Hiring a home builder is a very serious business. Just think about it. You're actually entrusting you and your family's safety to those people.

Can it be any more serious than that? So what are the things that you should know about hiring a good home builder? Here are some ideas that you can use:

· Personal referrals from people that you know and trust are the surest ways that you'll be able to hire someone who can really handle the job for you. That way you would already have some kind of assurance that the guys that you will be hiring can do a good job and not just rip you off. Keep in mind that for any referral to be effective, they should have tried the service of the company that they are recommending.

· If you don't know anyone who could recommend a good home builder then the next best thing is to conduct your search online. This is probably the most convenient way that you can try to look for a building contractor. Most of them would have a website or some form of web presence that would make it easy for you to get information about them.

· Whether you are going for a personal recommendation or you would be doing your search online, you ought to be looking for the very same qualities. One of those qualities is extensive experience in the building industry. Another important quality is an impeccable reputation that they get the job done.

· The only way that you can tell if a contractor is a good choice or not is to see them at work. Check them out while they are working and try to see how they do things on an actual site. You don't have to be too nosy about it; you just have to see them in action.

· The best way that you can get a good deal out of the contractor that you are going to hire is to arrange for payment in stages. You should not just agree to give them a substantial down payment without seeing how well they would do with your project. About 10 to 15% should reasonable enough with arrangements in case materials would have to be purchased.

· One of the most common problems that new homeowners encounter is that they don't like the way that their place turned out, or it is missing something that they wanted. Usually these are not problems caused by the contractors, more often than not, the homeowner just failed to inform the builder what they wanted. So be specific about what it is that you want to see in your home.

· It's going to be better if you put everything down into writing. That is one way to make sure that you would have no legal problems and so that you have something to refer to in case there is a problem with the contractor that you have hired.

These are just some of the things that you ought to know when hiring a contractor for your new home.