Choosing the Right House Plan
May 19, 2011 Categories: Home Improvement
Everybody would like to live in a mansion or a sprawling ranch but there are many factors to think about when choosing the right home plan. There are also a few pitfalls that can be avoided by doing your homework and making the right choices.
Before you commit to buying a stock or custom home plan, you should know how much of a home you can afford to build. A good place to get this information would be the bank that you might use to get your loan from.
Once you know what your budget is, you can determine how much home you can afford and pick a home plan that fits that budget. One way to accomplish this is to call several homebuilding contractors in your area. Ask them what the building costs per square foot are. Not all contractors are willing to volunteer this information, but you will find enough of them that are willing to help at the prospect of gaining a customer.
With this information you will be healthy to determine the square footage of a home plan you can afford. If your budget is $200,000 and the cost per square foot is $100, then a 2,000 square foot home is in your budget($200,000/$100= 2,000).
Another consideration is the size of the lot you intend on building your home. You don’t want to invest in a blueprint for a home that won’t fit on your lot. Check with your municipality or county on the distances you must have between the building and the lot lines. Most have rules on how much backyard you must have and how much your home must be set back from the street or building line.
Some towns and subdivisions also have what are called covenants. These are rules that dictate what you can and can't build. Some of these covenants might include the minimum square footage home you can build, brick or frame construction, minimum roof pitch, and types of building materials you are granted to use.
These are some of the important things you must consider. Building a new home the biggest investment you’ll ever make. Doing a tiny homework will keep you from getting an unwanted surprise and wasting time and money on a plan you can’t use.
(c) Mike Merisko www.sawkerfs.com
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