I'm sorry to hear of your experience with this builder/developer. Unfortunately, this happens sometimes. The first thing you will want to do is verify if there are any restrictions on builders you can use. Sometimes, developers will have a handful of "approved" builders that you have to use in their developments. From there, you can interview from the approved list. You will also want to make sure what types of restrictions there are on the types/sizes of homes that can be built in the development. Also check for any other restrictions that apply to homes/property in the development. Some of the things that are included in those covenants are unbelievable (type/color of fencing, front door color, where and what you can park in the driveway or on the street, etc. Basically, just make 100% sure you want to live in this particular development and that you can deal with the covenants and restrictions that will apply. It would be shame to do all the legwork to find an approved builder you feel you can trust to build your house and then realize that the development restrictions were not something you could live with. I know you liked the house this guy built...just know that the plan may not be a stock plan, but one he commissioned to be designed which means he owns the rights to it & does not have to share it with you. If it's his design, to get that house, you will need to either find a similar house plan and make any changes you desire or start from scratch with an architect/designer/draftsman. If you can use any builder you want, start asking friends, family and neighbors. Don't overlook service companies/trades that you are familiar with as well. For example, the owner of the heating & air company/plumber/electrician, etc. that you have used in the past may be able to point you to some good builders that will work with you. (Remember to do your own homework on the referrals you interview for the job...don't just accept your family members'/ friends'/ neighbors word for the builder. Watch a couple episodes of 'Holmes on Homes' on HGTV & you'll see why I say that.) I understand you wanting the most bang for your buck (esp. in these economic times). Hopefully the builder will also understand that he has to remain competitive. I'm not sure how things are going in your area right now, but in many areas of the US, the foreclosures have pushed the comps for appraisals way down and builders aren't able to build a new construction home for the comparables' price per sq. ft. This will mean you will need to come up with the difference, or the builder will have to lower his price. Materials & labor costs tend to be down right now so lowering the price (from where they were just 1-2 years ago) shouldn't be a problem unless the builder is trying to get the maximum bang for his buck as well. With the way things are in the building industry right now, many of the fly by night / not reliable / shoddy quality builders and subs have been put out of business. Many of those that are stable, reliable and have good quality and customer service are still in business (albeit considerably slower business than in the past) for the most part. With that being said, I'm certain there are at least a few stragglers on both sides, so definitely do your homework on any potential builder/sub. Hope this helps! Good luck!

Smilemkr, I think it depends on the situation, but I hear you about the progress being slow. It sounds like your build could be going faster, but time optimization and efficiency aren't the main goal of most builders. Let's face it, if every builder timed things perfectly, hired a good crew of subs, planned perfectly, had all materials on hand, etc., and weather wasn't a complete disaster, they could easily complete a house like yours in 5-6 months, IMHO. I'm sure everybody has experienced this--days on end, when little to no work gets done on your house. My DH jokes that Mondays are off days for our workers bc NOTHING gets done on Mondays for some reason. Anyway, it sounds like things could be going much faster for you. Our last house sounds similar to yours. It was 2913 sq. ft, with nothing too fancy, but was completely custom. Our builder broke ground in the complete dead of winter at the end of January in Wisconsin, and we were in by June 24. It was a wonderfully built solid house, and we loved living in it. As for speeding things up, I wish I had the answer to that! I would apply it to my own build! A couple things we did that we felt helped was to make our builder write out a fairly detailed schedule for the build that set out a realistic timeline for the build so that both of us had concrete expectations on when the home would be done. That way, when things got off track, we could at least refer to it and ask him whether he was falling off his OWN schedule. We would also point out other builds in the area and ask him about the progress of our house in relation to theirs. As we got closer to the end, we set a move-in date, told him we booked the movers (which we did), and that we were planning on moving in on that date. As he got closer to completion, we started doing things around the house, which kind of put the pressure on him to get going. For example, my DH started installing garage storage on the walls of our garage, we started hanging curtain rods (not the curtains, just the rods), we started cutting out cupboard liners, etc. Anyway, I think this really kept him on track, but even with that, we are about 1 week away from the scheduled issuance of the CO and 2 weeks away from actual move-in, and we are STILL nervous that we aren't going to quite make it. There are a LOT of little things that need to get done, and since nobody works on Monday, we lose a day... Anyway good luck, and hang in there!

