Home Construction - Contract and Contractors

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Tips for the day..

1. Have a Construction Contract - Always.. Always.. Always. Never have a hand-shake contract with your builder. You are going to spend hundreds to millions of pesos or dollars for your home and you will not have a contract? No way. You should know what you are getting at the very start.

2. Never have someone act on your behalf to coordinate with your builder (Assuming you are out of the country) who is not an expert in the home construction business. Don't go in and build blind and not knowing what to do.

Lets expound  on item 1 and assume you are dealing with a builder who is also your designer.

There are many of those around who will build your house and they will give you "free design". They say they have an in-house architect who will do it for them. Hhmm.. Sounds convincing. Really, nothing is absolutely free in the construction business.

For this you need the following as an end product:

The blue prints of the house
A visual sketch or perspective of the finished house (one or two views) – colored.
A Materials Specification booklet (Like what type of wood to be used and where. How thick the glass will be for the windows, how thick the aluminum window frames will be, brand of tiles, thickness of the roof.. and so many more.)
The construction contract (With the following: Cost to build the whole project, Detailed bill of materials and bill of quantities and Construction duration)

These will form part of the contract. The builder will sign each page (yes each page) and if you accept, you will also sign each page (yeas again.. each page). That’s how it is in business and home construction.

Think about it like a new car sales brochure. The image of the car is in the front, the details of the engine, brakes, suspension, leather seats, backing sensors, auto-alarm system, fog-lamps and the like are at are at the back. And to think this is not the contract yet. This is to not deceive the buyer on what they are getting and not getting and how much.

Build your home the right way. Have a contract and have an experienced professional guide you along the way. Your dream home will hopefully have happy memories while building it.

Keep on Dreaming.

Note: for all these, consult a licensed professional engineer who is knowledgeable in the home construction business and legal counsel.

Peace of mind and no more guessing in Home Construction

Imagine yourself just starting to build your dream home. All the concepts and the house plans are finished. Now you just need to build it. How do you start? Do you have bidding from 3 different contractors? Do you get the contractor that your close friend got when they did their home? What to do next…?

Imagine yourself already building your dream home. You are in the middle of the construction and the walls are starting to come up and the roof is already there. The exterior walls are stable but not finished or painted yet. Then you decide you think you can afford to add another room for storage and a future bedroom. You ask your architect to lay it out where you want in the house plans. Perfect you say to yourself. You show it to your builder and ask how much it will take to add this room. After a day, he gives you the estimate- 265,000 pesos. Is this the right price for the room?

What is the value or advantage of having a construction coach in building your home?

(1) Peace of mind that you are only paying for what you need and at the right price.

(2) Someone technically knowledgeable about construction will back you up and have your best interest in mind.

(3) Guessing will be put to a minimum if not completely removed.

(4) You will not do the mistakes of other people by getting good advice and opening up options that you are confident in making. 

Do you want peace of mind and not make the same mistakes other already did? Do you want to save money  and quit guessing if the price is right? Having a home construction coach will be the best option.

Dream big always...

Emil M.