5 Good Ideas to Plan Your New Home

If you’re like most people building a new home, you’ve already looked at many house plans or have an idea of how you want your custom home built.  Once you have decided on building your own home, ask your Realtor or general contractor to look around for a house you may want.  In person, a home can look very different.  Here are some general tips when planning your new home:

   

1)     Try to get a Lot that is in a desirable area – Why?  You either want to try to get a return on your investment (eventually) or you want a desirable school, hospital, location or all of these.

2)     Consult your neighbors and realtor; they may have good information on your location.  For example, Information provided in a condo or house situation could help you find out if there could be a HOA (Home Owners Association) increase proposed. 

3)     Try to Stick to the design aesthetic of the neighborhood; the HOA may require this.  If you plan to stick out like a sore thumb, be prepared for any future consequences.   One of these aspects may include difficulty in selling your new home with your unique qualities.

4)     Download a good application to plan your rooms.  These can be great on tablets, allowing you to put your furniture where you want it before any heavy lifting is involved or especially if you plan on doing some decorating yourself.

5)     Find inspiration online.  There are more places to get ideas for your house online than ever before.   Once you find your inspiration, ask your home builder or architect they can most likely give you a similar if not exact look of the home you find online.

Following this advice may just help you build the perfect new home or business you always wanted.  Always know what budget you have in mind, explain this to your general contractor or architect.   It doesn’t hurt to plan ahead or allow for some overages on your budget.  Your general contractor may offer design services which can really help both on your exterior and interior building.

How do I start building my new home?

So you think that you would like to build a new home? Let me try to briefly help you understand the critical processes of building your new home.

First of all, are you going to consider this new home your "home for life" or an "investment property. Typically if it is going to be your home for life then you might consider that you may spend more money as you will wish to acquire settings that will fit your tastes, I.E. custom tile or marble, custom wood working, large rooming, and custom blueprint designs etc. On a investment property you will probably only wish to have normal grade materials, minimum design features, and feasible  marketing features enough to quick sell or rent.

Next, we always get a question over the phone or a website inquiry of "How much would this cost"? Be aware that if a contractor can tell you that cost over the phone or email reply they may not be very credited as a home builder. The following will show the ways to get your accurate cost for your new home.

To start, you have to envision of how you want your new home to look like. A good way to start on this process is sketching out a floor plan on a piece of paper. This does not need to be accurate as it will help you and your preferred contractor/architect understand what you would like to see as your new home. Another way is to view floor plans via the internet and get ideas from those. You may even wish to purchase them which should include a full set of code compliant building plans. Each of these ways will help you to get an idea of the square footage of your new home which will allow your contractor to estimate materials properly.

Have you already purchased the property for your new home? This cost should be added in above the cost of the new home itself. Will you need a well, septic system, possible ground excavation? We recommend that you would call a contractor to help you decide these items. Also you should contact the city,county, and/or the neighborhood associations to help you understand the rules and codes you may need to follow in the process of building your new home.

Choose a good contractor that can show you homes that they have already built. See if they an accredited company with the Better Business Bureau and if they have any complaints or bad ratings. Make sure that the hold and carry proper insurance liability. Klein Developments takes pride in the fact that we work on quality and Not Quantity. A lot of times we end up re-doing  poorly built homes built by companies that choose quantity over quality. So please choose your contractor carefully.

Thank You for reading our Blog and come back soon for more valuable information on any of your construction needs. Also feel free to call us anytime at 314-322-7896 for advice.

How to choose your Architect

Hello and welcome back. Today's blog is informational for you on "Architects" how to choose and when you do or don't need one.  First of all we need to help you the consumer understand the Architects job and performance. In the construction industry we consider Architects (when needed) to be first. They should be able to possess the following traits, options, and qualifications.  A free consultation on your project including an appointment for viewing and/or meeting.  A sense of design for your project upon your consultation. An on site estimation of what it may cost to draw the plans needed for your project.  If you have already chosen a contractor then you should have them present at the consultation to Expedite questions and process.  The architect must draw your plans to meet city codes and ordinance.

The architect may have several different designs to draw for you to review and then you present them to a contractor and some changes may need be made at this time. Once this process is done your architect should be able to provide you with a "construction plan" that would allow your contractor to estimate your project.  Your now chosen contractor may have corrections or submissions needed in your plans.  If so, the contractor will submit to architect before final drawings are completed.

Now you are ready for your final drawing to be submitted for your review. Upon your approval of the final plans, the architect must now provide you with at least five sets of these plans. These plans must possess the architects Licensed Seal that is also signed by the architect on every page and every set.  Congratulations! You are now able to let your contractor take the plans to your city building division and have approved. Once done you should acquire one set of signed and sealed copies (by the city) for your own personal record and reference. The contractor shall hold one. and the city may hold the other three copies. Once your contractor and you have agreed on the cost then you are ready to begin.

The next small part of this blog is to inform you as to when you do or don't need an architect.
In starting please discuss your project with a reputable contractor. Pending reason why your contractor may say you need architectural drawings should be: If your project will disturb load-bearing or structurally related parts of your home (i.e. a wall that if you want removed may make your roof fall). If not then you may not need the architect and depend on your contractor to draw appropriate drawing to acquire permits.....WHAT???? I STILL NEED PERMITS ....DAWG-ON-IT.
Yes you may still need permits so this is why our next blog is going to help you understand when, why, and when you don't need permits depending on the city ordinance and building division where you reside.
We at Klein Developments thank You for your participation in reading our blogs and hope that our information is beneficial to each and everyone of your specific construction needs.