
Top 5 Considerations For A Custom Home Build
Top 5 Considerations For A Custom Home Build
Planning your new custom home build is exciting! We’ve got the top 5 things you should know and consider before you get into planning your new custom home build
1. Budget
First thing you should know before getting started into a custom home build is your budget! You can dream as big as you want while planning your new home but you really need to consider how much you can actually afford to build.
Once you know your budget, you can reverse engineer pretty much everything. The money you have available tells you how much you can dedicate towards purchasing your lot, the size house you can build and what quality level you can choose for your finishing materials. Your builder will be able to work within your budget and can help you to get you what you want in your new custom home.
2. Timeline
A good builder will do a detailed walkthrough of the building timeline with you. A large custom home build can often take 18-24 months to complete. Your builder should provide you with a realistic timeline and indicate any deadlines for items you need to make final decisions about.
Over the course of the build, there may be unforeseen issues that come up: road restrictions, permits, inspection delays, labor or material shortages, and waiting on sub-contractors. All of these issues (and more) need to be addressed beforehand. As the client, not being able to see these issues as they happen means that the should be communicated beforehand.
The timeline will also be affected by inclement weather. Digging, forming and pouring a foundation will be certainly affected when its -35. Any anticipated poor weather events can slow things down: Tornadoes, hurricanes, freezing rain, etc.. The type of natural forces will, of course, vary depending on where you live, but your builder should have buffer redundancies in place in the schedule.
3. Who To Talk To First
There are a number of professionals you will need to involve in your house building process. Who do you talk to first? A great builder will be able to bring in the best interior designers and architects in order to create a team to plan and build your home.
Whether you sketched out your ideas on graph paper or found plans on the internet, your builder should be able to offer you valuable suggestions about the layout, design, function and costs of your home. Even if you have architectural plans already and are ready to start, a builder can help you evaluate function and costs before beginning construction.
Contact us for any questions about who you think you may need on your team.
4. What Type of House
You might already have a good idea what you want to build or you might need to look around for the various styles before you start. There are a variety of building heights, designs, and building techniques to consider that can all influence the type of house you build. Building UP is always cheaper than building OUT so you can get the same square footage for less by building a two storey.
Are you getting older and don’t want to deal with stairs anymore? A single story home without a basement might be what you need.
Do you have a live-in nanny or need a separate suite for family?
Do you have a home based business and need a quiet office space?
Factors like this will change the layout of your home. You will also have to consider any restrictions and codes in place in your city or county. Many homeowner associations also have covenants in place that can dictate the size and design of your home. The land layout itself can also affect construction and design of the house.
For more home inspiration, check out our Instagram page
5. Your Involvement
How involved do you want to be in your build? As previously mentioned, building a custom home can take up to two years. You know yourself, your schedule and how much you will be available to be involved. What decisions do you want to be involved with? Do you want to make all the final decisions about finishes or just certain ones? Are there certain features you really want to have in certain rooms?
There are many things to consider when building a custom home. For many clients, time is their rarest commodity and they will rely on their builder to make a lot of decisions. You should evaluate your prior commitments and determine how much time you will have to focus on making decisions. The more you know about yourself and how much you want to be involved with the build will help both you and your builder throughout the entire process.
Recent Comments