The build · Choosing your team
How to pick a builder for your dream home
Choosing the builder is the decision that decides how your home actually goes together. This guide collects the questions Jennifer Krosch, a Realtor with a background in construction, electrical, and workplace safety, uses when she helps buyers evaluate a builder: credentials, references, contracts, and the quality of the work itself.
The checklist
Five things to check before you choose
No single answer decides it. The right builder earns trust across all five of these, and the honest ones welcome the scrutiny.
01 · Match the builder to the project
Custom builds, design-build firms, and production builders run different processes. For a lake lot with a walk-out grade, a shoreline, and a septic site, you want a builder with real experience on custom, non-subdivision ground.
02 · Check the paper first
Ask every candidate for their license number and proof of insurance, including general liability and workers' compensation. A builder who hesitates on the paperwork is a red flag before you ever talk about lumber.
03 · Visit finished homes and active sites
Talk to homeowners at completed builds and walk an active job site. Look at the framing, the electrical, the weatherproofing, and the level of cleanup. Finished photos are marketing; a working site is the truth.
04 · Read the contract like it is the house
Fixed price versus cost-plus, what the allowances actually cover, how change orders are priced and approved, the payment schedule tied to milestones, and the warranty terms. Every one of these decides how the project goes.
05 · Test the communication
Who returns your calls within a day, who is on site every day, and how changes get communicated. A builder you cannot reach during the sale is the same builder you cannot reach at the walkthrough.
Go deeper · Walk the work
What a trained eye actually sees
Anyone can spot a crooked trim. It takes a trained eye to notice the electrical panel that was labeled once and never again, the plumbing run that should never have been routed where it was, the missing flashing at a window, or the ladder left up overnight on a job with kids nearby.
Jennifer's years in construction, electrical, workplace safety, and with the City of Sioux Falls are the reason buyers ask her to walk a build site. She looks at a home the way someone who has built one does: structure, systems, safety, and the details that become repairs later.
When you tour a builder's completed work, go with that mindset. Open the closets, look at the basement walls, check the electrical panel, feel how the doors swing, and ask how the warranty handles the things you cannot see.
Before you sign
A few reminders at the finish line
- Get the quote, the schedule, and the warranty in writing before you commit a deposit.
- Define how change orders are priced and approved; that single clause prevents most disputes.
- Tie payments to completed milestones, not the calendar, and hold the last payment until the punch list is done.
- Confirm who carries the permits and the insurance for the site, in writing, from day one.
Building on the lot at 2000 Bright Shores Pl?
Jennifer can connect the build plan to the lot's records: the zoning, the survey, the HOA, and the rural water membership, then help you walk the site with a builder.