Hello everyone,
although my groundbreaking ceremony is not until May, I still want to add my two cents. After many conversations with various developers and house sellers, I ultimately ended up with an architect. I spoke with 3 builders who also planned and built with him. All were satisfied with the quality, price, and timing. He was ultimately 20,000.00 more expensive, but with the previous sellers, I wasn’t sure if I had truly recognized all the hidden issues. The "advice" from one seller was almost bordering on "suggestions for tax evasion." Since I was able to secure a cheap financing, I am very relaxed about the coming months. A personal statement from friends/acquaintances definitely lets me sleep much more peacefully than "scouring construction forums" and "haggling over every price."
Regards from the relaxed builder