So far I've given my full set of drawings (and they're very complete and detailed) to two builders from our list. All of the guys on our list came from direct references, so we know they all have at least one favorable vote.

Intriguingly, one builder was just completely disinterested in the project. He had nothing but negative comments when shown out plans. Luckily, we had already dealt with another builder that same day who loved the design and was very positive and enthusiastic. Having to deal with the negativity right away would have been a real downer, but as it was, the first guy's enthusiasm carried the day.

So at this point, two guys have my plans, I already got back a bid from builder Chad. He mainly builds houses in the $500k+ bracket, and is aiming to work exclusively in the $1M+ bracket eventually. But he's not there yet. We looked at his model home ($500k or so) in a popular subdivision nearby that abuts onto a golf course. The craftsmanship was pretty good. Builder Chad used to be a trim carpenter on expensive projects and grew into being a general contractor. He's pretty hands-on during the bidding and the finish work, but he has a superintendent manage the project directly during excavation, framing and rough-in. That lets him build 30-40 houses a year. Wow. Builder Chad lives in my area, and so I suspect he's interested in my project because he has to drive by it several times a day anyway on his way to his other jobsites. Builder Chad is kind of high-intensity, it's tough to get a word in while he's talking.

Then last night I met with Builder Rick. He's a father-and-som operation, but he also lives nearby. He came recommended by Charlie (who sold us our lot--he's a retired builder himself) and we like Charlie a lot. Builder Rick actually reminds me a lot of Charlie, and he grew up in the area where we are building. Sort of impressed me as a straight-shooting, plain-talking guy. Nice as can be. Builder Rick does far fewer jobs, and in a lower tier, but he seemed very focused on quality. He was impressed with the detail in our drawings (in contrast to Builder Chad, who ignored it all and bid everything based on his standard specs). Builder Rick has done several projects in the immediate vicinity of ours and is very familiar with the lay of the land. He also knew people in the office at our lender.

I'm kind of eager to get some more bids back besides Builder Chad's. We got him to agree to the price we want to target, but we're a little hazy on the specs still since he started with his own specs instead of ours. And we have a few more guys to talk to, I'll be meeting more builders this week.