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Intangibles and Hidden Costs

Intangibles and Hidden Costs

by | Jul 20, 2020 | HER Home

Home plans in hand, you may think your next step is to get three bids. That makes sense, because you want to get a feel for how much you’ll be investing in your new home. But why three bids? Are you automatically going to take the low bid? And how did the low bidder arrive at their price? 

The same holds true for your builder. They could take the plans and have three different framing crews, drywallers, and painting companies price out the job. Do you want them taking the lowest bid, or do you want a builder who has long-standing relationships with sub-contractors whose quality is unmistakable? Straight, plumb walls may not be obvious – until it comes time to hang the kitchen cabinets. Some tradespeople’s work will be unseen. Focused on speed and moving on to the next low-margin job, a budget-priced HVAC company may not seal all of the home’s ductwork optimally, resulting in expensive and wasteful conditioned air leakage for the home buyer. Rats! There must be something, maybe an electrical outlet faceplate, under the carpet and pad that was just installed. But it’s not that noticeable when you walk on it…

Your builder’s reputation, professionalism, and experience have value!

Home BuilderWould you trust your open-heart surgery to a “resident” doctor? Considering how much you will be investing, you deserve a quality home, which means hiring an experienced, quality builder. Are they members of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), and committed to the NAHB’s professionalism, ongoing education, and high ethical standards?

One area you can affect price is making timely decisions. Waiting until the last minute to pick out the stone for your front elevation can result in costly expedited shipping or perhaps having to select a more expensive product that’s in-stock. Changing your mind can also be expensive. You fall in love with a brand-new pedestal sink for your powder bath. Now, you have the builder’s change order fee as well as the restocking fee from the plumbing supply house. Changes can mean delays and even costly rework that ultimately increases the cost per square foot of your home.

You get called out of town for two weeks and are unable to attend the scheduled walk thru. Construction progress halts until you return, incurring additional construction loan interest expense, another hit to your new home budget. 

What’s the cost of your new home warranty? One builder has a full-time warranty service technician and they promise timely response. Another builder who’s hard to get a hold of during construction is even harder to reach after move-in. And when you finally do connect, you’re simply given the name of a subcontractor to call. It might be hard to calculate the cost, but there’s tremendous value in a reputable builder’s proven new home warranty.  

Finally, you want your builder to make a fair profit. As just mentioned, the builder’s new home warranty is valuable, but may be worthless if your builder goes out of business. A builder who undercuts his price just to get the job has little incentive to do more than the minimum required to get paid and move on to the next project.

Next time: Building with Structural Insulated Panels

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Cover photo: https://www.brandunited.com/article/self-mailers-timely-direct-mail-strategy-stuck-at-home-world?fbclid=IwAR1AuxEV3tuskgp3ImLUFzMvACeXm2jLZ0MgbjfEOVuVpJzVMAZDBpf2ZJk

Like a Perfectly Tailored Suit…Customized Home Plans

Like a Perfectly Tailored Suit…Customized Home Plans

by | Jul 17, 2020 | Great Design

To get the perfect suit, some people will go to a clothier and have a custom suit made to their specifications. But most of us are perfectly happy having alterations made to a quality suit. Design Basics creates dozens of custom home plans every year, but customizing a plan from our existing portfolio of over 2,000 designs will save you considerable time and money as compared with creating a new custom home plan from scratch. Either way, it’s going to be your new home and it should both reflect and reveal you!

We would like to share with you three recent examples of our home plan customization service:

Cedar Glen II - #42369

Cedar Glen II – 3-Car (plan #42369) as designed.

Cedar Glen customized fp

Customized Home Plan

The customer liked much of the original plan but did not need two suites on the main floor. We enlarged the bedroom and closet in the front suite by relocating the powder bath and pivoting the dining area. This also created the more expansive kitchen the customer desired. The foundation changed from the original design’s basement to a slab, and the customer gained a larger laundry room. Windows bathe the rear of the home in natural light and built-ins provide added storage in the Great Room. The second floor and exterior design remained relatively unchanged.

