Building a new home and construction delays often go hand in hand. Delays and changes to the construction timelines are commonplace due to things like material supply chain delays, labor-related delays, or the home simply needing more work than originally anticipated. If you’re not prepared, these kinds of delays can throw off your plans and cause chaos, ultimately resulting in more stress and challenges. But with these 4 tips, you’ll be prepared to navigate home construction delays and will have the knowledge you need to handle and plan for unforeseen delays.
1. Set realistic expectations and flexible timelines. Work closely with your builder to understand their timeline and what goes into each part of the construction. If you have questions about a certain portion of the timeline, ask! If there are certain milestones that need to be hit by certain dates, make that clear to your builder so you’re working from the same expectations. From there, you can set your expectations–but remember to be flexible. Delays happen and can’t always be foreseen.
2. Focus on communication: Sometimes delays happen because communication breaks down between the builder and the buyer. To avoid this, make sure you have a designated contact person at your builder who will be your go-to liaison to answer questions. Then, set a regular check-in schedule with this contact. Standard check-ins will ensure that you’re always apprised of what’s going on with your build, and when delays do happen, you can alter course quickly.
3. Understand the why: Though flexible timelines, clear expectations, and communication will help avoid delays, they are still bound to happen. When something does come up, work with your builder to find out why it happened. Once the builder has determined the cause, you can work together to see if other delays will happen as a result and how to avoid them.
4. Have a contingency plan! This is probably the most important tip. Having a contingency plan will help you avoid the headache of scrambling to find housing if your home isn’t built in time. Plan for delays and for the build timeline to be longer than expected, and have a solid Plan B to fall back on in case a big delay does happen.
Your real estate agent will be by your side throughout the entire build process and will help you navigate those delays.
Want to talk more about building your own home and how you can navigate the process? Just reach out to our office!!
