About Certified Builders Custom Home Construction

Who Are We? Certified Builders is a residential homebuilding company, building on-site homes from stock or custom plans. Our regional focus is for clients in the South Bend, Granger, Elkhart and La Porte, Indiana, and lower Michigan areas.

Our #1 goal is to build the home YOU want.

We stand apart from other homebuilders by encouraging you to meet your due-diligence responsibility before selecting your builder. We invite you to talk with and get the facts from homebuilder and company owner Scott Gast, and then compare us in every detail to all the others.

1. When you choose Certified Builders to build your home, you deal directly with homebuilder Scott Gast. Why is this important? Unlike a salesperson on duty at a builder’s model home, Scott has been a homebuilder for two decades and counting. This difference means that when you ask him questions or you want to know if a certain thing can be done, he has the technical homebuilding knowledge and expertise to give you an answer that’s accurate. This eliminates disappointments later on because you won’t be told, yes, you can have it, or yes, you can do it, by a salesperson who really has no idea.

Sometimes, technical matters prevent a homeowner from doing or having certain things because of the components that must be used or the building codes. Scott knows the building codes, has attended the seminars and done the training. He’s the one who works with your architect or even draws your plans. And because he’s the one out on the jobsite calling the shots and approving the work, he controls the big picture.

When you sit down with Scott, he guides you step-by-step from the very start so you avoid the disappointments and pitfalls. With Scott’s guidance, you have an enjoyable experience as well as a beautiful custom-built home that’s uniquely your own and that satisfies your family’s wants and needs for years to come.

2. Certified Builders is located in Granger, Indiana, which is in St. Joseph County and lies between South Bend and Elkhart. Our location gives us access to a labor pool and building materials that are priced very fairly. This makes Certified Builders super competitive not only in our local market but also into the Lake Michigan area, where the materials and labor pool are priced as much as 30% to 40% higher. So when building there, we buy locally and take our materials with us, giving our homeowners huge savings in the total cost of building their new home.
3. In the post-recession New Economy, Certified Builders understands that consuming smarter means consuming less. That’s why building energy-efficient homes is a top priority of Certified Builders. Your new home, as well as every home built by Certified Builders, goes through a full energy audit, which includes a blower-door and CAZ room testing.
4. At Certified Builders, we offer you a final detailed contract that is jargon-free, easy to understand and shows all the details of your new home. Crucial to selecting your builder to get the home you want, at the agreed-upon price, is a clear understanding of exactly what you get with each builder you interview. There are thousands of components in your house. Sometimes, in meeting with multiple people with different builders and talking about all the different details, it’s easy to get confused about what you get with whom. So, having a clear contract that explains it all is very important.

At the start, we give you a sample copy of our contract so you can read through it and get comfortable with it beforehand. In fact, we recommend that you request a sample contract from every builder you interview. And avoid anyone who pressures you with incentives to “sign today.”

5. Certified Builders has NO hidden costs or surprises in the end. Once a home is started and there’s a change or modification to be made, we require a Change Order to be signed by at least one of the homeowners. With this precaution, we ensure you will not be told at the closing table that you’ve spent $8,000 to $10,000 more for your home than you had intended. Avoid any homebuilding company that does not require homeowners to sign off on Change Orders.
6. When you choose Certified Builders to build your home, you get a full 10-year warranty, at no extra cost to you. When researching other homebuilders, you’ll discover that they offer a one-year warranty, with longer warranty terms available at substantial additional cost to you. But because Certified Builders uses both superior building methods and superior building materials, we’re able to provide you lasting satisfaction through a full 10-year warranty on your home. This 10-year warranty is standard with every home we build. 

Are you thinking of acting as your own contractor? If so, please be aware that when you act as your own contractor (you build it), your home comes with no warranty whatsoever. In other words, when you build it, you assume full responsibility for anything and everything that might go wrong. Most folks who act as their own contractor do so thinking they will save money. Usually, however, the opposite is true. Because you would not get the same vendor/supplier discounts, it can actually cost you more to build your home yourself.
7. Certified Builders provides superior building features, which are standard in every home we build. These superior features are considered upgrades by other homebuilders, who charge extra for them.
8. Certified Builders has strong relationships with the trade contractors and vendors we use in the field.
9. Certified Builders has construction financing available and will guide you through the entire process.
10. Certified Builders is a member of the Home Builders Association of St. Joseph Valley, the Builders Association of Elkhart County, the National Association of Builders, the Indiana Builders Association, the Better Business Bureau and the Indiana Quality Assurance Builders Standards. Certified Builders is a Licensed Builder in both Indiana and Michigan.

So, whether you build from your plans or ours, homebuilder Scott Gast is fully committed to building the home YOU want. And because he never wants you to wake up in your new home and wish you had put something over here instead of other there, he’s also committed to clear, open and frequent communication with you.

When you choose Scott Gast’s Certified Builders, you get a professional veteran homebuilder. Scott’s passion is the deep satisfaction that comes from knowing your home will stand up for 100+ years and serve you, your family and probably several other families through all those years.