Our approach may be a little different, but this is what we did to find our builder. Maybe it'll give you an idea of more questions to ask. Before we even visited with a builder, something we did was to go around and visit all of the spec homes that were on the market in our desired neighborhood. We just went around looking at design and quality of workmanship. We also had some bad weather come through and so then we drove out the next day to see what lots/roads (if any) were flooding. When we finally got around to interviewing builders, we asked questions about the neighborhood and what they would suggest for building on certain lots. For us, it was kind of telling that certain builders would just go ahead and build on certain lots. Some suggested bringing in a lot of fill which we didn't like. The builder we finally went with admitted that he didn't want to build on those lots because he thought they were too low and flooding would be an issue. Since, we had also gone through the spec houses previously, we had already scoped out potential problems. Our builder had gone back around and touched up paint drips and little things that didn't look right. (No house is 100% perfect.) One builder 'just noticed' a board that had been pulled off for over two weeks. This guy also built several houses over a one year period while the builder we went with only builds a few houses a year. We wanted someone who cared about the quality of his work. We also looked at functionality of the houses we went into. It's true that all of the builders can take a plan and build it, but we wanted someone who could look at a plan and would help us make changes because something didn't work right. For instance, if you have doors banging into each other or a 'dead' room, it's nice to get it corrected before the walls go up and you get to pay the price of a 'change order' or have to live the results. We showed up with a general house cost we were willing to pay. We detailed quality of finishes as compared to the spec house to see if the builder was able to build a house within the price range we were able to pay. We ended up on the lower price end of what our builder normally builds, but we haven't ended up with an inferior house. We've made sure that our house has good design. We'll upgrade finishes later if we decide we want it. Some of the common upgraded finishes really aren't functional within our daily lives. For instance, I have three elementary age kids. My kids would totally ruin a faux paint finish in the first month. It's popular in my neighborhood for bathrooms to have river rock pebbles in the showers. I am not a maid and I have no desire to clean soap scum out of the grout so we went with the easier cleaning options. When you're visiting houses with a game room upstairs, send the kids upstairs to play. See if the tromping of little feet over your head annoys you. Many of the houses in our neighborhood look like castles. We don't want or need a castle. All we really want/need is a ranch style house. We started with a box and had a designer add a few things to the exterior to make it look like we belonged in the neighborhood. The result is actually nice. We have a lot of people driving by and taking pictures of our house. I don't think in this economy that you'll have a problem finding a builder willing to go more simplistic in style. You're money coming in and if they want business, they'll work with that.

And I think not readily agreeing to everything recommended is a good thing too. However, a critical element missing here that's there in the real world is trust. Most questions, be it about a window trim color or a design for a $600k build, are just thrown out there with really no leap of faith required by the poster as to reevaluating their thinking in the context of alternate advice received. In the real world, when one comes to another for advice, there's usually some sort of compensation involved. Now please don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that should happen here and I can say for myself and probably for many of the other architects here I don't make recommendations here for glory, sometimes I've even put pen to paper! But in the real world that compensation represents far more than just an owner paying my bills. It represents the critical element of trust. An owner has put something on the table to hear or see yet unspoken or see undrawn advice. And that's a leap of faith. The element of trust is inherent in the relationship. A key ingredient, perhaps THE key ingredient to a successful project, is owner trust. During my initial meeting with an owner they will often reveal their ability or inability to trust others. More so, whatever is on the table also serves as a strong indicator that the owner recognizes a skill set that they are deficient in. In design forum like this one the potential to incorporate that critical element of trust is very small. Sure, there have been ample success stories here so don't misunderstand me in thinking I'm detracting from those. After all, there's a reason I actually provide a drawn solution on this forum from time to time!! But for each success story here the numbers are legion where it's "Trainwreck in.....trainwreck out" because there's been no leap of faith required as to the value of alternate advice. The project is just thrown out there with it being very easy to discount advise with just a simple "Nope". Sometimes there's sixty "Nopes" by the OP to sixty different suggestions!!! And all the above is ok. I don't fall on my sword here like I would in the real world where I'm passionate about best spending an owners six figure sum the best way possible. Here, I just move on. I'm just sayin', for better or worse, the internet environment is different than the real world environment and it is what it is. Oops!! Suns up!! Time to head out for a run!!

Hi There, I was hoping there might be some hungry home builders in the Charleston/Edisto area that are looking for work. I have encountered a couple "out of towner" quotes for our lot on Edisto Island for our 1600sq ft plans. I am specifically looking for a HUNGRY home builder who wants new work. I have the PDF plans and can offer them to qualified builders who are interested in a new project and serious about taking it on.

Stick: If you need a school to do this, you do not need to be doing this. String: Get a job in construction and see if you can last 6 weeks as low guy on the totem pole. If you can, you'll get more teaching and training in the next year or two than any book course will teach you. Plus, you will get *paid* to learn. Carrot: If you choose a specialist master teaching course like plumbing, electrical, or HVAC, you will end up easily earning a 6 figure income, and could pay cash for your house in a few years time. My electrician out earns me, for sure.