HOW TO HIRE A CONTRACTOR - Why Using The Lowest Bidder is NOT Economical

Home building is a stressful process but there's nothing worse than crazy contractors. I know there are some amazing contractors out there - as a matter of fact, we used one for some portions of our projects - all of which turned out BEAUTIFULLY and were completed in a TIMELY FASHION and when we look at it - we have that "AHHHHH!" moment where we are so completely satisfied with their work and the LOW STRESS THRESHOLD they provided. Then there are other contractors. The first came with good recommendations and his pricing was significantly lower than the next contractor - enough we couldn't justify using the PROFESSIONAL contractor. So this fly-by-night guy came in to build OUR FOUNDATION...

Now, if there's anything that even I know as an amateur - foundation is HUGE when building a house. A proper foundation is necessary and what every homeowner anticipates when contracting someone to build it. My amazing husband is a researcher deluxe. The guy will stay up all night and research something to the "nth" degree and determine the route he wants to take. When he says he wants to build an ICF basement - I know he's found it to be the best foundation for the house that he could find and that it would be wonderful! The contractor bid the job as a full ICF basement. When he built it however, he did a partial ICF...partial wood on the exposed walkout and put in cinderblocks at the base of the ICF walls - for no apparent reason other than the fact that he wanted to and didn't care what my husband wanted. I have never seen my Fit Farmer so frustrated. We also contracted him to provide a 3 foot foundation base for our mudroom so that we could install in-floor heat panels. He had our excavation contractor dig a SEVEN FOOT HOLE - proceeded to build cinderblock walls - and then made the guy fill the hole back in. WHY???? If I had known I would have put in a root celler for goodness sake!

To add to the pain of all this he was having a hard time reading the blue prints - so his measurements were off - which meant things didn't come together as they should and this particular contractor has been the "gift" that keeps on giving. Starting with his being $30,000 over budget - charging us for a basement that wasn't built to our specifications at a higher rate for 1/3 of it being STICK BUILT rather than ICF. Sticking us with the additional charges for the contractor who excavated then filled the mudroom hole. Having to pay another contractor to come in and reinforce the stemwall because he didn't finish that out properly either. Having to pay double for the mudroom construction because the specs didn't match what was installed so the contractor had to "retrofit" the mudroom. Having our garage wind up several degrees off because he laid out the house foundation incorrectly (not according to the plans.) The list goes on. In reality he didn't just cost us the added $30,000 but another $20,000 plus in adjustments!

When we were checking into the appraisal for transferring the  mortgage - we found out we had to complete the mudroom and 60% of the basement. This was not in the plans and all the extra money we had to pay out to our overbudget fly-by-night contractor and all the additional adjustments - well that was the money we were planning to use to finish this stuff off with. We brought in a contractor on someone's recommendation again. This guy...well...he's good at some stuff - but he is NOT a finish carpenter by any means and can't keep a crew because he's not so good at managing his finances. That meant the majority of the time he worked alone. Every tried to hang drywall - ALONE? He did well until he found himself strapped financially, then things went down hill fast. He was constantly asking for more money even though he hadn't quite finished the work yet. I finally drew up contracts and payment plans for the guy so he knew when he would be paid and how much - contingent upon COMPLETION of the project. It worked...SORT OF. Then he subcontracted someone and that went south when he didn't pay them. When someone shows up at your home and they're disgruntled about not being paid and they threaten a lein on your loan...oy...that get's a little scary and a lot of stressful. To add to that - what this guy said he could do in 4 weeks has stretched out into four months - and that's just NOT COOL.

SO...long story short. The lowest BID is NOT the most economical route because they always - I mean ALWAYS go OVER BUDGET...they don't get things done in a timely fashion. When they lose interest because they can't get any more money out of you, they start doing shoddy work. And you may be left cleaning up after them down the road.

So - What should you do?

