How long your home builder has been in business in a good indicator of their quality. Although this is not a 100% guarantee it is a great starting point. This is because the longer a builder has been in business the more likely they are to have been providing quality to the buyers and the more problems they will have seen.
It is hard to stay in business is you are not providing a high quality value to the buyer. This holds true for any business but is especially true with builders. So if you find a builder who has been in the industry for a decade you know they are been providing quality homes to people.
With time also comes experience. The longer a builder has been around the more problems they have seen come up and the more problems they know how to take care of with it growing out of proportion. This is a major advantage with an already stressful and processes.
How long a builder has been around can never be a guarantee, you could find builders who have gone downhill in the last couple of years, or ones who have been in a different area.
Some of the best ways to research a builder is first to check with both the state and city licensing boards. Most states and cities require builders to be licensed and will also keep complaints made against the builder. By checking with these parties you will be able to find out history, any complaints and what projects they have done before.
From here you next best place is to hit the internet, and research the company, the owners and the projects they have previously done. This will give you a good idea of how people feel about the homes that were built for them and the quality of the work. You can also find out if there are any covered up skeletons the builder neglected to tell you about.
The last place to check the history of a builder is to hit the streets, drive by the homes the builder has already made. If you can talk to the owners and see how they feel about their house and the quality of the builder.
When looking to find a quality custom home builder it is a great idea to find ones that have been in business for a number of years. The longer they better when all things are equal.