I am it is just a little dampness.  [P.S. I have nothing against the architectural profession, just against dishonest or unethical individuals.  Every profession has a few of those.]

If you are planning to hire a Sequim home builder, I recommend you talk to Rick Anderson of Anderson Homes, LLC.  He is, in fact, a man of integrity, not to mention a really great custom home builder.

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Finding and hiring a good Sequim home builder is the most important step in building your retirement home in the Sequim or Port Angeles area.  There’s another way to say that.  Hiring the wrong builder could create a nightmare you do not want to have.  Building your retirement home should be a positive experience, although any major transition and project will necessarily involve some stress.  I’ve talked with many clients who had wonderful experiences, and I’ve talked with clients who experienced the nightmares.  This short video highlights the two most important keys to understanding the process of looking for and hiring a Sequim home builder.

Sequim Home Builder

Sequim Home Builder Cost Plus

Most builders use cost-plus contracts.  I strongly recommend that you use a builder who is honest and confident enough to guarantee the contract price up front.  The trap for the unwary is the builder who gets you to sign a contract based on the fact that it is the lowest bid, and then he surprises you with “extras” and “change orders” during the construction process that you did not agree to.

Sequim Home Builder

The materials used by a builder should be carefully listed in the spec manual, but I’ve seen a lot of spec manuals and the vast majority of Sequim home builders and builders around the country do not use a complete spec manual listing all the materials they will use to build your home.  That leaves them a lot of discretion, and a lot of room to cut corners and still comply with the contract you signed.

I’d be delighted to discuss how to hire a Sequim home builder and how to compare bids, and as your buyer’s agent, I can help you do that.  Email your questions, and I’ll be glad to find your Sequim home builder.

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Sequim home builder Rick Anderson has done it again.  This beautiful Sequim custom home was just completed on schedule and within the guaranteed contract price.  But then Rick has built over 400 homes in the Sequim and Port Angeles area since 1981, and with the best project manager and crews, Rick has a stellar record of completing homes within the construction time period of six months.  This home was completed in under five months.

The reason I write so enthusiastically about this Sequim home builder, Rick Anderson, is because what he does is not the standard, and how he works with his clients is not the standard.  His standards are so much higher than other builders, I wish more retirees could know all that goes on behind the scenes of the home building industry and on a building site during construction.

Sequim Home Builder Quality

Here’s a dirty little secret:  All custom homes are not built with the same quality.  In other words, every Sequim home builder is not the same.  As a Realtor I have learned from home builders and contractors how to look for quality and how to examine a home under construction.  When your eyes are opened and you begin to discern the differences in materials and workmanship, a whole new world opens up.  The difference in quality and workmanship of this Sequim home builder is far ahead of the crowd of builders out there.  What amazes me is that his contract price per square foot is so often less than other Sequim home builders, but retirees don’t typically know how to do an apples vs. apples comparison with contracts and specification manuals.

Sequim Home Builder Completes Home in Less Than 5 Months

Sequim Home Builder Has Highest Customer Satisfaction

I’ve known many home builders and how they manage their projects and how they contract and work with their clients.  Rick Anderson wouldn’t sleep at night if he did not continue to build quality and give every single client honesty and integrity throughout the project.  Rick Anderson does have a website where you can look at home plans, photos, and read articles and testimonies at RickAndersonHomes.com.  I know this builder and I unabashedly recommend him as your Sequim home builder.  In fact, I am planning to have him build my own home.

You can see more photos of this beautiful home following the entire construction from beginning to end at RickCrimmel.com.

Sequim Home Builder and Price Per Square Foot

Retirees still are having their homes built in the Sequim and Port Angeles area, and the main reason is that they can’t find a retirement home that is the ideal floor plan and quality of home in the location they want.  In the current market you can probably find an existing home at a price somewhat less than the price per square foot of building your ideal retirement home, but . . . what price do you put on living in the perfect custom home for the rest of your life?  If you’re custom home cost $40,000 more than an existing home for sale that wasn’t exactly what you wanted, would it be worth $40,000 to have your dream home for the rest of your life?

Photos by Chuck Marunde taken with the permission of Sequim home builder Rick Anderson.

