WHAT A BUILDER WHO ACTUALLY GETS IT DOES DIFFERENTLY - AND THE RED FLAGS THAT TELL YOU THEY DON'T
Let me get something out of the way first. I'm not a builder. I don't look like one, I don't sound like one and I don't act like one. If I turned up at your property to price a job, I'd probably fail half the red flags in this article.
My business partner is the builder. I'm the director of Watts & Co, which makes me a business owner and a salesman. I don't actually have any skills. What I'm big on is processes, relationships and trust.
And here's the uncomfortable truth for anyone investing or developing: if you want to make money in property, at some point you're going to have to work with a builder. You can't avoid it.
The thing with property is that one project can sink you. Maybe you're a relatively new developer and this refurbishment (refurb) is a big project for you. If it goes wrong, it messes everything up.
We recently looked at a job for a guy who tried to get an extension done on the cheap. The builder did half of it, then told him it would be £20,000 more, before walking off site with the £20,000 he’d already pocketed. Half the house was left hanging off.
In my experience, investors are afraid of the same four things. This isn't a step-by-step guide that promises you'll never go wrong. Nobody can promise that. It's a look at what a builder who actually gets it does about each fear, and the red flags that tell you they don't.
Start a level back, before anyone has even seen the property. How did you find them?
A recommendation from someone you know who has actually used them is worth a lot. A recommendation from a stranger, when you've asked for one online, is worth a lot less. Sometimes people recommend someone to help them get business, not because they've worked with them.
Then look for a backbone and a backstory. Do they have a website and genuine reviews? A phone number, an office and a team you can actually speak to? Do they live locally? Is it just them on their own, or is there some infrastructure behind them?
Check whether they're registered for Value Added Tax (VAT). Anyone pricing loft conversions will hit the VAT threshold within a handful of jobs, and a business of any substance registers straight away. If they haven't, they may be pretending to be more than they are.
Be wary of large deposits asked for way in advance. We always take an upfront payment because it helps with cash flow and security. But we don't take it until the job starts. If a builder isn't due on site for four months and wants a hefty chunk now, that's unreasonable. Most materials are bought on the day or through trade accounts. There's no reason for anyone to need your money that far ahead.
And look for a builder who wants you to sign a contract. It protects them, but it also sets out the terms for you, which gives you recourse if something goes wrong.
I'll be honest: I've never had a contract from anyone who's worked on my own house. But I come from the industry, and I had a better relationship with those people, shall we say. If you don’t have that luxury - get a contract.
2. The five grand that becomes twenty
This is price creep. The quote starts at one number and creeps up over time. It's going to cost you £5,000, and then somehow it costs you £20,000. The conversation along the way is always the same: "Well, we didn't quote for that." "You didn't ask for that."
Honestly, you're better off being told the real number at the start.
The green flag is a builder who asks for drawings, plans and a schedule of works. They're interested in the detail because they want to price the job on it, rather than thumb-sucking a figure out of thin air.
So test it. If you draw up a detailed schedule of works and send it over, do they come back with good questions? Or are they making it up on the fly?
Then look at the quote itself. It doesn't need to be itemised down to the last screw, because that takes time. But it should be a proper quote on headed paper. Every builder worth their salt has accounting software that produces quotes and invoices and tracks costs. If you're just handed something written on a piece of paper, they're not living in the modern world.
Are they transparent about their costs and what's involved? Will they explain the complicated bits you wouldn't understand, because building isn't your expertise?
You find out a lot from how a builder talks to you the first time you show them the project. Do they have ideas? Do they make suggestions? Are they interested in what you're trying to achieve? Or is it purely transactional: tell me what you want, this is how much, we’ll start next week?
Watch for a builder who opens with a list of demands. We'll need paying weekly. We'll need this. We'll need that.
Fundamentally, it isn't a transaction. You're going on a journey together. Someone who doesn't consider the human side at the start won't consider it halfway through the build either. That attitude transfers into every other part of the job.
Then listen for the technical questions. Do they ask for floor plans? Do they talk about structural calculations? Are they interested in the technical side, or will they do something and wash their hands of it? You want someone who'll take responsibility and do it right.
Some red flags are less subtle. If they turn up looking drunk or high as a kite, you have your answer.
Then there's the builder who just isn't there. You're scratching your head, going, "Where the hell are they?"
The signs show up long before you hire them. Are they easy to get hold of? Do you struggle to get them to an appointment? Is it confirmed properly, and is there a follow-up process? Or is it all done on the back of a fag packet?
Availability is a subtle one. A builder who can start straight away isn't automatically a red flag – but ask why. "We've just taken on a few more guys and need to fill their diaries" is a green flag. Being quiet and desperate for the money is not.
A builder who gets it can also tell you exactly what happens after you say yes. For us, that's a contract, then start dates, then a programme of works, then a slot in the diary. Then we just do it.
If someone's too cheap, that's the biggest red flag.
If someone makes it sound easy, that's the biggest red flag.
Yes, I've called both of them the biggest. I stand by it.
Investors can get obsessed with getting something cheaper, and they end up with the wrong person. It takes longer and costs more in the long run. Paying a little bit extra for peace of mind and certainty is how you minimise the risk of someone taking the proverbial.
Certainty is the most important thing in the world. When you're selling a house: is it going to go through? When you're buying one: are you going to get the keys? A build is no different.
No single flag on this list decides it. Someone who turns up in a Ford Focus instead of a van can still pass every other test. Look at the whole picture. Does it pass the smell test? Do your spidey senses go off?
Ask better questions. Give better information. Then see who comes back with better answers.
You can't avoid builders. But you can avoid the wrong one.
If you're an investor or developer with a project coming up and you'd like a builder who gets it, send it over and we'll price it. Contact me using the details below.
