There’s a pervasive idea that building a home on a budget means cutting out custom elements. Nothing could be further from the truth. Florida house plans can be customized in countless, beautiful ways. Maybe you find a view you have to feature. Perhaps you get a lot close to the beach, which influences the design of your entryways. There are so many ways builders in Palm Beach County can customize a home within a variety of different price points so you can realize your dream home. You just need to take things step by step to make that custom home a reality, starting with familiarizing yourself with home building cost saving tips like the ones we’ve provided here.
Top Home Building Cost Saving Tips: Building a Home on a Budget
Building a (dream) home on a budget? Start by:
- Prioritizing. Write all your ideas down, even the ones you may not be able to include within your budget. Then prioritize them. You’ll very quickly see how you can combine many desires without straining your budget. It will also help you recognize just how many visions you can incorporate. Even if a dream element is out of reach, you’ll be able to see how much you’re able to include in its place and perhaps cost-engineer alternative – yet equally wonderful – solutions.
- Visiting other homes. The custom elements of a home that is yet to be built are still ideas. You can fall in and out of love with ideas very quickly. Some concepts that you love picturing in your mind may not be ideal to live with. Seek to tour other homes that share some of these concepts. They’ll reassure you about ideas that are good, and they’ll help you reconsider ideas that may not be. Because you have a list of priorities, if a few ideas get knocked down, you have other visions on hand to take their places.
- Developing a quality floor plan. Don’t fully design your home before you have a place for it to go. You’d be surprised to learn how many people select the perfect floor plan without the right lot to put it on. Oftentimes, this can lead to home designs that don’t take full advantage of the strengths of the land – think views as well as access to utility lines, electrical poles, and other necessary elements. These are key aspects that can impact both your design and your building expenses. Addressed early, they are minor concerns. Left until later, they can become huge problems. This doesn’t mean you can’t play around with floor plan ideas in the meantime – but if you want to save money, don’t finalize your home design until you have your lot.
- Working with an architect or an adaptation of an existing floor plan is a must. One of the most important home building cost saving tips is to remember that wasteful costs are eliminated with good planning. A good plan is precise and transparent. A detailed, thought-out floor plan allows builders to stick to schedules and avoid costly delays. Having a 3D software model that you can interact with also helps you visualize living in your home and make sensible adjustments early in the process.
- Finding the right builder. Look at a builder’s experience. Examine their portfolio. Tour their other homes. Read online reviews and testimonials. You might think you’ll save money with a builder that lacks these, but when they stumble those delays can quickly balloon costs and result in plans falling apart. Quality may or may not result in a slightly higher bid, but if they can prove that quality, then you know that estimate is accurate. A bid that looks too good to be true often is, so always have someone with knowledge look at it.
- Communicating. When you’re building a home on a budget, so many extra costs arise when an architect, builder, inspector, or whoever it may be doesn’t communicate. Make sure they’ll return calls and emails. Sit down and talk to them about the goals of your home and why you’re prioritizing specific elements. See how they respond. Being on the same page and communicating quickly helps deal with anything unexpected in a smooth and drama-free way. In addition, custom homes can see some changes suggested as you go to ensure the most quality, energy efficiency, and resiliency. Make sure that you understand, and don’t be afraid to ask twice to be clear on a topic.
- Budgeting for living. If you saved money on the construction of your custom home, but it costs too much to live in, you haven’t saved as much as you thought. Ensure that it’s built with energy saving design, materials, and appliances. This helps reduce the cost of living in the home by hundreds or even thousands a year. It also helps build a home’s value over time, should it be a home you consider selling in the future. In other words, be to include the land, the home, the furnishings, and the first year living in that home in your budget. This way, you won’t fall prey to a simple oversight. Builders in Palm Beach County will work with you to keep everything on schedule. At the same time, it’s always useful to have an emergency fund for unavoidable delays (e.g., severe weather). Speaking of funding, make sure yours is secured. Whether loans, mortgages, or independent funds, make sure you have the resources you need when you need them.
Building a home on a budget is possible, even one that’s custom. Need help narrowing down your choice of Florida house plans? Contact Synergy Homes, the top energy-efficient builders in Palm Beach County.
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Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in October 2018 and has been updated for freshness, accuracy, and comprehensiveness.
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