New home builder

I have worked for many home builders in Edmonton, if you are looking for a new home builder there are a few questions to ask yourself before proceeding.

Are you building the house of your dreams?

Are you building on your own lot or land?

If you answered yes to both of these questions, you will need a custom home builder or project manager. If you answered no, then you should hire a builder who has lots for sale in the area where you would like to live.

Custom home builders can and sometimes do build on land they own, in which case the home is still a custom home. But if you own the lot and want to build your dream home, you’ll want a custom home builder. Established builders have a custom home division in most cases, or check their local yellow pages.

Project manager vs. builder

The difference between the two is very great. A builder will often own lots in some or all of the subdivisions in his local area. They buy these lots before the land is subdivided and they can make good profits only in this part of the process. A project manager will build your house on your land and earn a salary and / or a percentage of the project. A custom home builder will often do both depending on the type of business you are running.

Project manager

The role of the project manager is to take care of the project. And that’s it. He will make calls to the businesses and companies that work on the site. He will schedule the delivery of materials, make sure everything is done in an orderly manner and on time, within reason of course. Right now in Edmonton we are so short of workers and laborers that nothing gets done on time.

When you use a project manager, you will buy the lot or land on which the house will be built. You will also pay for all material and in some cases pay for exchanges and sub trades and any other labor required. With this way of building your home, you won’t pay as much for a markup as what a builder would have charged you. This means that after all is said and done, you will have some equity in the house. Unfortunately the houses in which I have done plumbing have not been like this. The reason is that the owner has done something and then wants it to be changed. So if I step into a bathroom and you change your mind, that’s a huge extra that will come out of your capital. I’ve seen homeowners do this with windows, kitchens, stairs, bathroom locations, moving the furnace room. And all of these have been changes after the work has been done. Now you have to get the job done and start over, of course it costs more than the original price. And the owners think we’re screwing them. But if you change your mind, expect a big hit in your pocket.

Builder

This is when you walk into a show home and choose between 10 and 15 different designs that are being built in that area. The prices are clearer, but the profit of the builders is much greater. They own the lot your home is being built on and pay for everything until you take ownership. You don’t have many options for changes. And any changes you make will cost you a lot of time. These companies cannot have a retained home because you are making changes. They just have too much money in the project to wait long.