Alright, let’s talk building! Building and buying a home is one the most emotionally charged decisions a person will make, on par with marriage or having a child. A home is a refuge from the world and a place to raise a family. Once the decision is made and ground is broken, the home buyer lies awake at night thinking about the first Christmas dinner in the new dining room, or summer barbeques on the three-level deck overlooking the Intracoastal Waterway, or fresh herbs from the herb garden outside the kitchen door.
For most people, building and buying a home will also be the largest financial investment they make in their lifetime – an investment that hopefully brings them a good bit of money down the road and contributes to an easier retirement. Building a house is a decision fraught with financial pitfalls and potential disasters. But, people fall in love with houses in a way that they never fall in love with a portfolio of stocks and bonds. It’s a fact of life: Homes are an enormous financial commitment, but far more emotionally charged than any other investment.
Building a dream house is a process that has one side of the brain screaming blue walls, Palladian windows, vaulted ceiling, morning sun, and hardwood floors while the other side of the brain is screaming points, construction loan, closing costs, HVAC bid, and market appreciation. The two sides of the brain may be in conflict with each other. It’s easy to let emotions blind us to cold facts about the market or the realities of building and ownership. That one set of emotional needs are prioritized over others may not be evident at first. But ignoring them can lead to bad financial decisions that can affect the homeowner for decades to come. It is imperative that the decision be entered into with expert advice. It is imperative that the process is entered into with eyes wide open and the sales executives at the Trembley Group can help.
For instance, people might focus on their desire for a house that’s a certain size or style, but ignore the fact that they want to spend as much time as possible with family. So, they buy the “perfect” house that requires them to make an hour-long daily commute to work and keeps them away from home an extra two hours each day.
The sales executives at The Trembley Group are dedicated to making a home building project a smooth, low-stress, and enjoyable experience. Our sales executives work closely with our clients through every level of consideration, to help them fully establish all the personal, financial and emotional requirements of a custom dream home.
The Trembley Group sales executives try to help our custom home clients enjoy the building process as much as possible! While mistakes will be made and there will be stressful days, there will also be days of complete joy and excitement watching the dream home take shape. It is amazing to see a vision come to life in front of your eyes. One goal is to help homeowners enjoy the process and enjoy all the little things that are part of that process. Well managed, there will be lots of them.
An experienced and productive Trembley Group Real Estate sales executive will have many resources. They have contacts for financing, decor, material options, and will be familiar with the trends that will make a home more saleable down the road. Builders sometimes want to narrow options to manage the time they spend on construction. But not always — some are very in tune with trends and advise marvelously. A sales executive can be a confirming voice or know when to encourage stretching a builder’s comfort zone to achieve a goal.
Managing the loan process, the closing setup, and the building progression to keep the loan lock on track are just a few of the details a Trembley Group sales executive will be focused on as a homeowner’s Myrtle Beach dream home take shape. A well-trained and experienced sales executive can add enormous value to the home building process through their negotiation and oversight.
It’s not uncommon to experience a few moments of panic. The process of building a home can seem pretty overwhelming. From start to finish there is a long list of considerations.
Grading and site preparation
Foundation construction
Framing
Installation of windows and doors
Rough HVAC
Underlayment
Trim
Finish electrical
Bathroom and kitchen counters and cabinets
Finish plumbing
Carpet and flooring
Finish HVAC
Hookup to water main, or well drilling
Hookup to sewer or installation of a septic system
Punch list
If any process is broken down into a series of simple little steps, it is an easy matter to get from point A to point B. The same can be said for building a house. Taken one step at a time, it is easy to get from grading to punch list.
Here are six tips that will simplify the complicated home building process for the best possible home building experience:
1. First things first
First things first, is always the best policy, but especially when building a house. Since a particular house plan, a home’s layout, a home’s lot-placement, and a lot’s topography, size, and shape, all need to complement each other, it’s a good idea to make a builder selection prior to even purchasing a lot. A professional at The Trembley Group can offer expert advice based on years of professional experience. The Trembley Group sales executives deal with builders and hear feedback from their customers and other realtors on a daily basis. Angie’s List and the Better Business Bureau are also a good place for objective information.
Once a list has been narrowed, it’s a good idea to have conversations with a builder’s former customers to learn if the contractor kept on schedule and within budget. The former customers should be a mixture of brand-new and older ones. That will give a better sense of the durability of the contractor’s work and service over time.
