Constructive Conversations
Welcome to Constructive Conversations with co-hosts Zac Daniel of Victorian Finance and Luke Barksdale of Viz3Dspace. This podcast is designed to take the confusion out of new construction and give you the knowledge you need to confidently begin your homebuilding journey.
Each episode, we break down the process step by step including everything from financing and design to builder relationships, budgeting, and the real questions homeowners should be asking before they ever break ground. With perspectives from both the lending and design sides, we’ll equip you with practical insights, industry knowledge, and the confidence to make informed decisions.
Whether you’re buying your first home, building your dream home, or simply curious about how it all comes together, Constructive Conversations is your go-to guide for navigating the world of new construction.
Constructive Conversations
Episode 8: How to Choose the Right Builder or Realtor?
The choice of builder and realtor can make your new construction feel calm and clear—or chaotic and costly. We walk through a practical playbook to vet the people who will shape your budget, timeline, and daily stress, sharing what to look for, what to avoid, and how to build a team that communicates well under pressure. From reputation and references to warranties and walk-throughs, we unpack the small signals that predict a smooth build: clean job sites, tight finishes, precise contracts, and quick, thoughtful replies.
We also get real about the role of a realtor in new construction. Not every great real estate agent thrives on a build timeline. You’ll hear why experience with permits, milestones, and builder policies matters, how the right agent negotiates upgrades and incentives, and why tone—firm but not hostile—keeps progress moving. Local knowledge is a force multiplier, helping you steer toward reliable builders and away from costly regret.
Price comes up, and we don’t sugarcoat it: picking the lowest bid often leads to thin allowances, slow subs, and expensive rework. Instead, we explain how to weigh quality, communication, and fit alongside cost, and we offer a simple action plan—consistent interviews, note-taking, clear questions, and trusting your gut. By the end, you’ll have a checklist to protect your budget, timeline, and peace of mind.
Welcome back to Constructive Conversations, the podcast where we're going to break down everything you need to know about new construction homes. I'm Zach Daniel with Victorian Finance, and join me always is Luke Barksdale with Viz3D Space.
SPEAKER_01:Hey everybody, we're glad to be here today. Today's topic's a pretty big one. Uh we're going to be answering the questions like how to choose the right builder or realtor.
SPEAKER_00:This one is one of the most important decisions a buyer is going to face. It's not always as easy to get right, but when you do get it right, you'll have a smoother experience. But if you get it wrong, it can get expensive and frustrating fast. That's right.
SPEAKER_01:So we're going to go ahead and dive on in here. So just reading off some stuff for you guys. Builders and realtors, you know, they they equal your guide to having like an advocate through the process, right? They're going to be your guide and advocate through the process. So, like a builder, if you're not using a realtor, that's who you're leaning on. If you have a builder-realtor team, you're going to be leaning on both of them, and that realtor is going to be kind of an advocate for you between the two.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. That's right. So one thing you want to look at is first when you're choosing the builder, you want to look at what the reputation's like. You want to review their reviews, you want to ask for references, and even ask other homeowners if you're building in a community what the process was like. You also really want to focus on the quality of their work. Walk homes that are either currently under construction or have constructed. Check the finishes and materials that are being used because you know that is going to carry over from build to build to a certain degree. And if you just don't really like the style that they build, then it may not be a builder for you. Check the warranties. Uh, what's covered under warranty? How long do you does your warranty last? How is the post-closing process look like to get those things taken care of for you? And what is their communication like? I mean, if they are slow to respond to you up front on getting these kind of questions answered, then that could be a tell of what the rest of your building process is really gonna look like.
SPEAKER_01:Oh man, yeah. If you got a builder that's not getting back with you as you're trying to get to a contract and they're just promising their communication's gonna get better when they start building your house, odds are that's not gonna happen.
