Confessions of a custom homebuilder

A house is the basic need of every individual and people hold it close to their heart. There are ready-to-move-in homes and custom homes as well. People choose their nest according to their preference, budget and convenience. Real estate agents and custom home builders offer a varied range of houses for buyers, spanning over different price ranges.

There is a lot about what goes in the mind of a home buyer and how they make their deals while choosing the dream home and a lot less about what a homebuilder thinks.

We, as a custom home builder, bring you these facts that let us sustain in the industry:

1. Customers first

Though, as a construction company we try to sell homes to prospective buyers, it does not mean that we don’t consider their actual requirements. When an individual approaches a custom home builder to get assistance in constructing the dream home, the builder takes into account every possible element that the person wants to incorporate in the house. After all, at the end of the day, the person has to live there. We, as a responsible home builder, make sure that everything is explained to the buyer in a transparent manner. Trust is inevitable in this industry and we stand by what we are offering them.

2. Business ethics

We follow business ethics that would explain the way we are performing in the industry. Winning the trust of our customers was a big challenge in the initial period but thanks to our top-notch services, we achieved it gradually. We keep nothing in the background; all our terms and conditions to construct residential homes or corporate constructions are explained to the prospective buyers in order to prevent any kind of future disagreements. We assist them the right way to secure a home of their choice.

3. Modern technologies in construction

Like everything in the world, the technologies in the construction industry too have taken a leap. We have moved up the ladder and adapted to modern construction techniques and technologies like Prefab construction. It allows home buyers to get custom built homes that are designed as per their requirement but sans the long waiting time of construction. Here the modular homes are prefabricated and shipped to the worksite and installed just like a custom built home. Isn’t it a great option to get a custom home constructed within 60-90 days of time? Of course, it is!

4. Cost effective

Though we admit that these prefab homes come with a bit high cost than the brick and cement buildings, however, they save a hefty amount that you would have shed towards paying off the cost of labor and raw material purchase, transportation, storage charge etc. It’s a one-time job with no headache later. We understand your budget and being in this industry as reliable custom home builders, we would assist you to obtain easy and suitable home loans from the leading banks associated with us.

5. Options galore

We bring you a lot of options in your desired locality. You can choose your preferred location and kind of house you want to build and we would be more than happy to be of help. Being a well-known real estate firm, we ensure transparency in every transaction while assisting you to take possession of your dream house.

6. Emotional value

We understand your emotions involved with a new home, as you have saved your earnings since long to buy the dream home. Our architects take great care in designing your home, keeping in mind your preferences and the way you want things to be. Though there are standard models, even in Prefab homes we ensure your plans are implemented your way.

BuildMyGhar has been implementing technological innovations in the construction industry and we would keep upgrading to meet our customers’ needs. No doubt we face various challenges, but we thrive to deliver you the best.

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Size matters: What square footage is right for you?

Here’s how to calculate the square footage for home plan

            People who buy or build custom homes are more concerned with how much usable space they get and it is only a few people that actually go into the details of the square footage system before the purchase or construction. It is equally essential to know how much square footage is available to you, along with the number of bedrooms, the baths or how big and modern the kitchen is.

Usually, most real estate companies include only the areas within the house that are air-conditioned or heated. This calculation method omits the attic storage, unfinished basements, garage, porches and similar spaces.

The total square footage of a house is not restricted to only the area of all the rooms; it also includes the area that the walls in between them occupy. The area occupied by the walls seems may seem negligible on an individual scale. But, when calculated in whole, it is a considerable amount that adds up the total square footage of the house. Three linear feet of an interior wall becomes one square foot and the thickness of walls would comprise of almost ten percent of the overall square footage of the entire house!

For your home plan, understanding these measurement basics is certainly important, so as to avoid any confusion with the builders during construction or buying of a house. Fire places and small mechanical closets take a tiny portion of the entire space of your home, so they can easily be avoided. Square footage needs to be measured from the outside faces of the outer walls, including the area covered by the stairs. You need to calculate square footage of spaces with a ceiling height beyond seven feet. You don’t have to count areas that open to rooms located down stairs.

You have to bear in mind that the heated square footage is usually used along with a rough estimate of the ‘cost per square foot’ for preliminary cost estimating. It is one factor of construction cost, but not everything that would decide the actual cost of your home. There are additional costs which are unrelated to the size of the house, such as landscaping costs, driveway, and appliances, to name a few.

For rough estimates, construction companies and builders use only the ‘cost per square foot’ system of calculation. They almost avoid signing a legal contract mentioning a particular ‘cost per square foot’ while building a house. In a custom built house, modifications through additions and deletions might happen at any point of time during the construction phase. Therefore, the builders would go broke if they follow the square footage way of planning a home, as there’s no exact way to find out what needs to be ordered for constructing the house and how much labor is required for building the house. Price of the raw materials keeps on varying and that would impact the overall cost of the house irrespective of the square footage.

Imagine you opt for a marble exterior wall rather than a normal wall - the costs would certainly drive up.  If you choose a specific kind of shingle which would require more labor and materials than a normal one, the cost would again be higher than the quoted amount in the planned estimate. This makes the builders quote the square footage cost within a range rather than an exact amount. The cost of the house would also vary depending on the number of bedrooms, sinks, toilets, bathrooms and flooring, roofing material as well as appliances used.

Additional Notes: Make sure that the builder is calculating the square footage for the home plan the same way as you do. Sometimes builders include garage and porch area or some would count garage area as half its square footage. Although it would dilute the overall cost while considering the average per foot cost and make the construction costs seem less, this would make things very confusing. Counting heated square footage would be a solution in this kind of situation, in order to maintain transparency.

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