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Can I "Customize" a house you are already building?

Doesn't it cost millions to build a custom home?

Why would I want to "Customize" a home. Aren't all the homes you build nice?

How do I pay for a custom home?

How long does it take to build a Custom home?

The American Dream of Owning your own home has changed over the years. There was a time that homeowners built their homes out of necessity. That time has past. