The Home Building and Remodeling Show

Don't Build Your Custom Home Without Knowing These Mistakes

• Chris Kerby • Season 2 • Episode 2

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Building a custom home should be exciting, not overwhelming. Yet many homeowners make critical mistakes that can compromise their satisfaction and investment. In this second installment of our series on custom home building pitfalls, we dig into three crucial areas where proper planning makes all the difference.

The conversation begins with mistake #4: failing to plan for the future. I share why aging in place considerations like wider doorways, seamless showers, and main floor bedrooms aren't just for seniors—they're smart planning for everyone. We explore the importance of strategic placement of electrical outlets, pot fillers, and other conveniences that you'll appreciate for years to come. The walkthrough during the rough-in phase is your golden opportunity to make these decisions before walls go up and changes become expensive.

Quality construction represents mistake #5, where cutting corners to save money upfront often leads to higher long-term costs. For coastal homes, hurricane fortification may seem expensive initially but provides lasting security and potential insurance savings. Energy-efficient windows and appliances similarly pay dividends through lower utility bills and added resale value. The conversation turns to mistake #6—ignoring resale potential—where over-customization and deviation from neighborhood norms can significantly impact your ability to sell in the future.

The Shop Talk segment tackles budget realities, including surprising costs homeowners often overlook, like utility connections and septic systems. We also debunk barndominium myths, explaining why these trendy structures aren't as inexpensive as internet sources suggest unless you're planning substantial DIY work or prioritizing garage/workshop space over living areas.

Whether you're planning your dream home now or considering a build in the future, these insights will help you make informed decisions that balance immediate desires with long-term value. The choices you make today determine not just your satisfaction tomorrow, but potentially your home's adaptability for decades to come.

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Speaker 1:

The Home Building and Remodeling Show. Let's go. Welcome everybody to the Home Building and Remodeling Show. My name is Chris Kirby and I'll be your host. I am the owner of three construction companies on the Alabama Gulf Coast. The show is about residential construction. We're going to cover topics of home building and remodeling. Are you thinking of doing a remodel or building a home? Are you a contractor looking to improve your knowledge base or grow your business? Have you ever done a remodel project or built a home? There were so many things you wish you knew or that you could have done differently during the process. Then this show is for you. We break down the process of building and remodeling and how to have the best results during your project. Whether you're a DIYer looking for tips, someone looking to hire a contractor to do a project, or a contractor looking to expand your knowledge base or your business, welcome aboard. Glad to have you. Stay tuned.

Speaker 1:

We kick off the show with my thoughts on home building and remodeling. I'll share best practices and talk about some of our experiences in business and out in the field. These shared thoughts and lessons learned are meant to help you on your very own journey. Let's go. We're picking up where we left off on the 10 biggest mistakes people make when building a custom home. Number four is not planning for the future. And what do I mean when I say not planning for the future? I'm talking about the fact that most people, when they build a custom home, you get to make the choices design choices, plan choices, different things like that. What we commonly see is people failing to plan for the future.

Speaker 1:

Aging in place is a big deal. If you're not sure what that means. There's a lot of people who want to remain in their home instead of going to a nursing home or a facility as they get older. Well, you have to make the home adaptable for that age. So, for instance, doing things like having wider doors We've done a secret pantry door in the garage that you can put the groceries inside of this secret pantry door, and I'll show you a clip from one of the videos we took of that pantry door, things like that. So you clip from one of the videos we took of that pantry door, things like that so you can put the groceries right onto the pantry floor and then walk in the house and put them in Seamless showers, benches and showers, grab bars, different things that make you age better. You're able to stay in your home if you have a home that is specially adapted to aging in place. And that is a thing that we see homeowners fail to think about often is how long are they going to stay in the home and if they want this to be their forever home. That's something that they definitely need to think about.

