About Custom Designs

Invest the Time

Deciding to go Owner builder or Registered builder, in respect of your time, should be carefully understood. No matter what method you choose, building a new home will only work out as well as the effort and time you put in. It takes time finding and selecting a good registered builder and negotiating a building contract, equally finding and engaging your trades as an owner builder takes time also. This is especially the case with a custom home, your dream, your forever home where you want things done just right. Consider for example the most important thing, the tradespeople, whether you or the builder engage them they are the ones actually doing the work and you need to be confident that they will do a good job, the way you want it. The Owner builder will always consider this when selecting a trade, but you need to be aware that for many builders his profit may be the overriding consideration in his choices of trades because any savings go straight to his pocket. Our Owner builder clients usually have the majority of their trades selected before the permits are issued leaving only a couple during the actual construction process. As an owner builder you need to take the time though, to apply due diligence in your choices taking the opportunity to check references during the permit application stage before the issue of permits because you want to be ready to enable construction to start soon after.

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You’ll find that seeking out a registered builder, waiting for his quote and working out the details of the specifications for the contract, is a complicated process and initially involves more of your time than engaging the trades as an Owner builder. It is a lengthy process and if you want a few comparable quotes obviously takes considerably longer. If the quote comes in too high, you’ll need to start again. Most builders already have projects on the go, and they can’t set their trades until you sign your contract and they are able to fit you in, so take the time to understand the work load he already has on as part of your due diligence.

When you build a new home the process from beginning to end, that is from design to completion, usually takes over twelve months. Over this period your mind will always be keeping up with where the job is at and what you have to do in the way of involvement to bring it to the next stage and finally to the finished result you have imagined. Whether you’ve engaged a builder or you’re an Owner builder, even though you are not actually building the house yourself, you are constantly making choices. When it comes to the fit out that means selecting things. It’s called shopping and obviously everyone can do it. You will easily find the time to do this but any extra time you apply to this task is well worth it because it’s usually about finding things better and cheaper. Our most successful clients understand that they always need to allocate the time to put into their project in order to ensure its success. The year of the house can be a rewarding and exciting time especially as the home nears completion, IMAGINE the fabulous day you and your family move in and begin to enjoy your beautiful Storybook home.