The process involved in building a custom home is usually misunderstood. Most custom home buyers think that the process starts by finding and buying a lot, hiring an architect, and then picking the builder with the lowest bid. However, a more efficient and effective solution is for a custom home buyer to choose a builder to help identify the perfect lot to build your dream house. This process is smoother, faster, and could even be less expensive.
Here are five reasons why your dream home should be built by a custom home builder:
1. A Custom Home Builder Can Help You Identify the Perfect Lot
A custom home builder has a ready team of real estate agents, architects, engineers, and employees in place to help find the perfect lot for you. Generally speaking, home buyers don’t have the necessary knowledge, skills, and resources to evaluate the lot’s potential. As a result, a home buyer will then decide to assemble his own team of agents, architects, engineers, and employees. This further delays the building of a home.
Another thing that makes the process slow is the purchase contract “study period.” A buyer would need to assemble a team. Take note that property sellers don’t want the risks involved in a lengthy study period. If a property seller decides to back out, it’s always a disadvantage for the buyer.
Here’s how a custom home builder can help a home buyer find the best lot:
- Custom home builders invest a lot of money and effort trying to identify the best lots to build a custom home.
- Once a potential lot is found, a clean cash-written offer is prepared with limited closing terms and contingencies that are customized to the needs of the seller of the lot.
- Custom home builders make it simple and easy for the seller to agree to the offer.
- A custom home builder starts to identify the cost of the lot with the “outsale” price or the ultimate price anticipated to sell a new home for a particular lot. The builder deducts the direct costs of construction (hard costs) and the permitting fees, real estate commissions, engineering fees, and architectural fees (soft costs) from the outsale price, and pays whatever amount is left.
2. A Custom Home Builder Can Help You Stay Within Your Budget
As compared to handling your team, like hiring your architect, engineer, and builder, it’s best to work with a custom home builder who can help you stay within your budget. Before any contract or construction is done, the builder will give you a rough estimate of the amount you need to set for your custom home project.
With years of experience in the industry, custom home builders are the best source of information for the current prices of construction materials, labor, and other aspects of custom home building. You can take advantage of the builder’s vast connections and partnerships, from major manufacturers and suppliers of lumber, paints, and roofing materials, to bathroom and kitchen fixtures at the lowest price possible.
3. A Custom Home Builder Can Help You Establish Your Vision
Buyers usually have a lack of vision to see the potential of a lot or location. Most home buyers search for a flat lot. However, flat lots aren’t always the best, and some lots with topography issues might be the best lots.
You can take advantage of the expertise of a custom builder in finding the best lot because of years spent in one-on-one meetings, letter campaigns, and door-knocking with potential lot sellers.
Here are some examples of ways a custom home builder can help you envision your dream home:
- A custom home builder can help you identify hidden lot problems, in terms of topography, storm easements, lack of sewer hookups, problems with public water, soil quality, and title issues.
- A custom home builder can help you find a lot with a gentle slope to the front and the back of the lot line, as well as from the sides for better soil drainage. Also, these lot characteristics allow the entrance of your house to be slightly above the street level.
- A custom home builder does wonders with a retaining wall, helping home buyers see great potential in the long run.
4. Build Your Dream Home Faster
As compared to managing your team, hiring a custom home builder makes the planning and construction of your dream home faster. Custom builders pay emphasis to your choice and add retaining wall steel beams for a highly-quality structure and unique look. With years of experience, a custom home builder can prepare a plan with a timetable set to finish the project. It means more time, money, and effort saved on your part.
5. Working With A Custom Home Builder Can Lessen Your Stress
Building a new construction custom home while working on a day job or managing a business can be stressful. You might think you can manage all the activities and pressure at first, but many end up getting burnt out and end up spending more. A custom home builder will take care of the tiniest detail of your dream home project. You have to tell the builder what you want, and both parties set realistic expectations for a successful outcome.
Custom home builders can help home buyers find the perfect lot, create a better vision, and finish the project faster and with less stress. Instead of building your team, it’s better to work with a trusted, reputable, and experienced custom home builder to help you set realistic expectations, and attain the closest look for your dream home.
