Story by Art Department / October 30, 2020
When beginning the home building process it is crucial to choose the right builder for your new home. Brilliant Builders + Renovations Sensations is here again with Rick Jackson of JacksonBuilt Custom Homes to talk about why it is so important to choose the right builder and how to ensure that you’re doing so.
JacksonBuilt Custom Homes started about 11 years ago. We’re a small custom builder who completes about four homes a year. We specialize in the personal touch of going through the process of designing and building a custom home.
Absolutely. You hear a lot of bad stories about this industry and the most important thing is taking care of the customer after closing and then on. We will never not take a phone call. It could be two months, two years, or ten years – we’ll always take the call and talk to the client and see if they have a question about anything. That goes a long way.
Guildquality is a service that sends out surveys periodically. They’re scheduled at certain times during and after construction which gives us a good reference for how we’re doing on that particular project. To be on top every time is rewarding to our team.
Yes. It’s their biggest investment and I think it’s important to interview builders. This helps the homeowners get a good feel for the builder’s business model and their team. It’s a long experience and partnership so you need to make sure you feel comfortable with that team and can get along with them.
You want to look at the rewards and make sure they’re a member of the Charleston Home Builders Association. You also want to make sure it’s a group that focuses on quality and customer service with attention to detail. It needs to be a low volume group with high customer service so you can enjoy the experience and alleviate stress.
It’s not that the volume builders don’t do a wonderful job, it’s that you’re most likely to be discouraged for changes you want whereas custom builders encourage changes.
We pride ourselves on the team approach and working together from start to finish. Our team starts with meeting our client to determine the style of home they’re looking for. We help them pick out an architect that we’ll use on our team and narrow it down. I believe finding the perfect architect is just as important as choosing the right builder. We also keep in mind the budget when designing the home and choosing the architect.
It’s our job to guide people down the right path so we’re suggesting new things during the entire building process when pricing things out.
This meeting is used to get an idea of the client’s expectations. We’ll talk about their past homes, what they liked, what they didn’t like. There are many factors that come into play that can go over the heads of homeowners, so we make sure to discuss all of that. How they want the house to live is one of the most important things and during this meeting, the client is guiding the experience of how they want the house to be laid out.
We focus on the experience and part of the Fixed Cost contract is that it gives them one less thing to think about. It’s said and then forgotten, whereas other contracts require you to discuss multiple times during the process.
About three quarters through the process we’ll bring her in to talk about fit and finishes. It helps us fine tune everything. She goes with them to every appointment and becomes our client’s wingwoman.
Like Rick says it is so important to choose the right builder. This will help alleviate some of the stress that comes along with building a custom home. Make sure that you connect with your builder and entrust them with bringing your vision to life.
For more information, call JacksonBuilt Custom Homes at (843) 471-2310 or visit jacksonbuiltcustomhomes.com.
