Building Your Houston Custom Home Team
If you are preparing to start the process of building a Houston custom home, you likely have a long list of questions and key points to consider. One of the very first things you should do, however, is to make sure that you are surrounded by the very best team of people, to help make your dream home a reality. Jonathon Casada of Casada Custom Homes provides three key points to consider when building your Houston custom home team.
Picking a Builder. Of course, the very first team member that you bring on board should be your custom home builder, far prior to meeting with an architect designer. When interviewing a builder, be sure to be clear about your budget, your expectations, and your wish list for your new custom home. You can count on a good builder to explain the process to you in detail, and give you a sense of confidence. Ultimately, select your builder based on trust and respect, and not necessarily on the lowest bid.
Casada Custom Homes is able to design, coordinate, schedule and complete your custom home in Houston to the absolute highest standard of excellence. Jonathon Casada, the Certified Graduate Master Builder, has over 39 years of custom home building experience, and personally ensures that every client is perfectly satisfied with their beautiful custom home.
Choose an Architect. A good architect will be able to help you ensure that your ideal custom home in Houston becomes a reality. Once you have finished deciding with your builder on your concept of your new custom home– including elevating, concept floor plan and various material specifications–and agree on a rough estimated price, you are ready to move towards the architectural design. Ask your builder whom he recommends you that consult.
Don’t hesitate to bring your custom home builder with you to help explain the custom concept of your home and the materials that you would like used to the architect. Don’t forget to bring your new home decision notebook to the meeting as well. If you can, bring a survey or plot plan of your lot to the first meeting with the architectural designer.
Structural Engineer. The structural engineer will help serve as the consultant to your architect, and together with your builder, establish the ideal structural design for your home based on the lot you chose and your specific requests and needs. They differ from architects in that they focus primarily on the design of the structure of your home, ensuring that the building will be resilient through any harsh weather conditions and that all components of your custom home are serviceable. Just as with the architect, be sure to bring a survey or plot plan of your lot along with you at least to the initial meeting.
Enlist a Civil Engineer. A civil engineer will work with your custom home building team to inspect and survey the elements of the area in which you wish to build your home. They deal with land regulations, natural elements, zoning regulations, etc.
Your builder should have some recommendations for you when you select your civil engineer (should be at the same time as your architect and structural engineer), and will probably have a specific, reliable group in mind that he has worked with before. It will help to know as much as possible about the area in which you wish to build prior to meeting with your civil engineer.
Decorating Designer. A good decorating designer is invaluable for your
Houston custom home. The right designer will work side by side with your builder, to determine spatial planning, color concepts, furniture selection, lighting design, and much more. A decorating designer can work with you and your builder to establish price comparisons for different materials, and make sure that you are happy with the various materials that go in to creating your custom home.
Your builder likely has a good decorating designer on standby that they have worked with before, and whom they trust. Be sure to bring any ideas you have for your home interior with you to the initial meeting, to help establish expectations up front.
Selecting a Lender. Financing your custom home is an important step to building your Houston custom team. The best place to start is to ask your builder who he uses. Similar to his vendors and subcontractors, he should be working with a reputable, competent loan officer. You may want to ask your friends and family members for referrals as well.
A good question to ask up front is whether the loan officer will be working with you during the entire process, or if you will be transferred to a different loan officer later in the process. Once you’ve narrowed your choice down to one, you’ll want to meet with the loan officer to determine what size loan you qualify for to build your custom home.
This is far from an exhaustive list of every person or vendor who will be involved in the custom home building process – for further information, or to get started on the process of building your Houston custom home team, contact Casada Custom Homes at 713-350-9822 or at www.jonathoncustomhomes.com.