Two Tips for New Custom Home Builders

If you are a builder who has recently decided to specialise in the construction of custom homes, here is some advice that you may find useful.

Don't be afraid to tell your clients that their ideas for their homes are not feasible

As a custom home builder, your main purpose is to help your clients build their dream homes. As such, because you want to please your clients, you may find yourself agreeing to include features that they want, even though you know that it may not be feasible to include these features (due to, for example, budgetary or time constraints).

However, it is important to speak up if you know that a client's request is not realistic. The reason for this is as follows: if you try to help them achieve their aim, even though you are fairly certain that it cannot be done, the client will probably end up disappointed.

For example, if they want an indoor swimming pool in their new home but their existing budget doesn't include any funds for the construction of a pool, you may either end up having to use cheaper materials elsewhere in the building in order to ensure that there is enough money for the pool, or you may have to go over-budget.

If you opt for the former, the client may feel dissatisfied with the quality of the areas of their home that have been built with the cheap materials, whilst if you opt for the latter, they may end up frustrated and annoyed by the extra expenses.

As such, whilst it may be hard to say no to your clients, doing so could save you a lot of strife in the long run. When you do have to have this type of conversation, it's worth suggesting a more feasible alternative that will soften the blow when you reject their idea. For instance, with regards to the above-mentioned indoor swimming pool, you may want to suggest that they have a luxurious jacuzzi tub added to their new bathroom.

Make sure that your clients understand how long complex features will take to construct

One of the main reasons that people choose to have custom homes built is that this approach enables them to include complex or unusual features that are not seen in most standard houses.

However, if your clients ask you to build a feature in their home that is complex and will take a lot of time to design and construct, it is important to be extremely clear about how many days or weeks the inclusion of this feature will add to the length of the building process.

If you do not clarify this, they may end up expressing frustration about how long the project is taking and start pressuring you and your building team to complete the work faster. This may force you to rush through the construction work, which could then result in this work not being done to your usual high standard.