You should be getting an update at least once a week. You'll probably talk to your builder or supervisor most days.

I talk to our supervisor almost daily and we have a meeting once a week to update on what still needs to be done. He acts as the intermediary between the builder and us.

Depends... Are you building a custom, semi-custom, or tract/production house?

We had a tract home built, and never received updates from the foreman/superintendent (but we were welcome to tour the property whenever we wanted); not even when problems were fixed. We received one email from the sales associate, that included a photo taken of the exterior, about half way through.

This was basically my experience with both tract houses.

We are in the excavation point of a new custom build. We get at least weekly updates as well as more if we ask for it. They are using Builder Trend to track everything and post daily updates, when needed, to the site that all of us can easily see. I also drive by the site daily, it is on my way home, and can peak casually in

Our builder is also using Builder Trend. We also get weekly photos on Builder Trend.

Holy smokes, I communicate about 5 times a day with my builder. The builder and I are always going back and forth about something. There are so many small and large things that need to be figured out in real time. I can't imagine going days without talking. I have to be intimately familiar with every move and am always looking for ways to make the house stronger and healthier, carefully intertwining timeless methods with newer practices that even the builder hasn't done before. Plus, I spend half my day at the site most days learning everything I can. I clean, keep everyones spirits energized, and offer food and a helping hand whenever I can. I have found that my being so involved has made a huge difference quality wise. My extremely attentive eye catches the little things that could be a bit better here and there.

Not as frequently as promised, but in his defense he wasn't clear at the outset that DD would be on site several times daily and updating us and sending pictures. I think once he knew we were being kept in the loop by her, he just didn't give the promised updates. However, he did communicate when necessary if there were questions or problems.

A weekly update with pictures is not too much to ask for, in fact that is what we were originally promised and if we had pushed for it, he probably would have done so.

ditto on tha.....track homes are a joke about everything......IMO......

Tract homes?

Jennifer, every client is different as is every builder. I concur with many of the above statements. If the house you are building is custom then communication is much more frequent if you want it to be. I once built a custom house for a super busy client who traveled extensively. She and her husband specified everything with the architect/designer ahead of time, and I mean everything (faucets, flooring, paint colors etc.) and I communicated with them if a challenge arose or a change had to be made or I had a suggested change. Saw them once a month. Overall a very successful project and everyone was happy. This is unusual. Most of my communications are on average 1-2 times per week to discuss selections and changes. Most of my clients either stop by the site to take a look at progress or I send them photos once a week or once every two weeks. There is zero need to talk every day, unless as someone mentioned above there are extremely specific custom features that need extreme monitoring.

You want to balance your communication stream without micromanaging. I find that when a client wants daily briefings it makes the process super cumbersome and distracting. The ideal method is to make decisions well ahead of time (those that can be made) and to communicate on a pace that works for both client and builder. I know thats not telling you much, but like I said from the onset, every client and every builder are different. You need to talk to builder and if you mesh then the project will most likely be successful.

Communication...?