So you want your home or addition built to your dream specifications? You want to have the bedrooms in the perfect spot, the extra-large family room, the higher-than-average ceilings, even an indoor swimming pool?
It can be done-for a price, of course.
But beware. Hiring someone to build your custom home, or customize a design for you, can be a gamble, especially if you don’t know what to look for, what paperwork should be done for your protection, what kind of warranty your builder offers; in short, whether you can trust the person doing the work.
Take the case of a woman in Long Grove who hired a custom builder to build a large extension on her home-adding a family room and a bedroom, converting a garage to a living room and study, remodeling two bathrooms and a host of other additions. The woman, who requested her name not be published, was given an estimate of about $270,000 for the work.
That was in November 1992.
This past December, the builder stopped working, saying he needed more money. The work is nowhere near done: Windows are boarded up with plywood. The rooms are unfinished and still covered in plaster. Some sides of the house are covered with foam core.
The problem, said Mark Perlman, a Northbrook-based custom builder who works on the North Shore, Inverness and Barrington, is “she didn’t have a builder who worked with paper.”
In other words, said Perlman, who was brought in to assess the mess by the bank that financed the project, the builder changed what he was doing but never put it in writing.
“The prints were just nothing like what was built,” he said. “She had no written change orders, and the contract kept going up and up and up. It’s unbelievable how this woman is living. This guy just got in over his head.”
“This is a nightmare from hell,” the woman said. “I was never given a price from him as to what it was going to cost. There was never a list given to me.
“Why? Because I didn’t know. And no one said, `You just don’t do that.’ “
This scenario, of course, is the worst of custom-building horror stories. Nonetheless, the obvious lesson is an important one: Know what you’re getting into in advance.
Most important, get everything in writing. If you make changes along the way-which custom builders say virtually always happens-know the costs up front.
Custom builders stress that, although prices can vary by several thousand dollars, be sure to look closely at what you’re getting. One custom builder, for example, may have better insurance than another.
And remember that there can be other costs. For example, if a worker breaks a leg while building your home, you might be liable. As the sign says at Neal Hunter’s Lancer Corp. in Schaumburg: “Would you have brain surgery done from the lowest bidder?”
Sure, this is a businessman trying to push his own business; Hunter is a longtime builder in the northwest suburbs.
But there is some wisdom here. As with any service, probably the best way to find a reliable builder is through references. Any good builder with several years behind him will encourage you to look at the homes he has built. And often the homeowners won’t mind talking to you.
The process, of course, is different for everyone.
David and Norma Lauder were living in Naperville when they bought a lot in an Oak Brook subdivision called Saddlebrook, knowing they would eventually want to shorten the commute to the Loop. They visited open houses on Sundays to assess builders. The Lauders found two custom builders they liked and did what many established builders recommend: Go to the village hall and ask about a builder’s reputation.
“I remember the woman saying, `Well, we can’t make recommendations, but these are the top two guys in this area,’ ” said David Lauder.
The couple made their choice based on another important factor: gut reaction. Liking your builder is important. After all, this can be a relationship of a year or even longer.
Like most customers, the Lauders came to their builder with a basic picture of the type of house they wanted; in their case, French Colonial style. The builder, Jim McNaughton, pulled out a set of plans for a house similar to what the Lauders wanted.
Changes were made to suit them: A rear stairway was added, for example, the family room and bedroom were enlarged. Working from pre-existing plans, something many builders said they often do, speeded the process.
But, however minor, it had its drawbacks, Lauder said, because the impact of each change was not carefully scrutinized. The closet in the guest bedroom, for example, is frustratingly low, something the Lauders didn’t realize until a guest’s dress was dragging on the floor.
“It’s not the end of the world, but it’s things like that,” Lauder said. “If we ever do this again, obviously we’ll take a much harder look.”
Only a small percentage of customers will have blueprints of their dream home drawn up, and then shop around for someone to do the job, according to custom builders. In such cases, most builders will give you a bid that provides specifics, down to the exact types of materials and hardware, are included-but many said they don’t like to work this way.
Instead, many builders said they prefer to work with a customer from step one, helping select the site and then using an architect they already know and who specializes in the type of home the customer wants.
“From a builder’s standpoint, that’s the best way,” said Perlman, who’s been president of the Northbrook-based Empeco Inc. for 12 years. “A builder knows environmental concerns-the suitability of the land-and knows who to call for soil tests to make sure it’s buildable. And he knows the zoning requirements in the village he works in. A homeowner often wouldn’t know where to begin.”
“A builder you trust will guide you, hold your hand,” said Thomas Molidor, president of Molidor Custom Builders Inc., based in west suburban LaGrange. “Not very often do I get customers that come in and say, `Here’s my set of plans,’ ” Molidor said, adding, with a bit of pride, that he has a bad track record of winning bids on such projects.
“But I love ideas. I love when someone comes in with something from Better Homes and Gardens. It can work as a basis.”
As expected, custom building tends to cost more than buying a mass-produced home. Some builders say their low-end homes cost between $250,000 and $300,000, but several said the average was closer to $500,000, with the top end in the millions of dollars. These are the homes with indoor pools, tennis courts, extensive exercise rooms, even elevators.
Once you make the decision to go ahead with such an investment, realize the commitment is not just financial.
“It’s a very substantial time commitment,” said Ginny Romans, who is having a house built in Inverness. “It’s much more than we anticipated,” she added, noting that the fact she and her husband work full time has made the process difficult.
“The number of things you have to select, the number of suppliers you have to visit. . . . We’re probably not ideal candidates for building a home. But it boiled down to walking in and out of lots and lots of houses and not finding the right one. Either it was not in the right location or something wasn’t fitting.”
Other than checking references, talking with past customers and checking with a village, there’s not much you can do to check up on a builder. That’s one reason the Custom Builders Committee, an arm of the Home Builders Association of Greater Chicago, is working to establish criteria for its members that would let customers know, for instance, that all members carry the same insurance.
“This industry needs a set of standards,” said Hunter, chairman of the committee. “People should be able to compare apples with apples.”
