What is it about something new that gets us excited? Whether it's an Amazon delivery of a new throw for your living room, a new year filled with resolutions and goals, or a new colleague you're excited to get to know, anticipating something new can be a high point in our lives. Building a new home, especially a custom home, where everything will be new to you, is no exception. There will be a lot of new decisions for you to make, and the start isn't just one step, but many. Gerard Construction knows about each of these decisions you will need to make, from the very start.

Where Should I Build?

First, you will need to decide where you are building your custom home. Having a location is an imperative first step, and there are benefits to building in a new community, on a site you have secured in an established neighborhood, or on land in a rural area of the Brazos Valley. Weighing these benefits and deciding which one is best for your family comes with answering several questions. Do you need access to certain amenities like parks, recreation centers, and local schools? Do you see yourself retiring in this home and want the extra space of acreage? What size home do you envision, and can the desired plot of land house this footprint? There are several considerations in the actual location you decide on. Gerard Construction can help you, even from this point, in helping weigh each location and in land acquisition itself. From our past work in finance, we have expertise in this matter and can pass that knowledge on to you.

Money Matters

Second, a step in any home-buying process is to consider your budget and work out your financing details. Some financial limitations may adjust your plans or require creative thinking in your build. There is a huge range for custom home building. According to Forbes, the national average for building a new home, without land considerations, is $329,000. That amount is less for our area of the country, but we have seen budgets of all types. We will work with you to set an ideal target for your loan based on a rough estimate of what you want to build. We will also help you set an amount we may need for contingencies or extras that often pop up along the way. This is where our decades of home-building and financing experience come into play. We have a keen awareness of realistic costs and the budgets we are working with.

Pen to Paper

Third, you will want to start deciding on a floor plan and architectural details for your custom home build. We will need to get a sense of the overall footprint, structure, design, and materials you want for your new home. We have architects to help you, as well as a design team to help choose some of the overall aesthetic and functional details that you may not have considered. In this early step, as well as later steps of the custom home build process, we encourage you to take a large amount of time to imagine your day-to-day routines in your dream home. By mentally walking through your home, from waking up to getting ready, to preparing meals and relaxing, to driving in and out of your home, to resting at night, you will begin to see your home build in your mind, which we can then work to put on paper.

Gerard Construction will be there for your custom home build from the start, through every step of the middle, to the very end. To learn more about custom home building with Gerard, see our step-by-step home building guide and contact us today. We love to build new and renovate old and are excited to work with you on either.