Author: CRC Builders Inc

Are you wondering what a lien is and why they are needed during the construction of your new home?

You’re not alone.

The lien process can be confusing when you don’t know how it works, but it’s important to understand it before the construction of your new home begins. Put simply, the lien process is there to protect the rights of the subcontractors and material suppliers that work on the construction of your new home.

Phase 1: The Preliminary Notice

The first phase of the lien process is the Preliminary Notice. The Preliminary Notice is an introductory letter that is sent to you by the subcontractors and material suppliers that will be working on your home.

The notice is to let you know who they are and what they will be working on or supplying. This is a formality so subcontractors and suppliers can claim their right to file a lien claim on your home, should they not be paid.

This is not something you need to be concerned about if you’re working with a professional licensed builder. Professional builders only hire licensed subcontractors and have a payment schedule in place to ensure each subcontractor and supplier is paid as required when each phase of your new home is completed.

Which leads to the next phase of the process, Lien Releases.

Phase 2: Lien Releases

A Lien Release is issued after the subcontractor or supplier has been paid. This process releases the subcontractor or supplier’s right to lien the property as their portion of the work has been paid for.

For each Preliminary Notice you receive, you will also receive a Lien Release from the same subcontractors and suppliers to serve as a notice of payment and an unconditional release of their right to lien your home.

Phase 3: Notice of Completion

The final step of the lien process is the Notice of Completion.

This notice is filed with the county’s recorder’s office once the work on your new home has been completed. It decreases the time that a subcontractor or supplier has to record a claim, now that the work has been completed.

Make Sure You Choose The Right Builder

For you, the most important part of the lien process is to make the right choice when choosing your builder. Your builder should be licensed, someone you can trust, and someone who only hires licensed subcontractors. Ask your builder about the subcontractors and suppliers they use and the process they use for their payment schedule to pay them.

When you do this, you can be confident your builder has a systemized process that will prevent any subcontractor or supplier from ever needing to make a lien claim on your home.

The information I’ve covered here is just a small sample of what I can to share with you to ensure you are well informed when you start designing and building your new home.

If you’re just starting the process you can download our free guide, the 7 Things You Must Know Before Designing A New Home to help you to keep your design on budget and avoid any nasty surprises that can sneak up on you when building a custom home.

Just click on the link below.

How do you know if you should choose a builder that completes your new home with in-house employees or subcontractors?

While it is possible for a builder to complete your home relying solely on subcontractors, it’s likely not the best solution if you’re looking for a luxury custom home.

To ensure a quality home, you need to work with a builder you trust who uses a mix of both subcontractors and in-house employees. When you do this, you won’t have to worry about your builder putting your dream home into the hands of the trades that are just there to get the job done as quickly as possible.

The National Association of Home Builders found that most builders are subcontracting out over 75% of the construction of their projects. Professional custom home builders use both in-house employees as well as subcontractors when building a new home. The employees focus on the key elements of your home, like framing and finishes, to ensure the final product is exactly what you expect.

Relying Solely On Subcontractors Is Okay For Cookie Cutter Homes

Production builders rely solely on subcontractors to complete the entire project. This process works fine if you’re looking for a cookie-cutter home. They mass produce these homes on a budget, relying completely on subcontractors to get the job done.

But professional custom home builders know what your home means to you, so they have dedicated employees that ensure your new home meets your expectations. But they also know that some things are better left to the experts of the field, so they have a team of trusted subcontractors that specialize in particular elements of the build.

You might think that by using subcontractors that your builder is just taking your money without actually doing any of the work. But the truth is, even while using some in-house employees, choosing and managing subcontractors is a big job. While the subcontractors might do the physical labor, it’s your builder that needs to ensure they are the right fit for your project and that their work is the quality that is expected.

When building a new home, it’s important to have a clear understanding of the what, why, and how when it comes to your builder subcontracting parts of the build.

Understand What Will Be Subcontracted Out & Why

First, you need to have an open and honest conversation with your builder to find out what elements of the build are going to be subcontracted out. It’s during this conversation that you’ll get a clear understanding of what is the responsibility of the builder’s employees versus their subcontractors.

Then you’ll want to ask why those elements are being subcontracted out. Professional builders will have in-house employees to take care of the key elements of the build, like putting up the framing of your home and installing the finishes.

While your builder may be capable of completing other elements, like drywall, it might not be the most quality or cost-effective option for your new home. So, they’ll contract that phase to a trusted subcontractor who is a craftsman at that particular element.

Ask Your Builder How They Choose Their Subcontractors

Finally, you should ask your builder what their process is when choosing and managing their subcontractors.

Professional builders will have a list of subcontractors that they have worked with before and trust their ability to provide a quality product. Rather than just signing up the subcontractor with the lowest price. Their systems will also allow for streamlined management of each subcontractor. So you don’t have to worry about the timeline or work stopping completely because a subcontractor goes unpaid.

It doesn’t matter if you are building your first home or if you have built many times before… Building a new home can be very overwhelming, and when you hear new things for the first time, it’s not easy to remember everything.

So I’ve put together a guide for you to download. It’s completely free, and it will help you to keep your design on budget and avoid any nasty surprises that can sneak up on you when building a custom home.

Just click on the link below to download the guide now.

How can you choose a builder that builds your home to the highest quality standard?

When you work with a builder that doesn’t use site protection during construction, you’ll find yourself disappointed with the number of defects you find after you take possession of your new home.

