House plans… how fun! People love to pour one after another. And this kind of research can be useful. But be careful. Let me share a short story. A while back I was working on a home show, talking to thousands of people, and a woman who was looking at various house plans that she had on display approached me.
I started the conversation. “Thinking of building a house?” I asked. “Yes!” was his response. Normally this would mean an anxious prospect, so I asked, “Do you own land?” His answer…another “yes!” Taking the conversation a little further, I found out that she had been seriously looking for her dream house plan for years and when she found the one she liked, she was going to buy it! Some warning bells went off inside my head.
Don’t waste months or years making inaccurate assumptions.
The danger this woman faced was that she was following a path that would lead to disappointment, time delays, and loss of money. Knowing where she intended to build herself, she could foresee the dead ends and aggravations toward which she was heading. She was wasting time and potentially some money. She hadn’t done any important research.
Once you own your land and are ready to build, it’s time to get serious. It’s time to do some research, paying attention to these CAUTIONS and taking these ACTIONS:
BAIL: There may be building restrictions imposed by the city, county, local building department or subdivision/community. These are often called CC&Rs or covenants, conditions, and restrictions. These can have a huge impact on what and how you build.
VALUES: Just get a copy of these by calling your local building authority and Home Owners Association and read on!
BAIL: Your building plot may be in a flood zone, earthquake zone, area of high winds or snow load requirements, etc.
VALUES: Check with your local building department, structural engineer and/or architect for codes and requirements.
BAIL: There may be a law that your house plans cannot be made or created by anyone outside of your state, province, or county.
VALUES: If this is the case, you may need to hire a local residential architect or designer to draw up your home plans, or you may need to purchase pre-drawn plans from a local designer.
BAIL: Some home plan companies do not allow changes to their plans without substantial additional costs. This can come as a surprise and increase the bill.
VALUES: Always find out if they will allow you to make changes. Also, determine the costs of having them make changes. Check with local architects to find one willing to modify another’s plans. Some won’t do this even if the plan company allows it.
IN CONCLUSION
The worst case scenario could be that the plans you buy are useless and you waste several hundred (or thousands) of dollars and the time you spent. I know this happens to people when they didn’t do their homework first. The dream fades. It can be devastating.
There may be more potential hazards, but as you can see, most problems can be avoided simply by familiarizing yourself with your CC&Rs and talking to your local building authorities, who are usually very helpful. Personally, I don’t like wasting time or money and I’m sure the same thing happens to you. Do some research. To really get that dream plan, you need to learn as much as you can.
