4 Things to Consider When Building a Custom Home in South Florida
Photo Credit: Pillar Homes
In a time where there is no shortage of real estate agents looking to interest you in an existing property or suburban communities in South Florida for one to settle in at, one may find themselves feeling a lack of agency in their choice of home. After all, if you’re looking to settle down and set your roots in a property long-term, it makes sense that you would desire a residence that is personalized and speaks to your individual tastes and beliefs. If this sounds like you, you may also be one of the many prospective Florida homebuyers looking to build a custom home for themselves; a home designed from the ground-up to fit their needs and sense of personal style.
Whether you’re interested in building a modest starter home for a new family or a grand legacy home that you intend to last for several generations, anyone looking to build a custom home should have a few crucial things to keep in mind before starting the construction process. In this blog post, we’ll review some key points that you should establish before endeavoring to build your dream home.
Is A Custom Home Right For You?
Of course, before you begin planning the layout of your custom home and determining the plot of land you’d like to purchase, you should seriously ponder whether a custom home is even right for you. Building a home from scratch may sound like the ideal solution if you value personalization and want to set yourself apart from the rest of your neighbors, but the entire process is an incredibly significant undertaking, and should not be taken lightly.
No custom home is complete without a Phantom motorized retractable screen.
The best way to determine if a custom home is truly the best fit for your needs is to create an outline of the type of home you need and then spend a decent amount of time conducting research into the housing options in the area you want to settle down. Which communities are being developed? What are the costs of homes in this community versus the estimated cost of building a house in a similar area? Does the community offer flexible floor plans and optional upgrades that satisfy your needs? Due to the ability of established communities to purchase building materials and resources in bulk, oftentimes it is cheaper to purchase a home from them rather than purchasing materials and hiring contractors yourself.
In other words, you should establish whether the increased cost of building a custom home is worth satisfying the particular needs and requirements you have. If your ideal home layout and criteria can be satisfied by an established community, it may be worth considering opting for that route instead of spending an excess of time and effort for what is effectively the same type of home.
Budgeting
If you’ve decided that building a custom home is right for you, the next step is to create your budget. This is, as you likely already know, a crucial step when investing in any home — custom or otherwise. However, when it comes to a custom home, properly setting your budget in detail is particularly important, as this will be your guide when choosing which area to settle in, what features you can implement, and generally what you’ll be able to do. Additionally, make sure to not forget about the various permits and settlement fees you’ll have to secure before being able to build your home.
As a rule of thumb, it’s good to overestimate your budget by roughly 20% of what you calculate to be your necessary amount of funds. Building a custom home tends to have several expenses and costs that one may not think of ahead of time that will slide by, and you’ll likely come in over-budget. Planning to spend more than what you expect from the beginning can save you the headache of dealing with these costs as they crop up during the construction process.
Determining the Location
Once you’ve created your budget, the next pivotal step in the process is to determine your location. After all, the ground you develop your home on is perhaps the most important aspect of the property itself — this choice has ramifications throughout the whole process, from affecting your total budget and cost of the home to the type of materials and builders available in the construction process proper. Not to mention this land will eventually be the location where you’ll live for potentially the rest of your life.
You’ll want to select an area that fits nicely into your current lifestyle. This means choosing a property that is relatively near to your place of work, is closer to the coast if you fancy yourself an enthusiast of boating or the beach, has higher-rated schools if you have young children who will be participating in the area’s education system. You should ask yourself what aspects of your life are important to you, and then find an area that matches these qualities.
Hiring People You Can Trust
So, you’ve created a budget and settled on a location. Now, it’s time to start the actual construction process itself — and unless you’re planning on building your home yourself, chances are you’re looking to reliable and qualified builders to turn your dream custom home into a reality. However, there’s likely a plethora of options available to you; so how do you choose the right builders to ensure that not only the job gets done, but is done safely and properly? Fortunately, there are a few qualities you can keep in mind while you look through the different building companies in your area to maximize the chance that the people you select to construct your home are trustworthy.
For one, any builder you rely on should be verified and licensed for construction. Any builder that does not maintain some level of legal certification from an accredited association should not even be considered for the job, as you cannot guarantee that they are building to a standard that is, at a bare minimum, safe to live in. Two great associations to keep a lookout for include the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and the Florida Home Builders Association (FHBA), both of which have an extensive history in licensing qualified and safe builders who can guarantee a job well done.
Beyond accreditation, you can also look at the builder’s past work history - oftentimes they will offer a photo gallery on their respective website to peruse - or professional reviews. Not necessarily reviews left by their previous contractees (although these may be worthwhile as well), but specifically reviews by organizations such as the Better Business Bureau and the Department of Consumer Affairs, who work to professionally evaluate businesses with rigorous quality standards. Much like accreditation from a respected builder’s association, reviews by these organizations allow you to objectively evaluate a builder using standardized qualifications rather than using previous homeowners’ reviews, which may be unreliable or a simple gut feeling.
In Closing
Frankly, building a custom home is not an easy or simple process. There is no shortage of factors to take into account, and even if you plan ahead, there is much that can still go wrong. However, if you spend an ample amount of time researching your options and sufficiently prepare yourself for the surprises and hiccups that will inevitably come your way, you can mitigate the difficulties that many people associate with building a custom home.
We hope this blog post has helped you consider some aspects of the home-building process. If you are thinking of building your own South Florida dream home soon, or perhaps are in the midst of it even now, and you’re looking to include an outdoor screen in the design — we hope you consider us! Contact us today for a free estimate, and you can rest assured that your dream home has the best motorized screens for doors and windows available.
