Walking The Talk – How To Effectively Communicate With Your Custom Home Builder
Building your own custom home is always an exciting voyage of discovery. As we said in our last blog,communicating effectively with you builder when is the key to getting the home you’re looking for at the end of the process. A great custom home should incorporate all of the functionality, design and lifestyle elements that reflect your unique vision, desires and personality, so the first and most vital step in achieving that is being able to effectively communicate all of this to your builder. Here are our top tips for making sure that this happens.
ESTABLISH LINES OF COMMUNICATION
Building your ideal custom home is, for most people, going to involve an emotional attachment to the project, so it’s important to understand that there will inevitably be moments where you have questions and concerns that need addressing. The best way to ensure that happens is to first establish exactly who you need to address these questions to and how and when you can expect and answer. This will avoid you feeling like you’ve been given the runaround and help the builders to designate who will be your point of contact during the build.
Also, letting your builder know your preferences and what aspects of the build are of particular importance to to you before you start will allow them to communicate clearly with you when important decisions need to be made and enable you to work together to find solutions for problems that should arise in a timely, efficient and painless manner.
A GOOD WORKING RELATIONSHIP
Good builders will view their relationships with their clients as being every bit as important as the construction work they do, so being able to work with you during this process to realise your custom home dreams is key. Establishing a good working relationship, communicating openly and effectively and being able to understand the builder’s perspective on things are all great ways to positively influence the outcome. When done right it’s a mutually beneficial process that should leave all parties involved happy with the end product.
LET THEM GET ON WITH THE JOB
It’s important to be 100% happy with all aspects of your custom home build, but constantly interfering with your builder in the course of their work will result in frustration and delays. Establish a regular timeframe for reviews and a method of communication where you both get the chance to observe how the build is progressing and what issues need addressing without interrupting the work schedule. You’ll both be far happier if you do.
FEEDBACK & CUSTOMER SERVICE
Before committing to a particular builder it pays to do a bit of research on how they handle feedback and customer service. New house construction invariably involves a few unexpected issues and problems, so you want to choose a firm that’s going to listen to your requirements and act on them before, during and after your custom build project. As with any industry, customer service is hugely important.
CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE
If you’ve chosen the right builder, professional pride will play a big part in what they do. Letting them know that you’re happy with the work they’re doing is always a good thing – everyone likes a bit of encouragement and praise after all. Giving credit where it is due lets your builder know that their hard work is appreciated and can often result in them working even harder to ensure your dream home becomes the stunning reality that you always imagined. Also, they’re also far more likely to be accommodating and understanding should difficult, unexpected issues arise that require extra work.
At Schlager Residential, we have years of experience communicating with our clients to ensure that we deliver them the best custom homes possible. You can start communicating with us today by giving us a call and finding out more about how we can make your custom home dreams a reality.