There’s nothing like building a custom home—it’s your dream coming true! Since every decision and element is uniquely yours, you’ll need attention to detail and thoughtful decision-making to ensure you get the home you want on time and within budget.
Here are six common pitfalls to avoid:
1) Not Setting a Realistic Budget
Although you won’t know the exact price of your custom home builder in Colorado until you’ve developed construction drawings, you need to go into the project with realistic expectations and a preliminary budget. These figures will be the driving force as you apply for new home financing, search for land, and design your dream house. Without establishing a clear budget upfront, you are more susceptible to scope creep and seeing costs spiral upward and past what you wanted to spend.
Everything is custom, even your kitchen!
2) Not Considering Your Home and Land Together
When building a new home, the first step is to find a piece of land. There are numerous factors to consider when you’re picking a location; you also may be limited by what’s available at the time. First, it’s important to factor the cost of land and other associated expenses, such as creating road access or hooking up utilities, into your overall project price. Secondly, consider your home and the land in tandem, as where you build could impact what you build. If you have your heart set on a particular style, size, or layout, that could further narrow down the type of property that’s appropriate.
3) Not Giving Building Practices Their Due
When it comes to those intangible characteristics of a home—such as the indoor air quality (IAQ) and energy efficiency—keep in mind that the building practices and installation methods used throughout the construction process are just as impactful as the materials and products you choose. Make sure you prioritize these features, even though they’re not as flashy and fun as picking out tile for the floor or your kitchen countertops. They will impact the long-term health and happiness of your family, as well as how much you spend on your future utility bills.
4) Changing Your Mind Late in the Game
You’re building the home where you will presumably reside for the next couple of decades or even the remainder of your life. You definitely should take your time making decisions and trying to get each aspect just right. However, constantly changing your mind could be a sign of insufficient planning or lack of organization. Before you jump into a project and hire a contractor in Colorado, carefully consider your current and future needs and establish your project priorities, that way you won’t second-guess yourself as much during the design phase. You also want to be fairly confident going into construction because making revisions to the plan once it’s already underway often causes delays and unexpected costs.
5) Designing an Impractical Layout
When you’re building a custom home, you want it to look beautiful and present an inviting atmosphere. However, you also have to think about logistics and develop a layout that makes sense for the flow of daily life. For example, when you’re bringing in groceries, do you have easy access to the kitchen? Is the laundry room placed in a strategic location for transporting dirty clothes and linens and also putting them away? Does the placement of bedrooms accurately reflect the behaviors and sleep routines of your various household members? An ideal custom home is not just nice to look at. It also must satisfy your unique lifestyle needs.
6) Not Assembling the Right Team
Another custom home building tip is to put together your whole team from the start. You essentially have two options for collaboration: hiring an architect and home builder separately or contracting with a full-service design-build team. The benefit of going the latter route is that, even in the early stages, you get input from the person who will actually oversee construction, providing extra assurance of project feasibility. You also have more consistent, streamlined communication, and your home builder doesn’t have to try to accurately interpret plans they didn’t develop or compensate for architect mistakes. Either way, you shouldn’t make this decision lightly. The team you assemble will impact not only the quality and accuracy of your new custom home but the type of experience you have building it.
So, which is a better investment? Should you build a new home or buy a new used home? Below are some insights to consider before deciding to buy an existing or build a new home.
Starting Your Custom Home Build
Once you’ve done your research, clarified your vision, and established your preliminary budget and project priorities, you’re ready to find the team in Monument or the surrounding area that can bring your new custom home to life while avoiding common building mistakes. At Colorado Mountain Builders, we understand the gravity of creating a new custom home and all the feelings you may be experiencing: excitement, fear, stress, uncertainty, and more. Because we offer both design and build services, we can walk you through the entire process and coordinate each step to give you a positive first-time home-building experience.