Would you Hire an "old" Builder??

[NSbound]

I am going to be having a new home built on vacant farm land in the next year or two, and have narrowed down the list of builders to 2 that I will be inviting to bid on the job of building the garage and house. The 2 builders are very different :

Builder "A" is in his late 50's but has been in business close by for many years. I've seen his work, and it seems OK. I'm no expert. He's also going to be a neighbour, as he owns the lot 2 properties over, once I get in. He's had a couple of operations on his hands and wrists very recently. My lot though is 30 miles from the town where he normally works, and where his normal "crew" lives. His plan is to build his own home and retire like I mentioned, 2 lots over. He's already got his garage up. If I hire him, I don't know who he would use for crew, as I don't know if his regular guys would want to drive the 45 minutes each way every day from their homes. Plus, he is "older". And he says he doesn't do roofs any more - he gets other guys to do the roofs. Maybe that equals experience, but maybe it also equals delays?? He would be close by if I had any problems.

Builder "B" is a local guy with a permanent crew who is well established in the immediate area. He's in his early 40's and has a good local reputation. I've seen his work too, and it also appears very good. His crew would all live within 10 minutes of my lot. Plus he's a lot more agile and has more energy than Builder "A".

Given their age and obvious visible energy differences, and also given that one will be a neighbour, who would you favor, supposing their pricing is relatively close to each other??? Are there any other important factors I should consider?

[jimbrown]

Well I would hire the guy who I seemed to get along with the best. And. I would not let age bother me. I just built a house here in Arizona. It is 13 miles from the closest town. If you call two gas stations and a cafe a town. I used a builder in his 50's. him and his crews had to drive 65 miles to get here. They did it almost every day for over a year. The builder had been in business over 25 years. He knew all of the subs and had for many years. They all came when he needed them because they knew him and that he paid them on time. Most builders really do not have a crew. Except for maybe some framers. They usually sub everything else out. Exceptions might be the track builders that build 5 or 6 at a time. I would not touch one of those guys.

[beenthere]

I'd look at the work these two have already done (make personal contacts and site visits with their projects up to 10 years old) and go with the one with the best reputation.
Age? late 50's isn't old. I finished a project ($100,000) addition on my house in late 2001. The builder had a crew of three and he worked with them most of the time. He turned 75. Just last month, at age 78, he retired from having a crew. Now he is re-building homes working alone and still busy every day.
Good luck with your 'tough' decision. IMO, you are trying too hard to analyze the crews and not their work. But, just my opinion from what you said.