How to Get A Custom Home at A Not So Custom Price

Build Your Own Home

There are a number of reasons to consider building your own home not the least of which is saving money by building it at cost. I mean think about it. When you go with a custom home builder are you really getting the “custom” home that you want or are you being lead down the garden path? Consider this:

• Saves your family money by building at cost
• Do custom homebuilders really provide a “Custom Home”?
• Who actually controls you budget?

Take a good look at the proposal the custom home builder gives you. You will notice something called allowances. The cost of your “custom” home is based on these allowances. The builder has a budget which includes everything you get plus his profit. As long as you stay within his budget, you’ll get the home at the quoted price and he’ll make his profit. Anything above the allowed expenditures is added to your cost and of course there’s a little extra profit in there for the builder. For example; you may have $10,000 allowed for all your flooring. That $10,000 may buy carpeting, tile, etc. But what if you want wood flooring? Well, he can provide that for you but it will cost you an additional $5. a sq. ft. Your cost includes a 30 year composition roof. But what if you want a metal or tile roof? Again he can provide that for you but at an additional cost of $4,500 or more. 

If you truly want a “custom home”, you need to be the one that controls the purse strings, ie, budget. When you build your own home, you are in control. If you want an upgrade you know up front what the cost is and you do not pay an inflated price so the builder can get his “cut”. Not that there is anything wrong with that; the builder has a family to feed too and he is in business to make a profit. All I’m saying is it’s not that difficult to take on the builder’s responsibilities and save your family money or get the upgrades that you really want at cost. The only real difference between you and a professional builder is he has a network of sub-contractors at his disposal. You can get those same sub-contractors by simply hiring a good licensed inspector and asking him who he would use as a foundation crew, electrician, or a framing crew, etc. You can then interview several contractors and negotiate for the best price.

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