SPEAKER_00:No, it's it's not.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I think some of the more important things you touched on there is that like walking the homes. If you got the opportunity to walk a build that they have, that is so good to go do because you know that's them putting their money where their mouth's at, right? Like you're going to see a project, the things that you can look for, how clean is that work site, right? How's the trim job look? How's the paint job look? Like the true finishes on there. Seeing one in framing, I think it's good to go do that, but in the finished stages, yeah, that is so good to go see how their subs are doing their finished work.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
unknown:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. So, you know, the the other part of building this team is that realtor. You know, if you have a realtor get involved, the the steps to kind of choosing them. Um, experience matters. Um, look for someone who's you know handled new construction before. Maybe this isn't their first go around, they've got some experience with the process because it's different. Um, they want you want them to have negotiating skills because they're your advocate. Um, it's not for you to like approach them and go, hey, I need you to negotiate for me. You want somebody that has that negotiating instinct that goes, hey, we can get you some incentives. Let's talk about the upgrades, let's try to build that into the contract price up front and and and figuring out like lot premiums because when you're going into development, a lot of the times lots with a better view have a premium that may be helpful able to help you negotiate some of that. Um, let's see here. So, some of the other stuff we've got is just you know, they they need to be familiar with timelines and like some of the phases of the build process. Um people that haven't done new construction, like being the realtor, they may not know how the work's broken up. So, timelines, builder policies, construction milestones, stuff like that. That's right.
SPEAKER_00:Um, they're local too.
SPEAKER_01:Y'all go ahead.
SPEAKER_00:No, no, I mean, like you mentioned, when you're doing a new construction home, everything is kind of broken up into you know different phases and different timelines. So if you got a newer realtor or someone who who hasn't sold new construction before, you know, they may go out and day one, there may not be anything being done. And, you know, a realtor will start pestering the builder and asking, and that could frustrate the builder, that negative energy could come back to you. You be frustrated through the process, but knowing that even though ground might not be broken, the permits and things that we talked about in previous episodes take time, they're moving, they're underway, and so it's one thing to you know ask for updates, it's another to come at the situation hostile. And I experience it every time when I'm dealing with buyers or realtors, and you know, if there's a hostile tone being created, it just carries all the way through. It just carries all the way through, and everyone's hostile.
SPEAKER_01:No, and I don't even think much about that, but I'm glad you brought it up. Like, a lot of times builders they're so concerned with like getting it built. They're like, hey, I'm gonna build it. We're we're working to get it up out of the ground, and they're expecting the client to trust them. Well, the client, it's a big unknown for them. That realtor is kind of that bridge that can go, hey, listen, the first couple weeks are permitting, dirt work, getting silk fences put in, getting the lights staked out, the next couple weeks are groundbreaking. They can walk you through it if they're familiar with it. So that's why having an expert that knows a little bit about the process is kind of important. Uh the other part of this is you know, choosing somebody that's local. Um, they're gonna know who are good builders. If they're familiar with new construction and they're local to the area, they're gonna know who to talk to, who not to talk to, you know. And if you've if you've already vetted a builder and you're like, that's the one I want to go with, they may be able to throw you a little bit of caution in there of, hey, you know, we've seen really good stuff, or maybe we've seen some really bad stuff. Yeah. And kind of protect you a little bit.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, absolutely. So as we kind of discuss the difference between them, some red flags to really point out is gonna be vague or unclear contracts or pricing, timelines, slow or inconsistent communication, and that goes both. I mean, we discussed it with the builder, but if a realtor is slow at communicating with you, I mean if you call them repeatedly, they never answer your phone call. Um, you know, they may send you a text back, say, I'll call you later. You don't know when later is. You don't know they never call you back. You end up calling them back, you know. That that's gonna be a red flag. Um and really focus on reviews and reputations. I mean, social media, Google reviews. Uh working in the industry, I know that you know, after a closing, we want people to leave us review. You know, I want positive reviews out there, and that way I can people who are searching me can go and reference things that I've done.
