Here’s some of the things homebuilders have been seeing by their clients:

Less Is More

Homebuyers and those who are building a home are wanting less space than ever before. Gone are the days of “bigger is better,” and now homes that fall in the range of 1,650 to 2,600 square feet have become more desirable. Not only do smaller homes cost less, but they cost less to keep cool and heat all throughout the year.

Flexible Living Areas

Instead of the formal living room and dining room layout in a floor plan, homebuyers are looking for spaces that offer more flexibility. A large great room maximizes square footage and offers a more casual option family members will be likely to relax and enjoy for awhile.

Layout Is King

Homebuyers are forgoing expensive upgrades and extras and sticking to the true basics of a home, the floor plan. What homebuyers want is a functional home that serves the situation perfectly and “all the bells and whistles” simply aren’t necessary in order to live well in a space.

The Heart Of The Home

Everyone knows the heart of the home is the kitchen and that has become a major focal point for those seeking a new home. Homebuyers and builders are realizing that this space gathers family and friends, offers casual dining space including an island, provides a space for relaxing, homework projects, and most importantly is where meals are prepared. Many homebuyers would prefer to let the formal dining room disappear in order to gain a more, spacious and functional kitchen.

Room For “Toys”

Maybe the inside of the home is decreasing in square footage, but one place that is not becoming smaller is the garage. Three-car garages are in much greater demand and provide a family with plenty of space for their cars, recreational vehicles, storage, hobbies and more.

Being Green

Most home buyers know that going “green” may be a little more expensive in the beginning, but the benefits far outweigh the expense in the long run. Homebuyers are willing to put a little more money upfront to live more efficiently in their new home for the duration.

The green movement is sweeping the country. You can’t pick up a magazine or turn on the T.V. without finding the latest facts and tips for living the “green way.” It’s discussed in trade journals, newspapers, and commercials and home building is one area that is no exception. While many people are becoming more aware of the significant cost savings and ecological impact that living green can offer, some have no clue what green building is. Even the smallest changes to ranch home plans or two-story home plans can produce a more environmentally friendly atmosphere. Here are some common reactions many people have about building green.

Aren’t green homes weird looking?

Yes, I have seen some really crazy green homes, but most green homes are built in a traditional style, and you wouldn’t know by looking at them that they were green. I have seen beautiful, traditional homes that are certified green, and yes I have seen the shiny modern glass cubes with grass growing on the roof. I built a beautiful Fairhope Cottage style home with exposed rafter tails and cypress board and batten siding that will be Certified Green by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).

Green homes must have solar panels on them, right?

Solar energy is great and a lot of green homes incorporate them in their energy plans. Solar panels, however, are not a requirement when building a green home. There are a lot of certified green homes that do not utilize solar energy, and there are a lot of homes which are solar that are not green. Solar technology is getting much better and prices are continuing to drop, but I have found it is usually more cost effective to conserve energy than to generate it.

Aren’t green homes too expensive?

The problem with this way of thinking is that it doesn’t consider the operating cost of the home. Simply put, inefficient homes cost more to heat and cool, light, and supply water to. Green Homes may require more investment at the time of purchase or construction, but the return on that investment is immediate and permanent. Mortgage companies have figured this out. Mortgage companies will qualify a borrower for a larger mortgage payment with a product known as an Energy Efficient Mortgage (EEM). They know that if your mortgage payment is $100 extra each month and your utilities are $150 less then you will save $50 each and every month. As energy and water rates rise, the return on this investment will continue to get better.

O.K., now we know that a green home doesn’t have to be the expensive spaceship at the end of the block with grass on the roof and solar panels everywhere, so what makes a home green?

Green homes are energy efficient

Through careful design and construction green homes can reduce the amount of energy needed to operate by 30-75% and more. This is done by carefully air sealing the house, orienting the house for optimum solar exposure and shading, insulating, and choosing the right windows, lighting, HVAC, and appliances. A green home will have a Home Energy Rating (HERS rating). Testing, inspections, and analysis of a homes design and construction determine this rating. Yes, I said testing.  If someone claims that they have an energy efficient home ask them for the homes HERS rating.