Jeld Wen makes several levels of windows just like Andersen does so it is unwise to just compare brand names. (The Jeld Wen models used to be separate brands called Pozzi, Norco & Caradco) Jeld-Wen also makes all PVC windows. If you want wood windows but don't want to paint them your choices are aluminum clad or PVC clad. Only Andersen makes PVC clad window frames and the sash is covered with Fibrex (a PVC & wood fiber composite similar to Trex decking) on the 400 Woodwright and "Flexicron" paint on the 400 TiltWash and 200 TiltWash (no, it's not a "cladding", but a tough PPG epoxy paint). The 200 Narrowline sash is just painted; please don't use this window. Of these Andersen windows I would only consider the 400 Woodwright to be worthy of putting in a house I was going to live in. The other models just have too ugly a muntin (grille) design and poor sash cladding. The 200 TiltWash has a particularly poor sill design requiring an additional custom sill nosing to prevent it from leaking. I don't believe you would be paying more for Andersen because of its name, but because of the way that it is mass marketed the price is unpredictable. (I priced some Andersen windows at Home Depot and as I was leaving the salesman told me he would drop the price 10%.) The primary disadvantage of the 400 Woodwright is that it is only available in 4 pretty mundane colors. Aluminum windows are generally available in 20 or more standard colors and unlimited custom colors. Andersen bought Eagle Windows so they could reach the "upper end" market dominated by aluminum clad windows. I would consider Andersen to be a good middle of the road product for a reasonable price if you buy it from the right source. Make sure your contractor is not marking them up excessively. I have found this to be the case when they have recommended the 200 series which are heavily discounted to contractors. Aluminum cladding is applied in two ways: 1) a sheet wrapped over the wood base (roll-form) and 2) an extrusion applied to the wood base. To me only the extruded method is acceptable because the roll-form tends to have poor joints and can trap water so the wood rots. For me that eliminates a lot of window models. I believe many builders will tell you anything to get you to use their favorite window from their favorite supplier so I would not rely on their opinion entirely but they should know a lot about the suppliers. Your architect might or might not know a lot about windows. I've used the Woodwright twice with good results but only when the color was not an issue (they delivered the wrong color for one of the jobs). I've gotten good pricing with Eagle (aluminum clad) but there were some problems with leaking glass seals so I wouldn't use them on the ocean again. I won't use anything from Pella; sorry if that offends anyone. I've used Jeld-Wen's unclad middle window (Norco) with good results. I can't remember if the top of the line is extruded but I doubt there is a saving over Marvin. I don't recommend anything from Harvey Industries because they look really bad on the inside. Most of my projects use Marvin but that's largely because people who use me are usually willing to pay more for windows although that may now be a thing of the past. The Ultimate Double-Hung is an exceptional window. It may be expensive but it's not overpriced. Oddly it needs a custom sill nosing because of the poor sill overhang and that adds cost too. I sometimes use an aluminum clad sash in an unclad wood frame for clients that are picky about maintaining a traditional/historic appearance because the exterior trim can be installed at the factory the old-fashioned way. I believe Marvin and Eagle are the only companies that offer that option. I have also used all wood windows from Boston Sash when cost was more important than maintenance (my own vacation house). They even make a wood window with a balance system completely hidden in the sash. I once asked if they could provide cedar, cypress or composite sills and/or trim and they said to bring them whatever I liked and they would use it. On one occasion Marvin's extruded aluminum clad awning window above a kitchen sink was cheaper than Harvey's Majestic roll-form aluminum clad awning window. You can't know the cost of anything until you ask for a quote. Make a window schedule and shop it around. There are some folks on the Window Form who can help if they are still active there.

About four or five years ago, I had a home designed by an architect, and he recommended a builder, whom I thought was wonderful . Unfortunately, the price came to $450,000, whether just the price the architect estimated, or when relying on that builder. And you just KNOW things will end up costing more. The location I was/am building in does NOT support a home priced at half a million, more or less -- we're really rural -- and I didn't want to spend that much at any rate. So... I hung back for a couple more years, and went with a log kit company. Between the log kit design modifications, and the builder's estimate, the price was estimated at $280,000 when I signed off last year. Due to extras I want, EITHER home would have ended up costing more -- I figure with these things my home will cost about $325,000 when done. (The square footage from both designs is about the same. Also, same property and same siting.) Two contractor/builders were recommended to me for what I intended now to do. (experience with log home construction in general, and more especially with the company supplying my own log home set-up). I went with the one who got back to me promptly and with interest towards this job. And he's been awesome. It's been slow, but a lot of this has been rural permitting issues where the folks who sign off on these things have limited working hours.