Cotter - #42031

The Cotter (plan #42031) as designed.

Cotter customized fp

Customized Home Plan

This customer was interested in the ultimate Jack and Jill bathroom design shared by Bedrooms 2 and 3. Redesigning that bathroom pushed Bedroom 2 back. Deleting the bathtub in the suite bathroom allowed space for a larger walk-in shower and larger walk-in closet. A larger island with more storage and work surface replaced the original kitchen island design, and a large, covered outdoor living space was added behind the family and dining rooms. Finally, the garage was stretched a little bit wider, while the rest of the exterior remained mostly unchanged.

Leftwich - #29300

The Leftwich (plan #29300) as designed.

Leftwich customized fp

Customized Home Plan

A large kitchen and big walk-in pantry were priorities of this customer. So, the home was stretched wider through the middle and the staircase shifted over, gaining a window, and allowing for that oversized walk-in pantry along the route from the garage. The kitchen became more of a galley layout with a long island eating bar. In the suite bathroom, the original plan’s bathtub was omitted in favor of a larger shower, more spacious vanity, and private toilet area. The suite’s closet was also re-designed to create a direct connection into the laundry area. A generous outdoor living area was added along the back, part of which is covered. This customer also desired a more Contemporary/Mediterranean style exterior with front porch.

Leftwich FE

As originally designed.

Leftwich FE customized

Modified as per customer’s preferences.

Learn more about our Customized Home Plans and how we can help you modify/customize a plan to meet your needs. 

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What’s Included in the Price?

What’s Included in the Price?

by | Jul 6, 2020 | HER Home

Cost per square foot. Simple to calculate. Seemingly easy to understand. Until you realize what was included in the “cost” differs by builder!

On floor plans, dashed (as opposed to solid) lines often indicate options. In keeping with its focus on affordability, the Rivera Farm (plan #29391) presents several optional design amenities – dashes indicate the option of having transom windows in the entry/along the staircase as well as the option of a fireplace in the family room. And behind the dining area, an optional patio. Photos or renderings may show these amenities, but being options, likely they were not included in the cost that was used to come up with cost per square foot.

Rivera Farm - #29391
Rivera Farm - #29391

Similarly, floor plans may show alternate layouts for the same space. The base Jolene (plan #42334) shows three bedrooms, but also shows re-purposing Bedroom 3 as an office. The addition of stunning French Doors into the office could add thousands of dollars to the price of your home, increasing its cost per square foot.  

Jolene - #42334
Interior French Doors

Sometimes home builders will make purely aesthetic amenities shown on floor plans extra-cost options. Continuing with the Jolene plan there is a boxed ceiling in the owner’s bedroom – that might add $1,000. Ditto with the ceiling detail in the front entry. It adds drama and calls attention to this wider-than-expected space, but it adds cost, which increases cost per square foot.

Unless mandated by codes, builders can elect to build with either 2×4-inch or 2×6-inch exterior walls. Total square footage of the home will be identical, homes built with the 2×4-inch walls will have slightly larger interior rooms. Due to their added insulation, the homes with 2×6-inch walls, will usually be more expensive and therefore have a higher cost per square foot, but will also keep utility costs down and your home more comfortable.

Laminate or stone – what countertop material was included in the cost? Are appliances included? If so, which ones? There’s room for a sink in the laundry room. Was that included? Even if you take the same set of house plans to different home builders, the prices won’t necessarily be comparable. You specify Bruce® Hickory wood floors. Builder A figures the price based on solid wood and Builder B’s pricing was based on engineered wood.

From flooring to lighting to plumbing fixtures and trim work, as you tour most model homes, there are various upgrades shown that are above and beyond the base price used to calculate cost per square foot. It’s the same way in the auto industry. As advertised, the 2020 Lexus ES 350 starts at $39,900. That’s $10.93 per pound. But the ES 350 often tips the scales around $50,000 including options makes it $13.70 per pound.

You wouldn’t compare new cars on the basis of cost per pound. Why use cost per square foot to compare new homes, especially when it’s almost impossible to get an “apples for apples” comparison?

