Custom Built Home

[Elessar78]

Has anyone had a home built custom? Not like one in a plan but buy a piece of land and build on it.  Looking for advice and insight. We're in the very early stages of planning to do this. 

 

So far, we have a builder and relatively soon a piece of land. No timetable really for having this house move-in ready. Agains, super early. 

[HOF44]

A true custom home is a pain.  Be ready for a ton of decisions all effecting cost.  If you do it right even though a pain you will love it in the end if you can afford what you want.  If you do it wrong you will be miserable.  I'm talking true, we create the floor plan, custom.  Not pre-drawn with lots of options.

[Elessar78]

6 minutes ago, HOF44 said:

A true custom home is a pain.  Be ready for a ton of decisions all effecting cost.  If you do it right even though a pain you will love it in the end if you can afford what you want.  If you do it wrong you will be miserable.  I'm talking true, we create the floor plan, custom.  Not pre-drawn with lots of options.

Perfect, this is the type of info I'm looking for. Awesome, keep it coming. 

[PCS]

Custom homes planned and built to the lot their on. Never built one any other way. As with all home building,the real mess is in the details of the building contract. The biggest thing in this type of home building,imho,are the change orders. Got the plans,framing's going up or is up,and then you change your mind and decide this whatever would look better here. Or this should be taller. Ect. Any remodeling will cost anyway,much more so when walls and such are already up. Need to be as sure as you can that you are happy with the design of the house,(even if it's a "loose" one),before shovel hits the dirt. Then plan on spending no small amount of time on site,(which will of course drive the builder nuts,but they'll get over it),to make sure that if you see something that you might want to change,it's done so before things have gone too far. Change orders happen with any kind of home,but especially so on custom built ones. Just try to keep them to a minimum. 

Be very diligent with the building contract. That's the details part. All kinds of costs can be in there that you might not entirely agree with. Most of ours were done done cost plus and there's always a few things in there that surprises folks. 

[Kilmer17]

Biggest piece of advice I give you is this-

 

Decide on how many lights and outlets you want in the house.   Then double it.  Then once you have doubled it, add 50 percent more again.

[Elessar78]

6 minutes ago, Kilmer17 said:

Biggest piece of advice I give you is this-

 

Decide on how many lights and outlets you want in the house.   Then double it.  Then once you have doubled it, add 50 percent more again.

I'm big on this because I saw how awesome it was when my wife's aunt remodeled a barn on their property into a loft and they did what you suggested. My current house is light on lighting, but not outlets. 

[LadySkinsFan]

What PCS says about change orders is totally correct.  Lots of communication between you and the contractor. Also check out their subs to see about their work. Don't forget to include penalty clauses for missed timelines in your contract! 

 

Example

 

I had the same contractors remodel my kitchen and half bath. I acted as my own general contractor getting the floors, and using the electrician they recommended. They did everything else. Ordered cabinets eight weeks earlier based on their measurements. 

 

Every thing came together in a four week project. No changes due to lots of prep communication.

 

My neighbors across the street were also using these guys, started a month before me. They had many changes that necessitated waits on materials, their own decisions.

 

I was using my completed kitchen months before they were finally done.

[Kilmer17]

We didnt custom build, but we made so many changes to the builders plan it might as well have been custom.

 

Some things we considered.  

 

Our budget was X.  So we backed into that number by first making changes that we knew we could not do later, or would be very expensive to do later.  So our house has 8 foot doors throughout, but basic tile floors.  Because replacing tile down the road is cheap compared to cutting out new doors throughout.  We added as much energy efficiency items that we could (blown in insulation, better windows etc) but have simple countertops in the kitchen and baths.  Again, those are cheap to upgrade later.

 

Another cool feature my wife wanted and got, is we have kickplate vacuums in every room with tile flooring.  They're awesome!

[Popeman38]

• -Pre-wire with Ethernet

-Go overboard with cable drops (like 2 per room, and one wherever you think you may want to mount a TV.

-Next to/above/below each cable drop, drop an outlet

-Tile and hardwood as much as you can, it will never be cheaper

-Put a sink in the laundry-room

-If you have a deck added in the build, have them make the footers meet code to support a roof (should you decide to close in the deck after some time)

-If they do decks, Trex it

-If you need a 2 car garage, get 3 (Make sure it is one door, or a single door and then a double door, - not 3 single doors)

-If they will paint to your colors, have them do it

 

I'll add more when I think about them...

 

[Elessar78]

oh and I want to put solar on this ****. If you have any info on that, throw it in there too. Particularly new battery tech. 

[Riggo-toni]

My wife inherited an acre of land and we built a modern log home on it. It was my dream house, but the town bureaucrats made it a nightmare. Took 3 years of permits before we could even dig the foundation, and another year before we could get things finished and move in. I miss that house, BUT I am soooo happy to have escaped Sopranoland, aka The People's Republic of New Jersey.

 

I wanted a walkout basement - go full size on the basement - cheapest way to get square footage. My basement was split between a recording/rehearsal studio, a woodshop, and an all-purpose room.

We looked through tons of magazines on log homes, found a couple designs we liked, took them to a builder from Kuhns Brothers (a log home franchise), and ended up with a mix of what was in the magazine and an existing plan the builder had.

Keep an eye on things that will affect resale value. Cutting down from 3 bedrooms to 2, or 2 baths to 1.5 for example might save money, but could subtract double the savings in resale value.

My only regrets in the end were not putting tile in the kitchen instead of hardwood floors, and not putting a window in the woodshop section of the basement (which I could have used for exhaust).

For greatest ease, find a builder who has his own subcontractors for all the plumbing, electrical, etc.

