7 Facts From Custom Home Builders In California
As custom home builders in California, we understand that building a home from the ground up can be a daunting, albeit exciting prospect for our customers. If you are toying with the idea of building a custom or semi-custom home, here are a few facts that you need to know.
1. You Don’t Need To Pre-Buy A Lot
Many people believe that you have to purchase a lot before you find custom home builders in California, but that’s just not true. In fact, sometimes it’s best to look at our semi-custom home plans and choose the option that best fits your needs and then look for a lot.
If you have already purchased a lot, that’s great, but if you don’t have a spot selected yet, we can help you find the perfect lot for your home. Because we’ve been building homes for decades, we fully understand the complexity of lot selection. There are many factors to consider when selecting your parcel.
For instance, you need to think about utilities and whether or not you’ll have easy access to the electrical grid, internet access, sewage lines and a water source. In suburban locations, this is usually not an issue, but in rural areas, solar panels with batteries, propane tanks and septic tanks are options to consider. In Placer County, where we build the majority of our homes, there are many lot options, from suburban plots to larger, more rural parcels of land and we can help you figure it all out before you commit to a lot.
2. Opting For A Semi-Custom Home Saves Time & Money
At Wechsler Custom Homes, we can design a completely custom home for our clients, but most of our customers opt to purchase semi-custom homes instead. Because we already have the basic plans created, this reduces your costs as you don’t have to pay for complete architectural services.
Additionally, we know how many materials will be needed so the cost estimates are more accurate with a semi-custom home. Semi-custom builds also take less time because we’ve worked with your plan before and can simply complete the project more quickly.
With a semi-custom home, you still get to select all of the exterior and interior decorative features, which means that the home is essentially custom, aside from the plans themselves, which often can be modified to suit your needs. Still, if you’d prefer a completely custom design, we can provide you with whatever you might want.
3. It Takes Time To Complete Custom Home Projects
There are many steps in the process of building a custom or semi-custom home. For instance, permits will be needed from local governments, and that can take a few weeks. Supplies will need to be ordered and delivered, and the land will need to be graded. From there, the foundation needs to be laid and the house needs to be framed. It also takes time to install the plumbing and electrical system, etc. At various stages during construction, inspections must be completed, as well.
According to the 2018 Survey of Construction by the U.S. Census Bureau, the average time it takes to build a custom home is 7.7 months, but it certainly can take more than a year to build a fully custom home. Semi-custom homes might be completed in just six months, but typically we’d say it takes about 6-8 months for a semi-custom home. As experienced custom home builders in California, we do all we can to complete projects as quickly as possible, but quality custom home builders never want to sacrifice quality just to save a few days here and there.
4. You’ll Need To Make A List Of What You Want
Before you start looking at home plans, start thinking about what you want. Do you want a single-story home or multiple stories? How many bedrooms do you need? How many bathrooms do you want? What spaces will you use the most? What exterior design styles do you prefer? How much storage do you need?
In addition to thinking about what you want and need from your home, think about the future. Will you still be using the home the same way in five years? Will your needs change? It’s often smart to plan for the future, especially if this custom home is going to serve as your “dream home” for many years to come.
5. Semi-Custom Plans Aren’t Set In Stone
When you start looking at our semi-custom home plans, it is important to note that these plans often can be modified to suit your needs. For instance, perhaps you want a three-car garage instead of a two-car garage or you’d prefer an office space over a formal dining room or living room. Maybe you’ve always wanted a bay window, or you want a larger kitchen and family room than is shown on your favorite home plan. Let us know and we will make some changes and send you a study plan to review.
We can add plenty of decorative elements to the interior, as well. So, if you want arched entryways, wainscoting or crown molding, let us know. We can provide you with built-in bookshelves, add a wine cellar, a butler’s pantry, Dutch doors or other interesting design features that you might want. It might increase the costs somewhat, but we want all of our clients to end up with a finished product that they truly love.
As a side note, we also can provide you with a few other interesting features. For instance, we offer an assortment of accessory dwelling unit plans (ADU plans), and these guest houses, often called a granny flat, can be a great option to consider for family or use as an income property. We also can provide you with a separate garage with space for a workshop or RV parking.
6. Construction Home Loans Are Unique
When you buy an existing home, you take out a loan from the bank, the bank pays the seller, and you make mortgage payments typically for 15 to 30 years. A construction loan is a short-term loan, typically only lasting about a year or so to cover the cost of construction. These loans also aren’t paid out all at once, but in phases as the project evolves and payments are made directly to the builder. The buyers also are required to put at least 20% down to attain a construction loan.
This might sound scary because you might not have the ability to pay off the entire loan at the end of the term. However, most construction loans can be converted into the typical mortgage as the project nears competition. In some cases, you can get what is known as a construction-to-permanent loan, but sometimes the homeowner prefers to get the loans separately, particularly if you can find a better rate than the construction-to-permanent loan.
7. We Offer A Myriad Of Standard Specifications
When you look at our pricing sheet, it is important to know that the costs include a huge list of standard specifications that you won’t find from all custom home builders. California utility costs are high, for instance, so solar systems and energy-efficient heaters, central air and tankless water heaters are included in every Wechsler custom home and those are just a few of the energy-efficient features.
Kitchens come standard with granite countertops, stainless steel appliances and a wide selection of designer cabinetry, including cherry, maple, oak, alder, pecan or painted wood featuring hundreds of stains and paint finishes. All bedrooms and family rooms include ceiling fans. You can select from a wide variety of flooring including tile or waterproof LVP in the bathrooms and hardwood or waterproof LVP in the main living areas. These are just a few of the interior features that you can customize from a long list of options.
Of course, you can customize many of the exterior features including windows, doors and garage doors, as well as the paint and exterior light fixtures. All homes come standard with Class A fire-rated shingles and fire-resistant cement siding (or you can opt for acrylic-finished stucco).
If you don’t find precisely what you want within our standard specifications, feel free to add your personal touch. We offer equitable allowances in lieu of our specifications and do not subscribe to the idea that customer upgrades or preferences should carry unreasonable upcharges.
To get started, you can browse through our House Plans, Pricing and Standard Specifications pages to get a general idea of what we can provide you in terms of a semi-custom home. If you want a completely new design, as custom home builders in California, we can provide you with that, as well. Simply click on our Contact Us tab and either give us a call or send us an email with a general idea of what you might need in terms of a home build, and we will be in touch as soon as possible.