Getting the opportunity to build your own home from the ground-up may be the most exciting investment you ever make. You’ve been dreaming about it for years, and now it’s time to turn that dream into reality!

There’s a lot to consider – everything from floor plans to architectural features to finishing touches. Unfortunately, that means there’s a lot of room for errors, and taking shortcuts or deciding to take a do-it-yourself approach could end up costing you tens of thousands of dollars.

At Luxury Home Solutions, our team of seasoned professionals knows exactly what to avoid when it comes to designing and building custom luxury homes. From start to finish, we make sound decisions based on the best industry practices, while keeping our clients informed and engaged at every step of the process.

Here are a few tips for avoiding common mistakes that people make when building a home:

—Location, location, location. Your floor plan might be flawless on paper, but the physical location of your dream house might not be ideal, especially when it comes to sunlight, shade, views, topography, proximity to neighbors, and other intangibles tied to surroundings. Think bigger than just what’s inside the four main walls.

—Never be your own builder. Unless you’re a licensed professional, let builders, general contractors, roofers, plumbers, electricians, and sub-contractors do their jobs. They know what’s required when it comes to building codes and the cost and quality of materials, and each step of the homebuilding process requires a level of certainty. Taking a do-it-yourself approach to homebuilding could create unnecessary delays, cost overruns, and even result in structural issues that put you and your family at risk.

—Stick to your budget. Sticking to your budget takes discipline, and opting to add-on expensive upgrades during construction will push back deadlines, and potentially trim other aspects of the project. (Delays could even postpone critical inspection dates.) Yes, there’s a contingency budget, but it’s for covering the unexpected – not the unplanned. Think about what’s essential, and what can be added-on later. You’ll maintain a good relationship with your builder that way.

—Use professional, well-designed floors plans, even if it costs more upfront. It’s easy to draw out designs on paper or create them using a computer app, but there’s a lot more to floor planning than you might think. DIY planning can lead to poorly lit rooms, off-center windows, stairways that don’t meet code, plumbing that doesn’t connect to appliances, and issues related to heating and cooling. Some building professionals estimate that design mistakes can cost five to ten times more than what you might spend on floor plans. That can add up!

—Think about the future. If you’re planning to build a forever home, then consider the things you’ll need five, ten, and twenty years down the road. Will those elegant front stairs become burdensome to climb over time? Are there areas of the home you might expand later on to accommodate a growing family, a space-consuming hobby, or additional storage? Will that breezy patio eventually become an inviting sunroom? Considering the future now will eliminate potential headaches in years to come.

Let Luxury Home Solutions help you stay worry-free and handle all aspects of your next homebuilding or remodeling project. Contact us at 239-728-2143 or click here to get started. We specialize in custom homebuilding and remodeling in southwest Florida, including Naples, Fort Myers, Bonita Springs, Sanibel, Estero, and Marco Island. We look forward to working with you!

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