5 Biggest Surprises When Designing and Building a Custom Home in the Berkshires
We recently interviewed one of our project owners and asked for their top 5 surprises.
This owner just broke ground on a custom home that is over $1 million in construction costs.
So what were the top 5 surprises?
1. Cost
2. The design process
3. The number of professionals needed
4. Partner communication
5. Time commitment
Here are the unedited, and unvarnished responses:
Cost of building (we had 0 experience and nothing really relatable other than planning a wedding) - even buying a house is tangible and there is a much smaller starting cost.
Design process - This is our dream house and we are hands-on and want to be involved - It took many meetings and lots of Houzz and Pinterest to eventually finalize our plans. It's a blank canvas and a piece of art, one could never put the pencil down.
Other professionals needed - with designers, general contractors, engineers, landscape designers, interior designers, home automation, etc etc etc, there are many more people involved in a project than we expected.
Partner - You need to have similar design ideas as your partner. This is more important for us because we are both hands on and interested. If my wife was into modern and I was into a rustic cabin then every decision would have been a challenge, debate, compromise. It would have not worked well.
Personal time commitment - didn't realize how many hours of personal investment this would take. From hiring designers until we walk in the door and then even after as we settle in and navigate to the best way to live in the space. It could be never ending so we need discipline. This is hard to manage with work, family and other commitments
Contact us for additional information about this project and to discuss your own.
