Hiring custom home builders takes six steps: get lender pre-approval, shortlist licensed local builders, ask each one how many homes they have built and to see them, compare bids on identical specifications, verify the license on Washington’s L&I lookup, and sign a fixed price contract with an itemized specification attached.
The short version
- Verify any Washington builder’s license on the state L&I lookup before you sign anything.
- Bids are only comparable if every builder was given the same instructions and the same specifications.
- The most common horror story is a builder who underbid to win the job and charged extras afterward.
- Ask to talk to past clients, and ask to see the homes.
- A fixed price contract with a detailed specification prevents most disputes before they start.
Step 1: How much money do you need before calling custom home builders?
Enough for a down payment of about 20 percent, which is what a custom construction loan generally requires. Buying a finished spec home takes roughly 3 percent, so the gap surprises people. You do not need a finalized budget to have a first conversation, but you do need lender pre-approval before design work begins.
The number your lender approves is what defines the scope of your build. Everything else gets designed inside it.
If you still owe money on your land, the first item out of the construction loan pays it off. Whether the land gets financed separately or rolled in is your bank’s policy, not the builder’s.
Step 2: How do you find custom home builders worth calling?
Through referrals, mostly. Anasazi’s own pipeline runs almost entirely on them, and past clients often volunteer to show their homes to people considering a build. If you have nobody to ask, start with the Home Builders Association of Tri-Cities directory, then Google reviews, then drive past active job sites.
That last one sounds unscientific and is not. More than one Anasazi client has said they chose the company because they drove past a site and saw how it was being run.
Keep the list short. Three builders is plenty. Five is more work than it is worth.
Step 3: What questions should you ask a custom home builder?
Two, according to John Worlund, who has been building since he was seventeen. Ask how many houses the builder has built, and ask whether you can see some of them. If the answer to either question does not make sense, keep looking. Vagueness at this stage is information you can act on.
“How many houses have you built? Can we see some houses that you have built?”
He is blunter about experience level.
“I would tell my own family not to hire somebody that had never built a house before. A builder saying hey, it’s our first one, we want to get our feet wet, we’ll do yours for a really good price. Don’t do it. Get someone that’s got experience.”
The reason is not snobbery. Experience saves you money. A builder who has done this hundreds of times knows what to look for on a lot and what to price into a bid, so his number reflects the real job instead of the parts he could see.
Step 4: How do you compare bids from different custom home builders?
Give every builder identical specifications first. Otherwise the bids describe different houses and the comparison is meaningless. Once they are genuinely comparable, prices still differ for three reasons: how thorough the builder was in asking questions, what quality standard they build to, and whether someone bid low to win the job.
“Number one is: is it apples for apples?” John says. “That we’re being given the same instructions, the same specifications.”
If one builder priced a standing seam metal roof and another priced composite shingles, you are looking at two different houses. Write your specifications down once and hand the same document to everyone.
On the third reason, John is direct about what happens next: “And then they tell the owners: yeah, we didn’t bid that, we didn’t bid that, we didn’t bid that. And they extra them back up.”
He is also careful about it, and the framing is worth repeating. A less experienced builder’s bid is not necessarily dishonest. It is often just incomplete, because he has not built enough houses to know what he is missing.
The practical takeaway: the lowest bid is a claim, not a price. Ask each builder what happens if something was not in the bid.
Step 5: How do you verify a custom home builder’s license and references?
Look them up on the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries contractor lookup. The record shows license status, bond and insurance, and it takes about thirty seconds. Anasazi’s license number is ANASABL825RL. For references, ask to speak with past clients rather than accepting a list of names on paper.
The company’s own site links straight to the L&I verification page, which is worth doing for every builder on your list.
Anasazi has referrals from previous homeowners and from contractors, and if you want to speak with some of them, you ask and they connect you. Past clients frequently offer to walk prospective buyers through their finished homes.
That is worth more than a portfolio. Photographs show you finishes. A homeowner who lived through the build tells you whether the builder returned calls, how problems got handled, and whether the schedule held.
