Hi! Texas is a big state- what city are you looking to move to?

We can live almost everywhere not too far away from an Airport. But we were thinking Dallas, Austin or San Antonio.

This post was edited by lynny_lo on Tue, Jun 4, 13 at 9:12

I live in a gated community 90 mi East of Dallas. You were not required to use a specific builder, although you had to get the plans approved by the architecture committee. But I'm sure this varies by development. It is not located in a city limits just the county which has no building codes or requirements besides the septic system (this is true throughout Texas).

The custom design services you are describing are normally performed by an architect rather than a builder.

Basements are virtually unheard of in Texas. I think the two main reasons is that our clay soil shrinks and swells too much which will cause damage to an underground structure and the other is because of all the limestone bedrock, making digging very expensive.

Mediterranean/Spanish style homes are very popular in Austin. There are lots of "builder developments" as well as custom home builders. I noticed a very inexpensive Lennar subdivision (homes in the $200s) with solar panels on the the roofs so apparently energy efficient options are available at all price points.

What you want/get all depends on how much you're willing to spend.

Some gated communities require you to use one of their list of approved builders. In others, all the available lots are already owned by builders so if you find a lot you like, the builder who owns it will usually only sell it to you IF you enter a contract to let him build the house. In still others (like mine), you can buy a lot and then choose whomever you want to build it for you.

Please be aware that Texas is a wonderful place to live BUT there if very little regulation of the building industry here. Every town/city/county has its own building code... and in many place there are no building codes at all in effect except those governing septic systems which are required by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. There is no statewide regulation of builders at all. No requirement that builders be licensed, bonded, insured, or show that they have any knowledge of home building or even of common business practices.

At one time, Texas had the Texas Residential Construction Commission "TRCC" which was supposed to regulate builders and ensure some level of consumer protection for homeowners. However, to become a licensed builder under the TRCC, all one had to do was fill out a one page form (basically swearing that one had never been convicted of a felony) and pay a $500 fee. A week later, you were a licensed builder! Kind of getting ordained in some bogus online church so that one can perform marriages...except that the potential HARM is so much greater!

Anyway, the TRCC was totally hijacked by unscrupulous builders who turned it into a "builder protection agency" that forced homeowners to jump through additional legal hoops before they could bring suit against a builder that ripped them off. The TRCC had no teeth to require builders to actually FIX any defects in a house but they could make the homeowner withdraw a lawsuit if the homeowner hadn't gone through all the TRCC hoops before filing suit. And TRCC often dragged its feet until the homeowner's right to sue the builder for building defects expired due to statutes of limitations. The TRCC was such an embarrassment that even Republican Carole Keeton Strayhorn said "if it were up to me personally, I would blast this TRCC builder-protection agency off the bureaucratic books." . Well, the Texas finally legislature got the message and closed TRCC down a couple of years ago.

TRCC has not been replaced with anything so today, Texas builders don't even have to bother gettin a "mail-order license". As far as the building industry is concerned, Texas is still totally the "wild, wild west." Anyone can be a builder! Go get a magnetic sign to stick on the side of your pickup truck, print up a few business cards and start handing them out and VOILA, you're a Texas builder.

Yes, there are some marvelous builders in the state but, I fear we also have far more than our share of the fly-by-night rip-off artists plus an overwhelming number of good-ole-boys who probably got into the business with the best of intentions (at least initially) but who simply don't have the brains to handle the complications of building. Or running any other kind of business for that matter. They make bad decisions, get in over their heads, start trying to cut corners to stay afloat and pretty soon, some poor customer is left holding the bucket on a very expensive lemon!

And, while there are some very minimal laws in Texas regarding the warranties that a builder must, by statute, give you - be aware that, if at any point after building your home, your builder decides to declare bankruptcy, those statutory warranties will do you absolutely no good. The builder's statutory warranty obligations are wiped clean in the bankruptcy along with all other debts he might owe...including any legal judgment you might have gotten against him UNLESS your legal judgement recites that the builder defrauded you and the judgment is for damages flowing directly from that fraud.