Speaker 1:

The other part of failing to plan properly or plan for future use, when we get to the rough phase right, we've got the house rough framed and before we go and do the drywall, you're going to have the electrician and plumber and HVAC. They're going to come in and do their rough in work. And what we often do, even though we have a set of plans that we go off of, we often do a walkthrough with the homeowner and we talk about the placement of not just the GFIs but different outlets and locations of lights and things like that. When we're looking at kitchens and things the placement of electrical sockets that are where you could plug things in If you've got a butler's pantry and you want to have a crock pot plugged in on top of that or you want to have different features in your house. So electrical outlets and those placements of those and the type of electrical outlets are something that you don't want to fail to plan for Pot fillers different options in the home now that we have that we can provide. Pot filler is a big one. Hot water at the stove Usually the pot filler is right over the stove and having that right there instead of having to go to the sink and carry a big boiling pot of hot water back. This is a custom home, so you are able to have choice in a lot of how it's designed.

Speaker 1:

Again, on the topic of aging in place, on number four, which is failing to plan for the future, one feature that I do enjoy is having at least one main floor bedroom. Maybe the primary could be on the main floor because as you get older, if you have a two-story home, it does get harder to go up and down the stairs. Not that you can't do it, but we're talking well into the future. As you're aging, you may have a hindrance to going up and down the stairs. You may hindrance to going up and down the stairs. You may not want to go up and down the stairs. So when designing a custom home, if it's going to have multiple levels. Make sure that there's accessibility to those multiple levels and having that same floor primary or main floor room it doesn't have to be the primary, but in the future you may again have problems going up and down the stairs Make sure that you have one main four bedroom.

Speaker 1:

Family changes. Again on number four this is a big one too. Plan to plan for the future. So, instead of you know, especially for those young couples looking to get started in life having a 2-2, you know, as a starter home, it's not a bad idea. However, if you can get a house maybe a 3-2, where they have a smaller office that they're technically calling a bedroom, or when we build that home and you need that extra space, if you do plan on having children or raising children in the future, you may want to have something now that you can use as an office space that could turn into a nursery or something like that. So, just accommodating that, especially if the starter home can evolve into your forever home, you need to plan for that family growth.

Speaker 1:

Another plan for future use on number four is the attic space. So if you build the attic space out or want to turn that into an area later that could be habitable. It is important to go ahead and pre-engineer that space to become habitable in the future. Also, as far as space and attic planning, you may not build stairs into your attic. You may have a pull down, but as long as you have an area, an access area to build stairs in the future, that's something that could save you money Instead of moving. You could turn that attic into an extra room and it can be accessible. So just planning that space for those stairs in the future, planning to have access to the attic in the future.

Speaker 1:

So budget is a constant concern. It was the number one item on the list of 10. And we talked about it at length in the last episode. But number five is skipping on quality, and this ties into number one. It ties into budget.

Speaker 1:

But you do not want to skimp on quality. And I'm not just talking quality, as in getting high end cosmetic features put into your home. Right, the allowances and nice, super upscale marble, granite, I mean, you know, quartzite, different types of countertops to make it look good. Right, more modern, more sleek, but that's not what I'm talking about. Okay, that does matter, right, higher-end products typically hold up and last longer, but you still have to take care of those items. So where I'm talking about skipping on quality is a quality-built home with gold fortification. Here in the South we have hurricanes but it does cost more to build a gold fortified home because of the requirements and the strictness of passing that gold fortification bar right. To have a home that is gold fortified means that you've done upgrades to the strapping, windows and doors, impact rating or rated, or you have shutters, I mean. So it does cost more to do a gold fortified home.

Speaker 1:

The other part is the energy efficiency. So windows and different appliances and different items that are energy star rated, they actually do help in the long run, right. Not just with the power bill, because we get it right. You're looking at the power bill and you're saying, well, $20,000 in in Windows versus 10, how long would it take to actually add up for that power bill to actually get the cost back for that? But in the long run, right for a custom home, that stuff does add value. When you do it Also, you get different tax breaks and also just making sure that you understand that having lower end items or having lower rated items in your home, actually you're not only going to get stuff that maybe breaks sooner, but you're going to have a higher cost to maintain as you're moving forward.

Speaker 1:

Urgency always comes up when building a custom home. Right, some people have time and some people just don't have the luxury of time. So speed over quality is something that you need to pay attention to. And also picking that lowest cost, that lowest bid. It can lead to higher repair cost and maintenance cost and that does go back to skipping on quality. So make sure that you know you're thinking about. You know budget is always an issue, so having a lower upfront cost sometimes is the priority. However, that the builder should talk you through how to get quality products at a lower cost and help you save money without jeopardizing the quality, without jeopardizing the future durability of your home.

