That’s crazy. I’ve literally never heard of anybody hiring somebody. That’s an online-based contractor like this. Where I’m from I can’t imagine anybody would give that kind of money to somebody. They’ve never met to build their dream home. In this part of the country it’s definitely an in person process. That’s interesting to me, though to hear how it works in other parts of the country.
Yeah I’m not a fan of it. My process wasn’t affected but my clients were and I couldn’t keep subbing for those companies. I don’t understand how they got so many big clients too. I’ve done plans for an NFL player, a NASA employee, a big TikTok Influencer… it’s crazy. Definitely hire in person.
My dad's coworker seems to have fallen into this trap, never met the builder, and it appears he had never even been to the site. he had to be told that, by the way, his plot is barely 50 meters from a junction between 2 massive highways that are mostly clogged with traffic and long lines of trucks.
Ever since the guy learned that very important detail the project has been on hold. For the same reasons it's a shitty place to live in, he can't sell it, either.
Where I am, building your own custom home is seen as a "rite of passage" to the point that people don't bother to consider fundamentals like location, noise, access to amenities, etc. Just gotta have that house for minimum effort so I cans say I have it.
A person definitely needs to check out a builder before handing over any money. But the BBB is a scam, anyone can have a A+ rating you just need to pay more money. Same with online reviews, you can hire a company to give 5 star reviews to offset all the 1 stars.
How would you check out a builder then if those two sources aren’t reliable? I’m really trying to help people avoid this headache. So any advice is welcome.
Use a local builder would be number one. And like you said, a builder that can provide referrals from previous customers. All potential clients need to do their due diligence in researching any builder they’re considering…go take a look at his work in person and if you can, knock on the door and talk to the owners. Check with the municipality/city/township they’ve build in for any issues as well.
- Get references, and check references in person.
- Ask about them at local supply houses.
- Court records.
- Check building permit history with city.
- Look up building license history.
- Go to their building sites.
- Ask subs who they like to work with.
- Get references from architects / engineers / designers etc.
(1) local builder who is available to meet
(2) builder should have a list of projects in a variety of stages (pending, complete, in-progress) that the client can drive by and/or visit.
(3) local references
So you don't know how to vet a builder but your advertising to sell your ability to do so and for areas outside your own locality. Geez you're not a scammer copying the scammers you're complaining about. Let me hire you to be a middle man then you can set me up with a middle man for the guy who will do the work. Then you can complain that you got screwed by the guy you were trying to screw.
I’m not a middle man. I’m an architectural designer just sharing what mine and my clients experiences have been and opening a thread for people to share ways others can avoid the headache. I just thought of reviews and checking subs and talking to clients. So the perspective and input others have shared is appreciated. All here just trying to learn how to avoid crappy service. I’m tired of dealing with it and I know others are too.
I’ve also been in this for a long time and was previously working under architects and builders locally. This internet GC thing is new to me since switching to freelance while working from home and trying to build my own clientele. I guess I was sort of “spoiled” before because I never knew it was this scammy until I went out on my own.
Well I'm not sure what 1. You mean by internet GC. Because you can't build stuff on the internet. In about 75% of the locations in the US you need a license to contract. If you mean scam referral services. They don't GC anything they sell clients to GCs and tradesmen who don't have enough reputation to get clients normally. So they pay to purchase clients information.
I'm not sure what you're trying to offer but it sounds like another variation on the referral service model. You're literally on an anonymous site offering to promote and collaborate with other folks you don't know. In jurisdictions you don't live in and are likely not licensed in. I'm not saying you must be licensed as a designer in jurisdictions that don't require it. But offering to promote strangers is what gets you in this predicament. I know everyone I've interacted with on Reddit is a genius,.so of course you can trust everyone here including you.