Green homes conserve water

Green homes can reduce a home’s water use by 30-50% by using low flow faucets, shower heads, watersense toilets, and energy star appliances. This technology has greatly improved and there is no sacrifice of comfort in exchange for the water savings. We used dual flush toilets in our current project. These use less water for a “#1” flush than a “#2” flush. Other strategies for water conservation include rainwater catchment and greywater reuse, and I think that we will see more of this in the future.

Green homes are healthier

Green homes pay specific attention to indoor air quality. Recent data shows that the air inside buildings is often more polluted than the air outside, and people are spending more and more time indoors. This has exaggerated many problems including allergies and asthma. Green homes increase indoor air quality by eliminating possible pollutants such as formaldehyde, and other Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) during the construction process. Carefully designed ventilation also provides fresh air and also removes contaminated or moisture laden air.

Green homes use fewer resources

By using local, reclaimed, engineered and well-designed products green homes have less impact on our natural resources including forests and energy supplies.

Green homes are certified

How do you know if a home really is green? It is hard to tell unless a third party certifies the home. We are currently using the NAHB green building guidelines for our parade home, and are expecting it to receive a Gold level certification.  Third party certifiers inspect and test homes during construction to verify that any claims are legitimate and quantified. A homebuyer can be confident in the certification from a reputable organization such as the Washington D.C. based NAHB or the U.S. Green Building councils LEED certification.

Almost everyone can envision the perfect home. Maybe you love the clean, simple lines and prestigious feel of colonial house plans. Or perhaps you are attracted to the steep rooflines and rustic flair that characterize country French house plans. Whatever style – or combination of styles – defines your dream home, it’s important to determine what features are necessary in your home based not only on your current needs but also future requirements. Although this may seem difficult, incorporating flexible living space in your new home now will benefit you in the future. The versatility of playrooms, media rooms and home offices offer the growing family extra space that can easily be adapted to fit your changing lifestyle.

2. Choose a Homesite

The site where you plan to build will have a definite impact on the style of home plan you select. It’s best to choose a home plan that will complement your site to avoid extra cost and frustration. But don’t less this inhibit you from building the home of your dreams. In most cases, the plan you choose can be modified to fit the site. For example, if your land is small or narrow, it may be more appealing to build your dream log home plan as a two-story than as a ranch. This can dramatically enhance your living space and offer you creative ways to design your home. If your new home site is wooded, or has a lake in the back, an atrium ranch house plan is a perfect style to take advantage of surrounding backyard views.

The site for your new home will have a definite impact on the home plan you select. It’s a good idea to select a home design that will complement your site. This will save you time and money when you’re building. Or, you can then modify the design to specifically accommodate the site. For example, if you land slopes, a walk-out basement works perfectly. If it’s wooded, or has lake in the back, an atrium ranch house plan is a perfect style to take advantage of surrounding backyard views.

Some important criteria to consider when selecting a site are what type of improvements will have to be made for utilities, walks and driveways. Evaluate the local area as far as convenience to work, school, shops, etc. Don’t forget to ask about zoning requirements and property taxes. Consider hiring a civil engineer to investigate the soil conditions at your future site.

Finally, order a title search to make sure the person or firm that sells you the land owns it free and clear.

3. Design Selection

Houseplansandmore.com features over 17,000 home plans from some of the nation’s leading designers and architects. We offer a variety of styles and sizes of floor plans including ranch house plans, luxury house plans, southern home plans, log home plans and many more styles to suit the needs of each and every homeowner. Browse our website and search by style as well as other criteria and easily discover the home of your dreams. Each house plan has a front rendering, floor plan(s) and special features and many also feature rear, right and left elevations in addition to interior and exterior photos.

4. Material List

The material list is a helpful component of the building process and is available for many of our house plans. These materials, a major cost item for your new home, must be priced to obtain financing. A material list includes not only a detailed listing of materials, but also indicates where various cuts of lumber and other building components are to be used This will save your general contractor significant time and money since they won’t have to create this list before building begins.

5. Overall Cost

To determine the overall cost of your new home, many factors need to be considered. The six major expense categories are as follows:

-       Land

-       Foundation

-       Material Cost

-       General Contractor’s Fee

-       Site Improvements

Some rules-of-thumb that you may find useful are: (a) the total labor cost will generally run a little higher that your total material cost; (b) it’s not unusual for a builder or general contractor to charge 15 to 20% of the combined cost for managing the overall project; and (c) don’t forget to add in the cost of your site improvements such as utilities, driveway, sidewalks, landscaping, etc., in figuring the total building cost.

