These seem like great tips to find a good custom home builder. I agree, word of mouth can be a great way to get a few references for good home builders, but there aren't always people on hand who have experience with home builders. I found Tip #6 very helpful. It seems like a good idea to go with a home building company that has an interactive project management system, since that's a good transparent way to keep track of what's going on through the building process.