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I am neither an architect nor a home builder, but in all my work I have always had a sincere desire to seek the truth, wherever that may lead.  As a real estate attorney for 20 years I saw repeating patterns in which consumers kept getting the short stick in their relationships with other professionals (lawyers, accountants, financial advisers, architects, contractors, real estate agents, auto mechanics, and the list goes on).  After years of recognizing the pattern that was far from consumer-centric, I learned to ask new questions.  I learned that it was not wise to assume, but much wiser to do one’s due diligence and to carefully reconsider conventional wisdom.

It is conventional wisdom that if you are planning to have your next home built,  you should first hire an architect.  It is that part of me that has been through the school of hard knocks on behalf of hundreds of clients who got hurt by such assumptions, that causes me to question it and to review the entire process and experiences of many who have gone before.

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We know lot sales are down and new home construction has been slow, but are Sequim or Port Angeles contractors building homes?  The answer is yes.  Rick Anderson, founder of Anderson Homes, LLC, is building homes.  Rick has built over 400 homes in Clallam County since 1981, and has a reputation for quality homes at affordable prices.  It is almost certain that Rick Anderson has the highest customer satisfaction rate of any local home builder, and I can say that because hundreds of clients talk to me about their builder experiences.  There are other good builders, but I know of no other builder who has so many clients who are truly pleased with the end product and the entire process.

This photo was taken as the sun is setting across the tree tops.  When a home is under construction, it is hard to tell what it will look like as a completed home, but stay tuned because we are going to provide you with a video of the entire construction process of this home when it is complete.

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How do you know if your Sequim home builder will really build your retirement home with the kind of quality you have dreamed about for years?  Of course, one answer is that you won’t until you are living in it for a while.  The other answer, which is the better one is to find a home builder whom you are certain can guarantee that you will get the custom home you have dreamed about for so long.

You will know right away if your home was built with quality and attention to detail right after you move in, and typically you will have an opportunity to give the builder a checklist up to the point at which the one year warranty period ends.  In this article I’m going to share a little insider knowledge with you, but I think you will see the clear logic of what I share.

Some home builders around the country advertise that their home warranty team will come  after you move in and fix anything that wasn’t built right the first time.  That’s not how they phrase it.  The advertisements make it sound like this is a special benefit that only this builder offers, and that you should realize how lucky you are to have this warranty team to fix your home.  Frankly,  if I was a builder, I wouldn’t be advertising that I couldn’t get it right the first time.  The fact that a builder has to send carpenters to fix things in your home, and that this is part of his business model ought to tell you something.  Apparently there are so many things wrong in so many of their homes, they have to have a  regular repair team.  (By the way, you don’t need a home warranty team to fix standard fixes like screw heads that have punched through Sheetrock.)

If you hire the best custom home builder, your home will be nearly perfect when you move in.  There simply won’t be a list of problems to fix, because the quality builder has his own quality control right up to the walk-through before you move in.  Once you’ve been living in your new home for up to a year, you may have things that need to be fixed, but with a quality builder these will not be construction defects.  They will be simple things like a screw head that has popped through the plaster.  New homes do expand and shrink, and minor Sheetrock repair is normal.  The other noticeable issue will be small hairline cracks in the concrete floor in the garage.  In fact, a few small cracks in concrete are to be expected–this is the rule rather than the exception.  Concrete shrinkage is normal, but major cracks or droppage by a quarter of an inch is not normal.  That would indicate the subsurface was not properly filled and/or compacted.

Most builders do offer a one year home warranty.  That’s good because there may be some normal things that do need fixing.  But we’re not talking about major problems because the home wasn’t built right.  A one year warranty checklist might include an examination of the following items:  driveway, sidewalk, front stoop, patio, landscape/grading, siding, trim, windows, doors (including threshold, weatherstripping, locks), roof shingles, gutters and downspouts, flashings, deck, caulking, heat and a/c, electrical, and any Sheetrock issues in the house.

When you are interviewing builders in Sequim or Port Angeles, I recommend asking about their warranty, but it should be a red flag for you if the builder starts talking about how he has a regular crew of repairmen who come to fix all of your home’s problems right after you move in.  If that’s a standard practice, then defects are also standard.

Looking for a quality custom home builder?  Call me or email me for a referral.  You will not be disappointed.

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