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,