I tell you this as a way of saying that you need to be be very cautious when hiring a builder in Texas. Make absolutely sure that the builder has been in business quite some time, has an exemplary reputation, and is financially stable. Insist that he be bonded and insured with a reputable company. Do not allow the builder to disturb a single blade of grass on your property until you have documents showing that he is bonded and properly insured IN YOUR HANDS.

If you are thinking of hiring a small builder, ask him for the names of every previous building-related business he has ever held an ownership interest in or been an office in. Then check with the TX secretary of state business filing section for the names of all businesses that he has ever had an ownership interest in. You can do the search online at http://www.sos.state.tx.us/corp/sosda/index.shtml. I think searches run $1 each. If you find out that your builder didn't mention all the company names he has built under...BEWARE!

Also, have a background check run on the builder personally and find out where he has lived/worked for as far back as you can find. Then, check at the county courts in your area (your county and all surrounding counties within a reasonable driving distance) and in any other areas where he has lived to find out if he has ever been sued by a homeowner client. If you find evidence of such a suit, get copies of the petition and answer and read them...maybe even contact the homeowner who filed suit and get his/her side of the story. Then decide for yourself if you want to proceed with that builder.

Also, go to the county land records to find out if any subcontractors have filed liens against any of the houses he has built due to nonpayment. If your builder doesn't pay his subcontractors, you could wind up on the hook to pay them again. This will be a two step process because you'll first have to look for filed documents where the purchasing homeowner enters into an agreement with the builder to build the house and give the builder a lien against the property for that purpose. These can typically be found by searching on the builder's name as "grantee". Then look for liens filed against the property address by subcontractors. Here you'll probably have to either search by the legal address of the property.

Also, go online to the federal bankruptcy system (www.pacer.gov) and search to see if the builder has ever filed a personal bankruptcy or any company that he has ever previously held an ownership interest in has ever filed bankruptcy. Bad builders are notorious for filing bankruptcy then picking a new business name and starting over. They'll claim the "experience" of all those years of building under other names, but they won't tell you how many disgruntled customers they left in their wake.

Of course you should check with the BBB but frankly, I've never found that they have much info on builders that is helpful or up to date. Builders change names too frequently or don't bother to join the BBB so a BBB search is unlikely to pull up anything relevant. A better source of info is Angie's List (well worth the cost to join in my opinion.) You might also want to visit the HOBB (homeowner's for better buildings) to see if anyone has posted a complaint about the builder you are considering. Unfortunately, I don't think their complaint section is searchable so it is not as helpful as it might otherwise be.

When you do choose a builder, insist that your contract NOT include a binding arbitration clause. If you get into a dispute with the builder and decide that arbitration is the route to go, you and the builder can always make the decision THEN. To agree to binding arbitration up front is, IMHO, extremely stupid. Also if you are building in an area where there are no building codes in effect, have it written into your contract that the builder will follow the codes effective in the nearest large metro area or some other defined building code. AND make sure your contract gives you the right to hire an independent third party inspector to determine if something is/is not up to the code that you and the builder have agreed to...and that if it is not, the 3rd party inspector's decision is determinative and will be binding. (BTW - If you are building anywhere in the central Texas area, I can recommend a fantastic inspector. Just email me by clicking on the "my page" link after my name in this post.)

Final piece of advice: I would NOT recommend building in Texas while living at a distance. You want to be able to be onsite at least every couple of days to keep an eye on things.

Good LUCK!

GC's don't have to have a lic. in TX??????????????

nope!

Thank you for your answers and that you put so much time and effort in them. :-) I think I'll have to read them several times to make sure I understood everything.

You're right. It would be possibly better to buy a "used" house first, live some time in the area and look which part of the town we like, where the best schools are, make contacts and ask around a little bit. So we'll have enough time and knowledge to make these important decisions, plus we'll be in the area and will be able to be on top of the building process.