1.  RESEARCH - check better business bureau, get recommendations and CALL THEM. 
2. DRAW UP CONTRACTS - make it official, know the rates, timelines and payment plan ahead of time and stick with it. 
3. HAVE AN OUT - if something is just not feeling right or things just aren't going well - make sure your contract has an OUT so that you can bring in someone who will do the job right. 
4. SIGN LEIN RELEASES - as you pay them - make sure they sign off on the lein release noting they have been paid and cannot put a lein on your loan. 

AND if you live near Stanley, North Dakota - you can hire 

NORTH COUNTRY EXCAVATING & CONSTRUCTION

 (701) 628-6232

These are the people we SHOULD HAVE HIRED in the first place. Their bid seemed high - but they ALWAYS stay ON BUDGET, they get things done ON TIME and they do QUALITY WORK! 

WHY WE CHOSE TO BRING IN A MODULAR HOME

After months and months...no wait - after YEARS and YEARS of planning and plotting and dreaming and devising, we had to make a choice...do we "stick build" or bring in a modular home? We determined which modular company we would buy from and then we researched stick built and ICF houses. What we found out for our area was this...when you live in the middle-of-nowhere and you contact a construction company to build your house from scratch, you have to cover the cost of housing and anticipate trip or mileage charges added in to the cost and the list went on. It was rather depressing because we had dreamt of building an ICF home and thought it would weather our North Dakota plains living and the buffeting wind well. But it wasn't a feasible option.

Given the fact we were developing our land and building a house on it - we would have had to come up with upwards of $600,000 to build a basic 1500 square foot home - most likely without a basement. More than half a million for a house on the prairie whose resale potential is extremely limited. More than likely we hope and pray one of our children will choose to settle here after we are gone. 

Then we did some indepth research on modulars vs manufactured and knew beyond a shadow of a doubt we would go with the modular build. We could specify our foundational structure - and went with a floor tress system. I am glad we chose that - because other foundational systems are creaky - this one is as solid as stickbuilt.

We also went with our broker Kopper Creek Homes because I had found a kindred spirit amongst the sales people in this industry. Cayttie was able to dream right along with me and totally understood my desire for a rustic, industrial, chic farmhouse. It was an odd combination of modern and rustic. She nailed it! 

My AMAZING kitchen!

We chose modular because of the timing - we wanted to get things rolling as soon as possible and with North Dakota winters - building on site had about a 4 month window. We didn't anticipate such a mild winter - but it has proven beneficial as we continue to forge up the seams of our home. Something a typical North Dakota winter would not have allowed.

We chose modular because we wanted to be able to customize our home - just as we would have with a stickbuilt. And customize we did - from the kitchen, to the pantry, to the piano room and the masterbath - our home is just that OUR HOME! 

Here's a shot of them setting our modular on 

our walkout basement.

There are some cosmetic issues that are being dealt with - nothing is perfect...but there was still that potential had we done a stickbuilt home. To say that we couldn't be happier with our amazing modular home is an understatement. This place is simply GORGEOUS and MORE than I could have hoped for. We are loving life on the farm and even though my poor husband is working himself into exhaustion trying to be the general contractor and put the finishing touches on our home, we are love-love-loving it! 

SO, if you live in the middle of nowhere, you may want to look into modular over building from the ground up - it's not for everybody, but we are definintely content! 

3 THINGS TO DO BEFORE YOU START TO BUILD A HOUSE

We have been through the ringer with this house building thing. We aren't even past the early stages and we are already experiencing some major pain in the home building arena.

When we started this process we were excited to finally see some movement towards our goal after about 2 1/2 years of planning. Or so we thought. What we found out is that we had been doing about 2 1/2 years of dreaming and had not touched on the planning yet. What we found out is that we were behind the ball on many things and ahead of the game in others. But what we found that hurt the most was that our dreamers, our wanters had taken over our bodies and we were no longer functioning within our budgetary guidelines. As a matter of fact, we were so far beyond them that we forgot what they were!

This being the case, I want to save some people some of the pain that we are currently experiencing. Here are three things you should do BEFORE you start to build a house.

