FIRST Step

Collect your ideas.

• Start a note book of sketches and notes.
• Start a file folder of magazine articles, pictures, anything that is of interest to you, for your new home.

SECOND Step

Do you have a lot? City or Rural

Are you considering a rural lot? Has a soil evaluation report been filed for your building site? (Also know as a perc test.)

This test will tell you what type of septic system will be permitted on your lot? This is an important question, for a mound system costs nearly double that of a conventional system.

Consider the landscape in order to optimize your homes orientation. This is important in our climate to make the best use of solar heat in winter.

THIRD Step

Sketch out room layout, and consider the details.
Determine: Foundation type:

Full basement.

• What type: walk-out?
• Exposed with windows? Finished areas? Bathroom?
• Slab at grade, with in-floor radiant heat?
• Crawl space.

Where do you want the bedrooms? How many?
Where will the bathrooms be? How many?
What about a main level laundry room/closet?
What type of heat do you want?

• Forced air?
• Radiant hot water? Baseboards or in/under floor?
• Out/in-door wood boiler?

What about air conditioning?
Would you like cathedral ceilings? Tray ceilings?
Do you want standard wall height 8’ or do you want 9’, 10’ or taller?
What type of windows would you prefer?

• All wood with aluminum on the exterior?
• Vinyl?
• Grilles in the glazing or none? There are many different styles to choose from.
  

What type of flooring do you want?

• Tile?
• Hardwood? What species?
  • Run it straight, on a 45 degree angle?
  • With a pattern or a medallion set into it?
• Carpet?
• Vinyl?
• Laminate?
• Real stone?

What type of kitchen?

• What species cabinets? Crown moulding or none?
• Type of countertops?
• Include an island or peninsula in the design?
• Breakfast nook or bar?
• Do you want a dishwasher?
• Garbage disposal?
• Would you like a desk area? Or a TV?

What kind of finish do you want on the drywall?

• Heavy texture?
• Standard “orange peel”?
• Do you want everything painted white? Or Each room a different color?
• Squared corners? Or Round?

Do you want a water softener?
Gas or Electric stove? Dryer?
How big do you want the garage?

• Attached or detached?
• Finished and heated or not?

FOURTH Step

What is your budget?
Perhaps you do not want to disclose this to us, however we need to be realistic with each other. It has been published that a custom home costs between $100 and $150 dollars per square foot. This being said if a person is looking to build a 1400 square foot home on a budget of $110,000 we may have a problem, Right.

In line with this, consider the couple that has bought a beautiful lot on the golf course. They admire the homes already in this community, and intend to have their home designed in such a way that it fits in well, consisting of no less than 4500 sq. ft. Say their budget is $3million. Their neighbors invested $4.2 million in their 4000 sq. ft home (Incidentally that’s $1,050 per sq. ft.) Our couple bought their lot for $250,000. We seem to be facing a problem already.

Knowing your budget is important. If we know where about we need to come in at, we will all be able to work closely together to create the reality of your dream WITH IN budget.

The following link is to CoVantage Credit Union’s web site. We have found their mortgage calculator to be a handy reference for those who: know what they want to pay per month but are not sure how much they can borrow for that payment, also for those who need to establish what they can afford. This site also offers excellent advise and guidance for homebuyers and those looking to build.

As a side note to our little discussion above about square footage costs, compare two 100 sq. ft. building footprints: Usually the exterior is the most expensive portion of a home (Roofing, trusses, exterior walls, insulation, and siding). Which of the following would cost more?

Both are 100 SqFt however the bowling alley 2’ X 50’ has 104 Lineal Ft. of walls whereas the square building 10’ X 10’ has 40 Lineal Ft. of walls. The bowling alley shape would require 260% times more the amount of Labor & Materials than the square building. {104 / 40= 2.6 (260%)}

FIFTH Step

Finally Call Luke and discuss your dream home. SCHWANZ CUSTOM HOMES LLC will work closely with you to draw your final floor plans and write out detailed specification sheets. OR Work with you and your architect to design and build your new home.