There were probably several ideas you have accumulated up to this point on items that you want to have done for you during the build process, here are few things to consider:
-40-50 year shingles
-Thicker decking on the roof
-Increase amount of insulation, consider foam. Most states have some minimum for walls and ceilings. Depending on where you live you might want to increase it.
- Is your home energy star rated? If not, look into what needs to be done to attain that.
- Engineered joists
- Low- E, and triple pane glass (where applicable) windows
- Tankless water heater
- Increase height of basement walls (poured or block)
- PVC footer drain
- Solid core interior doors
- Fiberglass entry door (or something with better insulation value)
- Insulated garage doors
- Kitchen countertop material (many choices these days)
- Wood flooring - natural or synthetic
- interior wood trim - thickness and height consideration depending on if you want to paint or stain
- wrought iron ballusters
- concrete vs asphalt driveway
- gas cooktop
- exterior water outlets
- exterior electrical outlets
- high efficiency hvac
- bathroom rough-ins for future use
- garage,basement,utility water access and drains
- rubberwall coating on basement walls
The list goes on and on, but helps you see some of the things you may not have considered. It's much easier to see what can be upgraded once you see the contract, but it's also nice to have thought of them beforehand.
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Let's make a deal
Decide what amount your are comfortable with paying for the lot and home, and discuss with the builder if it even makes sense to continue down this path. Get the proposed price for the home that was planned for you.
Sit on it a little bit. Let them call you next. You could be shopping for other builders, coparing prices, other lots, etc. Tell them you need to be at $x, not the price you have in front of you.
Ask what their profit margin will be on this build. I think some builders (production builers - lower quality) might be around a few percent. High end custom builders I'm guessing can be upwards of 15%. Hopefully they share this with you, and you can decide if it is fair.
Now that you have a price, you can begin to get creative with the layout, and start to think about allowances you might need, and credits you'll want to take.
Sit on it a little bit. Let them call you next. You could be shopping for other builders, coparing prices, other lots, etc. Tell them you need to be at $x, not the price you have in front of you.
Ask what their profit margin will be on this build. I think some builders (production builers - lower quality) might be around a few percent. High end custom builders I'm guessing can be upwards of 15%. Hopefully they share this with you, and you can decide if it is fair.
Now that you have a price, you can begin to get creative with the layout, and start to think about allowances you might need, and credits you'll want to take.
Getting your first set of plans
By now the builder should have a pretty good feel for the type of home you want, and the layout. Before he tosses out that first set of plans to you, try to be specific on some of the things you know you want/don't want.
You have probably already discussed your price range too, so he'll design something that he knows will fit into that range.
The more you can give him now to get into those plans will help in getting that initial price of the home. It's hard to say all of those thing until you see that first drawing, but it helps to get it all out now. Start mentioning those thing you wanted to finish yourself.
Again, keep track of all the things said.
After you receive those plans, critique every little thing. i.e lights on the sides of the garage door, stone coping, sidelights on front door. Some stuff is just a habit that they have of putting into the drawing that in the end you might not get.
You have probably already discussed your price range too, so he'll design something that he knows will fit into that range.
The more you can give him now to get into those plans will help in getting that initial price of the home. It's hard to say all of those thing until you see that first drawing, but it helps to get it all out now. Start mentioning those thing you wanted to finish yourself.
Again, keep track of all the things said.
After you receive those plans, critique every little thing. i.e lights on the sides of the garage door, stone coping, sidelights on front door. Some stuff is just a habit that they have of putting into the drawing that in the end you might not get.
What comes standard with the build/purchase?
Get the list of what comes in the base package of building the home. Start to get a feel for the allowances that are stated, and what that actually gets you. i.e 3500 for appliances may be something you know you won't like, so see what it would be to jump to next level, or at lest plan on adding some misc. spending allowances as you know that will be one thing you will go over on.
For big ticket items that are listed, but don't have a $ allowance stated, ask what that allowance is. It helps to know the amounts so you can get a feel for the certain line of goods you will be getting, and if it will cover what you might want to do. i.e kitchen cabinets, what is the amount you are allowed to spend on cabinets?
Begin to question all of the item listed for interior, exterior, insulation, etc. You should get a good feel that the products they use at their lowest level are at least of some level of quality youare comfortable with.
Start to create the list of things that are not listed, or you know are not included, and get some rough estimates for what it would be to add those into the proposal once you get to that point. The more you know what $ amounts they have allotted for each item gives you a little more power to start figuring out what you can get/do on your own for possibly cheaper, and then you can can reduce the cost of the home.
You probably already have a feel for the price of the home and if it is close to your price range, so the above will let you figure out what you can work with to get the price where you want it, and get you the things that do not come standard.
For big ticket items that are listed, but don't have a $ allowance stated, ask what that allowance is. It helps to know the amounts so you can get a feel for the certain line of goods you will be getting, and if it will cover what you might want to do. i.e kitchen cabinets, what is the amount you are allowed to spend on cabinets?
Begin to question all of the item listed for interior, exterior, insulation, etc. You should get a good feel that the products they use at their lowest level are at least of some level of quality youare comfortable with.
Start to create the list of things that are not listed, or you know are not included, and get some rough estimates for what it would be to add those into the proposal once you get to that point. The more you know what $ amounts they have allotted for each item gives you a little more power to start figuring out what you can get/do on your own for possibly cheaper, and then you can can reduce the cost of the home.
You probably already have a feel for the price of the home and if it is close to your price range, so the above will let you figure out what you can work with to get the price where you want it, and get you the things that do not come standard.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
After picking your lot, and choosing the builder
Try to write everything down that is said during initial conversations with the builder. There are a lot of questions you ask that they may or may not answer the way you want, but make sure you capture those conversations.
Take pictures and notes of all of the houses that you walk through when looking at craftsmenship, and home designs, it will help when trying to remember how things were done, how big rooms were, and what you liked. Maybe even take some measurements.
Talk to people in the neighborhood about the builder to make sure they liked them and their process, and why they chose them over other builders. How much did they go over on their allowances, what issues did they run into? Anything they will offer up, take it.
Take pictures and notes of all of the houses that you walk through when looking at craftsmenship, and home designs, it will help when trying to remember how things were done, how big rooms were, and what you liked. Maybe even take some measurements.
Talk to people in the neighborhood about the builder to make sure they liked them and their process, and why they chose them over other builders. How much did they go over on their allowances, what issues did they run into? Anything they will offer up, take it.
Picking your lot
Make sure to get the deed restrictions for the subdivision as soon as you choose the lot or when you are considering a lot, just to make sure there aren't any crazy restrictions on things that you want (or don't want) as part of your build.
Get a site plan of the lot as soon as possible so you can see the lay of the land, where easements might be, any minimum sideyard requirements, run off, sewer, elevation, or other things that may stand out when you look at the lot from this view.
Figure out what the price of the lot is to make sure it is even something you want to consider. This will affect the total cost of your home in the end.
What do you want as far as land goes? Acreage? Water/Stream? Walkout basement? Wooded? What direction will your hose face?
Get a site plan of the lot as soon as possible so you can see the lay of the land, where easements might be, any minimum sideyard requirements, run off, sewer, elevation, or other things that may stand out when you look at the lot from this view.
Figure out what the price of the lot is to make sure it is even something you want to consider. This will affect the total cost of your home in the end.
What do you want as far as land goes? Acreage? Water/Stream? Walkout basement? Wooded? What direction will your hose face?
Friday, July 18, 2008
Building a home should be fun...right?
I guess we will find out what we have in store for us during the building of our custom home. We are about 60 days into the process, and have finally decided continue down this path. Stay tuned for future updates on our progress.
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