Building Your Dream Home

Custom Home

Building your dream home can be an exciting but a challenging process that requires care and planning. There are two main options in buying new construction 1.) Purchasing a home that is being built by a builder or large developer 2.) Buying a lot and having a custom plan drawn for building. If you buy a home from a large development, the process is very simple and involves getting the best price and the best loan by shopping around. If one wants to buy a plot and build a home there is substantial work in verifying that the lot has sufficient width and depth and other features to make it a feasible and affordable project. When selecting a plot, the lot contours, slopes and elevation have to be analyzed carefully. It’s best to engage with an architect and builder early on in the lot selection process so that any pitfalls can be avoided.

When deciding to purchase a lot, it is advisable to visit the city planning de- partment for zoning information and building requirements.

In some cases, one might want to buy an old home with a view to remodeling or demolishing the existing house and replacing with a brand new home.

These are just a few introductory points. Designing a custom home needs experienced and preferably local architects who can design the home to your liking that fits stylistically into the neighbor- hood. One challenge is that many archi- tects do not have direct access or privy to the real costs of building a project. So consulting with a contractor early in the process can be a smart move.

Finally, one needs to be very careful about signing contracts with the archi- tect or builder and should review the contract carefully and even seek legal advice if possible. If proper care is not taken, one could run into problems with additional costs, changes and pos- sible liens which are extremely difficult to handle by any owner. Such liens will also be a major problem for the lenders who would refuse to fund construction loans or final loans. The removal of the lien can be very frustrating, time consuming and costly legal work.

By VSR Murthy

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