1) KNOW YOUR BUDGET - one of my goals has always been to own my house and not have my house own me. This is fairly easy to accomplish when you rent, when you buy a house that's pre-owned - well, that's another story for another day, but suffice it to say - SET YOUR DOLLAR LIMIT and STAY WITHIN IT. Do NOT -- no really...DO NOT blow your budget!

2) RESEARCH YOUR BUILDER - we thought we'd done our research but what we had been doing was simply dreaming - when it came to understanding who the builder was, we were clueless. WHY? Because we went with a broker. We purchased a modular home built by the broker's company of choice. How do they choose - well, they sign on to sell certain builder's homes - in our case, they had three levels of builders - the pre-fab home style builders whose houses look like mobile homes, the middle market builder whose houses look great until you pull out the level and the magnifying glass, and of course there is their top of the line builder that only a select few can afford. In our case - we fell within the category of their middle market builder. What we didn't know were some of the key elements we wanted were sacrificed - not because they couldn't do it and do it well, but because we chose to compromise our budget and stretch some things thin while other items we went top of the line with.

Once you narrow down your builder - CHECK THEM OUT. Visit their factory, see how they do things. If we had known, we likely would have gone a different route, but we didn't. Don't get me wrong - we have a beautiful home - there were just a few things that looked a bit slapped together or weren't up to the standard we thought they would be - but they are all minor cosmetic issues we can manage ourselves. As far as structure and soundness - it is fantastic.

3) UNDERSTAND EXTENUATING COSTS - for us, we built from scratch - literally from the ground up. Undeveloped land that we had to pull power, cable, drill a well, excavate out of the side hill...SO - the house was reasonable and well within our budget - but when you added the development of the land, septic tank installation, excavation and cement work, cost of build out for the basement and garage and throw in a 500 sf mudroom - you have a recipe for going WAY.OVER.BUDGET. We have tried to maintain - but we have constantly been getting slapped with misquotes and whoopses. You need to get your quotes in advance - lock the contractor in and incorporate those charges into your budget. This must be included in the cost of building your home so that you aren't thrown a huge curveball!

We are still in the process of building our home. Our appraisal is now our nemesis. There were some items added to the appraisal in order to obtain the value of the home that now have to be completed in order to convert our construction loan to a mortgage - but I can honestly say - what I am seeing - when we finish our house (top to bottom) and all is complete, THIS HOUSE - this amazing piece of exquisite real estate will be worth double that appraisal value - guaranteed! Now, here's hoping we live long enough to see it completed! lol! My poor husband has poured his heart and soul into this place! Hours upon hours of work to get this home built! I will say this...it is already breathtaking! I never dreamt of living in a home as grande as our farmhouse on the prairie! In that respect - God is good and we are very happy! I don't mean for the points above to sound negative but they are IMPORTANT considerations - so please, if you're building, keep these three things in mind BEFOREHAND!

This story is our story - it doesn't reflect every situation or every person's building experience - so please know that I am sharing from our personal experience and nothing more.

STICKER SHOCK - when the home of your dreams becomes a nightmare

I am EXHAUSTED!
More than that I am so over this house thing! Not really, but I would love to be.

A week ago today we found out that the BUILDER (not our broker/designer Kopper Creek) but the builder - Magnolia Homes - had to file bankruptcy. Because Kopper Creek holds to the practices of Colorado real estate, our money was in an escrow account waiting to be issued to Magnolia Homes once they got the full house plans to them. But that never happened. Through a series of God-ordained events, money never changed hands and all is well with the Johnsons. Well...sort of.

I believe God has a reason for everything. Things don't happen by chance, they're ordained of a loving God. SO...with that in mind, I've been pondering, "Why God?" And in His silence we have been way too active. Actively trying to find another builder. Actively cutting this and that and the other to make the house more affordable Actively trying to be good stewards but totally forgetting to seek the Provider's face. We scrambled. We traveled. We had meeting after meeting. And with each meeting a little more of me seemed to die. Because with each meeting prices increased. With each meeting the timeframe we desired came and went. Without a decision last week - our last hopes of having a home before our daughter's wedding were crushed

So WHY would God allow this to happen?

