You have saved your money and it is finally time to get started building the home you have always wanted… so what’s next!?
Generally, when people are looking to build there are a few logical preliminary points to address first like purchasing property, settling on a style of home and getting the floor plan figured out. While all these tasks are easy enough to list out they are intricate parts of the puzzle and need to work well and sometimes with other stages of the home construction process.
Know Your Home Style Before Buying Property
There are floor plans and home styles that do not work easily with certain types of terrain. For example, you would not want to pick a ranch style home design for a property plot in the mountains. It is typically not done for good reasons, so we are not used to seeing a ranch style homes in the mountains. So just the aesthetics help guide people to the right home style for their property, because it is not something that is commonly done.
It is important to note that terrain-home style issues can be overcome, but it normally translates into significant additional costs that the home owner would much rather spend on their master suite, kitchen or more entertaining areas of the home.
The Floor Plan
The floor plan is something that makes most people cringe, but if you know the home style and you have a floor plan then any construction company you decide on will have a much better and easier time getting you an estimate that is closer to the actual dollar amount. A solid contractor with plenty of experience can help their customers make these decisions and keep it inline with what the customer wants in their ideal home.
Also do not be afraid to take out a few sheets of graph paper and get some of your thought and ideas out of your head and on paper. I doesn’t have to be perfect, but any visual aids that you can give will only help the contractor.
F.Y.I. we here at RBS love this part!
Remember, I mentioned before these part are intricate and work together. So common sense has a role to play and if you have the answers to some questions then others become irrelevant. For example, you if you know you want a house on the lake then a basement is not typically an option, unless you build on an elevated lot that is lake adjacent. This could also affect what style of home is ultimately chosen.
There are several great websites that have house plans available to purchase and are great resources!
Here are a couple:
Additionally, if you are looking for inspiration Houzz, Pinterest and Porch have a ton of images and style groupings that are beautiful.