[RedskinsMayne]

1 hour ago, Kilmer17 said:

Biggest piece of advice I give you is this-

 

Decide on how many lights and outlets you want in the house.   Then double it.  Then once you have doubled it, add 50 percent more again.

 

 

I'm an electrician,  a good one should be able to tell you what you need.... be prepared for the cost though. Wiring a house starts at around 10k for a small house using minimum codes. 

[Riggo-toni]

Our custom home

[TheGreatBuzz]

Ill tell you what my uncle in law  (is that a thing or is it just uncle?) told me.  He is an architect that does custom homes from scratch.  His advice to my wife and i?  

 

Don't build true custom.  He said we should be able to find a house (with builder help) plans that we can customize.  He said so much work (which means cost) goes into structural drawings for a custom home that is wasted because there are so many plans out nowadays that you can just customize without reinventing the wheel, so to speak.  

 

Now semi-custom is the way to go.  Find something you like and make it your own.  You can do a lot with moving rooms around and changing sizes, as long as structural walls stay in place.

[Elessar78]

Yes, we will probably take an existing floor plan and/or modify it. Unless, something radically changes I don't foresee hiring an architect to create an original design for us. Some day, but not for this one. 

[HOF44]

35 minutes ago, Elessar78 said:

Yes, we will probably take an existing floor plan and/or modify it. Unless, something radically changes I don't foresee hiring an architect to create an original design for us. Some day, but not for this one. 

I think that is the best way to go unless you're very very wealthy or have a lot of experience in the industry. 

[Elessar78]

In the distant future, when I do build my dream house, around here you get beautiful rolling farm landscapes. But if you love that view—you better buy up the whole view (not just your property) or else someone is likely to build a fracking site on the hillside across from your majestic view. I drive by this house regularly, its on a hillside and looks down into a valley with 180 degree views. And they did exactly that—built a fracking pad on the opposing hillside. 

[Dont Taze Me Bro]

18 hours ago, Popeman38 said:

• -Pre-wire with Ethernet

-Go overboard with cable drops (like 2 per room, and one wherever you think you may want to mount a TV.

-Next to/above/below each cable drop, drop an outlet

-Tile and hardwood as much as you can, it will never be cheaper

-Put a sink in the laundry-room

-If you have a deck added in the build, have them make the footers meet code to support a roof (should you decide to close in the deck after some time)

-If they do decks, Trex it

-If you need a 2 car garage, get 3 (Make sure it is one door, or a single door and then a double door, - not 3 single doors)

-If they will paint to your colors, have them do it

 

I'll add more when I think about them...

 

 

You can never have enough cable jacks.  Even if it's a dining room, put one on each wall.  Cause that dining room might turn into an office and you can get stuck with having to set up a room in a way you might not like to.  That happened to me.

 

Agree with the flooring too.  Hardwoods are expensive to put in later on, even vinyl flooring.  Best to suck it up and have them put in now so the overall price absorbs the cost.

[Kurd Cudins]

18 hours ago, Elessar78 said:

oh and I want to put solar on this ****. If you have any info on that, throw it in there too. Particularly new battery tech. 

I am a realtor. We are seeing A LOT of problems with resales and solar equipment leases. They have made some homes almost unsaleable. The best advice is, don't bother with solar, it's useless. But if you are set on it, make sure you will not be passing on a lease to future owners.

[TheGoodBits]

2 minutes ago, Lloyds' Mongolian Beef said:

I am a realtor. We are seeing A LOT of problems with resales and solar equipment leases. They have made some homes almost unsaleable. The best advice is, don't bother with solar, it's useless. But if you are set on it, make sure you will not be passing on a lease to future owners.

 

For a new build you should be able to just use the construction loan to pay for the solar equipment outright. Much simpler.

[Elessar78]

2 minutes ago, Lloyds' Mongolian Beef said:

 The best advice is, don't bother with solar, it's useless. 

Elaborate? Useless from a resale perspective? Useless from an energy generation standpoint? 

[Kurd Cudins]

15 minutes ago, skinsfan_1215 said:

 

For a new build you should be able to just use the construction loan to pay for the solar equipment outright. Much simpler.

True, but many companies only lease their equipment, There's a big difference between installing solar yourself and having a company do it.

 

14 minutes ago, Elessar78 said:

Elaborate? Useless from a resale perspective? Useless from an energy generation standpoint? 

From a resale perspective solar is horrible. I would argue it lowers the value of a home, depending on location. Buyers don't want to deal with it, home inspectors don't include them so you have to get separate inspections, and the benefits are always exaggerated. It really comes down to what buyers want, and for the most part they see solar as a hassle, and they're right. You could be stuck with the removal bill eventually if the buyer doesn't want solar.

 

Energy generation is something I know nothing about. I imagine if you do your homework and install the system yourself, it will be relatively efficient and cost effective.

 

Edit: Are you on well and septic?

[LadySkinsFan]

If you decide to go solar, buy it don't lease it. There are companies that will sell you a system and install it.

 

I took two courses online from Solar Energy International, a nonprofit organization. You can learn a lot about how solar systems are sized etc. 

 

https://www.solarenergy.org

 

Lots of people want solar.

[Elessar78]

14 minutes ago, Lloyds' Mongolian Beef said:

 

 

Edit: Are you on well and septic?

This property—not sure yet if it will require tapping into the main line. My in laws who live half a mile away from this property are on well and septic. 

[RedskinsMayne]

1 hour ago, LadySkinsFan said:

If you decide to go solar, buy it don't lease it. There are companies that will sell you a system and install it.

 

I took two courses online from Solar Energy International, a nonprofit organization. You can learn a lot about how solar systems are sized etc. 

 

https://www.solarenergy.org

 

Lots of people want solar.

 

If the electrician and the realitor (experts in the field) both tell you solar power is a waste... some times you gotta listen.