Questions to Ask When Building a Custom Home

Building a custom home can be an overwhelming task, especially if you jump in with no real direction. There are many questions you can ask yourself before taking the dive that can help guide you onto a smoother sailing path to your dream home.

What are my expectations with this new home?

Are you looking for a home that is completely custom down to the door knobs, or are you looking for an existing floor plan that is primarily predetermined with only some input by you and your family? Or do you desire a mix of both? Regardless of which route you choose, make your level of involvement very clear from the beginning to avoid frustration.

How big is my family (going to be) and how long will we be living in our new home?

Whether you are just starting out, have multiple children, or are empty nesters, asking yourself how big your family is or may become is very important. Family size should be considered for many reasons; most obviously the size of the home and number of bedrooms. If you expect your family to grow while you are living in your custom home, you will want to consider additional bedrooms, bathrooms and storage.

Longevity also comes into play when considering the location of your home. You may select a certain location based on school district for current or future children, proximity to your work and activities you frequent, and the long term viability of the area.

What is most important for our family?

Rank the following, and any more that come to mind, in order of importance to your family:

• Space and amenities in the home
• Room to entertain
• Location
• Budget and time to completion
• Design Style
• Energy savers, smart design, “green” building
• Accessibility for now and later years
• Multi-generational – will you have parents or adult children living with you
• Low maintenance
• Return on investment
• Landscape potential
• Size of lot

What about the heart of our home, the kitchen?

The style and amenities of a custom, dream kitchen are only limited to your imagination. Many include islands, brick ovens and built-ins galore and all are options when you are building your home from scratch. The attention to detail in back splash, flooring and accent pieces are also limitless. It can be both exciting and overwhelming to build your dream kitchen from scratch so ask yourself what is the most important and trickle your list down from there.

If entertaining is something that is important to you, then the size of the kitchen will also be a priority along with design and amenities.

Do we have the time and patience?

Custom home building is not for those who desire instant gratification. Even if you have every detail worked out and not one thing changes during the process, you are still looking at a process that can take anywhere from 6-12 months, a small price to pay for a completely custom home. It is highly unlikely that plans and details will not change, as ideas flourish and your creativity flows and each change that occurs could potentially add more time. If you are willing to take the time it requires building a custom home that is just to your liking, then you are on the right track. Good things do come to those who wait, but the process can be stressful. The end result is sure to make it worth the time, energy, and patience, but if you are in a bind, be sure to address your timeline early on in the process with your builder.

Can we afford it?

The unfortunate question that has to be asked is, can you afford the additional costs it takes to build a custom home? Not only that but one that meets most if not all of your desires. Part of this question can be answered by meeting with your builder and going over the budget and options with them. However it is not uncommon to find things you would like to add on or change in the process so having an extra bit of wiggle room in the budget is a good idea.

Starting with these questions could yield several more that will allow you to narrow your scope and direction on your custom home. To answer these, and any other questions you have, please contact us today!