Next time: How building lots impact your cost per square foot.

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French Doors Photo by Curtis Adams from Pexels
Cover Image: <a href=’https://www.freepik.com/free-photos-vectors/sale’>Sale photo created by freepik – www.freepik.com</a>

Which Square Feet?

Which Square Feet?

by | Jun 29, 2020 | HER Home

Outdoor living space. Two-story high spaces. Bonus rooms. Unfinished storage. Attics. Basements. Garages. Any attempt to come up with a “cost per square foot” for a new home begins with determining the home’s square footage. Sounds easy, right? Yes…and no. Yes, measurements exist. But which square feet are included may differ and have significant implications on the how the home “lives” for you.

We’ll use Design Basics’ Peony Grove (plan #42285) to illustrate the issues. The main floor comes in at 1,664 square feet. And the second floor is measured at 839 square feet. For a total of 2,503 total square feet. But there’s over 300 square feet of space on the second floor that is the two-story high ceiling in the Great Room. Should that be included? It’s heated space with walls and a roof atop, but it’s not “finished” – so it wasn’t counted. And how about the 342 square foot storage area over the garage? It wasn’t counted either, because it wasn’t “finished.” Does the cost per square foot you’ve seen advertised only consist of “finished” square feet? It would be relatively inexpensive to finish that storage area over the garage, which would bring down the home’s overall cost per square foot.

Peony Grove - #42285 UL
Peony Grove - #42285 ML

Garages typically aren’t included when calculating square footage, so the bigger and more expensive your garage, the higher the home’s cost per square foot. And garages have value – just look at how they impact your property taxes!

And that garage? It measures 851 square feet, but that’s not included either in the home’s reported 2,503 square feet. If the garage isn’t included in calculating the home’s square footage, size doesn’t matter, right? Except it does! The size of the garage has a very significant impact on the home’s cost, and therefore its cost per square foot as well as the home’s appeal to you!

Then there’s 158 square feet of covered front porch as well as 168 square feet of covered rear deck. Those wonderful outdoor living spaces make a huge difference in how you’ll enjoy the home, but they weren’t included in the 2.503 square foot number. And they’re not inexpensive – raising this home’s cost per square foot compared to a home without these outdoor living areas.

Building on a basement? What about that that lower level square footage? Typically, the portion of the lower level that is finished off as living space does get included in a home’s reported square footage. Like with finishing space in an attic or over the garage, finishing space in a basement is typically quite a bit less expensive than main floor square footage, so finishing off a lot of the lower level can bring the reported cost per square foot down.

Before comparing new homes on a cost per square foot basis, you must know which square feet have been included in order to get any sort of meaningful information. Still, that’s only one half of the equation.

Next time we address – What was included in the price?

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Cover photo: <a href=’https://www.freepik.com/free-photos-vectors/sale’>Sale photo created by xb100 – www.freepik.com</a>

Entertaining: Planning for Fun

Entertaining: Planning for Fun

by | Jun 22, 2020 | HER Home

Some prefer to entertain formally; others thrive on deep, life-giving conversation with a few close friends; and some prefer topical get-togethers such as book clubs and study groups. But when it’s Friday night, after a particularly trying week, you really appreciate an invitation to a fun night at Maggie’s house!

Finally About Me“Maggie” is the name we gave to one of the four primary personas in our Finally About Me® design personas, which are uncannily accurate in identifying what people prioritize in their homes. Energized by being around other people, Maggies don’t tend to take life too seriously and are focused on fun, which is one of the reasons they’re so popular – they’re fun people to be with! Regardless of which of the four personas best describes you, we can all learn from Maggie when it comes to home design for fun-filled entertaining.

Where does the big-screen TV go? Maggies actually have a difficult time seeing themselves living in a particular home until this question is answered, because media-related entertaining is super-important for Maggie. More evident in modest-size homes, this can become a bit more important when you enter directly into the home’s primary entertaining space and the only pathway through the home involves interrupting viewers’ line of sight of the TV.

