Building a home from scratch presents many opportunities to showcase a homeowner’s creativity, individuality, and dreams turned into reality.
Within these opportunities, many challenges and questions crop up. Location, size, and budget are all important to consider, as well as special features and amenities. When one
really examines everything that must be determined, it can become overwhelming to search for your dream home. Before you get too anxious, start the search process with this question: Will you be using customized home plans or stock home plans?
Both types of home plan offer positives and negatives; what is “best” can only be determined by your lifestyle, budget, and time. A customized home plan is one that a homeowner and designer work together to develop from scratch, taking ideas and putting them down on paper. These plans are usually more expensive because you are starting from scratch and require extra patience, as it may be months before the architect has them ready. A stock plan is a pre-developed plan that fits the needs and desires of a group of people or general population. These are often available within days of purchasing and typically cost up to one-tenth the price of customized home plans.
When compared to a customizable plan, some homeowners fear that a stock home will produce carbon copy homes within a neighborhood, sapping the opportunities for individualism and creating a unique home. This is a common misconception that can waste a lot of money and time!
The variety of stock plans available is truly impressive, encompassing the most up-to-date features in square footage, room dimensions, layout, and amenities. With some patience and determination, sorting through the thousands of available stock plans can produce a dream home with plans that can be easily purchased and ready to go almost immediately. Most stock plans also have customizable options. For example, perhaps you see a stock plan that is just about perfect, but you wish the mudroom was a tad larger. Rather than go through the cost and time of having a customized design, you could submit a stock home plan modification (see page 345 for details) and have your new dream plans ready to go in no time. Also, the stock home plans have materials lists available, helping to eliminate unknown costs from developing during construction.
It’s often a good idea to speak with someone who has recently built a home and learn from their experience. Did they use stock or customizable plans? What would they recommend you do or do not undertake? Can they recommend professionals that will help you narrow down your options?
Take the time to browse through home plan books making notes of questions or inquiries. Also take advantage of our website, ultimateplans.com. This website allows you to search for the perfect home plan by style, size, budget, and other particulars. With all these tools, you’ll soon have the home plan of your dreams in your reality!
