Let’s say you want to buy a new home in central Toronto. It’s not the same as buying a new home in the suburbs. There aren’t vast tracts of land upon which developers build hundreds of new homes from which you can choose. No. Your options are fairly limited because there is next to no vacant land left in central Toronto. That’s the main reason the market has been so strong – supply is limited and demand has been increasing.

If you want a new home in central Toronto, you essentially have 3 options:

1. Find a new custom home that a builder has already built on spec and buy it;
2. Buy an older home on a piece of land you like and hire an architect and a builder to demolish the old home and build you the home of your dreams; and
3. Find a builder who has already bought a piece of land and who has plans for a new home or who might already have started construction on a new home and enter into a contract with that builder to build a home for you.

There’s lots to say about each of these options, but options 1 and 2 are fairly straightforward and option 3 is the one my client brought up yesterday so that’s the one we’ll talk about now.

My client is considering doing a major reno. She’s going about things smartly and doing her homework. By this I mean that she’s been talking to friends to get recommendations for builders and architects and talking to builders and architects to get answers to her questions.

Friends of hers (a couple) are in the process of having a new home built. Instead of buying an older home and hiring their favourite builder with whom they’ve already had a great experience to build them their dream home, they entered into a contract with another builder who had already purchased a piece of land and had approved plans for a new home (i.e. they chose option 3 instead of option 2).  My client didn’t go into specifics, but she did use the word “nightmare” several times to describe their current experience.

Now, I can understand why it’s tempting to go this route. You can save a lot of time because you won’t have to find an old home to tear down, you won’t have to shop around for an architect or builder, you won’t have to spend time on having drawings and plans done, you won’t have to go through the time consuming approval and permit process and you’ll still get to choose the finishings and maybe even have a say in part of the design. But convenience comes with a price, as it always does.

In this case, the price can be very high – you don’t get to choose your builder. I don’t know about you, but if I’m going to pay a million or more of my hard earned, post-tax dollars to someone to build me the home of my dreams, I’m going to want to choose who that individual is very carefully.

I’m not saying that all builders who sell pre- or mid-construction should be avoided because some of them are excellent. But some of them are not. Some of them want only to finish the job as quickly as possible so they can get their money and move on to the next job. And once you sign on the dotted line and give them your money, they’re in the driver’s seat, not you.

What I’m saying is this: hiring the right builder is the key to happiness when building your dream home. Don’t compromise. But if you decide to compromise and enter into an agreement with a builder who already has a piece of land and approved plans, spare no expense and spend all the time necessary to investigate that builder’s track record, look at other homes he or she has built to determine their quality and speak to his or her past clients and ask about their experiences. You’ll be spending a lot of time and money ON your new home and spending a lot of time IN your new home so make sure you do everything you can to get what you want.

As always, if you know of anyone who’s looking for an honest realtor who really knows his stuff and won’t pressure them, Please Don’t Keep Me a Secret. I really appreciate your referrals. Thanks for reading and don’t be shy if you have any questions or comments!