Straight from GoodFinancialCents.com, here’s an article featuring 23 ways to save money when building a home. Below we excerpt a few that really resonate with us here at Strut Design+Build:
7. Find a Good Architect
When it comes to having a vision of what something is to look like, I’m horrible! On top of that, we had purchased a lot where the back of the home would face a lake, but the front would be facing a culdesac. Essentially, we needed a unique layout that no home book could provide. (Good thing we borrowed them!)
Thankfully, the architect we hired really helped us establish a floor plan that was open (really open!) while maintaining the lake as a focal point when you walked in the home. In the end, the floor plan couldn’t have been any more perfect and that’s all thanks to the architect.
8. Hire The Right Builder
I can’t stress this enough! The subdivision where we purchased our lot required us to use their builder. In many situations, this could be a really bad deal. We had seen his work and visited some of the other homes he had built, so we were confident in his ability but worried about the total cost. We negotiated with the developer’s to allow us to get outside bids to make sure the builder’s cost was within reason (more on that next).
If you have the option to hire your own builder, DO YOUR HOMEWORK! Hiring the wrong builder can be a horrendous experience.
Before you hire a builder, get a list of references and ask to see some of there work. GET EVERYTHING IN WRITING. And I mean everything! It’s amazing how quickly people can forget a conversation. This applies to subcontractors, as well.
9. Bid out Your Cost
This is an easy way to save tens of thousands of dollars before you even begin the building process. As I mentioned above, we were required to use a certain builder but were still allowed to shop around to make sure his bid was fair. To our amazement, the 2nd closest bid (out of 4 bids total) was $40,000 higher!
Yes, that reads FORTY THOUSANDS DOLLARS. That was a HUGE savings right out of the gate.
Why the difference? Honestly, we don’t know. We were told that some home builders just don’t need the work so they price themselves out. Our builder has a 3 man team and then subs out most of the other work (drywall, paint, concrete, plumbing, etc).
Of course, the most important thing is that the builder stays within that bid. If the bid looks too good to be true, have someone else look at it (we did). We realized that the allowance for the kitchen and bathrooms was a bit low for what we had in mind, but so were the other builders bids.