Building a New Home in a Cut Throat Market

Never in the last decade of my life have I seen such volatility  in a housing market. After the world “shut down”, building houses did anything but that. Construction went from a steady in an already booming market, to pure chaos. Contractors could only guarantee their bids and estimates for 5 days! To put that into perspective it takes 2-3 months for a bank to approve your bids.If your bids are already 3 months out of date by the time the bank even looks at them, likely the cost of the house nearly doubled. As a builder that was quite challenging. 

So should you build a house in today's market? Well, if you have the choice then NO! But if you are in a situation where you have no other option then, do what you need to do. Let me further explain. In this day and age, we want instant gratification. We get that through social media, and other aspects of life. With more and more instant gratification, comes the expectation that everything should happen that way. But the reality is that it's hard to get materials, mostly due to other parts of the world shutting down and not producing the products for construction.  It's also difficult to get subcontractors. With these two challenges, homes are getting behind schedule and banks are charging high interest rates on loans. Not to mention the cost of materials are inflated adding one thing to the cost of your home. 

So why the honest take? Shouldn't I be selling you on building your home? Well at the end of the day,  I am not that type of builder, I want people to get their dream home at a cost and time that will be best for them. At Mathew Made, we find our motivation is not in the money but rather in the experience we have had helping others with their dreams. In return the money always follows value and we find fulfillment. 

So what do I do now that I have no other option but to build in this market? If possible, finance as much as you possibly can upfront. If that isn't an option, find a builder that will guarantee you a successful build. That will put you first and make sure you are taken care of. Anything can happen so do your homework and if necessary, get involved.

Updated:
 
lastly some words of encouragement, it's been almost a year since the hight of the pandemic and we are seeing lumber cost come down and sub-contractors availably open up. Not to mention the market has become stable again with hundreds of homes on the market again. This all points to a more stable and less risky building environment.  

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