I heard about 2 Wenatchee/ Leavenworth area builders last week who are being impacted by the continued housing boom in our area. They both have had their projects delayed by a lack of available workers. This brings up a thought when shopping for a contractor to build your custom home: the lowest bidder probably doesn't pay top dollar for his framers. So when you award the contract to Mr. low-bid Builder and he calls up his framers, guess what-they won't show up, because they just got a better offer to work another project.
Meanwhile, while you are waiting, you end up paying additional months of interest to your lender. You probably would have been better off going with the builder that has his own crew, or who pays enough so that everyone shows up for work on time.
When you are interviewing builders, be sure to get names and phone numbers of recent clients. Call and ask them if there were any delays on their home; you'll be glad you made the call.
If you plan to be your own contractor in the Wenatchee, Leavenworth, Chelan market this year, and are subcontracting the labor, be sure to factor in some incentive pay in your budget to keep your project moving forward.
Just a quick construction market snap shot - I finance spec homes for contractors. With the exception of one $900K home, all the specs that got started late Fall or early Spring have sold during construction, and all at prices well above what we appraised them for at the start of construction. In fact, in the past 3 years, every spec I have financed has sold before completion.
Lastly, my tip I give everyone who is hiring a builder; find one who communicates well with you. 95% of all construction horror stories come from a lack of communication between the owner and the contractor.
Click here if you need to learn some basics information on how construction loans work.
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