Custom Home Building
Building Your Custom Home
What’s so hard about building a house? It’s not exactly rocket science. Many people have been planning their dream home for years, and have looked at hundreds of house plans, options, materials, and compared costs. You can purchase a nice floor plan, or you can hire an architect to design a beautiful home. I want to touch on four significant reasons to hire a GOOD general contractor, like Landon Construction, to do it all.
Cost
A good general contractor who builds quality custom homes brings a wealth of experience to the table in design and the selection of materials. He can look at a floor plan and suggest ways to make the refinements you want for your perfect home, and he can also help you select materials that might be much less expensive than your first choice while achieving the desired quality result. This is important, because architects are not typically tuned into the cost of materials as builders are who do this work every day. An architect is focused on his design, and he understandably has a lot of pride in his work, but he is not necessarily designing with the goal of saving you every dollar he can on materials, or on the design itself.
Quality
A good general contractor maintains quality control during the entire construction phase of your home. That includes control over the quality of the materials used and the quality of work of the subcontractors and their employees. Unless you have a lifetime of experience doing just that you would be well advised not to attempt to be your own project supervisor. Without a trained eye, you won’t know what to watch for.
One other thought on this issue. Some assume that the county or city building department will be supervising to watch for code compliance and quality, but that is definitely not their job, and they won’t do it. Code compliance is important, but inspectors are only looking at what is on their checklist. The quality, or lack thereof, of the construction or materials is not within their authority or interest.
HONESTY AND INTEGRITY
A general contractor who has built many homes will have a discount contract with the lumber company and other suppliers, and an honest builder will tell you about these discounts and even pass them on to you. These discounts can amount to 10% or 15% off of the retail price you will pay if you act as your own GC. I should add here that if you do act as you own GC and hire subcontractors there are subs who will take advantage of you, and you will pay much more for their services than a professional GC would have paid.
Oversight of your project from Start to Finish
Living where you want, on the plot of land that you may have fantasized about for years, has become an essential part of the American dream. In a culture that values individuality and self-expression, more people are opting to buy their land first, and then build a semi-custom or full custom home. A lot may appear buildable to the untrained eye, but many seemingly suitable plots prove not to be. More than one landowner has learned the hard way that ignorance can be very expensive, but knowledge is power. If you are currently in the market for a lot, consider consulting a reputable contractor like Landon Construction and invite us to become a part of the process. Jeremy can help you avoid traps and save you money, even on the purchase price of the property. By carefully coordinating plans, options, home site and location, together we can design a one-of-a-kind home that will likely appraise for significantly more than its actual cost.
Whether you are building on acreage in the beautiful Central Oregon landscape or on a city lot in Bend, Redmond, Prineville, La Pine or Sunriver, Landon Construction has the experience and ability you need. We are not a “builder” company offering our own brand of stock blueprints. Landon Construction is a General Contractor with access to architects and relationships with many area builders. Contact Landon Construction today and together we will decide if we are the right company for your job.