In our last article, we mapped out the questions every homeowner should ask themselves before hiring a builder. There’s a lot of introspective work that goes into articulating your vision and priorities before anyone else can enter the picture.
Once you’ve identified those personal priorities and non-negotiables, you can start determining who is best equipped to bring that vision to life. Building a custom home in Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, Redondo Beach, or elsewhere in the South Bay is a long and complex process. The right builder needs to do more than create a beautiful home: they need to manage the budget, maintain the schedule, navigate local permitting, and build a home that can withstand the coastal environment for decades to come.
Now that you’ve fully established your vision for your ideal home, it’s time to ask seven questions designed to ensure that any custom home builder can deliver on their promises. Before signing a contract, we recommend you lead with these queries in your initial meetings:
1. “At what point should I bring a custom homebuilder into the process?”
The answer to this question isn’t as straightforward as it might appear – it will differ depending on how the builder thinks of their own role, and how much of the project they intend to shape.
When a builder joins the process only after the architectural plans are complete, many important design decisions have already been made. This can limit the builder’s ability to provide input on feasibility, cost, scheduling, material selection, and long-term durability.
For luxury custom homes in Manhattan Beach and throughout the South Bay, we’ve found that bringing the builder into the process before – or at the same time as – the architect can produce a much more cohesive and well-coordinated project. As we explain in our guide to hiring a design-build team, your builder can help you identify the right architect for your specific project.
2. “What are the benefits of hiring a design-build team?”
A traditional build approach separates design and construction into two independent entities: you hire an architect, they produce plans, and then a contractor builds from those plans. But when the design process happens without ongoing construction and cost input, a significant gap can develop between the initial design and the realities of building it. Closing that gap can cost time and money.
A design-build team like White Sands changes this dynamic by staying actively involved from the moment the architect comes on board. Rather than receiving a finished set of plans and building from them cold, we work alongside the architect throughout the design process. Any unnecessary back-and-forth is minimized, and design decisions are made with a clearer understanding of what is and isn’t feasible. Most importantly, potential budget issues can be identified earlier, reducing the likelihood of major redesigns late in the process.
The cleaner communication and clearer accountability of this system streamlines the custom home build timeline. A design-build team already knows how to properly sequence all major design milestones, steps of the permitting process, and logistics so that the project never hits a prolonged standstill. We explain the permitting process in greater detail in this article.
3. “How do you approach budgeting, allowances, and change orders?”
Asked thoughtfully, this question could help you spot any red flags early on. Make sure you get a fully transparent answer from your potential builder on these three topics:
- Budgeting: Does the builder provide a detailed, line-item estimate, and is the estimate within the general range of estimates you’ve received from their competitors? Be cautious of estimates that feature suspiciously round numbers – especially when they come in significantly below estimates from other builders. A low initial number may simply mean important costs haven’t been accounted for yet.
- Allowances: Allowances are placeholders for items not yet selected, like fixtures, finishes, and appliances. Unrealistically low allowances can make an initial estimate look attractive, only for the budget to climb once the homeowner begins selecting the fixtures, appliances, stone, flooring, and finishes they actually want. Ask the builder how each allowance was established and whether it reflects the quality level depicted in the project’s design.
- Change Orders: Changes will inevitably happen on any custom home build. The question, then, is what protocol exists to handle those changes. A professional custom home builder contract will have a clear, written change order process.
4. “How many coastal homes have you built?”
Building near the coast presents challenges that don’t exist – or aren’t as pronounced – on inland projects. Salt air, moisture, wind exposure, material durability, tight lots, construction access, and coastal-zone requirements can all influence how a South Bay home should be designed and built. Properties in Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, and Redondo Beach may also be subject to coastal-zone requirements and city-specific development standards, depending on the property’s location and scope of work. An experienced local builder should understand how those requirements affect design, permitting, scheduling, and construction.
Ask any potential builder about their experience working in South Bay: How many projects have they completed here? How familiar are they with the permitting nuances in each city? How familiar are they with the local building departments, plan-check processes, inspection requirements, and coastal-zone review procedures? The custom home build timeline in a coastal environment is already longer than most homeowners expect – inexperience can make it even longer.
Coastal experience should also show up in the builder’s construction details. Ask how they approach waterproofing, corrosion-resistant fasteners and hardware, exterior finishes, windows and doors, drainage, and other assemblies that are continually exposed to salt air and moisture.
5. “Who will be managing my project day-to-day?”
Often, the principal you meet during the sales process is not the person who would actually be overseeing your project. Knowing exactly who your day-to-day contact will be – including their experience, their current workload, and their communication style – is essential. Ask how many other projects that person will be managing at the same time and how often you should expect formal project updates. This person will be one of your primary contacts throughout what may be a multi-year relationship.
With this in mind, make sure you get the chance to meet the principal before signing anything, and ask what the escalation process looks like if (or when) any issues arise. The best builder-client relationships are built on consistent, proactive communication and solid systems of accountability. Your main point-of-contact should be someone you trust and with whom you can easily communicate.
6. “Can you provide recent references?”
Make sure the references you seek out are reflective of the work you expect to have done. They should be from recent projects (within the last 3-5 years, so the work reflects the current team), coastal properties (so the maintenance concerns are comparable), and ideally from clients whose projects were similar in scope and budget to yours.
When you speak with those references, ask the same questions we’ve already posed here. This time, though, you’ll have the privilege of hindsight. References can tell you how closely the final cost tracked the expected budget, whether the anticipated timeline held, how clearly the builder communicated throughout construction, and how problems were handled when they arose. A luxury home builder with a strong track record will have no hesitation providing these references.
When speaking with these references, be sure to ask the simple but revealing question: “Knowing what you know now, would you hire this builder again?”
7. “How do you protect homes from moisture, salt air, and coastal weather?”
A builder with genuine coastal expertise should be able to explain how they approach waterproofing, flashing, drainage, exterior cladding, corrosion-resistant hardware, windows and doors, HVAC equipment, and material selection in an environment that’s exposed to moisture and salt air. If their answers sound generic, probe further – a turnkey custom home builder who has spent years working in coastal environments should have strong, specific opinions about everything from kitchen remodels to exterior materials. With the proper foresight, a home that looks beautiful on move-in day will be just as breathtaking 20 years later – that’s why this question matters so much.
The Right Questions Lead to the Right Builder
Choosing a custom home builder is one of the most consequential decisions you’ll make during the project. Asking the right questions upfront can help you understand not only what a builder has built, but how they communicate, manage budgets, solve problems, and approach the long-term performance of your home. By first taking the steps to articulate your own vision, and then carefully searching for a collaborator who will faithfully bring that vision to life, you’ll set up the proper groundwork for a custom home that exceeds your loftiest expectations.
At White Sands Design/Build, we welcome every one of your questions. We’ve been building luxury custom homes throughout the South Bay for years, and we are always excited when a potential client, inspired by passion and curiosity, has done their homework.
If you’re interested in learning more about this process, contact us for a consultation. We’d love to learn more about your vision for a new custom build in South Bay.
Brett Malkin is the Director of Operations at White Sands Coastal Development. He handles contracts and business admin—all the legal and numbers stuff. His background is finance and large-scale residential development, and his degrees are business and psychology. That psych degree helps him figure out what motivates clients and how to give them what they really want. He and his wife are raising two kids in the boho-enclave of Hermosa Beach.