2. Go for quality: selecting materials for your home
When building a home, a tempting way to cut costs is by opting for less expensive builder grade materials. The term “builder grade” is a bit misleading: Builders are technically using them, but by no means are these materials the best or in some cases even good. In many cases, they are the lowest quality material that will meet the local building code. In most instances, builder grade materials are of average quality like prefabricated cabinets. Using these types of products can mean the homeowners will be replacing them sooner and they will be showing wear and age sooner. This can end up costing more money overall than if they had just spent a little extra cash initially. Builder-grade cabinets, for example, would often be made of particle board with plywood backing, and the doors of the builder-grade cabinets might be particle board with a wood or plastic veneer.
Builder grade is the lowest rated of the grades of materials used in construction. The grades are builder-grade, quality-grade, custom grade and ultra-custom-grade.
Remember that this is a dream home and it will be a dream home for a very long time. The choices made will most likely be lived with until the house is resold. Builder-grade is less apt to last as long as quality or custom grade products. In overall construction, builder-grade means the most simple and bare bones materials, including everything – paint, light fixtures, plumbing fixtures, floor coverings, roof shingle composition, adhesives, etc.
3. Pricing and permits
The client and the contractor normally agree upon a price or a price range that encompasses the work to be done with the materials the homeowner specifies. This amount can increase if the homeowners make changes or upgrades once the project begins. These changes should be done through change-order paperwork that specifically spells out any additional costs involved.Permits should be pulled by the contractor, who will have knowledge of which permits need to be pulled and the necessary timelines associated with them.
4. Watching a home take shape: monitoring the project
One of the most exciting aspects of building a home is watching the home come out of the ground and take shape. A contractor should encourage the homeowner’s visits and welcome them to the job site. Their presence can help with the final product being exactly what they dreamed it would be.
Remember though, it’s also important for homeowners to realize that too constant of a presence can cause the project to undergo serious delays. A good contractor and a Trembley Group Sales Executive can help find the right balance.
5. Making the final inspection
Without a doubt, the most exciting part of the entire home building experience is the final inspection, where the new homeowners, accompanied by their representative, get to walk through the home, take everything in, and imagine living in the house for the very first time.
A Trembley Group professional can help a homeowner take full advantage of this opportunity. A Trembley Group Sales Executive can help make sure that all light fixtures, faucets, windows and major appliances are the correct choice and in good working order. It’s quite common for a contractor to have a small punch list after the final inspection. A sales executive can make sure requests for work are satisfied before closing.
6. Home warranties
In South Carolina, laws are in place that protect homeowners with a two-year warranty on a new home. Some defects are covered by an eight-year warranty. Items such as roofing, appliances, siding, windows, and gutters have warranties associated with them that should be understood prior to having them installed. Many contractors also include workmanship guarantees stating the installing contractor will take care of items that malfunction prematurely.
Home warranties can be complex and confusing. The Sales Executives at the Trembley Group are experienced at helping their clients negotiate the home building process in Myrtle Beach and along the Grand Strand. They are experts in the entire custom home building process and can help navigate the process from lot selection to closing and home warranties.
Anyone interested in building a home in Myrtle Beach or anywhere along the Grand Strand should keep watching The Trembley Group blog for more tips on negotiating the home building process. Next up, questions to ask when hiring a home builder.
Education about the home building process is vital. There are countless home building guides available in bookstores and online. But even with all the well-written guides, there is no substitute for chatting with the experts. There are no experts more knowledgeable than the Sales Executives at The Trembley Group. They know the builders servicing the Myrtle Beach and Grand Strand area. More importantly, they know the builders’ former and current customers. They are the Myrtle Beach home building experts. If you’re ready to begin the custom home building process or would just like to sit down and discuss the process with a professional, give Jeremy Jenks, Vice President of Sales at The Trembley Group Real Estate a call at (843) 638-3002 and start a process that is sure to be one of the most exciting and probably one the most lucrative of a lifetime.
Need help? Call The Trembley Group at 843.945.1880 ext. 100 and we’ll help you look for the perfect listing or buyers agent!
At The Trembley Group, we pride ourselves on being the experts at more than just selling real estate. We are local residents, some of us have been here for a lifetime. The rest of us will be here until the end of time. We love living, working, and playing in the diverse backyard of Coastal Carolina, and look forward to helping you live and love your dreams soon too. Please reach out to us by phone or email for personalized service and one-on-one advice.
About our blog
Our agents write often to give you the latest insights on owning a home or property in the Myrtle Beach, SC area.
If you’re thinking of buying a new construction home, I highly recommend hiring an agent, and there are a few reasons why.