The Most Important Question:

WHY bother hiring a personal Custom Home Design Consultant

There are many details and critical information that aren't shared here - it would take up way too much space! However, take some time to peruse the website as there is still an ABUNDANT amount of information to learn about the process in general.

Once hired, you will have a much more extensive and extremely detailed, step by step guide made available that is tailored to your individual build.

Listed below is a (as brief as possible) general step by step guide to building a custom home. However anyone can jump in and request help at any point in the build!

I'm going to keep this simple. Finding a decent builder with quality work and integrity is the MOST important first step.

• Look at their past work, see if you like their pictures, and visit sites at various stages of progress if possible.

• Meet in person. Ultimately, see if you vibe. Go with your gut. If you feel off at any point in the initial meeting, move on to the next builder.

• And finally, DO NOT GO WITH A TRACK HOME BUILDER. These companies offer "custom" options for a home build. They prioritize pushing out houses as quickly as possible, don't care about craftsmanship, pay off inspectors to pass inspections quickly, and are embroiled in a plethora of lawsuits for an abundant amount concerning of reasons. (Google custom home builders and mold lawsuit).

STEP 1 - VET THE BUILDER

If at all possible, instead of looking to build a home in the standard "track home neighborhood", take the time to search for a lot of land that you can build a true custom home on. Take the necessary steps to get the land prepped for a home, and go with a true local custom home builder that only does 3 to 10 houses a year.

Always keep in mind, even the most ideal builder will have some issues. This is part of the home building process that you need to be prepared for. The best anyone can do is find a quality, reputable builder that they trust. And have expectations set from the beginning.

Hiring a Custom Home Design Consultant is the VERY best and first thing you can do to alleviate the upcoming stressors for BOTH the home owner AND the builder.

Having a guide that knows the upcoming hurdles is IMMEASURABLY beneficial. Your builder will also thank you. It reduces stress for them as well.

STEP 2 - Find a Suitable Lot

You can be finding a good builder and a good real estate agent at the same time.

Find someone that has experience looking at lots for building a home. Or you can also attempt to find the land yourself, and have your builder and Design Consultant look over the lot to make sure it is conducive to building a home on.

This is in no way legal advice, just keep in mind commissions can get complicated with multiple parties involved - the home buyer, the builder, and the real estate agent.

You may wonder why have a Design Consultant look at your lot as well, but over the years I found that looking at the lot before hand with the client was extremely beneficial. Having another pair of eyes with a different perspective than the builder offers additional insight.

I always helped keep certain questions in mind like, do you want mountain views, do you want to install a pool either now or in the future, are you going to want a crawlspace or basement, etc.

What about a fence for the dogs, or wanting to design future landscaping around a Koi pond. This also saved the builder a lot of time by being the first eyes on a lot. This let the clients know immediately if it was even worth asking the builder to look at the land, or if it was best to move on to the next piece of site.

Site walks conducted by the builder are time consuming and can be expensive. It's best to avoid them if they are unnecessary to being with.

One a lot has been selected, work with your builder to gain the proper permits for building, clearing, electric, well or city/county water, and septic or cite/county sewage.

The cost for these permits will be needed upfront and often take people by surprise. Just simply giving clients a heads up on this topic has been immensely helpful in the past.

The amount due will vary according to location.

Again. This part can often seem daunting for many people, but if you have the right people helping you, and take it step by step, these things can be navigated with much less stress.

Helpful Tip!

A lot of people are not aware that some mortgage companies are capable of offering a home building loan where you can bundle the cost of the land, along with the cost of the home.

This varies on a case by case basis and your lender will be able to offer the best guidance.

If at all possible, an ideal option would be to purchase the land outright with cash before hand. And then proceed to get a loan for the building of the home. Again, this can vary case by case as this is not often something people can afford to do.

STEP 3 - Designing your Layout

More often than not, you will be able to design your home with whatever builder you chose to work with. They often (or at least, should) have an architect or drafter that they work with on a regular basis.

You will pay for these plans to be drafted through the builder or pay whoever they work with directly. It can vary.

It is generally much more conducive to work with whoever the builder recommends. Communication is faster and if any changes need to be made, they can be made easily.

