Welcome to Black Diamond Communities

Our home building company has a strong presence throughout Texas, Louisiana and Georgia. While we have large in-house teams that are based out of our primary offices and the major cities we operate in, we often build communities throughout these states. Driving Texas alone, east to west, takes 12 hours! For that reason, we rely on a large network of carefully vetted subcontractors to help us when we’re building in cities where we don’t have that much manpower and/or can’t easily access with our crew.

There’s also certain trades where we’ve built relationships with trustworthy contractors that specialize in one or two aspects of building construction. We always partner with the best of the best. For example, we often rely on Lubbuck’s top demolition contractors Lubbock Demolition Pros to get sites ready for us when we’re purchased plots of land with existing structures. They have shown us time and time again that they’ll deliver with open and honest communication throughout the process.

We outsource this step so that we can focus on our strengths. We also subcontract elements of the design, such as architectural drawings. While we do hire designers that work on our team, they often liaise with external architects. We often have high volumes of projects going on at any given time. Due to the seasonal - and sometimes up and down - nature of the construction business, we keep a lean team that can carry us over the medium- and long-term. We’ve been around for a long time, and we plan to be around for a lot longer. One of the reasons for our success is that we’ve kept a small and nimble team and contracted out when we need the extra hands.

If you’re a subcontractor that’s looking to work with us, then we invite you to participate in our procurement process. For all our projects, whether it’s a small single home renovation or a 50-unit apartment community, we’ll release a work package that local subcontractors can bid on. Typically, we only invite prequalified subs to bid, and we select from there. However, if you are competent and confident you can meet our strict standards then we’d love to get to know you. Introduce yourselves with a portfolio of your prior work and at least three references of project managers you’ve worked with in the past. We get high volumes of work, so we need to make sure that our subcontractors have the time and capacity to work with us on multiple projects. Once you’ve proven yourself, we will continue to work with you. We build relationships that can last years.

Working with our partner network allows us to expand into new markets more quickly than if we built out local teams. We also work across 100+ cities and towns, so it’s unreasonable for us to be a solo player and do everything on our own. At Black Diamond Communities, we truly feel like our subcontractors and outsourced consultants are part of our family and an extension of what we do. We trust that they operate in a manner that aligns with our mission and values.

Whether you’re working with a local Georgia-based real estate agent or with our internal sales team located in Grayson, it’s extremely important to understand the full commitment you are making. While there’s more obvious deliverables on the contractor’s part, make sure you know what end of the bargain you’re responsible for. As well, you want to vet out your proposed builder so that you can be confident you’re making a sound and safe investment. This decision not only impacts your finances but your lifestyle. Outside of the basics like project delivery timeline and when you can move it, we suggest you review the following with your realtor to get a full picture.

Ask for references!
A reputable company will be eager to share a long list of references with you to back up their track record.

Find out what you can and can’t customize
Most builders streamline their operations and generate economies of scale by keeping their projects fairly cookie cutter. If there’s a deal breaker home feature you’re hoping to have, then be sure to have these discussions upfront. What might seem like a trivial modification can cost a lot more time and money to execute than anticipated so don’t ever assume that your builder can quickly change plans on a whim.

Ask if appliances can be upgraded
Many times, designers are choosing kitchen, laundry, and bathroom appliances to appeal to the masses. They’re trying to find the sweet spot between functionality, price, and aesthetics. Custom home designs take into account the exact dimensions in the plans. If you’re thinking you’d like to change these out, an inch or two difference will be noticeable. Have these conversations early!

Does the price include landscaping?
We don’t just mean shrubs and grass, but patios and decks. If you’re looking for a turnkey property, sit down with your builder’s landscape architect to make sure the front lawn and back yard are included in the project scope. If you're looking for ideas on different landscaping styles and possibilities, you can check out Garden Design's digital magazine.

Are there restrictive covenants in the building area?
Some municipalities enforce strict rules, like quiet hours. If you’re a party animal, you’ll want to know this before moving in and getting an angry police visit. Other covenants could include where you keep your trash, how long you can keep it on the curb, and where and how many cars can be parked in the street. Some areas have parking passes to manage this.

What are the estimated property taxes?
In addition to your mortgage and interest payments (and we always recommend a slush fund for repairs and maintenance even on brand new builds) you’ll have to think about all the carrying costs. Get a sense of what property taxes will look like over the next 2 – 5 years as the neighborhood appreciates and gains in popularity. Keep this in mind for your long-term financial planning. To get a preliminary sense of what property taxes will be in your zip code, here's a quick and easy to use online calculator.

Understand all the fees
In the same vein as our note above, we develop our communities with amenities for all our clients to enjoy. This means most of our neighborhoods are built with HOAs that manage things like landscaping, security, and common area maintenance. You’ll want to know all the fees involved like homeowners association fees, utility connections, and municipal charges. This will help you budget and confirm that you’re buying a home in the right price range for your family.