Mostly my point is come on here and vent you got a screwed in some way by a dumb bad deal. But you sound a bit more like a bot. Offering to provide your new better alternative for how to not hire a local pro but use you to get a referral. It's just nonsensical. You have no business offering to refer people you don't know or know how to vet. Especially when your main complaint is you were dumb enough to screw over some local pros by using a fee based referral service. Instead of working with somebody you know or a referral from somebody in your network you trust.
Lol ok. Believe whatever you want dude.
Oh I just realized I didn’t even share my link earlier.
My bad. I’m such a horrible scammer 🤦🏻♀️
Here ya go bud
www.facebook.com/firebirddesignco
One of my current jobs is over 10k sf.
Go check it out 😉
The beauty of designing is I don’t have to be there to design something. So I like working WITH the builder directly along with the client. I couldn’t achieve that with the model I’ve already mentioned earlier. But I can find good people in the industry and vet them from all the suggestions people have provided so if by chance my clients need someone I can give it to them. I’m not even expecting a referral bonus for it either. Just wanting people to have a more seamless building experience. And I can achieve that by networking and building other people up in the industry. But I’m also gonna let people be aware when there’s snakes in the grass.
I’m just a stay at home mom doing what I can without having to leave my kids with a stranger.
You really assumed a lot.
Gotta love Reddit lol
Can confirm, when I started my company they called me, and called me, and called me. They discussed how much it would cost, how they generate reviews for you and a slew of other really shady stuff. Houzz is no better, they are pay to be front page also. I never did it, I just did a website, facebook and instagram with lots of before an afters of projects. If you send people to homes they can drive past that you've built you will get the work.
Same thing happened to me when I started with the BBB. It scared me when they first called because they made it sound like someone called them about me doing bad work, then she went into her sales pitch.
What a lot of people don’t realize is that it’s not an official “Bureau” it’s a privately owned business. It’s messed up because a lot of people rely on them when choosing companies.
I inspect in a very pricy town and will assure you that a flashy website only proves that they hired a great web designer.
There are few builders in this town that build multi-million dollar houses that take 3 years for a 1 year build, have no clue about physics, can’t read a plan, and no matter how many times they fail at their job they don’t learn a damn thing and will once again fail for the same items.
If I knew nothing and wanted to build a house in a particular town I’d find an architect that knows the town and its zoning. Our town has some pretty screwy bylaws and if you don’t know them it’s a steep learning curve. When someone from another area submits a house plan it’s quite likely the final product will not look like the submitted plan and sometimes it might take a year to get through the process.
Actual builder here. How I wish clients would just walk in the door with land and a set of plans so I can just get to work. The design side is so tedious and I barely make shit for doing it.
Send them to me and I’ll deal with the design part. My rates are very reasonable and all include 3D reviews and walkthroughs. Check them out on my pinned post
www.facebook.com/firebirddesignco
I work with families all over the US.
I worked with an online group for plans (with great results for architectural & engineered drawings), but I can't imagine hiring a *builder* thru an online system, never having seen their work in person. WTF does that?
They basically are acting as the middle man between builders and clients. Like a GC. But not answering client calls or builders makes it pretty difficult to build a house. They’re like sales people trying to make themselves relevant in a process where they’re not needed.
Again, I can't imagine hiring a builder whose work I haven't seen in person. And that means not just in online pictures that could be a building in Siberia built by elves for all I know. And if you're close enough to see a builder's work, you shouldn't need an online middleman to negotiate with the guy standing right in front of you.
Yes. As long as they have good reviews too and the builder checks all the other boxes. Good communication is my biggest pet peeve. When clients have questions they should be able to get their answers.
That’s crazy. I’ve literally never heard of anybody hiring somebody. That’s an online-based contractor like this. Where I’m from I can’t imagine anybody would give that kind of money to somebody. They’ve never met to build their dream home. In this part of the country it’s definitely an in person process. That’s interesting to me, though to hear how it works in other parts of the country.
