Planning to build your dream home? Discover 5 essential custom home construction tips to help you save time, money, and stress during your build. Building a home from scratch offers full design freedom—but it can also be overwhelming. These five custom home construction tips will help you make smart decisions before breaking ground. Let’s help with a few custom home construction tips.
Custom home construction tips
Tip #1: Set a Realistic Budget
Plan for more than just build costs. Factor in permits, utility hookups, the slope of the lot, landscaping, and changes during the build. Your general contractor will be able to provide an itemized list with all of these factors. A tough cost to estimate up front is your excavation costs. Usually, you will see an allowance for this, and your builder can give you real-time updates on pricing for the excavation as bills roll in. Newhomeco.com has a great article that dives into all the details you should factor in when setting a budget for a new home build.
Tip #2: Choose the Right Lot First
Your home design depends on your lot—consider views, existing vegetation, slope, and soil quality. Visit with your builder prior to purchasing a lot to know all the factors you will be dealing with. Water mitigation is key when picking a lot and placing your home. Your builder should be able to help paint a picture of what to expect with where the home will be set, as well as variables such as the slope of the driveway and how many steps you’ll have to take to enter your home. Sterling Realty Group has some great tips in choosing the right lot for custom home construction tips.
Tip #3: Prioritize Must-Haves Early
Determine what options best align with your vision and budget. If this is a long-term home, focus your dollars on the structural options that can’t change later, such as ceiling heights, extra garages, and square feet for the home. If this is a shorter-term home, you can put more dollars towards the finishes in your home, such as countertops, plumbing fixtures, lighting fixtures, and themed walls. Building a detached garage down the road is becoming more popular with custom home construction tips. This gives you the best of both worlds, allowing you to save costs up front while having the option to build a detached garage in the future. Some opt to have the foundation installed at the same time as the home, then hold off on the rest of the build until financing or timing makes sense.
Tip #4: Work With a Transparent Builder
Choose a general contractor who offers clear pricing, communicates often, and helps you make educated decisions. Communication is key during the build process. Have a process set up to send and receive information and updates for your home. This allows your general contractor to send weekly updates and photos of the progress.
It also gives a good spot to summarize any decisions that were made in person or over the phone to reference. There are thousands of decisions and options coming together in your new home build. It’s easy to miss some of these details, so you and your builder will appreciate having a communication thread to look back at regarding these items.
Tip #5: Design for the Future
Think about long-term needs— is this a 3-year option or a 10-year option, will your family grow, how is the resale value down the road? This will help you decide if you push your budget to get everything you are looking for in a long-term home, or if you scale back and know this home is a stepping stone towards the next home. Think big when it comes to your custom home construction tips!
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