If you have built a home before you may have had one or more issues.
If you have never built a home you may not know what issues to look out for until it’s too late.
We have some good news for you….. but it may take a while to read.
Most common questions we hear about building:
What is the difference between a regular home and a Custom Home?
The difference is in the details. Custom gives you access to extensive designs, superior materials and high quality building techniques. Your home is tailored to provide character, charm and uniqueness that is typically lacking in speculative and standard homes. Combine this with advanced building technologies and your home will be as strong as it is beautiful.
Why do we need a custom home?
People come to us when they have searched for an existing home or home plan and nothing feels quite right. We are expert listeners and visionaries able to understand your ideas, goals, peculiar lot, competing style ideas, need for quality and general idiosyncrasies. When we have collected everything we wrap them all up and create a dream home worth building.
How do we figure out a floor plan?
You may have a home plan in mind or have no idea where to start. Fortunately for you we are fully equipped to draft and 3D model your ideas in house. You will work directly with Kimberlee to brainstorm ideas. She will give you easy to accomplish tasks to guide her in generating initial design ideas. But before any of this magic happens you will need to have a lot to build on. The best designs happen when all of the facts are taken into account.
When is the best time to buy the land?
The best time to buy the land is after you have selected a builder and secured their expert services to evaluate the land, but before you design the home to build. In order to do this you will need to have a working relationship with a financial institution to know your budget or a stockpile of fun money saved up for your dream home.
How do we get financing?
It is important to know your parameters on your budget before you sign on the dotted line for a lot, an architect or a builder. Fortunately for you we incorporate Design, Drafting, Budgeting and Building all under one roof. When you select us for your build we walk you through all of the steps needed to get an accurate number for your construction loan. We provide you with detailed 3D Renderings, Specifications with Photos and a Fixed Price. When you present information to your bank you can know that the price will not change unless you change the scope of work or have items yet to be decided.
What does Design/Build mean?
True Design-build saves time and money while allowing for more innovation, collaboration and better projects. You manage only one contract with a single point of responsibility, us. We are the designer and contractor working together from the beginning, as a team, providing unified project recommendations to fit your schedule and budget saving time and money. Any changes you want to make are addressed in house, leading to collaborative problem-solving and innovation, smoother installation and fewer cost over runs. Kimberlee is an Artist and Builder able to offer insight into production and costs that other builders do not. Kevin is an Engineer and Builder able to provide accurate takeoffs with integrated design because it’s all in house. While we offer Drafting, 3D Renderings and Design in house, we are open to working with outside interior designers, draftsmen and architects should the need arise.
How long does it take to Design and Build?
Design: The average home will require a minimum of 3-4 months of site assessment, floor plan discovery, specifications generation, show room visits, blueprints, revisions and estimates. The larger and more detailed the home the longer the process will take. The timeline is also adjusted for the building season, your availability to meet with us and how quickly you are able to process and make decisions. We have many anecdotal stories we can share that offer some additional insight into the timeline.
Build: Once Design is completed your home on paper is submitted to the bank for appraisal and release of construction funds. From breaking ground to completion the build is anywhere from 6 months to 1 year. This timeline is adjusted for the size of your project, infrastructure needed, time of year building begins, weather delays, labor and material availability and funding. We estimate the finish date based on all of these factors and have only had one home in 30 years miss the target by only a few days.
Most common issues and concerns we hear from people who have built with other builders:
And what we do differently….. Yes, it’s a lot to read, but it’s worth it.
The builder wowed us in the sales process only to disappear during construction and not answer our calls. We felt neglected and concerned about our needs being met. We didn’t like being ghosted during the construction of the biggest investment of our lives.
We are small by design. We enjoy building homes and live vicariously through our homeowners through connection and excitement while building. Kimberlee is your contact point throughout the process. She answers texts within the day, Phone calls within 24 hours and emails within 2 days. We work together to establish the most effective ways to communicate so we don’t miss details, on site visits and documentation of changes.
The builder offered slight variations of their existing floorplans as the “custom” designs. We were frustrated so they sent us to an outside draftsman. We paid extra for the plans and wasted money designing a home we found out we could not afford to build. We had to start over and incur more costs to downsize the plan. In the end we were disappointed with the process and the product.
Did we mention we do drafting in house? There is nothing more satisfying than working to draft your home with the people who design, price and build it. The 3D modeling we offer takes the guess work out of design and allows us to make changes to your plan in real time during meetings. Some changes take more time, but we discuss budget goals and design goals simultaneously streamlining the process from beginning to end. When you are ready to finalize the blueprints we have done the due diligence to create the best possible blend of wants and needs.
The builder said they could build on our unusual lot. They didn’t tell us that the plan we liked didn’t really fit the lot and would cost significantly more for foundation, landscaping and retaining walls. We struggled to come up with the money to finish the house and were disappointed with how it looked on the lot. We had to make cuts to things on the inside to make up the difference.
Walking your building site before creating budgets and plans is one of the single most important things we do. Creative utilization of terrain, views and natural surroundings is our specialty. We would rather see you put your money into your home than under or around it. Steep lots, awkward property lines, large trees and beautiful views are all important to the budget and livability of your home. You chose your spot because you love it. We are excited to help you make the most of it.
The builder never really gave us a firm price with a detailed features list of our home before we broke ground. We struggled to understand the features and designs through the entire build and ended up paying way more than we expected for way less than we thought we were getting.
