Custom homes are everyone's dream. When the time comes, and it is your turn, it is so rewarding to choose the floor plan, builder, custom home location, and finishing touches. The very best service someone can do themselves is to make choices while the home is still in the blue prints stage. Even interior lighting is wise to choose before the ground is even broken. Wiring, extra framing for heavy chandeliers, placement of fans, and locating wall sconces all need to be detailed in the planning stage.
Cost is always the enemy when tackling custom home plans.
There are two sides to this debate, but as builders this is what we have found to work. Things such as windows, flooring, and a kitchen countertop are things that can go from the extremely expensive to the very cheap. But there is a middle ground that many would be well served by. Of course high end windows are very good, but if the decision is between a less expensive one and none at all, I think we would all choose the less expensive one. We have been well served by a non name brand that is perhaps only available in one color. White matches everything, so don't be afraid to be a little more flexible on brand preference and colors. Even in our personal home laminate countertops serve well and was only a quarter of the cost, but far from a quarter of the quality. For flooring, all one has to do it visit a flooring store to understand that granite is high and vinyl is low. A less expensive ceramic tile is perhaps the best choice.
In a custom home, some areas that one should not economize in are room sizes, log accents, scissor trusses, a lovely staircase, etc. These things are not changeable later. A new home would have to be built instead. Windows can be replaced, appliances upgraded, and kitchen cabinets changed, but a roof system, dormers, and room dimensions are pretty much permanent.
The last area that is really unwise to penny pinch is your general contractor. Once you select your custom home builders, you probably have already obtained other bids. Believe me, nickel and diming them once in the final stages of planning and once the new home is underway will probably cost you some quality. If the builder is constantly dealing with a home owner, he is distracted from the job at hand. Homeowners need to trust their builder. You wouldn’t want someone with poor quality or less that top of the line workers. So the old saying, "A worker is worthy of his hire", is really true. The very worst is when a home owner chooses the top of the line items and then continually asks the builder to lower his prices. Believe me, that is not the way to treat them. For the sake of your custom homes, let the builder do his job and simply make suggestions as needed.
