According to Forbes, about 1.5 million new homes are built every year in order to make room for growing populations. A popular option for many homeowners is custom homes.
If you are thinking about finding a custom home builder, you’ve probably realized that not all home builders are the same. Every builder has styles and strengths unique to them, and this should be something you frame your choice around.
Are you looking for tips on building a new home? Here are some new home design ideas that might intrigue you, as well as some tips for finding the right building team for your project.
Popular New Home Design Ideas for 2014
- Integrated sunrooms. In older home designs, sunrooms felt disconnected from the rest of the home, a sort of enclosed patio. Today, creating a hybrid family room/sunroom is the more popular option. Get floor to ceiling windows for the entire wall of the room, and invest in sunlights that help the space become illuminated from all angles by natural light.
- Nook spaces. Both breakfast nooks and reading nooks are popular among ways to customize new homes. Breakfast nooks are often recesses framed by bench seating that allows families to have a cozy, intimate place to eat together. Book nooks, similarly, are often recesses with comfortable seating and panels of books. In older homes, many convert unused closet space to make reading nooks; in a custom home, you can have storage space and nooks.
- Flexible rooms. Many homes are being built to reflect a growing reality of how families are constantly shifting. Flexible rooms can be an office space one day, and a room for elderly parents or boomerang older children the next. Often these rooms are semi-separate from the rest of the home, featuring doors to the outside and small kitchens, in order to allow for more privacy and independence.
Tips for Finding the Right Custom Home Builder
- Talk to past clients about their experience. Make sure to ask about how well they stuck to schedules, budgeting, and pre-approved plans. Know what to expect, rather than just assuming all promises can be easily met. Money Crashers advises that you’re likely to go 10% to 20% over your expected budget.
- Look through their portfolio, and see if their general style matches yours. A great builder can be a bad builder for your project if they specialize in modern design, and you prefer colonial architecture.
- Choose someone familiar with the local area. The costs of permits, lot prep fees, and utility costs can vary widely by location, and tally up to thousands of dollars. Choose someone who knows what they’re doing and won’t be surprised by poor soil conditions after your home is already built.
Do you have any tips for the custom home building process? Are there new home design ideas you’re particularly drawn to? Let us know in the comments. Read more like this: www.terrypeterson.com