When building a new home, you need to decide whether to go for a custom build that perfectly suits all of your needs, or whether you’re willing to compromise slightly and build ‘off the plan’ using designs that your builder has already created. Custom homes can certainly be more expensive, but they also suit your needs completely. Let’s look at why they cost more than a standard home.

Architect expenses

One of the biggest expenses involved in building a custom home is the actual design itself. When you start from an empty slate, you’ll need an architect to design your home, and this can be costly. There are certainly other factors that affect the cost of building a new home, but this is certainly one of the major ones.

Designing custom homes is a lot more involved than simply drawing a floor plan. Everything needs to be taken into consideration, from the land you’re building on to the position of lighting through the house. This takes time, and of course, a qualified professional, therefore, the cost increases.

When building your home from ready-made designs from your building company, all of that work is already done, bar a couple of tweaks to suit your plot of land.

Approvals

This aspect may not necessarily affect the cost, but in some circumstances, it can. Let’s say you hired an architect to design your dream home. You take the plans to the builder, and it gets submitted to the council for approval. 9 out of 10 times there probably won’t be an issue, but if the council won’t approve the plans for some reason, you need to go back to the architect.

In this situation, the architect’s fees may increase because they have to do additional work making the changes for council approval. Even if the architect includes these amendments in their initial fee, it will still slow down the process which means more time until you can move into your new home.

Size matters

It’s not always the case, but many custom homes are larger than pre-designed house plans. Naturally, with more size comes the need for more materials, so that adds to your overall cost. Aside from material costs, a larger home will take longer to build. Your builder should give you a fixed price for the build, but this will be based on the number of hours the team will take to build the house. Therefore, the price will be higher if the home is larger.

Complexity of build

While the size of the home is one consideration that impacts the price, another is the complexity of the home. You may not be building a vast, sprawling mansion, but if the layout or design is more complex, it will take longer to build. Just like the size, this affects the overall cost.

The complexity might be due to the type of block you build on or even the layout of the home. If there are internal stairs or other access requirements, this can be more complicated. Any time that you stray from a traditional style home, the price is likely to go up.

The need for professionals

Most building companies have a network of professionals they use when building homes. This can include plumbers, electricians, roofers and more. However, if you want speciality types of items in your home, the process can be a little more involved.

Let’s use an entertainment room as an example. If you want a designated room for watching movies, the audio/visual requirements are going to be a lot more involved than a home without such a room. Professional AV installers will be required to get the job done properly, and this adds to the build cost.

That’s just one example, but most extra costs such as landscaping, AV and technical experts, pool builders and more can add to the overall cost of your home.

Looking to build custom homes in Queensland?

Avondale Homes specialises in a wide variety of home styles. From beautiful 3-bedroom suburban houses to sprawling acreage home designs, we’ve got something for everybody. If you decide that custom homes aren’t within your budget, speak to us about building one of our pre-designed homes. We can also make customisations to these designs if you need them, so you’ll still get the features you want without the extra price tag. Contact the friendly Avondale Homes team today, and we’ll be happy to discuss your new home needs.

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