I had a lot of interesting response to my column this week about production builders. Predictably, some builders wanted to defend themselves. Some homeowners emailed me to praise their production builders, and a few more wanted to share their bad experiences. I need to clarify a few things.
You know I'm an advocate of better building practices. This has been true for the 30 years I've been in the construction industry. In that time, I've uncovered, and torn out, lots of bad work. I spent my career trying to educate homeowners to recognize good work from bad and protect their investment.
I have always believed that homeowners — at every level of the housing market — should have the assurance that the homes they buy with their hard-earned money are well built and made to last. That doesn't meant you'll have the same finishes and upgrades, but the same level of quality and care that goes into a custom home should go into production homes. And when you have a good production builder on your side, in many cases, it does. When builders and tradespeople work together and are committed to quality, we see good results.
There are good production builders, even with the constraints of narrower profit margins and higher-volume building. These are the builders who make the extra effort, both in front of and behind the drywall and finishes, who are committed to durable construction, using sustainable materials and increased energy efficiency. They come back to service their clients' home warranties, as they're contracted to do.
So how do you find a good builder? Just as with finding the right contractor, you need to do your homework, get references and check him out. Don't just walk into a show home and fall in love with the floor plans. But, even more important, you need to make smarter choices when it comes to your upgrade packages — and if the builder doesn't offer one that makes sense for your housing investment, keep looking.
Ask yourself: Does anyone really look at those upgrade packages and think of what they really mean in maintenance and upkeep of your new home? Or do we buy using our eyes only, hypnotized by the shiny finishes?
The sad truth is that people buy eye candy and don't choose the upgrades that make sense. The most popular upgrades are the hardwood flooring and the gourmet kitchen — items that supposedly help resale.
I keep hearing people say they won't see the return on the investment of the 'behind the walls' upgrades, or on something like a metal roof. Saving tons of money on energy costs and home maintenance is longer-term thinking.
And too many people believe they won't be living in their houses long enough to recoup that initial investment. So they ask themselves: Why put money into something I won't benefit from?
Everyone buys a house these days with the idea that they'll "move up" in three to five years, from their starter home to their dream home. Really? Is life so predictable?
Or they think they'll flip the house after five years to make enough profit to move up the housing ladder. Really? Is the real-estate market so predictable?
I don't know where the five-year idea came from. I don't agree with it. I believe you should plan on staying in your home. But that's me. When I was young, people used to live their whole lives in one home; that was normal.
But the truth is, you can't predict if and when you'll move. Things happen. The market goes down, interest rates go up, and maybe it's no longer feasible to move. Or maybe you aren't going to make the money on selling you thought you were, so you're staying put. Maybe your job changes, or your family situation does. You get stuck.
Life is like that.
And because you didn't spend your money on the right upgrades in the first place, you're now spending money on maintenance and renovations, or repairs you didn't plan on. And that could have been avoided if you'd spent your money right in the first place, and money you could have saved if you'd made different choices.
Maybe that investment choice you made when you chose the granite countertop over upgrading on insulation would have, in fact, paid you back in saved energy costs. Maybe that metal roof would have lasted the entire time you had gone through two re-shingles — which it will, by the way, and still look good, and still help your resale value when you do finally move. Plus, it will have kept all that waste out of the landfill.
Look, I don't want to take all the fun out of buying a new home. I get the appeal of a gourmet kitchen and hardwood flooring.
But I'm all about spending your money right the first time. And when it comes to new housing, that money needs to be spent on quality materials and workmanship behind the walls.
How do you find a good production builder? Just as with finding the right contractor, you've got to do your homework. Ask questions and get references. Go visit other homes they've built. Ask the homeowners: Did they stand behind their warranty? Has the workmanship held up?
And, for my money, find out about what kind of upgrades they offer on your new home package. If they offer more than just lipstick and mascara, if they offer packages that allow you peace of mind, that what's behind the surface. That's the builder and the upgrade you want.
Catch Mike in his new series, Holmes Inspection, airing Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on HGTV. For more information, visit www.hgtv.ca. For more information on home renovations, visit makeitright.ca.
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