Speaker 1:

Number six on the 10 mistakes to avoid when building a custom home is ignoring resale value. And look, when you're building a custom home, you're customizing it to you, your wants, your needs. It's your dream, it's your vision, but the reality is you do have to think of resale value Unless you know for sure this is your forever home. Over customization can hurt your value If you're customizing it too much to yourself and you may be spending way more than you realize on that customization and you may not get the return on investment, and so you do have to be leery. Plus, the other part to this is, aesthetically it has to match certain areas and if it differs too much from there's people who want to move into the community that you live. If your house internally is too different from what the expectations of that community are or the style of home that they're looking for, it could actually hurt the value of your home. You may not be able to sell it because you've put so much into it to customize it for yourself that you've got it listed thinking all this customization is creating value in the house. But it's not. It could actually hurt you. So I do not recommend over-customizing the house unless you know for sure that this is your forever home.

Speaker 1:

Another part of the ignoring your resale value. So number six again is ignoring the resale value of your home. So let's just say it's common in a neighborhood or an area to have a 3-2, right, that's a pretty standard. 3-2, 4-2, 4-3. Those are pretty standard features. If you are saying, well, I don't really care, I'm going to build a two bedroom, two bathroom, large home with different features, well, is that really what a family is going to be looking for. So even a family of three or a new couple, a two-two may work at first, but in the long run they're going to opt for that three-two and make sure that their family can grow. So ignoring resale value when you're customizing a home has a large potential for failure in the future when you go to sell and now we move into Shop Talk, it's the portion of the show where I bring in a co-host and we cover trending topics in home building and remodeling. Hope you enjoy, let's go.

Speaker 1:

You've taken that deposit and or they change their mind because for us we've got a long time to start project because we're booked up but they may go and find something that's more or less and then now you've got material deposit and they're changing their mind on what they want to install and it costs more or less and you may have to give back some money. You know, and that stuff happens to us too and it messes up those those hard numbers in that cash flow a little bit when you start to mess with the deposit and mess with allowances and different things like that. So if they're bringing their stuff to the table, they know what they want based on our good, better, best numbers. It really helps us out. But getting back to the budget part of home building us out.

Speaker 1:

But getting back to the budget part of home building, and, as you've been looking at this, there's some unforeseen costs that people don't realize too when it comes to building a house, which we aren't responsible for. But we'll help them coordinate. So they're looking at it and let's just say they're good with our construction cost and it's $450,000. They're like good, that fits my budget. But they still got some stuff they've got to do on their end.

Speaker 1:

Let's just say to get water to the property, get the sewer tap put in, and those things we try to talk to them about, we educate them about it, but ultimately it's their responsibility. But those are costs that could be $10,000 just to get the septic put in, and if you don't talk to them about it or educate them, they'll think that that was a part of the standard cost of construction and it's just not. And so that's another budget conversation that you have to have is we are bidding on the construction part, but there are still things that need to be clarified, that need to be done on their end. You know again, utilities and what are some other things you could think of. A survey, right, the plan drawing and engineering. We sometimes will include that if they really want to just have the cost under us, we get some of that stuff cheaper sometimes. What about sticker shot?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, some people get sticker shot bad.

Speaker 1:

I don't think people know how much it.

Speaker 2:

Well, I think people get a lot of false information off the internet.

Speaker 1:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

And so it kind of throws them off. So what are some of the like you know, because we had that one customer that came in and she was like, can you really build these barn dominiums for, like when she was like 80 or 90 dollars a square foot, and I was like not at all.

Speaker 1:

Well, and that's the thing. The barn dominiums are a whole different story and I'm so angry. We were talking about this with Alan yesterday and he, he does our shelves. This with Alan yesterday and he, he does our shelves. So the way we do our Barnum and Ames is we buy, we purchased the building and we've got a guy that coordinates that. He, we purchased the metal building from him. The metal building is delivered and it's built and then we take over the rest of the construction from there.

