The Top 5 Mistakes to Avoid When Building a Custom Home in DFW
Building your custom home in Dallas-Fort Worth can be one of the greatest joys of your life, as you watch your dream take shape. But that dream can quickly turn into a nightmare if you go about it the wrong way. When you are this close to such a major life goal, you do not want to have any regrets.
To help you love the process just as much as the finished product, we have put together this list of the Top 5 Mistakes to Avoid When Building Your Custom DFW Home.
Not Building a Complete Team from the Very Beginning
You already know that you need an expert team of experienced professional specialists to help you shape your vague vision and turn your dreams into a custom home you can be proud of. When you bring everybody together from the very start, you can create a collaborative approach that has the entire team cooperating and communicating under the shared umbrella of a common philosophy.
Look at it another way — every time you bring someone aboard, one-by-one, later in the process, they tend to have their own individual ideas. They will want to make late-stage changes that take you farther away from your original plan and that will end up costing you more money. –
Relying on Your Builders for Inspiration
Your team is there to listen to you, advise you, and guide you as your custom Dallas home becomes a reality. They may give you choices, but it is not their job to give you ideas. The dream is yours, not theirs. In fact, the more unsure you are about what you want, the more likely they are to nudge you towards safer, more conventional options that they can build faster.
That takes the “custom” right out of it.
So where can you find inspiration?
Literally…everywhere. If you see a design feature in a magazine, a website, a television program, or another home that catches your eye, show it to your design team and open up the possibilities.
Compromising on Location to Save a Few Bucks
We’ve said it before, and it will always bear repeating — the site on which you choose to build your Dallas custom home is the single-biggest factor that determines your ultimate long-term happiness.
Because you or course want to save as much money as possible, it can be tempting to start with the lot, a seemingly-controllable expense. But that is actually short-sighted and does not serve your best interests.
The right property:
- Contributes to your home’s unique character
- Allows you to add more custom amenities and features
- Protects your privacy
- Gives you access to better schools, shopping, and entertainment
- Supports a better work-life balance
- Increases the resale value of your home
In fact, according to Realtor.com, living in a neighborhood with the wrong features can affect the resale value of your home by up to 22%.
Choosing a Standard Plan When What You Need is a Custom Design
The custom home of your dreams should truly be one-of-a-kind, designed with the unique needs of you and your family in mind. While you might think that you can save time and money by modifying a pre-existing standard floor plan, the end result often falls short of expectations.
Even worse, when you make too many modifications because you are trying to force a fit, the savings you were hoping for disappear in unnecessary delays and expenses.
Trying to Direct the Work of Subcontractors
When you visit the construction site while work is going on, you might see dozens of workers going about their jobs. It can be tempting to want to give them instruction as they work on what will ultimately be your custom home. After all, you want things to be perfect.
But here’s the most important consideration about the subcontractors hired to work on your home — leave them alone.
While it might seem counterintuitive to say that you cannot instruct someone hired to do work on your home, keep this in mind — these subcontractors were brought in by your builder to accomplish specific tasks. If you come in and start giving directions, you may actually interfere with the plans and schedule already in place.
The one person who has all the information necessary to keep everything running as smoothly as possible is the builder who is overseeing the entire construction process. Therefore, they are the only person who should be directly communicating with the individual workers. If you have legitimate concerns, share them with your Dallas custom builder and let them address any problems.