You would think that we would have diligently pursued this question for a clear answer. Maybe we figured God couldn't handle it? Maybe we figured we had to take matters into our own hands to get this thing done because obviously it didn't happen the first time around.

However, through all the struggles, the pain, the terror (yes, I've been that emotional about this whole thing) we left the out the Key component. So when the day came for our decision (that was yesterday) and we had nothing from the housing company, we figured we needed to dig deep and see what was going on...WITH US and WITH GOD.

That's when it hit me personally that we were willing to sacrifice a lot in our later years in life (yes, I am acknowledging I'm getting old!) We were willing to pour body, soul and spirit into this house that would cause us to have to work for another 30 years. I am going to be 50 next year. I DO NOT PLAN TO WORK UNTIL I AM 80. Lord willing, I will retire in my 60's and spend the rest of my days on this earth loving on our grandchildren and serving the Lord fully and completely with my husband alongside!

Since our decision-making didn't have to happen yesterday, I got up early to spend some time with the Lord and ask Him what was going on. I couldn't find my Bible bag...anywhere in the house. I was not going to let that stop me...I grabbed my NASB off the shelf and flipped it open and started reading. I ended up in 1 Chronicles. I was surprised but figured I would see what God had for me. There in the passage that I'd highlighted years back were words that now have a whole new meaning. David was wanting to build a temple because the arc of the covenant had traveled with the people for many years and David and the people had settled down and built permanent structures, yet the arc remained in a tent. The prophet Nathan had to tell David NOT to build the house for the Lord. But God promised that David's people would go on to be great and that He would watch over them and that one of the lineage of David would find God's favor and build the house of the Lord. I know that there's something to be said for taking things out of context, but really - the Lord led me to a passage about building a "house" and this verse struck me...

For you, O my God, have revealed to your servant that you will build for him a house; therefore your servant has found courage to pray before you. 1 Chronicles 17:25

That's when it hit me. I have not had the COURAGE to PRAY before God other than to ask His blessings on OUR project. This project that has gone from the home of our dreams to a total nightmare. It was time to do some REAL soul searching, some REAL praying, some REAL listening.

So, I put down my Bible, set aside my journal and I did just that. I went before the Lord and prayed. And my heart felt His gentle prodding and the words of my wise brother came back to me about a smaller dwelling place, and my hearts desire for a place of refuge and peace resurfaced, a home where Daryl and I could be happy and a house that would not bankrupt us -- the irony! OH the IRONY!

As I take a closer look at the house plans, the foundation work, the shop, the cement work, the well, the septic, the basement, the interior perks, the size...THE SIZE of the undertaking - I am stunned by the realization that we almost moved forward with this project. God, in his infinite mercy and wisdom, has allowed us to take some time, analyze everything, consider what we truly need and remember that the house is just for the two of us, not our children who are all grown; not our parents - even though we would love to house them and if the time came and that were necessary we would make the adjustments needed. NO, this house simply needs to hold two people. It doesn't require a lot of square footage. We've lived in homes with four children where we had an average of 100 square foot per person and made it work!

This place and its beauty should be considered 

and whatever we can do to recreate a homestead here, 

we need to do it thoughtfully.

I think the hardest part about letting this place go is the hours we put into it, pouring over the plans, tweaking things to make them work for us, dreaming, believing that this was the PERFECT house and may it is, just more than likely not for us. So I'm laying my house before the Lord. I am giving it over to Him. I am trusting and praying He will allow Daryl and I to find agreement in the home we are to build. That we would not shy away from the work required to start from scratch, if that is what we need to do in order to honor God.

Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised! The Lord made the heavens. Splendor and glory are before Him,     strength and joy are in His place.  

 1 Chronicles 16:25-26