The world we live in today is tailored to customization. You can customize running shoes, a pair of blue jeans, and all the furniture in your house. So why not customize your own home?
A custom home means that you can create exactly what you want: A home that’s tailored to your vision, your family, and your lifestyle.
Why Build a Custom Home?
Answering the “why” is probably the most important part of the equation. Do you need more space as a family? Are you looking for a specific layout? Do you want to maximize the square footage on the lot? Or maybe it’s simply a dream that you’ve always had.
Something that people often overlook is the potential improvement to their lifestyle that comes with doing a custom project. That bathroom layout that has always bothered you since you purchased your home will no longer be an issue. Now you can have the bathroom you’ve always wanted.
The “why” should remain the driving force behind your vision. Don’t lose sight of it during the process.
Financing a Custom Home
We suggest starting by analyzing your financial situation. This will help set the parameters of your project before you go too far down the planning (and dreaming) phase. If you’re financing the project, get preliminary approval from your bank before you start anything. Setting the budgetary parameters early on makes decision-making easier.
Building Regulations
Next, it’s important to research what limits the city of Delta places on custom-built homes. You may also want to check in with your credit union or bank: It may not let you tear down your existing home to build a new one on the same lot. That’s because the bank loses its collateral. Your lender may force you to sell or remodel to achieve the home you want.
Align Yourself with Experts
Unless you are an architect or contractor yourself, you are going to want to align yourself with a team that can execute your vision. This includes an architect or house designer; a builder or general contractor; and an interior designer.
When it comes to hiring a builder or general contractor, it’s important to find someone who has an understanding of construction costs. You don’t want to spend money on plans but then can’t afford to build the home you spent weeks, months or even years planning.
Also, consider working with a designer. As builders we’ve seen it in action: their value can often far outweigh the cost. A designer’s expertise can save you time, introduce you to new ideas and new products, and identify potential problems and costly design mistakes before they happen. Somebody needs to create the design, select the products and tie the vision together and designers are the professionals in this field.
Custom Home Building Timelines
Depending on the size of the custom home, it can take anywhere from seven to nine months to build, while some larger homes can take even longer. (This is after all the permits have gone through.)
Today, delays can be a bit more common due to the effects of COVID-19 on permitting and supply chains. The city of Delta is operating, of course, but it’s not necessarily business as usual. Many employees are working virtually from their home offices and are reinventing ways to process and expedite applications.
The good news is that building departments seem to be working out the bottlenecks and improving speeds. Permitting is not taking as long as it did at the start of the pandemic.
The supply chain has been holding together, but it still isn’t as streamlined as it was before March 2020.
What all this means is that it’s more important than ever to start the planning phase early to ensure that your project runs as smoothly as possible and is completed in a timely manner.
Plan with Care
Thorough planning takes time. More time than you may realize. Most problems and overages come from racing into construction.
One of the advantages of working with Alair Homes is that we have a Client Control™ system. We budget out every single cost before we start work. Time spent at the start can translate into serious cost savings in the end.
Building a Custom Home with Alair
Completing a custom home has many moving components. This means it can be very difficult to keep track of your budget and schedule. Having the right people on your team will make all difference between a successful project and a disaster. We at Alair Homes Delta are here to help you through every stage of this project. Contact us to discuss your goals during a complimentary, no-obligation consultation.