The devastation of finding a drop of paint on your beautiful hardwood floors or a scrape on your shining glass doors is just like getting the first scratch on a brand new Range Rover. However, when you work with a professional builder that uses site protection processes for every stage of the build, this can be avoided. Choosing a professional builder that uses site protection during construction means you’ll take possession of your new home with all finishes in immaculate condition.

Site Protection Keeps Your New Home ‘New’

According to a study conducted by Zillow Group, half of new construction buyers say their main reason for building a home instead of buying an existing home is because everything is brand new. It’s the protection of the construction site that ensures everything in your new home is the quality it should be.

Average builders won’t use site protection. Instead, they’ll scramble at the end of construction to try and ‘fix’ all of the unnecessary defects that were created while your new home was being built. Or worse, some will tell you “it’s within industry standards” and make it your problem to deal with.

While professional builders have processes in place to ensure every element of your home is protected to prevent unnecessary defects. Professional builders know what your new home means to you, so they do everything in their power to make sure your home is perfect for handover.

You’re Entitled To A High-Quality Home

When you work with a builder that doesn’t use site protection, the excitement of getting the keys to your new home will soon be dampened when you find that first ‘scratch’. Many consumers believe that it simply is what it is, and they just have to expect that these things will happen. But the truth is, you invest a lot of money to build a luxury home, so you’re entitled to expect perfection and demand a high-quality product.

This is what your builder must do to make sure every element of your home will be completed to the highest standard.

What Your Builder Needs To Protect Your Home

Your builder should have a job schedule to ensure each phase of your home is completed in stages. This allows the builder to add site protection to the previous phase before the next one is completed. For example, after your flooring is installed the builder will add protection, so it isn’t disrupted when the painters come in.

Your builder should also implement a protection process for all finishes as they are delivered and installed. Typically this will include things like flooring, countertops, doors, windows, cabinetry, and screens. The site protection process for these elements includes effectively covering the areas, or storing materials, like interior doors, off-site until they are installed.

These site protection processes prevent the finishes of your new home being damaged during construction. So you can be confident that your new home won’t be riddled with damages and defects when your handover date arrives.

Designing and building a new home can be very overwhelming, and when you hear new things for the first time, it’s not easy to remember everything. So, that’s why we’ve put together a quick guide with The 7 Things You Must Know Before Designing A New Home.

It’s completely free, and it will help you to design your dream home and avoid any nasty surprises that can sneak up on you when building a custom home.

Just click on the link below to download it now.

How can you be sure the design for your new home isn’t going to exceed your budget?

When you work with a builder that doesn’t have an efficient process for designing and budgeting your new home, you could find yourself constantly redesigning your home to fit your budget.

However, when you take a collaborative approach with the three-step design process, you can be sure that your new home will be built exactly as you expect, without the extra cost. By choosing a builder that follows the three-step design process, your new home will meet the vision from your architect without blowing your budget.

It might surprise you to know that around 80% of designs are never built. The reason for this is the cost to build these designs came in way over budget.

Average builders are missing a key element on their team – a costing expert. Because of this, they design homes without a realistic knowledge of what you’re willing to spend. Resulting in a final design that costs a lot more than you bargained for and leaving you to sacrifice part of your dream home to meet your budget.

While professional builders work with you and the architect to ensure the design created for your new home can be built to your budget without cutting corners. This collaborative approach allows the team designing and building your home to focus on the details, so there are no nasty surprises later down the road.

Choose Your Builder Before Starting Your Design

One of the biggest myths when building a new home is that you need to have your designs created by an architect before speaking to a builder. But the truth is, when you send an architect’s designs to multiple builders to quote, you’ll only end up going around in circles. You’ll soon learn that the design is beyond what you’re willing to spend, leaving you to start all over and redesign your new home to fit your budget.

When you work with a builder that follows the three-step design process, you can rest assured that your new home will be designed to your vision and your budget.

Step 1: Create Your Team

Step one of the three-step design process is creating a team that will design and build your new home. This ignites the collaborative approach for designing your new home by bringing you, the architect, and the builder together. Your builder will work with your architect or help you find one to kickstart the initial discussions of designing your new home. When you establish the team for your new home, you can work together to decide on the key elements you want to be included in your new home.

Step 2: Create Your Budget

Step two of the process is to create your budget. It’s important that this step comes before designing your new home.

You, the architect, and the builder will work together to identify your budget based on what you’re willing to spend and what expectations you have.

Step 3: Design To Your Budget

Working as a team to create the budget for your new home allows the builder and the architect to work together to complete step three of the process, designing to your budget.

The collaborative approach is vital during this step. It allows the builder and the architect to join forces to ensure that the vision your architect provides based on your expectations can actually be turned into reality based on your budget.

Once you’ve decided on the perfect design for your new home, your builder will be able to start on preconstruction necessities like the scope of work documents, job schedules, and photo-realistic renders.

It doesn’t matter if you are building your first home or if you have built many times before… Designing a new home can be very overwhelming, and when you hear new things for the first time, it’s not easy to remember everything.

The tips I have covered here are just a small sample of the information I can share with you to ensure you can confidently get started on the design process. You can learn more in the downloadable guide I have put together. The 7 Things You Need to Know Before You Designing Your New Home is completely free, and it will help you choose the right builder to keep your design on budget.

Just click on the link below to download the guide now.