Saturday, October 28, 2017

Custom Homes Are Not Like Buying A New Car

Getting a price on a custom home is not like getting a price on a new car.

When you go shopping for a new car you go on the internet, you pick which make you want, the options that you want, the colour and what your payments that you want to make and your done. You can do this to every automaker on the planet off the internet, it takes no effect and costs you absolutely nothing.

That is the complete opposite to a custom home.

I now get calls from people who want to know the cost of building a custom home. This is how they determine if they should go ahead with  building a custom home. They don't want to spend any money but they want the custom home builder to spend hours of their time (without being paid) to tell them everything they need to know about building a custom home and all the costs associated with one.

Here's how it goes;

  1. They ask the square foot price on a custom home.
  2. No matter what the builders answer is they question the price and ask for prices on different options.
  3. They find out that the cost per square foot price does not include a lot of things like well, septic, permits, etc...
  4. Then they want to know what they cost.
  5. Then they want to know the cost of the options.
  6. Then they want to know the cost of plans.
  7. Then they want to know the cost of land.
The questions never end, what ends up happening is that you as the custom home builder end up spending hours working for them but at the end you actually receive nothing in return, the person you have spend hours and days talking to is so far from ever building a home that you basically will never hear from them again even if they were to build a house.

The biggest thing is that all the numbers the custom home builder gave you are useless, they are useless because without a proper set of drawings and A LOT to build the home on we have no idea of what the cost really are. Add in that after a year or more of that person getting plans and land, the price of all the material has risen and the building cost has changed making the home more expensive.

So before you email or call a custom home builder to ask them about the price, don't! Unless you already own a piece of property to build the home on, that's the minimum that you require. The builder can help you get plans (for a fee) and budget your home accordingly, but you have to make the commitment that you want to build a custom home.

Custom homes are not like cars, you cannot build them for dirt cheap, there are no year end clearances of custom homes, the price of a custom home is not cheaper during one part of the year then another.

If you want a custom home then you want a brand new home that comes with a warranty, you have to pay for that.

Please think about this the next time you want to call a custom home builder and ask about price.

Rob Abbott
Village Builders Inc,

Monday, October 9, 2017

Preparing for the Winter Months: Interior Design Ideas

Preparing for the Winter Months: Interior Design Ideas
It’s no secret that the winter months in Canada are extremely cold—so cold, in fact, that sometimes all we can do is cozy up with our thickest blankets and spend the evening sipping hot cocoa in an attempt to stay warm. But did you know that there are many interior updates you can make to your home to ease the chill of the winter months? With a few clever renovations, your home can be warm and cozy even when it’s freezing outside.
By coordinating designs with the help of an interior decorator, homeowners can redesign a space in a way that ties together the layout of a room with all of the additional fixtures, furniture, and accessories. The general process of interior design projects is always meant to keep the homeowner’s tastes and preferences in mind. And these preferences can easily be applied to interior designs for the wintertime, making a home both feel and look warm despite the snow.
Wall-Mounted Fireplaces
One design idea than is applicable to any room in the winter months is adding a wall-mounted fireplace. Canadians know that it can be extremely costly to heat an entire house throughout the winter, and this is one of the reasons why fireplaces come in handy. Having a wall-mounted fireplace in a room that may otherwise be abandoned during the coldest months is a great way to warm the space when it is needed.
Many wall-mounted fireplace options also burn ethanol biofuel, which is a clean-burning alternative to using traditional wood or propane. This eliminates the task of cleaning up soot along with any worries about smoke or unpleasant aromas from the fire. These fireplaces are trendy and stylish, fitting with most of the common interior styles, like rustic or classic designs.
Insulating Window Treatments
Another wise design idea to keep your home warm in the winter months is to insulate your windows. Besides buying rubber weather sealing or window insulation film at a hardware store, you can incorporate aesthetically pleasing window treatments that will both look chic and block out coldness. Try layering curtains that are made from heavy fabrics over in the windows to keep out drafts. Be sure to close the curtains as often as possible in order to better insulate the space. You can also consider adding external window treatments, like timber shutters, that will create more curb appeal and also keep in warmth.

With the help of an interior designer, you can transform your home into a warm and inviting space during Canada’s frigid winter months in a trendy, stylish way.