6. Ordering Home Plans

If the plan you’ve selected on www.houseplansandmore.com is essentially what you’ve been looking for, it would be a good idea to order eight (or more) sets of blueprints at a time. The eight-set plan package offers a considerable savings and these additional sets will be required by your mortgage lender, local building department, builder, and sub-contractors. You’ll also want a set for yourself as a permanent record.

7. Customizing

We understand that it is difficult to find blueprints for a home to meet all your needs. That is why we are pleased to offer home plan modification services. Customizing is available for all of the house plans on our website. Please go to the page called “Customizing a Plan” for all the specific information on this process.

8. Financing

Financing the home you plan to build is somewhat different than financing the purchase of an existing house. You’re going to need thousands of dollars for land, labor, and material – chances are you’re going to have to borrow most of it. Therefore, you will probably need to obtain a construction loan. This is a short-term loan to pay for building your house. When the house is completed, the loan is paid off in full, usually out of the proceeds from your long-term mortgage loan.

Lending institutions usually offer construction loans only to builders and developers. The best way for an individual to get a construction loan is to arrange for your long-term mortgage loan from a lender at the same time you ask for the construction loan. This makes you a much more desirable customer to the lender, since you will be paying interest over many years.

Furthermore, if you get your construction loan from the same source which provides your mortgage loan you may be charged lower interest for your construction loan if you borrowed it by itself.

9. Hire a Contractor

If you’re inexperienced in construction, you’ll probably want to hire a general contractor to manage the project. If you do not know a reputable general contractor, begin your search by contracting your local Home Builders Association to get references. Many states require building contractors to be licensed. If this is the case in your state, its licensing board is another referral source. Finding a reputable, quality-minded contractor is a key factor in ensuring that your new home is well constructed and is finished on time and within budget.

10. Order Materials

You can order yourself or have your contractor do it. Nevertheless, in order to thoroughly enjoy your new home you will want to personally select many of the materials that will go into its construction. Today, home improvement stores offer a wide variety of quality building products from which to choose. Only you can decide what specific types of windows, cabinets, bath fixtures, etc. will make your new home a dream home. Spend the time early on in the construction process to study the large selection of materials and products available. In this way, you’ll be assured of getting what you want.

To avoid such a potentially devastating setback, homeowners should familiarize themselves with building codes at the very outset of their home construction project. Building codes outline the minimum safety standards that must be met in various aspects of construction. These codes can include sanitation, electrical, ventilation, plumbing, and fire safety regulations as well as energy conservation. Complex and confounding, the average homeowner is not expected to understand every single building code, or even be familiar with the hundreds of codes within construction. However, it is important to be aware of the building code system in order to understand how it may affect your dream home. When purchasing pre-drawn house plans, it is essential to have your local contractor or design professional review the house plans prior to building and make sure all local codes are being met. It is much easier and less expensive to modify your home plans before building.

Within the United States there are four “Model Codes” that reduce risk during construction:
• The Building Officials & Code Administrators International, Inc. (BOCA)
• The International Conference of Building Officials (ICBO)
• The Southern Building Code Congress International, Inc. (SBCCI)
• The Council of American Building Officials (CABO)
These four are guides to hundreds of similar but different local building codes. Different municipalities favor different model codes, but are typically the same within a region.

Building codes are important for both individual homeowners and the community at large. These codes are set up to ensure the personal safety of homeowners and the economic well being of the community. They help homes to conserve energy and they protect future homebuyers from misleading purchases. It is important to ask potential contractors about the various building codes for every style of home that is being built whether its ranch home plans or two-story home plans. Also, be sure to seek out local building code information for your municipality. Codes are constantly being updated and changed, so it will be of value to have notes prepared to compare with the builder to ensure they are updated on the latest rules and regulations. After some initial research, you may determine that some changes may need to be made to the original design of your home. These changes may possibly take some time and money, but it will be beneficial to learn about this information before your home is in the finishing stages of construction. The more information you obtain will result in fewer problems during construction and a beautiful finished home to enjoy for years to come!