SPEAKER_01:Today's world, reviews and references is like how you build your business. And a lot of times clients who have had a good job done for them, they want to show off their work. So it it's not beyond the expectation to go, hey, listen, you know, do you mind if you give me a couple of references that I could call? Call them up. Ask them, hey, you know, I'm looking at using this builder. Is there a chance you could either send me some photos or maybe I could come like check out your house to see what kind of quality work they did? And if they were happy with them, they're gonna go, yeah, yeah, absolutely. Let me send you some photos. Or you know what's even better? Why don't you come out Thursday and look at this thing?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, if they're willing to invite you out, then that's a good sign. But if they are not willing to give you any kind of references or anything, then run that run.
SPEAKER_01:Just take take off the other direction. You know, I think one of the things we're talking about is this reputation and how important it is. It's it's so important, and one of the things we haven't touched on just a ton when you're bidding your house. A lot of people pick builders around their bid, and that's the only thing they're concerned about. Who came in the lowest? You're gonna get what you pay for. If you go in pitting builders against each other to see who's gonna come out with the best bid, that is the wrong way to do single family residential construction. You need to pick somebody you get along with, has a good reputation, and does quality work. This is gonna be a home you live in. You don't want the guy that had the lowest bottom line. That's just the wrong way to approach this.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. So, what would you think are some of the action plans or takeaways that we should really focus on as we wrap up?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, so I mean, this just some key practical things. Meet with them, interview them. Do that more than once. You got to keep in mind, like, you're hiring them, and another important thing to consider is if they're worth their salt, they're interviewing you too in that same meeting, and that that you just may not be a good fit. Because again, this is a long-term relationship. This is 10 months or better, depending on the size of your project. Yeah. Um, ask the same questions to everybody you interview. You know, me and Zach were talking uh before we did this, we were talking about like, you know, we live in the world of AI right now. Open up Chat GPT and go, hey, listen, I'm about to start a new home project. I'm interviewing builders. What are some good questions that I can ask home builders uh to vet them and make sure they're gonna fit the project that I need? It'll give you a list. Yeah. Use that list, ask the same questions to each other. Stay consistent.
SPEAKER_00:Do not do the same with the realtors, Austin.
SPEAKER_01:Absolutely, absolutely. Uh be sure to take notes of what they're talking about. You know, everybody gets in that zone where they run into a meeting. It's like going to a doctor's office and they tell you everything that's wrong with you. It's like, wait a minute, what just happened? Like, take notes the way you can review them later, talk with your spouse, partner, like review what you're doing, um, and make sure that everything feels good. You're right, trust your gut on this thing.
SPEAKER_00:Um yeah, I mean, I think if you if you set the right team up front, it's gonna set the tone for the whole build. You know, if you have a good connection with the builder, you you jive well, you get a realtor that you can be fully transparent with, you know and you trust, it's gonna make the process so much easier for you than if you have any kind of negative thoughts or remorse about any of it, it's gonna carry over to the rest of the process.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, absolutely. And I you know, it might be cliche, but like when you're setting up this team, you don't want them to think of you as another paycheck. If if you like their your builder, they like you. Same for the realtor, same for the designer, all these team spots we've talked about, they want you to win. Like, we you know, the clients that come in and work with us as design, like I want them to get their house built. I'm I'm vested. I know them, I know their kids, I know their grandmother that's gonna move in with them. Like, we're vested in it and we want to see it happen. That's the same thing for good builders, like they want you to have a good experience, and that's who you want on your team. Yeah, no, I agree. So I think this was a great conversation, and you know, honestly, wish more buyers took the time to get this part right. And if you guys that are watching this will, it's just gonna make the process super smooth for you.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, same here. So choosing the right builder or realtor is the foundation to a smooth building process. Do your homework, ask the right questions, and don't settle until you find the one that you trust.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, if you found today's uh episode helpful, uh share it with a friend who's thinking about building a home, remodeling, whatever.
SPEAKER_00:And make sure to subscribe and so you don't miss our next episode, where we're gonna really talk about what the buyer's job is in the process.
SPEAKER_01:Yep.
SPEAKER_00:Thanks for listening to Constructive Conversations. I'm Zach Daniel. And I'm Luke Barkstill, and we'll see you next time. Thanks.
