Who wouldn’t love to design and build their very own home that has all the right furnishings and amenities that one could dream about? Say I.
Well, that’s an easy question to answer, but is it easy to price ourselves out without knowing our way around the custom home process? I would answer that with a resounding yes. When you custom build, you are getting what you want, but getting what you want may price you out of the project, especially if your resources are limited.
Most people embarking on this journey are getting ready for one of the biggest personal financial commitments they have made to date. Custom building may cost tens of thousands in blueprint fees alone as opposed to standard blueprints that are thousands cheaper. If you add in the costs of the lot, land surveys, building materials, additional architects, and interior design selections your budget can run amok faster than you think.
“The average home in the Northern Virginia area has over 40,000 individual parts, involves the skills of between 85 and 120 suppliers and subcontractors, and demands over 3,000 on-site worker hours to make the dream a reality”, says Wayne Foley, Founder of Foley Construction.
Be Patient
Building a new custom home takes time, somewhere between 6 and 12 months. It’s not like buying a new home and making a few changes here and there before it’s ready for move-in. With a custom built home, you may find multiple delays caused by missing utilities and wrong sourcing of building materials.
Brainstorm Your Non-Negotiables
It is best to make a checklist with your family about the things that you absolutely must have in your home. Do you want one sink or two? A heated towel bar? A walk-in tub for in-laws? If you want a green home, you should consult with a green builder who can help you incorporate the right green building techniques into your home design.
Let The Builder Save Your Family From Overwhelm and Tension
Within the selections process, couples can often be at odds trying to decide which finishings they want in their home. To avoid going at each other’s throats, choose a builder who can collaborate in making the process easier for everyone living in the new home. The designer-builder can block out the various finishing areas and your family can choose one by one.
Remember to allot a reasonable quantity, quality, and price to the various finishing areas to make sure you preserve enough in the budget to allow yourself all of the wonderful things you envisioned for the home.
Is A Semi-Custom Home Better For You?
If you want to build a custom home, but custom building isn’t an option for you, you might want to consider semi-custom. You can choose an already made spec plan and have it modified to fit your needs. For example, let’s say you want a traditional country custom home and it has 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. You can hire an architect to add another bedroom and half-bath.
All in all, cultivate your questions with answers that can be found online and decide first if the custom home building process is within your budget.