People would always want to have their own unique style stamp on their home. It’s easy to buy a “spec” or a production house, there is little involvement in the design, and you’ll just have to choose from a portfolio and wait for it to be finished. A custom home takes a lot of advanced planning, and a lot of the major decisions must have your participation in it. It’s going to take time, but it’ll be worth it once you see your dream home realized.
Here are some things that you’d want to take into account when building a custom home:
1. Concept Design
Growing up, we all have that idea of what kind of house we want to live in. But like you, when you’re on your way to building your own house, you must take the time to research designs that you want to incorporate into your home. You can consult interior designers, visit concept houses, and do your own research. With the resources you gathered, you can begin to outline your architectural style, design elements, function, features, and other requirements.
One of the things that you might want to consider while deciding on the home design is the budget. Custom houses can be costly, especially because there will be things that may take you longer to decide on. Therefore, it’s important to have some wiggle room in your budget for your project. Also, it doesn’t have to be too costly. With the right preparation and planning beforehand, you can help cut the costs significantly.
2. Planning and Preparation
The planning and preparation phase will require numerous discussions with your builder and architect. You will analyze the cost-benefit of your choices, establish a budget for every feature or segment, examine the elements that you should include, and many more. You will also have to consider the materials to be used in some parts of the house, the need for custom metal fabrication, woodworks, and other artistic designs of your home will also have to be discussed. Since this is a customized house, it can be difficult to gauge just how long will it take for the items mentioned above to be thoroughly thought out.
There are two kinds of costs when building a home one is the hard cost, which includes the materials and the physical requirements for constructing it. The second one is the soft costs, which refer to carrying costs, designing costs, permit fees, engineering fees, and others.
At this time, the builder will have an estimated schedule of the progress based on the currently approved design. The changes in the design and other alterations may entail some adjustments in the schedule. The cost will also have to be discussed with every phase, not to mention the process of how to charge for any deviation from the plan.
3. Choose the Builder
A lot of people who start off wanting to build a custom home end up opting for a production home. This is because many of them go about it the wrong way, normally people would buy a lot and then choose a developer to design and build the house. However, the reverse would prove to be much faster and less expensive. A builder that has the knowledge and the vision would be able to help the owner identify the lot and location they can work with to build the custom house wanted. They will also have the resources to do their due diligence in
A construction company will have its own design team or can recommend a professional to help with your design. Make sure you ask for referrals and get to know prospects. This is because delays in the design would translate to more delays in the construction and costs more.
4. Construction
Just because you have done the planning part, it doesn’t mean your involvement ends there. There will be a lot of phases and segments in the construction that will need your participation. Over the course of the construction, there will be a lot of design decisions that will need the buyer’s input. It may be the color of the lighting, the products to use, and various selections within the contract.
There are also crucial matters that you’ll need to keep an eye on, as the buyer. This includes permits, insurance, payment schedules, and inspections. Being above all of these matters will help minimize liability and may even increase your margin when you’re thinking of selling your house.
The process of truly building your own custom home is an enjoyable experience, but it can also take a lot of time to finish. Many of the things mentioned above would not be present if you just buy a production house. Therefore, it’s important that you realize the work it entails to build something into reality. Make sure you educate yourself, assemble the right team, and manage your expectations.
