Homebuilding Tips

For many people, building a dream home feels like an unattainable goal. The prospect of finding the right design, the right builder, and the right lender just seems too daunting. The belief in common myths about new construction doesn’t help dispel the fear of building a custom home. However, when those myths are debunked, the journey of building your own home suddenly seems possible.  

Do any of the following statements sound familiar to you? If so, take a moment to learn why they’re not always true. You may find that the path to your dream home is a lot easier than you think.

When building a new home, there are a lot of elements you can customize, and many people choose the DIY approach because they think it will save money. However, there are some significant benefits to customizing your home with a builder. Unless you are a professional contractor or have done substantial DIY work on other houses, chances are there is a strong argument for having your builder do most of the work.

For many people, building a custom home is completely new territory. Even if you are already a homeowner, the process is much different from buying an existing home. You have to find land, secure financing, and, of course, get a custom home design. It’s easy to assume that every new custom home must start with an architect, but this isn’t necessarily the case.

In fact, you can work with an integrated team that includes a design team, builder, estimator, and materials purchasing staff to create a beautiful new home that has the features and floor plans you want. There are multiple benefits to taking this route, including cost savings and better budget management.  

When it’s time to upgrade to a new home, there are always a lot of moving pieces to figure out. When will you sell your current home? Will you move yourself or hire movers? What time of year is best for such a big change?

A recent analysis of apartment listing data and statistics from the Census Bureau shows that rental prices are increasing. If you are weighing your options between renting and building a custom home, consider these facts in your comparison:

There’s no denying that the average American wants plenty of space. And it shows: Today’s homes are 61 percent bigger than homes that were built just 40 years ago. In 2016, the median size of a new single-family home in the U.S. was 2,467 square feet—the largest on record.

The average American will purchase at least three homes in their lifetime—often a starter home, a family home and, finally, an empty-nester or retirement home. In some markets, homeowners who are climbing the property ladder may own five or more homes as the decades go by. For many, this evolution of home ownership creates the perfect chance to work toward the home of their dreams.

For homeowners in every price bracket and throughout all 50 states, there’s one thing that is always at the back of your mind: building equity. We all want to maximize our ownership in a home, as quickly and easily as possible. After all, the greater your equity, the better your position for selling or refinancing the home. So what is the best approach for increasing your home’s equity?

Building a custom home is a smart decision for many reasons. Not only do you get the benefits of living in a home that was tailored to your lifestyle and preferences, but you also have a long-term asset that increases in value over time as you gain more equity. The more equity you can start with, the sooner your investment will be able to provide more financial options. You can increase your starting equity by making a larger down payment or paying more toward your principal, but if you want to hang on to your cash, building sweat equity is another path.

For many homeowners, the prospect of upgrading to a custom home built on their ideal piece of land seems like a dream. But in fact, nearly a quarter of all homes built in the U.S. each year are custom—proof that with the right homebuilder, a custom-built home is well within reach.