When building a house for the first time, it’s often difficult to know where to start. After all, you don’t know what you don’t know, and the building industry offers plenty of pitfalls if you make the wrong decisions.
Choosing a builder can be scary, because you want to be sure you don’t end up choosing the wrong builder. Making the wrong choice can mean delays to your project. Even worse, it could end up with you being ripped off when building your dream home.
Engaging the services of a qualified and professional building broker gives you access to the right advice, guidance and support for building your home. The team at Better Way 2 Build are all highly experienced and know the industry inside out. They can support you in finding a reliable and trustworthy builder, which can end up saving you thousands in the long run.
Let’s explore some of the different ways using a building broker can save you time, money and effort, ensuring you don’t end up making costly mistakes on your first building project.
1. Understanding builders capacity
Did you know that a builder’s indemnity insurance can limit the number of homes they’re allowed to build each year? If your preferred builder has already serviced or committed to serve the set number permitted in their insurance plan, it’s likely to cause you delays in starting your build. Delays that could be detrimental to your budget..
Working with a building broker who understands the nuances of the building process can ensure you end up with a builder that can meet your timelines. At Better Way 2 Build, we thoroughly check our builders’ indemnity insurance. We’ve got great relationships with the builders we recommend throughout WA. Our team checks in monthly with each builder to ensure they can cater to our client’s timeframes.
We won’t recommend any builders that can’t meet our client’s timings. We’ll chat through all of your options when it comes to choosing a builder. If we find a builder that we think is the best option and can fulfil your needs in every way except timing, we’ll run you through the pros and cons of choosing that builder. This will include any delays to your project starting and what that might mean for your costs.
2. Staying up-to-date with changing lending terms
The lending market is constantly changing, and it can be challenging to stay up to date with the latest lending changes that could impact your home loan and financial situation. Banks and other financial institutions can often change their terms based on various risk factors related to building a new home.
By using a building broker who is up to date with the latest lending regulations and rules, you can be aware of any risk changes that could impact your ability to build your new home.
3. Accessing exclusive land allocations
Researching where to buy your land can be time-consuming. There’s a lot to consider, including access to transport, schools, land size, amenities, etc.
Using a broker means you get exclusive access to land allocations, including pre-release and priority blocks. At Better Way 2 Build, we regularly meet with a wide variety of land developers and visit each site to discover the best land allocations for our clients. We’ve found plenty of hidden gems in our time, and aim to match you with the right land to meet your needs.
4. Knowing the warnings signs for delays
When it comes to building a new home, a builder is usually only as good as their tradespeople and vice versa. We find that excellent quality tradies stick with good builders. Choosing a reliable team who works well together will give you the best outcome for your home.
Using a builder with a good reputation and relationship with their tradespeople can offer you huge benefits. It can keep your project running smoothly and mean a high-quality finish for your home. Without dependable, loyal and experienced tradespeople, the quality of work can suffer, and delays often occur. So we look for the intangibles that can signal a red flag for us.
We regularly check in on all the builders we work with to assess:
- How staff are feeling. Happy and motivated staff is a good sign, but staff frustrations can signal a bigger problem with the builder.
- If tradespeople are being paid on time. Not paying trades on time could mean there’s a larger issue with a builder’s financial position.
- Relationships between tradies and builders. A breakdown in the relationship could affect the timing of your project.
- Turnover of tradespeople. If a builder is frequently advertising for replacement trades and we know they’re not growing their business, it can be a warning sign there’s a problem.
We know which builders have loyal staff and we also know those who are constantly chasing new tradespeople. We’re passionate about checking these little extras to ensure we match you with the right builder.
5. Working with reputable builders
It can be tough to work out who is a good builder when you’re searching by yourself. You can’t always trust online reviews or media stories, which can often come from the companies themselves, so impartial advice can be crucial.
At Better Way 2 Build, we always do our due diligence to find the right builder for clients. We have a panel of quality builders we use, and we check in monthly to make sure they’re delivering what they promised. Our panel all undergo significant screening. As a result, we’ve established strong relationships based on trust, and we only refer builders that we really believe in. We’ve got plenty of builders who want to work with us, but we’re stringent with our control and only recommend the best.
