So you can plan the custom home you want without suddenly being surprised by thousands in added costs
Price isn’t everything. But it is something. Especially when a large amount of money is involved. When building a custom home, the last thing you want is to waste time planning and dreaming about a home that costs way more than you were led to believe.
I mean, a variance of 20% on a $100 purchase doesn’t really matter (it’s only 20 bucks). But on a million-dollar custom home, it could be a deal breaker (or at least make you think twice about the roof top conservatory you were dreaming about adding)
The problem is, getting an accurate custom home price is easier said than done. Online prices almost always include that tricky word “from” (which is code for “the final price is going to be WAY more”.) And initial estimates from builders are often significantly lower than the final price.
Here are some pricing pitfalls to watch out for to make sure you don’t get caught short 6 figures or more (and ensure you can still have your conservatory!):
Footings And Finishes
It’s crazy, I know. But you’d be surprised how many builders leave footings and finishes (cabinets, flooring, tapware etc.) out of their initial estimates. Rather than including a basic allowance for these things (like we do), some builders say, "we can't price footings until we get soil tests" and "we can't price finishes until you make your selections." The problem is these critical elements often add tens or even hundreds of thousands to the final custom house price. That’s information you’d like to know from the start, right?
Energy Efficiency
Although many builders claim to build energy-efficient (and even passive) houses, the prices they advertise on their websites and quote in initial estimates often leave out the critical elements needed to make a house energy efficient. Then, when you receive your final contract, you see thousands added on for window glazing and insulation – things you’d expect would be included from the beginning.
Scheduling
The biggest cost blowouts in building a custom home come from poor scheduling. The saying, “time is money” is true. And every minute a house is sitting idle waiting for a tradesperson, or a tradesperson is sitting idle waiting for a clear path (or supplies) so they can do their work, is costing thousands of dollars a day.
And it’s often the little things that add up. An extra 60 days hire fees for temporary fencing, scaffolding, and even the onsite toilet can add thousands to your custom house price. Drive around any new housing estate and you’ll see houses sitting idle everywhere. That’s millions of dollars literally going down the drain.
We use an advanced project management platform to plan everything (to the day) before we pick up a tool. And we keep everything running like clockwork to ensure our custom house prices are spot on and your home comes in on time and on budget.
Workmanship
You’ve heard the saying, “measure twice, cut once”. Well, you’d be surprised how many tradespeople forget this basic principle. And waste time and supplies redoing things. Our network of trusted trades are fastidious when it comes to doing things right – first time. We support this through onsite supervision that includes regular meetings to ensure everyone is on the same page and working together as a well-oiled machine. This enables us to price custom houses accurately and deliver a quality result we can all feel proud of.
The Best Way To Get An Accurate, Honest Price For You Custom Home
Building a custom home requires dozens of people performing hundreds of tasks in perfect sequence. This article outlines just some of the areas that can cause your final custom house price to exceed your initial estimate.
Apart from getting a fully detailed quote, the best way to get an accurate, honest custom home price is to ask your builder for examples of custom homes they’ve built recently along with what the full contract price was. Then you can see the real costs, not the (often misleading) advertised costs many builders promote.
Whether you’re ready to build or still looking at your options, we’d be glad to give you examples of our custom homes and go through all the costs (and alternatives) with you.
Request a Consultation where we will answer your questions and give you an accurate and honest custom house price estimate so you can plan the custom home you want without any nasty surprises.