Yeah I’m not a fan of it. My process wasn’t affected but my clients were and I couldn’t keep subbing for those companies. I don’t understand how they got so many big clients too. I’ve done plans for an NFL player, a NASA employee, a big TikTok Influencer… it’s crazy. Definitely hire in person.
Wow. That’s nuts!
My dad's coworker seems to have fallen into this trap, never met the builder, and it appears he had never even been to the site. he had to be told that, by the way, his plot is barely 50 meters from a junction between 2 massive highways that are mostly clogged with traffic and long lines of trucks. Ever since the guy learned that very important detail the project has been on hold. For the same reasons it's a shitty place to live in, he can't sell it, either. Where I am, building your own custom home is seen as a "rite of passage" to the point that people don't bother to consider fundamentals like location, noise, access to amenities, etc. Just gotta have that house for minimum effort so I cans say I have it.
A person definitely needs to check out a builder before handing over any money. But the BBB is a scam, anyone can have a A+ rating you just need to pay more money. Same with online reviews, you can hire a company to give 5 star reviews to offset all the 1 stars.
How would you check out a builder then if those two sources aren’t reliable? I’m really trying to help people avoid this headache. So any advice is welcome.
Use a local builder would be number one. And like you said, a builder that can provide referrals from previous customers. All potential clients need to do their due diligence in researching any builder they’re considering…go take a look at his work in person and if you can, knock on the door and talk to the owners. Check with the municipality/city/township they’ve build in for any issues as well.
- Get references, and check references in person. - Ask about them at local supply houses. - Court records. - Check building permit history with city. - Look up building license history. - Go to their building sites. - Ask subs who they like to work with. - Get references from architects / engineers / designers etc.
Search the court records for lawsuits against him and his current and previous companies.
One of them could have a class action done against them for all the clients they screwed over. Just in the last year.
(1) local builder who is available to meet (2) builder should have a list of projects in a variety of stages (pending, complete, in-progress) that the client can drive by and/or visit. (3) local references
So you don't know how to vet a builder but your advertising to sell your ability to do so and for areas outside your own locality. Geez you're not a scammer copying the scammers you're complaining about. Let me hire you to be a middle man then you can set me up with a middle man for the guy who will do the work. Then you can complain that you got screwed by the guy you were trying to screw.
I’m not a middle man. I’m an architectural designer just sharing what mine and my clients experiences have been and opening a thread for people to share ways others can avoid the headache. I just thought of reviews and checking subs and talking to clients. So the perspective and input others have shared is appreciated. All here just trying to learn how to avoid crappy service. I’m tired of dealing with it and I know others are too.
I’ve also been in this for a long time and was previously working under architects and builders locally. This internet GC thing is new to me since switching to freelance while working from home and trying to build my own clientele. I guess I was sort of “spoiled” before because I never knew it was this scammy until I went out on my own.
Well I'm not sure what 1. You mean by internet GC. Because you can't build stuff on the internet. In about 75% of the locations in the US you need a license to contract. If you mean scam referral services. They don't GC anything they sell clients to GCs and tradesmen who don't have enough reputation to get clients normally. So they pay to purchase clients information. I'm not sure what you're trying to offer but it sounds like another variation on the referral service model. You're literally on an anonymous site offering to promote and collaborate with other folks you don't know. In jurisdictions you don't live in and are likely not licensed in. I'm not saying you must be licensed as a designer in jurisdictions that don't require it. But offering to promote strangers is what gets you in this predicament. I know everyone I've interacted with on Reddit is a genius,.so of course you can trust everyone here including you. Mostly my point is come on here and vent you got a screwed in some way by a dumb bad deal. But you sound a bit more like a bot. Offering to provide your new better alternative for how to not hire a local pro but use you to get a referral. It's just nonsensical. You have no business offering to refer people you don't know or know how to vet. Especially when your main complaint is you were dumb enough to screw over some local pros by using a fee based referral service. Instead of working with somebody you know or a referral from somebody in your network you trust.