Therefore, it is not recommended to go out and spend $8000 on architectural plans with an independent architect or website that will customize plans for you, before consulting with you builder.

Working with an independent drafter IS an option, but make sure they are able to be communicated with speedily, make any requested changes the builder may have, and most importantly - can also draft legally acceptable construction plans that can be approved by an engineer.

One of my favorite things is helping people with their floor plans. Everything starts hear.

Unfortunately, often times even the best builders are crunched for time, and don't spend enough energy hammering out adequate floor plans that are well thought out.

Additionally, I have also found the majority of architects or drafters, are not adept at interpreting the clients' needs when they attempt to communicate them. Too often they just take what the customer says at face value and or just plain misinterpret what the clients are trying to communicate. This inevitably leads to a number of misunderstandings, change orders down the road, or just designs that are just lacking in general.

Things like will the client's current furniture fit in the space, are they getting new furniture, is the adequate FLOW in hallways, kitchen bathrooms, offices, etc. Are we looking at doing built-ins later. How is the space going to be used. Is it for Christmas storage or a nursery.

Sometimes the most minor editing or tweaking at this beginning stage prevents catastrophes down the line.

There are so many cool things with offices and playrooms and closets that don't cost any money and the clients absolutely love. Little quality of life adjustments that add up.

Maybe we need to move a door 3" to the left to make sure we can put four inches of trim in comfortably and be able to paint without extra headaches. , Or we need to flip the hinge of a door to make sure we can use the laundry room comfortably.

Are we designing a theater room and want the floor to be recessed or raised in certain areas which - which in turn effects ceiling heights on the first and second floors.

Maybe we redesign the location of the laundry room to keep fire hazards in mind. These are the tips and tricks are only something you get with someone experienced in the industry. That has experience what NOT to do and how to avoid certain things.

Essentially at the end of the day, you want the builder, the drafter and a design consultant looking over, making adjustments, and going back and forth MULTIPLE times over a number of weeks, sometimes even months. Plans can actually take a REALLY long time - usually because of a lack of confidence in them. Hiring a Design Consultant alleviates this.

Plans should not take months, but they should take at least a few weeks with different people from different professions helping fine tune the layout, flow and function.

Helpful Tip!

When designing master bathrooms, builders tend to cram as large a bathtub as possible in whatever space is available! This is without any consideration to maintenance or ease of access for the home owner, when CLEANING AROUND THE TUB. The are minimum space recommendations for the area between a free standing bathtub and the wall to keep in mind!

STEP 4 - Material and Color Selections

Material and Color Selections

Final Thoughts

As you can already tell, this page is getting VERY long. And it doesn't even include half the information I could talk about for ages.

Hopefully this at least gives a general overview as well as some helpful tips about the home building process.

To put simply, once hired, I offer a step by step, easily digestible and comprehensive plan that caters' to each individual's home building journey.

There are always certain things I recommend adding in most builds. As well as certain things I recommend avoiding every single time. I go over all of this with each individual. My job is to set expectations, help you avoid hurdles, be there for support when thing inevitably go wrong, and offer guidance on what is available.

For example, you may not want heated floors in your master bathroom, but you at least knew it was an option and not the scenario when your house is built and you have the "I wish I had known that' thought.

Selections can be as involved or as simple you prefer. Its not my job to push anything in particular, but to show you your options and offer advice as needed.

There are so many things that so many possible mistakes that have been avoided up front just because of having an expert that knows what to look out for and knows what to warn you about. So again, these are the services I offer. Everyone is different and every house unique.

I'm there to help set up expectations . There are consistently certain issues that pop of every build that are very frustrating for people. It helps to have a guide to help navigate these issues.

Helpful Tip!

My favorite example....

Oftentimes builders will say hey we can build this house in 12 months give or take. I always say add 3 months to whatever amount of time the builder gives you.

There are so many things that happen during your build that you just can't account for, such as windows being back ordered. Or framing material becoming unavailable. Anything that can be accounted for and mentally prepared for, should be.

This can be a very long and very painful process with so many details you feel like the house will never be built, make it less painful and listen to the professionals that have seen and done this before.