As part of our screening, we check their last builds to understand their quality, communication, and process. We ensure they deliver on their promises and resolve all issues quickly. Each month, we reexamine our panel of builders based on client feedback. We continue to check ongoing client reviews, flag any issues and discuss these directly with the builder.
6. Spotting a legitimate delay vs a builders delay
Sometimes, it’s inevitable that there will be delays in your building project. But working with a building broker can help identify if it’s a genuine delay that’s outside a builder’s control or an issue caused by poor business operations.
Our experience is that when it’s a builder’s delay, it’s often an attempt to clear up blockages of a builder’s supply chain. Because of our experience, we’ve got our ear to the ground when it comes to builder’s issues throughout WA. If we discover any looming issues for a particular builder, we won’t recommend them.
7. Understanding the intricacies of the building process
When it comes to building a new home, it’s a detailed process that can be overwhelming the first time. Using a broker can help you save money by recommending the best builder for your job and providing plenty of other helpful guidance. For example, we can help you choose the right design, which adds significant long-term value to your home and enhanced functionality for everyday living.
At Better Way 2 Build, we’re passionate about listening to our clients. We ask lots of questions to establish what you want today and what you might need from your home in the future.
For example, if you think you’ll want a pool in a few years, we’ll consider whether the site can accommodate it and how a team will access the area after your house is built. We’ll recommend whether to install it now or later and guide you through whether it’s better to use a separate pool supplier or your builder.
Building a new home means reading floor plans, site plans, elevations, roof plans (including downpipes), joinery plans and electrical plans. If you’re not experienced with these types of plans when making decisions, it can seriously impact your home. For example, you may underestimate the cost of site works, or your rooms may end up smaller than you wanted. You might not realise about solar orientation, which could cost you in cooling and heating bills. Or worse, you may underestimate the costs or the quality of your finishes.
At Better Way 2 Build we go over all every detail with the recommended builder to make sure you get exactly what you want. We’ll check all inclusions and costs meet your expectations and budget. If we find any issues, we’ll deal with them and only arrange a meeting with you when everything has been resolved to sign contracts.
Using a building broker also offers you:
- The information you need to consider as part of your pre-start process, so you come prepared for your appointment.
- Availability at any time during the pre-start process, so you don’t overpay or get caught up in the emotional aspect of choosing the right builder.
- Information about what items you can source cheaper after your handover instead of paying your builder a mark-up (which sometimes can mean paying more than 30% extra).
- Ongoing assistance, so you don’t overpay for anything relating to your build.
- Regular check-ins during the construction phase.
- Access to an independent building inspector to ensure your build progresses to our high standards.
8. Managing worst-case scenarios
Understanding who is liable and how best to manage a builder in the event of a worst-case scenario is essential when building your home. It’s not uncommon for constructions issues to arise throughout a lengthy build. These can be anything from a minor issue, like a misplaced power point, to a builder going bust.
Using Better Way 2 Build means we always go to bat for you, particularly if something goes wrong. We act for you throughout the entire process and will liaise with the builder if any issues arise. Using a broker who understands the right avenues for dealing with problems can help alleviate the stress of a new build and ensures you get the best outcome. We assess the situation and provide guidance about your contract, insurance, and relationship with your builder.
We’re experienced in helping clients with managing various issues. We understand where the liability stands and work with you and your builder to ensure you get the best outcome.
Want to know more?
When engaging a building broker, it’s essential to realise not all building brokers are the same. For example, many brokers are linked to a specific builder or building group, so they can’t offer impartial advice.
At Better Way 2 Build, we’re completely independent with a selection of quality builders we’ve thoroughly vetted. That means no bias, and always putting your interests first. So if you’re ready to turn your dreams into reality by building your new home, we’d love to hear from you.
We’ll guarantee to act as your advocate throughout the build and match you with a builder who can create the home you want. Complete our online form and we’ll be in touch to discuss all your options, or give us a call on 0861186119 to chat with a member of our experienced team.