It could be the hottest must-see show or the Super Bowl. The Bloom (plan #29303) provides a traditional front entry hall to help direct traffic. Most people will put the big TV above the fireplace, though we sometimes hear complaints that such a viewing angle is uncomfortably high, inducing a sore neck.

Bloom - #29303 traffic pattern

Slightly larger in square footage, the Greenwich (plan #8621) provides space for your big screen TV alongside the fireplace in the family room. But by design, that family room doubles as a hallway, meaning everyone entering or leaving the home via the front door will interrupt TV viewers’ line of sight.

Greenwich - #8621 traffic pattern

A companion issue to where the big TV goes may be related storage for associated electronics, from sound systems to game consoles. Preferred by some home buyers, built-in storage may be open shelving, discretely placed within cabinetry, or a combination of the two. But due to today’s wireless technology, which do not require line of sight, audio/electronics closets have sprung up in many homes.

Then there are noise issues, whether your sound system is too loud, or other things in your home are too loud to enjoy that TV. If your island contains the sink and dishwasher, since there is no full wall for the dishwasher to back up to and help absorb its noise level, you may want to invest in a quieter dishwasher if that island is open to your entertaining space. If that TV and speakers/sound bar are mounted on the wall shared with your bedroom and your spouse wants to rest, you may want to talk to your builder about various soundproofing measures that can be taken to reduce sound transfer through that wall.  

Revenna Springs - #35079

The Revenna Springs (plan #35079) suggests built-ins on either side of the fireplace, a traditional approach when the TV will go above the fireplace. Or, the TV may be mounted directly above one of those built-ins. Notice also there is an audio closet off the hallway leading into the family room providing space for the necessary electronics, yet not necessarily right next to the big screen. And, that island sink and dishwasher are open to the family room. This is the time to spend more money to get a quiet dishwasher, so you don’t have to go elsewhere in the home to enjoy movies while washing dishes.

Finished Basements. In many households, and especially homes with an upstairs and a downstairs, two separate entertaining areas are essential. It could be a billiards room downstairs in a finished lower level and the great room on the main floor. It could be a finished room over the garage for the kids’ gaming, minimizing the noise interruption of your first-floor socializing. It could even be a separate main floor gathering area for your mom and her friends while you have neighbors over for a cookout.

The Tollefson V (plan #42155FB) is an entertainer’s dream! The main floor (below left) is wide open with spacious rooms to handle larger gatherings. Downstairs (below right), there is another full kitchen and eating area, which will likely double as your game table. The family room is spacious enough for air hockey and Foosball, or your kids’ video game tournament with all their friends. There is even a dedicated home theater, which can receive special attention when it comes to soundproofing. If building on a basement foundation, how much of that space will you finish off for entertaining?

Tollefson V - #42155FB
Tollefson V - #42155FB

Outdoor Audio-Visual. While outdoor entertaining was the topic last time, we want to touch on the fun of outdoor audio and video entertaining here. In case you haven’t kept up, there are numerous exterior solutions for big screen TVs, from all-weather cabinets to amazing weather-tight outdoor hi-def TVs in a range of sizes. Where, on your covered porch/deck/loggia/patio will you mount the TV to avoid sun glare washing out the picture? Outdoor TV brightness capabilities vary, all the way up to TVs that can be used in direct sunlight, but as of the time this article was written, an electronics store was selling 55” outdoor TV’s for $2,000 rated for “full shade,” while the same brand 55” TV rated for “full sun” was priced at over $5,700.

Some people are content with just having their favorite tunes playing. Is your preference to install speakers? If so, will power need to be run to those speakers? Or would you be happier relying on battery powered wireless speakers paired to your smart device?

Livability at a Glance™ is our proprietary color-coded floor plan system that highlights four different lenses especially important to women: Entertaining, De-stressing, Storing, and Flexible Living. Discover your Lifestyle Profile by taking our Livability at a Glance Quiz.

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Cover photo: <a href=”https://www.freepik.com/free-photos-vectors/party”>Party photo created by freepik – www.freepik.com</a>