The major advantage in building a custom home is that you get a completed home that ideally meets your needs, both in terms of function and quality.

Today most spec homes are built using “builder’s grade” products in order to minimize cost and maximize profits for both the builder and real estate agent. As a result, the new homeowner frequently winds up purchasing a home that has products installed, e.g. appliances and cabinets, that have short life expectancies. In addition, with a spec home its pretty much what-you-see-is-what-you-get (wysiwyg), both in terms of layout and room sizes. Even if you sign a purchase and sales agreement for a to-be-built new home in a new housing development you frequently are limited in house styles, layouts and features.

When building a custom home, on the other hand, you can choose the floor layout and room sizes. In addition, you have the freedom of lot selection, home style, cabinet and flooring selections, window and door choices, siding material and color, lighting, etc. The list goes on. Virtually every feature and product of the home design is for you to decide upon.

Building a fully custom home however, does come at a price. Unique features and products are not sold at “builder grade” prices at box home improvement stores. Consequently you should expect to spend 2 to 3 times more per square foot on construction costs when building a fully custom home.

Alternatively, a semi custom home is a compromise between building a fully custom home and purchasing a spec home. As a result, building a semi custom home provides you with the ability to select some of your home’s features, while not blowing your home budget.

When building a semi custom home, the builder usually presents you with several house styles and floor plans to choose from. In addition, you are usually allowed to select flooring, cabinets, appliances, lighting fixtures and lighting locations. Frequently the flexibility is offered via “budget allowances”. For example a builder may offer you a $2000 kitchen appliance allowance where you choose what kitchen appliances you want installed in the home’s kitchen. If you decide to purchase appliances in excess of the allowance then you pay the additional costs out of your pocket.

In addition, when building a semi custom home you will frequently have the opportunity to select various building options such as attached garages, family rooms, unfinished rooms and even deck sizes.

Deciding to build a custom home is not for the faint of heart. Even if you have selected a great architect and builder you will be required to do a lot of work and make a lot of choices. Expect to spend many a day at kitchen and bath centers, flooring stores, lighting stores, etc. You will need to make decisions on many aspects of your custom home that you would not otherwise have a chance to do if purchasing a spec home. However, for most homeowners choosing the path of building a custom home is a positive experience. Everyday they live in the custom home they get to appreciate the choices that they made during the building of their custom home.

If you choose to buy a new home from a homebuilder, the new home will, to varying degrees, have features in common with other homes. This gives those searching for a new home to buy the advantage of being able to compare existing models to the new home they are considering. However, most people want their new home to reflect individual tastes. That’s where the design center comes in. Because many higher-end new home builders offer custom design centers, this article seeks to explain how to use the design center – and how to finance your options and upgrades.

Homebuilders offer design centers for at least two reasons. One is that the homebuilder wants to offer those searching for a new home to buy the ability to customize a new home based on individual aesthetic preferences. The other is that, because the designing can be financed as part of the mortgage, the new home buyer is in a position to choose features that might otherwise be cost prohibitive.

New home builder Orleans Homes has an award-winning design center and, because of the company’s reputation, their design center is used as a reference point for evaluating how to use a design center and finance new home design. To preview the Orleans Homes Design Center, click here.

When you buy a new home from a quality homebuilder, you will be invited to browse options for enhancing your home. Some pre-priced home enhancement options will include carpet and flooring, lighting and sound, kitchen cabinets and appliances, doorknobs and stair rails, and windows and doors. Obviously, the selection can be quite extensive. When you sign on the dotted line, you will be invited to meet personally with design consultants to review your options. The advantage of personalizing the look of your new home before completing the purchase is that you can finance all of it as part of your mortgage – obviously a tremendous deal.

When you first meet with a design consultant, bring your options manual. As part of the new home buying process you will likely be given one, typically by a sales manager. Then, using the manual or viewing staged home interiors, you and the design consult will discuss options and pricing. Remember, you will typically have 45 days from your agreement of sale to complete all your selections for eligibility. When you go to the appointment, it is a good idea to bring fabric, pillows or even furniture drawers to coordinate furnishings with the new interior finishes of the new home. Then, when you make your structural selections, the decorative process begins. A deposit will be due as final decorator selections are made.

When meeting with the design consultants, come knowing what you like – and what you don’t – and remember that even though the financing is a good deal, you will owe the money at some point so don’t be talked into options you don’t like. And of course, if you are browsing new home builders, it may be wise to avoid homebuilders that don’t present options for personalizing your new home.

Everybody has a dream of building a new house- a house that he can call his own, one that he can design on his own and a small, cozy house that will soon become his sweet ‘home’.

Building castles in the air is easy but when it comes to reality, all that matters is money.

So, before you make your final plans and meet your builder, you ought to have a clear idea of your budget. Here, you need to do something called “guesstimating”. That is, you should know the approximate cost of your project. Knowing this will help you to modify your plans according to your budget.

Here are some tips that will help you to do the ‘guesstimating’ work.

•Talk to the local builders who are well versed in constructing the kind of a house you want. Builders will not only tell you their charges per square foot but will also provide you with a 'ballpark idea' of what your dream project might cost you. If you wish, they can also let you know about all the materials they plan to use. This will help you to know what exactly is included in the pricelist.

•Next, calculate the “square footage”. For this, you need to find out the price of some newly constructed house, one that is very similar to the house you have dreamt of. Next, subtract the price of the land from the cost of the house. Finally, divide the amount by the square footage of the house. This will give you a rough estimate of the cost per square foot. Multiplying the average square footage cost by the finished square footage will give you a ‘ballpark estimate’.

•Keep your budget a bit flexible as there are certain features like the bathrooms, the kitchen, quality of the windows, vaulted ceilings etc., that are expected to cost more. An interesting thing to be noted here is that the cost is often lower for a large house than that of a smaller one. The cost of the expensive things is spread over more square footage in large houses.

•Before selecting a final blueprint, make sure that you have estimated the construction expenses. Size and shape of the house, site preparation, cost overruns, inflation and market conditions are certain important factors to be kept in mind.

Hope these tips will help you to realize your dream in a systematic way.