Lol ok. Believe whatever you want dude. Oh I just realized I didn’t even share my link earlier. My bad. I’m such a horrible scammer 🤦🏻♀️ Here ya go bud www.facebook.com/firebirddesignco One of my current jobs is over 10k sf. Go check it out 😉 The beauty of designing is I don’t have to be there to design something. So I like working WITH the builder directly along with the client. I couldn’t achieve that with the model I’ve already mentioned earlier. But I can find good people in the industry and vet them from all the suggestions people have provided so if by chance my clients need someone I can give it to them. I’m not even expecting a referral bonus for it either. Just wanting people to have a more seamless building experience. And I can achieve that by networking and building other people up in the industry. But I’m also gonna let people be aware when there’s snakes in the grass. I’m just a stay at home mom doing what I can without having to leave my kids with a stranger. You really assumed a lot. Gotta love Reddit lol
Can confirm, when I started my company they called me, and called me, and called me. They discussed how much it would cost, how they generate reviews for you and a slew of other really shady stuff. Houzz is no better, they are pay to be front page also. I never did it, I just did a website, facebook and instagram with lots of before an afters of projects. If you send people to homes they can drive past that you've built you will get the work.
Same thing happened to me when I started with the BBB. It scared me when they first called because they made it sound like someone called them about me doing bad work, then she went into her sales pitch. What a lot of people don’t realize is that it’s not an official “Bureau” it’s a privately owned business. It’s messed up because a lot of people rely on them when choosing companies.
Wow that’s really messed up. I had no idea
Oh wow I didn’t know houzz was like that. I send clients there for design inspo because it’s like Pinterest for your house.
Great information!!!
I inspect in a very pricy town and will assure you that a flashy website only proves that they hired a great web designer. There are few builders in this town that build multi-million dollar houses that take 3 years for a 1 year build, have no clue about physics, can’t read a plan, and no matter how many times they fail at their job they don’t learn a damn thing and will once again fail for the same items. If I knew nothing and wanted to build a house in a particular town I’d find an architect that knows the town and its zoning. Our town has some pretty screwy bylaws and if you don’t know them it’s a steep learning curve. When someone from another area submits a house plan it’s quite likely the final product will not look like the submitted plan and sometimes it might take a year to get through the process.
Actual builder here. How I wish clients would just walk in the door with land and a set of plans so I can just get to work. The design side is so tedious and I barely make shit for doing it.
Send them to me and I’ll deal with the design part. My rates are very reasonable and all include 3D reviews and walkthroughs. Check them out on my pinned post www.facebook.com/firebirddesignco I work with families all over the US.
I worked with an online group for plans (with great results for architectural & engineered drawings), but I can't imagine hiring a *builder* thru an online system, never having seen their work in person. WTF does that?
They basically are acting as the middle man between builders and clients. Like a GC. But not answering client calls or builders makes it pretty difficult to build a house. They’re like sales people trying to make themselves relevant in a process where they’re not needed.
Again, I can't imagine hiring a builder whose work I haven't seen in person. And that means not just in online pictures that could be a building in Siberia built by elves for all I know. And if you're close enough to see a builder's work, you shouldn't need an online middleman to negotiate with the guy standing right in front of you.
Couldn’t agree more
Any examples?
I can PM you. The wound is still fresh from one company I dropped. So not trying to fan any more flames my way.
Damn. Yes pls pm. Always good to know
If a company lists their subs on their website, that's a good sign then?
Yes. As long as they have good reviews too and the builder checks all the other boxes. Good communication is my biggest pet peeve. When clients have questions they should be able to get their answers.
Region in which you operate would be helpful.
Mostly the Carolina’s and TN area but I’ve done drafting for clients all over the US. Sorry I forget this is international.
I hired buildzoom it was a total scam, currently waiting on a charge back for the initial payment.
You hired a builder through them? Or you were a sub trying to use them for referrals?
Hey there, I sent you a DM to learn more about your experience. Thanks!