If this is your first custom-built home, there are some basic questions that you are going to want to have answered before you start the process. The answer to these questions will impact just how much of your “wish list” goes into the home as well as how much customization and “risks” you want to take in the design. All of this will be explained below.
#1 – Is This Your Forever Home?
This could arguably be the most important of all the questions that need to be asked right out of the gate. If this is your forever home, you can be a bit riskier in terms of what you are putting into the home as well as the overall design (see below). You are also going to have to incorporate future decisions, such as if you will be having children in the future.
#2 – Satisfy Your Wish List
Regardless of whether you are going to resell the house or not, get your wish list together to see what you can and cannot incorporate into the design of the home. If you plan on reselling, take the time to look at other homes in the area when they are up for sale and check out the features that are on your wish list to see if they are selling or not.
#3 – How Much Space Do You Need?
As noted above, if you are going to have children, a 1,500 sq. ft. home is not going to do the trick. As a rule of thumb, for the most basic home, you are going to need about 600 sq. ft per person, but that is before you add in the finished basement, man cave, and video room. Your construction consultant can help you with this.
#4 – Bedrooms, Bathrooms, and Closets
The norm for most homes today is a bathroom for every bedroom. If you have an excessive amount of bedrooms, you can get away with half-baths in some of those rooms. One thing you can never have too much of is closet space, especially in the master bedroom.
#5 – How Much Seating Do You Need? Other Spaces?
Is your dining room for show or do you plan on using it for entertaining? If you have a large counter, do you want seating available there? Do you want a workshop in the garage or do you want a multi-car garage? Basically, sit down and figure out every room you need and its purpose (you may have to trip that list or make multi-purpose rooms if the budget gets crazy).
#6 – What Style Do You Want
Now, this will also factor into whether this is your forever home or not. If you want something that is trendy, this better be your forever home. Are you more interested in a contemporary or modern farmhouse look? This is something you will also want to check in terms of what the other houses in the area are doing.
That covers us for the aesthetics of the home, but there are several other issues that you can discuss with your residential construction project manager. Items such as a property survey, house placement, building restrictions in the area, budgeting, and your financing. If you are interested in discussing adding one of our team members to your home construction project as a consultant or project manager, give us a call at 888-402-4180.