Building a custom home is a huge investment. We have compiled a list of questions that we frequently receive, and also, some building advice to help you in your selection of a builder.
Location of Builds
What areas have you built in?
Indiana: Greenwood, Indianapolis, Bargersville, Martinsville, Sweetwater, Carmel, Franklin, Whiteland, Franklin Township, and many more.
What areas do you build in?
In order for us to be attentive to every job site daily, we keep our projects in a small area. We usually stay within 30-45 minutes of Indianapolis and Greenwood, Indiana. If you aren’t sure if you are in our building area, please feel free to contact us. A list of neighborhoods we have built homes in can be found here.
Can you build on land that I’ve purchased?
Yes, we can build on land that you’ve purchased. We do builds on private land frequently.
Pricing
Is my project too small?
We build custom homes ranging from $450,000 to $4 million and up. Looking to do a remodel? Contact us. We accept major remodels as our schedule allows.
How much do you charge per square foot?
Every custom home is unique, so general “square foot pricing” is hard to establish. Rick Campbell Builder works off of a “Cost Plus” pricing system. This means that you pay exactly what the house costs plus a builder’s fee. All of the builder’s discounts are passed to you.
Finding a Builder
Should I have multiple builders bid on my project?
Building a home is one of the more important decisions you will make in your life. You will want to look for a builder that makes the process as smooth as possible and builds a quality home that will last. If builders know they are in competition with one another, they may cut costs in every way possible to win the bid. If a plan is not complete, the bid will only include what is on the plans. Later on, you might find that some items were not included or the quality of items priced is not what you expected and the final cost will start to rise. It is most important to find a builder you trust, can prove quality of work, is not afraid to share past customers or subcontractors’ information with you, etc.
Update: We have added a mini showroom to our office so that you can see some of the selections we include in our home pricing.
I want to remodel part of my home. Should I just hire my own subcontractor(s)?
If you are taking on a small, one room project, a reliable subcontractor should be able to complete this project for you without issue. Make sure you find someone that is insured, has good reviews, is able to fix any problems that might arise during or after completion of the project, etc.
A bigger project comes with hiring more workers, dealing with more issues, and requires more time from you to oversee the project. Hiring a builder to handle the project for you ensures that you are getting quality work with trusted subcontractors.
Additional Building Advice: Things to look for in a builder
How many years have they been in business?
What is their experience in home building?
Will they give you a reference list of past customers to call? Ask how their building experience was, if the home has had any issues since completion, etc.
Will they give you a list of their subcontractors to call? A big thing to look for is subcontractors that aren’t getting paid at all or on time. You don’t want subcontractors walking off your job or hard to contact after the job is complete if there is an issue. Also ask how long they’ve been working with that builder.
What are the selections they base pricing off of? This is one of the most important questions to ask. If the builder bids your project based on low quality selections, the price will be cheaper than another builder that bids them at a mid to high quality. When you go to pick out your custom selections (ie. carpet, cabinets, doors, light fixtures, flooring, etc.), if you go to a higher quality product, your home building price then becomes more than the original bid. These can add up quick and you will be way over your original price.
Remember…
Most items purchased to build a home are provided by a select few local suppliers. This means that if the same quality of materials are being used by each builder, the price shouldn’t fluctuate significantly between builders.
This is our compiled list of questions and building advice. If you have any questions or need advice that wasn’t addressed here, please feel free to reach out to our team.