Look here for help in choosing the right dream home builder

When you begin searching for your dream home builder, you're going to need a little help.

This is my first opportunity to create a dream home, and I want my Southwestern Dream Home to be exactly the way I plan it.

Read my advice on choosing a builder and how to be certain you don't get taken for a ride by someone that doesn't have the proper licenses.

I want to tell you another of my famous stories, just to give you some help with this process.

My husband Tom built his own little empire in Lake Charles, one block at a time. First a little house, then some property to keep horses for his four sons, and later a MiniStorage complex. Among several other thriving businesses, he had developed a well-known and highly respected Tree Service, aptly named Tom Cholley's Tree Service. This Tree Service employed around a dozen or so men, and a high percentage of the trees that were cut or trimmed in Lake Charles were done by him.

To be perfectly frank, nine out of ten people who were asked who they would recommend for tree work immediately said to call Tom Cholley.

As I have previously stated, Tom became ill with Guillian Barre'. The disease is extremely painful and left him fully paralyzed in the legs. He stayed in his wheelchair for over a year before beginning the difficult process of re-learning how to walk.

The Tree Service, and its sister company Tom Cholley's Crane Service, had to be shut down within weeks of the onset of the disease. The men were out of work, but one of the guys decided to carry on and begin his own Tree Service. Because he had worked for us for about 20 years, Tom recommended him to all his customers that called.

He got insurance, advertised, and asked Tom to be his "licensed arborist" which is required for a tree business in Lousiana. Tom was not able to do that due to the fact that he cancelled his license when he became ill. So the man had to find another licensed arborist.

Everything progressed fine until late last year when I opened up the phone book and found the man's ad. He had, without our permission, listed Tom Cholley as his "licensed arborist". We had made it clear to the man that there was no license, and that he did not have our permission to use Tom's name in that manner, but he did it anyway.

This story has been brought to you by the caring folks at Southwestern Dream Home to encourage you to check out your dream home builder before signing that contract with him to build your dream home.

This article, from the National Association of Home Builders will help you to choose the right dream home builder without getting in a bind. Visit them here.

I found a great site for New Mexico dream home builders at this New Mexico Builders site. A companion site for builders in Arizona is at my favorite Arizona Dream Home Builders site, here. Now as you visit these sites and begin the process of choosing your dream home builder, just keep whispering your mantra: "My Southwestern Dream Home WILL be a reality." Have a "bright" day!