How to assemble a design-build dream team
Your essential guide to finding the right builder and designer to confidently kickstart your custom home building journey.
You’re ready to build your dream home. And this time around you’ve decided to take the plunge with a custom design and build to make sure you get exactly what you want. This is SUCH an exciting time! 🤩 I’m sure the Pinterest boards are overflowing and the Instagram save button has been on fire.
You may have heard that the practical next step is to assemble your Design-Build Dream Team…? If you’ve heard that from us and now you’re here - then big kudos to you!! If you’ve stumbled across this post another way, then we’re glad that you have, because the tips we’re about to share are crucial to your home building success.
Why a Great Team Matters:
Imagine spending months, even years, and significant amounts of money designing your dream home, only to find out from a builder that your plans are financially unrealistic?! Unfortunately, this is something we frequently saw over at Aaron Martin Construction and it honestly broke our hearts! 🥺 At this point, there really wasn’t anything we could do to help these poor aspiring homeowners. And knowing if they’d simply ensured that their builder and designer worked together from day one they could have set themselves up for a smoother, stress free journey, was the worst.
And this is exactly why we’ve put together this guide to ensure you don’t make the same mistakes they did.
Who Should Be on Your Dream Team?
Drum roll please… the non-negotiable team members are:
Building Designer/Architect: the goal of the designer is to translate your vision into a reality. They need to consider your lifestyle, the look you’re going for, functionality, sustainability and also work all of this in with your land.
Builder: the goal of the builder is to keep budget at the forefront of the conversation and to give practical advice and early insights into economical building techniques without compromising on the overall look.
The support crew:
As time goes on, your team numbers will continue to rise to include other professionals like engineers, energy assessors, surveyors, truss designers, interior and landscape designers, cabinet makers etc etc.
But our pro-tip on this, is to be guided by your 2 core team members on who should make up the remaining crew. They will have long standing established relationships and expectations with a core group of tried and tested professionals.
What Makes a Dream Team Work?
The 3 critical characteristics that lead to the success of a dream team are:
Trust and Respect: Your team members should respect each other’s expertise and trust in the collaborative partnership.
Clear Communication: There should be regular, open communication about ideas, challenges, and solutions between all team members.
Aligned Values: Everyone on the team must share the same priorities of budgeting, timelines, style, and quality (with your vision at the forefront).
But remember… you are an integral part of this dream team too.
So the 3 critical characteristics are yours to own too.
And when all of these elements align, you’ll feel calm, but empowered throughout the process.
How to Find the Right Professionals:
Step 1: Recommendations and Research
Ask trusted friends, family, or local community groups for referrals. Explore online reviews and social media to gather initial insights.
Ask yourself: Does their online presence speak to you? Are their projects similar to what you’re looking to achieve (in both aesthetics and size)? Does their personality feel aligned with yours?
Step 2: Evaluate Past and Present Projects
Review previous projects online carefully and try to drive by current and past projects if able. Look for consistency in quality of finish, style, and solutions to complex building problems.
Ask yourself: Are their sites tidy? Are they open to sharing both ongoing and completed work? How many projects do they have on the go at one time? Do they seem proud of their work?
Step 3: Time To Have a Chat
Quite possibly the most important step…
Give them a buzz or follow their online process, but be armed with a few important questions:
This is a brief summary of my project - is this something that you would be interested in partnering on?
What is your process for design and build?
What is the average starting price point for one of your projects?
Who else is on your team?
What is the next step from here if I do decide to move forward?
Ask yourself: How easy were they to get hold of? Did they seem interested in my project? Were they easy to talk to? Did they appear to have a process that they were following? Did they do what they said they were going to do?
Step 4: The ‘Gut-Feel’ test
This one has taken us a long time to learn 🙃 Because this is just as important for professionals who are taking on clients, as it is for homeowners choosing professionals.
Trust. Your. Instincts!! You need to feel comfortable and secure with your team. This is going to be a long journey, with high emotional and financial stakes. So if you’re already second guessing your team at the start, you need to hit the eject button fast. You should feel calm, comfortable, on the same level, and heard when you’re communicating with your team. All egos need to be checked at the door!
Red Flags and Pitfalls:
And finally if any of these are popping up, it’s a clear sign to scratch this business from your list.
Slow or inconsistent communication.
Hesitation to collaborate with other professionals.
Vague or unclear cost explanations.
Ignoring your ideas or dismissing your concerns.
Lack of transparency.
Absence of clear processes or uncertainty around next steps.
It’s Worth the Effort!
Assembling your dream team takes effort, research, and patience—but given the high stakes, it’s honestly a no brainer! Designing and building a dream home is often a once in a lifetime experience, so make sure you hit the ground running. You won’t regret the time you’ve taken at the beginning of the journey when you’re kicking back admiring the dream home vision you’ve just turned into a reality.
Ready for the Next Step?
Still feeling uncertain or have questions about assembling your ideal design-build team? Don’t hesitate to reach out—we’re here to help!
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Feeling slightly overwhelmed about tackling this entire process alone? Then check out our House Plan Toolkits - the ultimate shortcut to making your dream home a reality.
Thanks for stopping by!
Until next time,
Susie x