Speaker 1:

But people are thinking that these barnuminiums are super cheap to build and in reality they're just not. Now there are some that are cheaper than others because we do ours basically like a commercial style, where you've actually got steel it's steel framed, steel beams, you know what I mean and a heavier gauge metal where they do have the pole barn style barnominiums, right Right, which tend to be cheaper. But in reality the barnominium shell itself is the cheap portion. The build out is going to be the same as if we're building out a house. So what are some ways For anybody who is watching this that wants to learn about Barnuminiums or they're out there hearing it's so much cheaper to do a Barnuminium. What are some ways for them to actually do it cheaper. So what would a cheaper build look like as it pertains to a Barnuminium?

Speaker 2:

From what I'm learning, it would probably be. If you were doing a cash build, yeah, instead of financing, yeah, and you could get. You know what I mean. You could do a lot of the work on your own.

Speaker 1:

Yep.

Speaker 2:

Type situation.

Speaker 1:

If you've got that type of talent right or know people who could help you Exactly.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 1:

If you've got more barn space than you have actual living space, it's a lot cheaper, right yeah, living space is a lot cheaper, yes, so I mean it could be a lot, lot cheaper, especially if you got.

Speaker 1:

You know, I mean the whole workshop, right, and that's kind of like. The original idea of a barn. Minimum was to have a smaller living space and more garage space, you know. And so you've got all this open space, and that open space is cheaper to build. It's the shell of the home, you know what I mean. And we were kind of comparing some of the old barnuminiums as it would cost against a traditional home and they were anywhere from 10 to 20 percent cheaper. But those were larger shells with smaller living space. You know what I mean. And then on the pole barn, you know that's not something that we've done yet. We will do them eventually, I think. But to me, I'm still wrapping my head around how they're even turning that into a residential structure. Right, it's a meet code, but they are.

Speaker 2:

There are people out there doing it, yeah because I had those plans come in on that one, that's right, they're using a scissor truss steel scissor truss, yeah, the poles, and then it's all two by six.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, uh. So if some people, if you're watching this and they're, they're, they've got a really tight and they'll be on a tight budget.

Speaker 2:

They are not shopping at a tight budget, you know. I mean yeah, and they're picking out hiring stuff yeah and stuff. Yeah, it's like what? How are you expecting us to get this into your bubble?

Speaker 1:

or we'll get into the build on what they thought was a good budget and what we told them was a good budget and we say, hey, this is that good, it's the good, better, best, you're on all good and they're out there finding best. They're out there saying, well, I want this, can I change this? Hey, that's not in the budget. And that's a hard conversation when you've already broke ground and you're in the middle of this thing. To have is that wasn't in your budget. And you know understanding the.

Speaker 1:

What the good is right, it's a new home, it's going to be, for our home is going to be gold fortified. So you're getting a good home with new stuff. We're not actually our good isn't like laminate or something like that. Our good is actually granite and so you're getting a good product. But I think sometimes they get confused with that, a good product being quartz and quartzite and it's just, that's just not, it's not doable in their budget. And as you scale these houses right, the amount of stuff you've got to put in the kitchen or the amount of cabinets you've got to put in a kitchen or the amount of cabinets you've got to put in a kitchen, goes up and it's costing us more and more money, you know? Did you find when you were doing this, though, as the houses get larger, is it more expensive, or do you think it actually goes down a little bit?

Speaker 2:

The price per square foot it seems to go down, the bigger the house gets Right.

Speaker 1:

And because there's that empty space. If you enlarge a kitchen, that's a different story. If you have a huge master bathroom with a lot of fixtures and tile and mosaic, that's different. But adding a bedroom where it's just open space, open flooring, you know, it starts to get a little bit different there too. Thanks for joining us today. As always, we are grateful for our listeners and your continued support. Please subscribe to our YouTube channel. Follow us on social media via Facebook, instagram and TikTok. Get more info at our website, facebook, instagram and TikTok. Get more info at our website, wwwthehomebuildingshowcom. And, as always, remember who we are the Home Building and Remodeling Show. Outro Music.

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Chris Kerby

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