Build your house stress free

[jippa3000]

Hi all,
Been a while since I've been on here as I've just gone through the lovely process of building a new home.
I've always heard stories of people that have built before saying it's a bad experience and they would never do it again but never really knew what they were talking about until now!
As there are so many smaller builders out there, like the one we went for, their mind set and skills are not really focused on customer service. We found when it came to certain aspects of the build, it was extremely difficult dealing with them and to be honest if we didn't keep on top of them I wouldn't be in the house yet.
So my question is, has anyone come across a company that acts as a go between the builder and the client?
Essentially this company would make the sale and then liaise with the client from slab to hand over, dealing with all the appointments and questions from the customer. This company would be paid on commission from selling the houses for the builders.
Not too sure if this is viable but let us know what you guys and girls think?
Cheers in advance
James

 

[A Jeremy]

What your describing is a Project Manager but they aren't widely used for single home buildings under $1 MIL(number pulled out of air). Most of the people on this forum have a can-do attitude and wouldn't pay for the service at that level, but maybe once you begin building multiple dwellings, dependent on the individual's needs and experience, you might see Project Managers starting to be engaged.

 

[jippa3000]

I should have mentioned this before, this would be purely aimed at first home builders that really have no experience, it wouldn't cost them anything as the money would be made from selling the house.

 

[pinkboy]

What is this world coming to if a person can't negotiate with a builder directly!

Are people that precious they need to be told 'no' with a smile!


pinkboy

 

[D_One]

I think it already exists.

House and Land Package!!!!

 

[jippa3000]

To be honest pinkboy if I didn't work for my self there would be no way I would have had the time to deal with all the things that needed to be done and the amount of appointments we had to go in for was crazy.
I'm just thinking of a demographic that wouldn't have the time or knowledge to go through the building process and therefore would simply just choose to buy established if they can afford it or keep renting. If I wasn't shown my options and how I could become a home owner, I might not have made the jump yet.
So this company would cover all the bases for the smaller builder customer service wise, sales, finance (I'm studying to be a broker anyway), colour selection etc. Any actual building task like the project manager will be handled by the builder. This is what initially gave me the idea as the builder we used had a contracted project manager so I thought surely they can have a contracted sales and customer service person.
Any thoughts on this would be great!

 

[Scott_Snap]

I am a building Inspector and Mortgage broker . While I do not offer the exact service your describing I do offer an inspection service at various stages of construction to ensure clients interests are being looked after and a written report on code breaches and poor workmanship and attend mediation sessions. The building contract should take care of time frames. I would think if you sold the house your ability to act on your clients behalf would be a conflict of interests as you are getting paid by the person you are supervising / liaising with.

 

[devank]

So my question is, has anyone come across a company that acts as a go between the builder and the client?
Essentially this company would make the sale and then liaise with the client from slab to hand over, dealing with all the appointments and questions from the customer.

Isn't that what a 'Project builder' practically do?

 

[jippa3000]

I see where you are coming from, what I am thinking of would be purely from a customer service aspect. This SHOULD be something builders take care of but as those who have built with a smaller builder will know, customer service is not their strong point.
This would purely be on a contracted basis and process would be - qualify and show people how they can afford and new home, show them the house, sell them the house, finance and land if needed, meet with them for any appointments such as colour selection, flooring etc., final inspection and then hand over.
I just know that if I had ONE number to call and could actually speak that person when I needed to, my stress levels would have been a lot less as half my frustration was not getting an answer out of them straight away and always having to follow up. This way the client would ALWAYS be in the know so they dont have to ask or worry what going on.
As mentioned not sure if this is even viable just a thought.

 

[nhg]

I know a couple. But as above. Not worth it for a small development. That would be all your profits gone.

I was a civil project officer/engineer/manager depending on the size of the company. It is a 6 figure salary job.

 

[Nattl3s]

Hi jippa3000. Interesting post. It confirms that I would never be able to by a block of land and build. I need to see a finished product and agree to buy it. I would be stressed at every little thing that was wrong if i built because the house would have to be perfect. Also, if the house build price was $240K at the start, every little extra cost would not help because i don't like surprises. As you say the average person simply doesn't have the time to chase people around all day. If i was buying a new place would have to already fully built and landscaped and cost $x.

 

[WASP]

Building Broker

I think there's one on the forum

 

[westminster]

I can actually see the role/job that Jippa is talking about.

There are builders out there who haven't reached the growth/stage/desire to want to employ a prestart consultant/sales consultant/client liaison person. They are simply a builder who wants to build and not be bothered by customer - yet of course need them !!

They also might not have the skills for it. They are builders not schmoozers

From a financial point of view I think it would be hard to make money from this. Let's say a builder was willing to pay 5% commission, on a $200k house that would be $10k. The amount of work to do sales, finance, prestart, 6mths of liason duties is pretty full on. However if you could do this 15 times in a year then it might be worth it.