This year we celebrate 25 years of building new homes in Mid-Michigan. It’s a remarkable thing when you find a career that captivates you to the degree where work doesn’t feel like work. My wife will sometimes ask “what do you want to do when you retire?” My response is always “well, I really love building homes so maybe that…” She’s given up on getting a serious answer by the way. But I would like to be serious for a moment and discuss some of the most often asked questions and concerns when someone is considering building a new home.
Should I find plans first, talk to a builder first or hire an architect? Yes, we see all of the above. Many prospective customers arrive with an inspiration plan that might be a home of ours that they’ve seen or walked through. You might also be inspired by a plan that you saw online, a friend’s home or maybe even the home you already own that needs adapting for your changed lifestyle. If the inspiration plan is commercially available, we can buy an electronic copy and have our drafter modify it. Because we actually design homes in addition to building them we most often start from scratch talking through the layout, types of rooms and style that they would like to see. The beauty of designing a custom home is that we can incorporate the spaces you want and none of the spaces you won’t use or be willing to pay for. Designing a plan is an iterative process requiring several revisions to get right. We concentrate on layout and the floor plan first while keeping in mind the architectural style and exterior that we’ll work on next. If you’re working with an architect to design your home, we’d suggest a collaborative approach with early interaction between homeowner, architect and builder.
I feel like I will be overwhelmed by all the decisions that are required to build a home. Indeed there are a lot of questions to be answered in building a custom home, but it shouldn’t be intimidating; in fact, it should be enjoyable and rewarding as you participate in the design process. Interior designers have a remarkable ability to help you step through all those decisions, helping you to organize your thoughts starting with the big picture and ending with details like paint colors and cabinet hardware. Whether you come through our door feeling like you have all of your ideas and finishes selected or you feel like you’re ready to throw your hands up in fear, the designer can help you make sense of all things building a home and instill a calm assurance in the process.
Photo provided by Kelly Wall
Where do I find the perfect place to build my home? This question and who you select as a builder are perhaps the most critical decisions you’ll make in building your home. Selecting your building location is a very individual decision and usually one of those “you know it when you see it” decisions. There are some good lots within the City of Midland, but supply is limited and it can be difficult if you desire a certain neighborhood. It is sometimes possible to find an “in-fill lot”: one that for whatever reason was never built on or maybe where an existing home was torn down. Land and building lots are also available in the townships surrounding Midland although the availability of municipal water, wetlands and other factors should all be considered. We often consult with clients as they navigate land purchase and evaluate the buildability and development costs associated with a specific site.
And finally the most difficult question, how much does it cost to build a new home? The simple answer is that it does cost a lot to build a new home. Costs for almost all materials and labor rose significantly post Covid. Most material and labor costs now seem to have stabilized or at least the rate of increase has flattened dramatically. Trying to give a potential buyer the cost for a custom new home that has never been built before is a difficult proposition. We realize that cost is a critical piece of the decision making process so we do our best to glean some information (heated square feet, bedrooms, bathrooms, trees to be cleared, city sewer vs septic system, city water vs a well, etc) from you and then we feel confident that we can give you an approximate cost range. The cost range is achieved by comparing other homes under construction or very recently costed and extrapolating that information to your proposed home much like an appraiser might do for an existing home. Because you are making critical decisions on this information, we want to make that cost range as realistic as possible and include all costs. Some builders do it differently and might not include site costs like excavation, septic, well, etc so be cautious.
Photo provided by Kelly Wall
Assuming the preliminary cost range is acceptable, we can then proceed into the design phase whose purpose is to gather all of the necessary information to get you a complete and total cost to build your planned home. Design phase activities might include drafting/purchasing/modifying plans, designing cabinet layouts and selecting cabinetry and making selections for the costs on “heavy-hitters” such as windows, siding, countertops, flooring, etc. Once we know the details and costs, we’re ready to proceed with actually building your home.
Thank you all for reading. On behalf of the Home Builder’s Association of the Great Lakes Bay Region www.hbaglbr.com, I invite you to attend our Spring Parade of Homes (May 9, 10, 13, 16, 17) and walk through new homes that all area builders have built over the last year. See you there!