You don’t want to buy just any ordinary house; you want to bring to the real world a concept in your mind that you’ve been daydreaming about for many years. The time is now to enjoy a beautiful new space. Let’s include all the special spaces that make a house a home. What does this look like for you? A workout and yoga studio with easy to clean floors? A music room with extra insulation? A kids play area that’s tucked away? Let’s review what this whole process looks like, when you choose Black Diamond Communities as your builder.

Step 1: Vision planning
We know you do this every January, now let’s do this for your property. We’ll start with CAD designs and architectural blueprints. It’s important to get this step correct right off the bat so that our whole team is working towards the same goal and looking at the same roadmap. It’s also very important for locking in a budget.

Step 2: Site selection
Now that we know what we want to build, let’s figure out where to build it. With teams across Texas, Georgia, and Louisiana, we’re flexible. We also operate outside of those states for special projects and consultations.

Step 3: Collaborating with architects and designers
In this stage, it’s time to pull material swaths and tile samples. Let’s get into the nitty gritty like kitchen island length and where to hide the entertainment system. We’ve got the pros on our side at this point, so we lean on our network of subcontractors and partners heavily to get this right.

Step 4: Nailing down a budget
Let’s get numbers on the page so we know what we’re dealing with. We’ll get you a full breakdown of costs for your final sign off. Once we get the thumbs up, we can start with the fun part.

Step 5: Securing permits and any necessary approvals
Working with the city can take a long time… think of how long your last DMV visit took and you’ll get a good sense of why. While this can be largely out of our control, we have the right hookups in the major cities and towns we operate in to expedite a slow process. We’d say this is one of our differentiators! If you're curious, you can easily lookup what building permits are needed for your target city. As an example, we've shared a link to the City of Lubbock's building safety resources here.

Step 6: Construction
Our team is ready to execute what we set out to finish. We’ll be keeping you updated along the way and working diligently to stay on track of our project timeline. Ask us any questions along the way. If something comes up, we’ll work with you on change orders!

Step 7: Final walkthrough
We’ll go though a punch list with the lead contractor assigned to you and make sure all the little things are taken care of. We’re perfectionists so this is an extremely important step, and we won’t turn over the keys until everyone is thrilled with the results. For an idea of what this looks like, we've shared Rocket Mortgages checklist.

When it comes to custom homes, there are two main ways developers go about these projects.

The first is design/build. With this approach, one contractor is the point person from start to finish. This contractor or lead developer takes ownership of building your home and can ensure that the budget for everything stays in line with what was allocated. If flooring comes out 5% higher than expected, the contractor will work with their relationships and subcontractors to make up the cost overrun somewhere else. While you may not experience cost savings, most likely this project will come in less expensive than a custom home approach. This is because this project benefits from simplified communication and efficiency. Project delivery is integrated, which allows for faster timelines and workflows. In the construction world, we also call this value engineering. When a change order comes up, as it inevitably will, your lead can work with you and look at the budget from the overall big picture to see what can be done. Incentives and objectives are aligned. There are definitely some drawbacks though to design/build. For someone that has a very particular vision in mind of what they want every square inch of the home to look like, (from the chandelier over the curved stairway to the faucet color), this might not be the best method. Unlike traditional construction methods where owners are deeply involved in design and procurement, this method assigns this responsibility to the project contractor. With less control, a picky homeowner may find themselves disappointed with some of the decisions the design/build team made. If you're going forward on your home building project with a design/build contract, it's extremely important that everyone signs off before getting started and that changes are minimal after commencement (especially after materials are ordered). For inspo, we love perusing Interior Design's online publication. If you'd like to learn more, here's a great resource for you.

On the other hand, some folks opt for a custom home build construction. This allows more control throughout the process as you'll work with your contractor at every stage and get an OK before moving onwards. For example, you can select the carpenter that made the cabinets at your bestie's house that you've been admiring the last five years! The design possibilities are endless, you can get EXACTLY what's on your vision board! It'll definitely cost you though. Not just in money and time but also in stress. The reality of managing separate contracts for all the key players working on the project is that it's Challenging with a capital C. From getting the right guys to show up to the job, to managing invoices, and calling multiple project leads a day, these tasks can quickly become overwhelming for an inexperienced and first time home builder. When things go wrong and your left figuring out who caused the issue, all contractors are quick to point the finger to another. Keep this in mind when it comes to assigning accountability for each deliverable and when you're managing your risks. Despite these downsides, you'll wrap up your home construction with everything you ever dreamed of.

Now that we've explained these two methods, what do you want to choose? Good...scratch that...great advice is finding the right experienced and responsible contractor to lead the charge. If you go with Black Diamond Communities, you'll be in good hands.