Question for architects

4 years ago

(Or perhaps even folks who have built custom homes.)

My husband and I have long wanted to build a custom home but have put it off due to finances, family health crises, etc. We’re considering it more seriously now, but have no idea where to start in terms of knowing how big of a lot we’d need or how much square footage we would need to budget for. We have some unique needs, in that we both work from home and his work is done in a recording studio, but aside from that we want a fairly simple home. I assumed that we’d need at least 3500 square feet to pull it off and at least .30 acre (which isn’t easy/super affordable to come by in the city), but now I’m wondering if we’d actually need far less space if the home was tailored uniquely to us. We don’t have any desire for a huge primary bedroom or bathroom, for example, so I think that our square footage could be less than many new builds in our area.

So my question (now that I’m finally getting to it) is, is there an option to work with an architect on a very basic concept before a lot is purchased to give us a rough idea of how much square footage/land we would need? I know that ideally you have your land in hand and your architect designs to the site, and I would want to do that once we bought land, but is there a fee that we could pay to have someone give a rough estimate of these things? I worry that we’d be seen as wasting someone’s time, because we could start building soon, or it might be three years from now.

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Comments (4)

WestCoast Hopeful
4 years ago
We started talking to builders, not architects several years before we even bought. We wanted to get a sense of costs and if we could even do it. We narrowed it down to a few builders and from that smaller group asked if they had any examples of a build budget they could share so we could see how it looked, what was included, and what it ended up as. Despite what folks say on this forum they all happily obliged with this.

For knowing what we wanted in a house we went to tons and tons of open houses. We thought long and hard about what was missing from our house.

Then finally we got serious and started really looking. We were now down to one builder and they happily gave us their frank opinion of the tear downs we were looking at offering on.

We ended up buying a tear down and then choosing in our case a designer. Don’t regret this choice.
PRO
Mark Bischak, Architect
4 years ago
Start talking to several local builder and several local architects. The knowledge they share should lead you to your next step.
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Patrick A
4 years ago
I started talking to a builder and a real estate agent four or five years ago. Finally reached a point two years ago when we decided to take some action. We specifically looked for a builder who had experience in the community where we wanted to build because of the strict architectural requirements. I also know that I wanted land with utilities (water, electric, gas). Because we only wanted to live in a large footprint single-story with a central courtyard, we looked for lots that were relatively flat, located on corners (to have a wraparound porch/landscape), in premium locations withing the subdivision.

The Realtor recommended the builder who works with the architect that we're using (who is also experience with the community's Design Review process. It's never too early to start the conversation. The sooner you have the discussion, the sooner you can decide if you're ready, willing, and able (you need all three to proceed) to upset your life for the next several years. . .and remember, you'll need healthy cash reserves, decent credit if you're financing, and patience.
LH On the Move
4 years ago
I'm a retired recording engineer and my boyfriend is an acoustics expert (and audio expert as well) so if you have specific questions about that, let me know. For starters, do you need studio space and a control room? If possible, you'll want the studio acoustically isolated from the mechanics of your home.