One of the biggest problems people have when it comes time to build their homes is actually finding the contractors themselves. It might seem easy at first, as most people will tell you there is definitely no shortage of contractors out there, but just like anything in life, nothing is as easy as it initially seems.

The biggest hurdle is finding the home builder or remodeling contractor that is actually right for your particular job, and asking them all the right questions to determine whether they can do the job appropriately or not. Of course, you need to actually set meetings with those contractors to be able to ask them those questions, and figuring out which ones you should sit down with can be harder than it sounds.

We’ve put together a few tips here today that should help get you in contact with the right contractors so you can start the interview process.  Of course, when you work with the Design Build Planners, we will recommend contractors within our network as well as help you build a short list of other contractors for your project.

Research Design Build Contractors Online

The phone book is a pretty outdated form of information at this point, but all the relevant contractors should be in there. The Internet is usually a much better and more comprehensive place to look, and the best part is you can often read about other people’s experience working with a particular contractor.

One potential problem with going down this path however, is that you often get too many choices. While too many choices might seem like a good problem to have, it can often stop you from making any choice at all. It’s easy to get overwhelmed and end up right back where you started – not knowing which contractors you should contact. What the Internet is seriously useful for though, is looking up information on certain contractors in particular. If you’re thinking of scheduling an interview with one, you can research them online first to make sure they are even worth your time to meet.

Ask Friends and Family About Different Contractors

If you have any family or friends who have built a house recently or have done any design build remodeling work, then you should definitely be asking them about their experiences from  the remodeler they used. There is nothing like firsthand experience to tell you if a contractor is worth your time or not, and they can tell you exactly what it was like to work with any given contractor.

You may be thinking you don’t have any friends or family that have built recently, but that’s probably entirely untrue. Don’t just think about your immediate friends and family, but also the people you are acquainted with but don’t see all that often. Consider posting on Facebook or another social media outlet that you’re looking for a good contractor and ask if anyone has recommendations for you. You might be pleasantly surprised at the number of replies that come back to you.

Scope Out Houses You Love

Get in the car and start driving around your city or town. If you come across a home that looks a lot like the one you’re looking to build, or is in the same style, go up and knock on the door. Seriously! Many people might be uncomfortable doing this, but the people living there are usually pretty receptive to it.

Think of it as a stranger coming up to you on the street and complimenting on your shirt. It might be a bit weird that a stranger would just walk up to you and start a conversation like that, but you’ll forget about it pretty quickly for the fact that they are saying something nice about you.

This goes double when their home is concerned, and people are usually extremely proud of their homes, especially considering how much money they’ve likely spent on it. The people living there will often have no qualms about telling you their experience with the builder in question, and can recommend you either do or don’t work with the new home builder they used.

Social Proof Weighs Heavily

While there are many ways to go about finding a builder to start interviewing, social proof goes a long way. If you can find someone who used a builder’s services before, their opinion is going to be a lot more valid than one you read on the Internet or heard by word of mouth. So put the word out there that you’re looking to build and you never know, you might be put in touch with the perfect builder by the end of the week.