Hiring a Sequim Home Builder

Are you in the market to hire a Sequim home builder (or a Port Angeles home builder)? I learned a few things about building houses and about contractors during my 20 years in real estate law. Let’s be very clear about this. There are many outstanding Builders and Contractors out there.

Sequim Home Builder

The problem, as with any profession, is that you only need to get one bad one to live through a personal nightmare. Use these practical rules to find and hire a good Sequim home builder, and you’ll save potentially $1,000s in attorney’s fees, not to mention other costs, stress, and even divorce.

Checklist to Hire Your Sequim Home Builder

Do not simply open the Yellow Pages and pick a Sequim home builder.
Do not choose a builder simply because he seems nice.
Do get a reliable referral to a good Sequim home builder. That means the referral comes from someone who is known to be reliable and who knows the builder and the quality of his work.
Do your due diligence on the prospective builder. Investigate thoroughly.
Look at some of his houses, inside & out, and talk to previous customers. Be careful. You can still be fooled here. You can find one or two happy customers with every Sequim home builder.
Check on his state license/registration, which can easily be done on the Internet by Clicking Here. Use the State’s checklist, also, but notice they don’t tell you what NOT to do, which is where many of the traps are.
On the same State Internet resource, you can check the builder’s status, infractions, bond, and pending lawsuits. DO IT! Believe it or not, the vast majority of people do this only after they get into trouble with the Builder.
Check your local county superior court clerk’s office for pending lawsuits against your prospective Sequim home builder.
After all this, interview your prospective Builder/Contractor, and see if you like him. If you don’t, I strongly recommend you keep looking. Gut feelings are important. You’ve spent a lifetime learning how to read people. Don’t ignore that lifetime of experience now. Here you should judge the book by its cover.
Ask for a copy of his standard contract and take it home to review it. Get a professional opinion on that contract. It seems every Sequim home builder uses a different contract, and many of them are grossly one-sided. There are several critical contract issues you want unambiguously addressed in the contract.