True Design/Build saves you time and money while allowing for more innovation, collaboration and better projects. We take the time needed in design to answer all your questions and help you with decisions on things you never knew you needed to consider. Your home specifications package is carefully crafted for your home to discover any hidden costs for features you actually want in your home. We included photos, renderings and a detailed list of all the areas of your home so you know exactly what you are paying for. If you make a decision before construction you have the peace of mind to know that will be the price at the end.
The builder underestimated the base price and allowances during bidding to make us think our house was less expensive than it really was. We were surprised and disappointed by how much more it ended up costing us to get our dream. We felt taken advantage of, but it was too late.
You will appreciate the budgeting guides and how we can give you a soft or hard no if we see you heading out of your goals. Ultimately your choices will determine the size and price of your home, but we are available to answer questions in detail every step of the way. There are a million things to decide, but we create small manageable goals that give you the confidence to decide what features are right for your home.
The builder said they were a “custom builder”, but steered us into a stock plan just to get us started and save time. We didn’t understand what we were looking at or feel the final plan really met our family needs. When we moved in our furniture didn’t fit and we have a long list of things we wished we had done. We didn’t know what we didn’t know.
We may or may not have already mentioned that we do 3D renderings. (Well of course we did) Not only do we do the renderings in house, Kimberlee is known for her savvy livable designs and floor plans. No view goes unadmired, no space goes without purpose and furniture will fit if you are able to give her the measurements. She has many anecdotal stories of things she suggested clients do that they declined and later regretted, things she encouraged clients to do that they appreciated and things she “strong armed” them into that were later the most appreciated or loved feature of the home. Suffice it to say we do everything we can to help you understand what you will be enjoying with the biggest investment of your life. (No pressure)
The builder said no to changes while our home was under construction and we did not get things we really wanted. We invested so much time and money on the process, but were genuinely disappointed with the finished home and already want to do some remodeling.
Unfortunately this is something we hear all too frequently. Sometimes things are cut during construction to meet budget restraints, but “No” is not a word we like to use when it comes to custom building. We do everything in our power to accommodate change orders and special requests so you walk in your front door with excitement at the dreams you are able to actualize!
The builder omitted important pricing details on change orders. We didn’t know how much expense we added until we showed up at closing. Not only did the changes delay our move in, but we did not have the funds to cover the overages and scrambled to finalize with the bank.
The building profession is not for the faint of heart. There are a million parts, a bunch of materials and hundreds of highly skilled trades that make your vision a reality. So despite our best planning efforts there will inevitably be changes. The better you adhere to our Design Process before breaking ground, the less likely you are to incur additional costs. Regardless, when you do request a change, 99% of the time we provide you with a firm Change Order Price or a very close Estimate. If you request a change late in the game that we can not firm up, we will give you our best estimate for approval. All Allowance and Change Order Items are emailed for approval and presented on a spread sheet at each Draw for review. Good communication makes for great relationships. We do our best to make this a reality.
The builder didn’t give us enough time to make choices on materials or features. It was stressful to find out that things we really wanted were going to cost us more and frustrating to know that we couldn’t have some important things at all because we wanted to stay closer to our budget.
Time is on our side when building on paper. Building is definitely stressful if you don’t take the time to plan. With our preconstruction Design Process you have time to take in all the choices, make selections and revisions, adjust budgets and resource allocations to craft the perfect balance of amenities and features into your home before we break ground. We do like to keep to a schedule, but ultimately our priority is to finalize as many details as possible so when the fever of building starts you do not need to rush to the job site for spontaneous decision making. There will be texts and phone calls for details that we determine may need your attention, but the heavy lifting will be firmly placed on our shoulders. your job will be to enjoy job site visits and comment on social media posts about the progress on your house.
The builder abandoned us with suppliers to figure out selections, features and pricing on our own. It was very stressful to agree on what we wanted and we ended up with things that were way too expensive, difficult to install or added time to the build.
Product selection is another area where we excel in helping homeowners. You may be a house divided when it comes to colors, styles, products and design ideas, but collaboration is our specialty. Bringing photos and ideas are a must for us to catch your vision, but we don’t leave you there. Kimberlee will join you at all the showrooms to help you with the decisions and to keep you on budget. After 30 years of building she knows a thing or two about getting the best design and value. She will be as involved in your decisions as you need her to be.
The builder had on staff designers and refused to work with our designer. We had already invested time and money into detailing our home plan, without our designer we felt lost.
We have a great in house team, but we recognize that there are fabulous designers in our area who bring so much to the table. We focus our expertise on hardscapes and things permanently affixed to the house and grounds, but if you need to integrate furniture and window treatments you will want an additional Designer on board. We do need to create a working relationship with anyone who works on your home during construction, so please let us know if this is something you need.
The builder said they were Design/Build, we thought they were all the same. We found out too late that we needed to hire an outside designer at an added expense to help realize our vision. Adding them to the project so late created delays and more unexpected expenses.
As Inigo Montoya might say “This word, Design/Build, I do not think it means what you think it means”. The latest catch phrase is Design/Build and what it means varies. For most builders it is product selection and some floor plan ideas, even plans at times. To us it is a whole house, land, livability, building science and pricing approach. We look at your project from every angle and focus our expertise in communication, development, revising and pricing to give you the best possible home package available to you for the price. We do our best to predict issues, eliminate risk and reduce unexpected expenses.
