Hopefully you aren't just waiting for one bid. We are owner building but just as we get at least 3 bids per trade, you should get more than one builder to price your home.

We're doing a negotiated bid with a fixed price. That means one builder only. Custom builders here don't do competitive building; they don't have to--plenty of work here in the custom segment.

Our builder (if we sign his contract, he's "ours") told us 2 weeks. It's been four, so far. Don't be surprised that, like all business everywhere I've ever been, no deadlines will be met.

We're chewing our nails up to elbow level. Just been trying to do stress-relief stuff; distract ourselves by other activities; work on other things related to the later parts of the build (like landscape plans; so we feel "progress" is being made); etc. At times I'm tired of the whole process already.

As an aside, I've worked a lot in hospitals and one emergency room nurse I knew left nursing and started selling medical equipment on a commissions-only basis. I asked her if the no-salary pay and the meeting quotas aspects of the business world didn't make her nervous. She laughed and said that things are so much more relaxed for her now. And that she found the deadlines so flexible. It's not like anybody's gonna DIE if deadlines aren't met or work is sloppy. I've always remembered that and when I left health care I found it to be absolutely true. Unfortunately, I'm now the consumer and I find it extremely annoying.

In the same boat as you. Oh, and we've talked with other builders before; no one else was any more timely. Custom builders here are NOT hungry.

The GC we ended hiring took 4 weeks for the first bid and it seemed to be a year. There's a growing # GCs here that are charging $1000 or more for a bid. There's plenty of work here for custom builders. Tom

The builder is developing the neighborhood himself, so we have to use him. He built his own house next door. He is very good and we haven't heard anything bad about him at all. I am just getting wildly nervous, we are supposed to start in July. I picked almost everything out already hoping it would make things easier. I am ready for this to begin so we can get it over with!!!

I think it took ours about 3 weeks. She had to get bids from 10 or more subcontractors.

susancc:

"I am ready for this to begin so we can get it over with!!!"

I am so with you. I have lately realized that I never wanted to have a house built. I just wanted to live in one that was designed and built the way I wanted it. Oh, where is that magic wand that would make that happen?! I'm stressed, angry, and bored with it all--alternating from minute to minute.

Still waiting here. Four days ago I faxed our G.C. (he responds better to faxes, I found out) something marginally related to the issue at hand. A gentle reminder. Also said: let us know if there's anything else you need. Still waiting.

So, I'm trying to remember the wisdom of the Serenity Prayer. I KNOW this is something I can't change; it's the accepting it part I'm short on.

However, serenity isn't working all that well. Now I'm moving into MASH humor. It worked so well when I worked in hospitals and there was a lot that was uncontrollable. And more serious than me and my house, too.

Ran across a wonderful quote on a builder's site:

"Everything will be okay in the end.
If it's not okay, it's not the end." ROAR!!!!!

LOL! I feel for you. We had some GC's who had a bid in our hands within days. Unfortunately, those were either seriously unresearched and obviously not very accurate, or they were nothing more than a cut and paste job from some template he had set up. They were not detailed enough and made me very nervous. I don't like to see vague descriptions "like plumbing" on the allowances without some idea of what "plumbing" encompasses. What I want is
"Plumbing Allowance: vanity faucets - master bath $xxxxx
whirlpool tub - master bath $xxxxx
water lines - # of ft of (material) @ $xxx per ft installed"

Anyone can throw a number into a bid, but a good GC will "do the math" and show you how he came up with that number. That's worth waiting for.

On the other hand, we've waited as long as a month for others. Waiting a long time does not guarantee that those are any more accurate or well-researched unfortunately. It may mean that either the GC is overloaded with projects or that he's a bit lacking in customer service and prompt response.

The builder we chose gave us a priliminary "ball-park" estimate based on our wish list and choices within 10 days, then met with us to flesh out the specifics of our plan. Then he gave us a very detailed breakdown within about another 10 days/2 wks of that meeting. He is currently getting 2nd and 3rd bids from different subs for the things we thought to be a bit high. He's very willing to shop around to get his subs to compete with each other for this job. He's also given us suggestions about materials to think about to save money here and there.

After hearing about how the housing market is down and GC's are starving for business, I too was shocked about how unresponsive some of them were. You'd think they'd be jumping up and down to get the chance to build on a custom home project, but that doesn't seem to be the case with some of them.

arebella: After reading some about the housing slump, what I've concluded is that it's mostly the production builders who are stuck with an oversupply of their tract houses. They're competing with existing homes whose prices have fallen and whose supply is also in abundance. As is usually the case, the people with money (that's us! which always amazes me to think of myself in that category) always have money. Custom builders are rarely without business. Yachts, expensive jewelry and furs, private jets--pretty stable markets.

Plus, if you're a truly custom builder and don't build speculative houses, you're not all strung out financially with debt-service. The customer takes the financial risk--assuming you have enough customers to have an income.

So, I think that I, for one, was very mislead about how eager builders were going to be to get my business.

I think you've hit the nail on the head, BJ. It's really no different than the luxury car or any upscale market - there will always be buyers.

We had our initial plans bid out by two builders. One said it would take a week and it took two. Another said it would take 3-4 and it took 6. So basically double anything anyone tells you and you'll be close to accurate.

We're having our final plans re-bid by our selected builder now and it took a little over two weeks (just got a verbal number yesterday). Waiting was PAINFUL for me. But I know he had to get bids from other vendors (and is still waiting on 2) and of course he has other work to do as well, so it's not like he was procrastinating, it just felt like ages to me.

This house project will be good for me. I'm not good at waiting and I know there will be lots of it in this project. I may tattoo that serenity prayer on my body somewhere.

I got bids from two quality builders. Both said it would take a month. Both took 7 weeks (got both back on the same day strangely enough).

I'm interested to hear if anyone else has heard of builders charges for bids. Someone mentioned that to me recently, and I didn't believe it . . . .

We gave the contractors involved 3 weeks to get back to us. We submitted our plans to them in the "slow season". We were clear about wanting to get rolling ASAP. We were willing to wait for and fall into their work rotation if it was feasible for us.

Failure to respond to calls culled several, others dilly-dallyed with their estimates. Failure to submit estimates in a timely manner told us precisely what we needed to know. "The early bird catches the worm"! I'd rather pay more for someone who SHOWS UP ON TIME than pay less for someone who promises you the world and delivers nothing.

"Crowing cocks lay no eggs".

I have everything picked out but the lighting and I had bids for flooring, windows, tile, toilets, sinks, faucets, cabinets, countertops, and exterior doors. I have the brick, roof tiles, doorknobs, trim bathtubs picked out with info on prices and location. I have about 75% of the lighting picked out but am waiting on builder's prices to decide on some things. I tried to be as organized as possible. We are supposed to start in July, so I hope this happens soon. We pushed to have our meeting in May so we wouldn't be pinched for time. I am tired of the whole thing and we haven't cleared the lot!!!

susancc: I see once again that you and I are suffering from the same thing: we're more organized and just more "into it" than the professionals we hire are.

Been my problem my whole life. People love me for it when it helps them; and hate me for it when it threatens them. So, I try to downplay it because it can be a skill that is really threatening to people. It's just the way I am.

On my end, I suffer because of the waiting and their disorganization. I try to remember that the professionals we're hiring are balancing all this for more than the one project I'm balancing it for. That doesn't really help much, though it is reality.

I'm starting to get the feeling that they're like small children. When you convey to them, in one way or another, that you're hurrying them then they start to daudle. It's a self-assertion/power trip/control thing. And, they do sometimes have control; you can't walk away from all of them.