New home shopping begins with researching your builder

When the weather warms up, so does the new-home market. Signs pop up for new developments that advertise lot sizes, amenities and price ranges and beckon you to visit sales offices. Once there, you may fall in love with a floorplan and be tempted to sign on the dotted line. But before you do, it’s important to do your research on who is going to build your new home.

The Ontario Builder Directory can be just the tool you need to start researching your builder.

The Ontario Builder Directory, or OBD, allows you to see if your builder or vendor is registered with Tarion and therefore, legally permitted to build or sell homes in Ontario. You can also look up their contact information and related companies under which they operate, how many homes they have built and the communities where they build. You can also see their warranty claims history.

In 2017, we made the OBD mobile friendly and added a number of new functions, including the ability to search not only by company name, but also by company director or officer.

Recently, we added another new feature that allows users to search for individual homes by municipal address or lot and plan number, which is useful for those who want to confirm if a home is enrolled with Tarion and eligible for warranty protection.

Search results, updated daily, include:

• Homes that are enrolled;
• Enrolled homes that are under construction but not yet occupied;
• Homes that are currently under warranty; and
• The warranty start date and end date for each home currently under warranty.

This new enhancement will not only help those looking to buy a new home, but also others who help with the homebuying process, such as real estate agents and lawyers. It will also go a long way in helping municipal building departments in their efforts to prevent illegal building by allowing them to confirm whether particular homes or addresses in their communities are enrolled in the warranty program.

Like any big purchase, a new home requires time and research so you can make an informed decision. It’s important to know as much as possible about what you’re buying, but also who you’re buying it from. To check out the Ontario Builder Directory, visit tarion.com