The process of building a custom home is often an exciting and at times overwhelming experience. Most potential home buyers think to build a custom home but end up buying an already built home.

Often, the prospective custom home buyers confuse with the sequencing of different stages of custom home building. The right sequence they think is – buying a lot, get it designed by an architect, choose a builder with lowest bid from a handful of builders.

But the order to be followed is – choose a builder, identify the lot along with the builder, getting floor plan from the architect, and build the house. This process is faster, economical, and seamless for the buyer.

The major steps that come along in your journey of custom home building are –

· Establishing financial stability and budget
· Finding a perfect lot or land block
· Getting the lot under contract
· Finding an architect and builder
· Designing the home as per your tastes and needs
· Choosing finishing and fixtures
· Selecting paint colours and lot more


Be more educated and prepared. Have realistic expectations. Employ a right team on the job. Talk to the best home builders in Sunshine coast.

Sunshine coast builders give you an extremely rewarding experience in building your custom home


Identifying a lot

Everything starts with the property. Inspect the ground you want to build on, it’s orientation and topography. A lot of new constructions are carried out in your local real-estate market. Some of them are custom projects in which the landowner hires a builder along with an architect or engineer. An architect may help you find the land for the type of home you want.

A high percentage of the new projects are spec homes. Spec homes are move-in-ready homes that are built by home builders before a home buyer makes a purchase.

Builders invest huge number of resources in identifying the best lots and build spec homes. They do this activity only if the real-estate markets are strong. The potentiality of a lot majorly depends on its neighbourhood.

While identifying a lot, it’s important to consider the size of the lot and closeness of the neighbourhoods. Also, don’t forget about landscaping which includes direction of the plot and slope of the land. The natural availability of sun light depends on the direction of the plot. You can also check about natural surroundings and access to resources like cable, internet, and power.

New homes are presold even before they are built if it is in a prime area and the builder has good reputation. That gives the better choice to the buyer and less risk to the builder, leading to a win-win situation.

How a builder identifies and price the lots?

"Out-sale" price is the vital parameter in identifying and pricing a lot by a builder. The out-sale price is the anticipated selling price which includes hard and soft costs of building/selling and the profit margin of the builder.

Hard costs refer to the costs of physical construction. Soft costs are the "non-build" costs which include carrying costs, architectural fees, permitting fees, engineering fees, real estate commissions, etc.

Neighbourhood

A neighbourhood is much turned over and less risky if there are many sales of the new homes. Check the home values in the surrounding neighbourhood. This stops you from investing more in a less expensive area.

Go around and speak to neighbours to check if the area is good fit for your family. The location you live in have greater impact on your life. This is where you may lead most of your rest life along with your family members.

Be cautious about upgradations as this may overprice your home for the neighbourhood. Keep in mind, the potential resale value of your building, even if you are not prepared.

Look for the neighbourhood that have several newly constructed homes that are sold in the recent past. There will be less risk in this case as you’ll have supporting data with relevant, comparable sales. There’s a precedent for the out-sale price to compare, which helps both the builder and the buyer.

There are cases where you may have to compete with builders and write a competitive offer to find a good lot. In such case, the buyer has several disadvantages. Few of them are listed below –

· It can be extremely difficult to compete with experienced builders and find a lot that has building potential.
· Buyers lack expertise and resources to evaluate the building potential of a lot.
· Lack of vision of the buyer to foresee the potential.
· Limitation on finances

A buyer doesn’t have to build a construction for a profit margin. If the location is desirable to achieve family’s objectives, then a potential buyer will be ready to pay above market prices also. This is one distinct advantage a buyer can have over a builder.

Having said these advantages and disadvantages, it is best to first choose a reputed builder. Check that the builder’s experience aligns with your preferences and tastes. Proceed further through a best custom home builder to identify and acquire a lot and build a custom home.

You need not to fear an ally with a builder in the early stages of the process. some buyers think that they lose negotiation leverage if they start early with a builder. Some good builders, value loyal customers and reward them with cost savings. This is possible as the early entry into a building contract reduces their risks.

Remember to choose a builder with the following attributes. A builder –

· Whom you can trust.
· With whom you can build rapport and enjoy working with
· with strong reputations
· who introduce you to their past clients
· who allows you to check with their references
· who keep you involved in the building process



Building a new home might be one of your biggest investments. It should be a fun and truly enjoyable process for you. It’d be exciting to live in a home that you’ve customised for yourself and for your loved ones.