Anyone own a new-construction home?

Any advice you have for DH and I would be very much appreciated. We are going to contract today on a home that isn't built yet and, of course, we don't have any experience with dealing with builders, etc. All there is so far is a dirt road and lots of trees on the lot. I've heard a few horror stories about new homes and would like to avoid encountering any trouble -
Thanks!

keep good communication with the builders. Give them a call once a week just to follow up on what has been accomplished.

go look at the construction on off hours to see for yourself first hand what was done, making sure the foundation is not cracked, the cabinets have been put up properly, the plumbing is hooked up, etc...this way if you see a problem now while its in construction it can be handled rather then seeing a flaw later and it cant be fixed.

you may want to poke your nose in while the workers are there just to see that they are not goofing around.

make sure you get everything in writing signed by both you and the builder. make sure you know everything that comes with the house this way if something is missing you'll know it now rather then later and be mad you have more expenses. For example (this happened to a friend of a friend in FL), the house did not come with the sod or well so that was an expense the owner had accured while the house was being built. So he had to hire a private contractor to dig the well and another private contracter to lay the sod.

if you got a security system put in, as soon as the house is built change the code. the builders know the code because they need access to the house, but once its completed change the code.

we are building a house in FL and we have done so much research over the past year so if you have any questions feel free to ask.

Thanks for the very helpful info!

Meg, FH and I will be in our new-construction built house one year this month.

I would totally recommend a book that FH and I bought while we were planning to look for a house. It had tons of great information in it, from getting your credit in order to what to do at closing. Its called 'The Brand-New House Book: Everything You Need to Know About Planning, Designing, and Building a Custom, Semi-Custom, or Production-Built House' by Katherine Salant. I looked and its available on Amazon.com with some reviews and excerpts from the book.

It was my mini-house-bible while we were having the house built. Its got pros and cons for different kinds of flooring, countertops, etc., everything you could imagine.

Good luck! Having a new home built is really exciting! FM me if you have any other questions.