Step 6: What should a custom home builder’s contract include?
A fixed price rather than cost plus, an itemized specification listing every included and excluded item, and a payment schedule tied to construction progress. Anasazi’s contract is signed three ways, by the homeowner, by Anasazi and by the bank, and sits alongside a ten page specifics document initialed page by page.
Ask which structure you are being offered. With cost plus you pay actual costs plus a fee and the final number is not locked until the job ends. Many lenders will not finance that. With fixed price, the builder carries the risk of the estimate.
If you want something changed after work begins, that becomes a separate contract with its own fixed price, quoted to you before you agree. The original number does not quietly drift.
Watch what is deliberately excluded, because that is where surprises live. Landscaping, landscape grading, fencing and window coverings are typically not included unless bid. Appliances are usually an allowance. The driveway should be defined explicitly.
Ask about the payment schedule too. Anasazi’s out of pocket schedule follows the work: 10 percent to start, 20 percent at concrete, 20 percent at framing, 20 percent at drywall, 20 percent after trim and painting, and the final 10 percent at Certificate of Occupancy.
“We do not take fifty percent draws,” John says. “We try to make it very based upon the work progress.”
That matters more than it sounds. Large up front draws are exactly the structure that lets a bad actor take money and leave.
What are the red flags when hiring a custom home builder?
The pattern is consistent: a builder underbids to win the job, charges extras once work starts, is never clear about what was included, and never sets a firm turnkey price. The job drags on and the cost keeps climbing. Demands for large up front draws and resistance to putting things in writing belong on the same list.
Anasazi has been called in more than once to finish homes another builder abandoned, in the Tri-Cities and in North Dakota after the Minot flooding. In that second case the situation got bad enough that banks stopped lending to outside contractors entirely, and Anasazi was one of the few they still trusted.
“The builder took the money and ran,” John says. “Got his draw, ordered things, left the country, and left the people sitting there with unpaid material and an unfinished house. And we were able to step in and help them finish it.”
You can avoid nearly all of this by insisting on a firm turnkey price, a written specification, progress based draws, and a builder who will connect you with people he has built for.
Should you skip custom home builders and contract it yourself?
Usually not. People act as their own general contractor to save money and typically spend more. Beyond the scheduling, an owner builder still faces the lender, still has to pass every inspection, and still has to keep every trade showing up in the right order. The warranty also becomes theirs.
“They figure they could save money and they end up usually spending way more,” John says. “They’re not used to it. It drags on forever. I’ve heard it said it’s a real stress on a marriage.”
When something fails after move in, there is nobody to call.
John’s summary is short: if you want a happy life, hire a contractor.
Questions people ask before hiring a custom home builder
How do I check whether a custom home builder is licensed in Washington?
Look them up on the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries contractor lookup. It shows license status, bond, and insurance. Anasazi’s number is ANASABL825RL.
How many builders should I get quotes from?
Three is usually enough, as long as every builder is given identical specifications. Otherwise you are comparing different houses.
What is the difference between fixed price and cost plus?
Fixed price locks the number and the builder carries the estimating risk. Cost plus means you pay actual costs plus a fee, with no final number until the job ends. Many lenders will not finance cost plus.
Can I see homes a builder has completed?
With Anasazi, often yes. Past homeowners regularly offer to show their homes to people considering a build. Ask, and the introduction gets arranged.
How much experience should a custom home builder have?
Enough that yours is not among the first. John’s advice is to avoid hiring anyone who has never built a house, regardless of price.
Do I need to own land before I contact a builder?
No. Roughly half of Anasazi’s clients own their land and half are still looking. Bringing a builder in before you buy is usually cheaper than after.
If you are starting this process in the Tri-Cities, the first conversation with Anasazi is free and carries no commitment. You can schedule it here, read through the nine stage build process, or look at homes already completed.
You can also read what fully custom means at Anasazi. Still looking for land? Anasazi walks lots before clients buy them.
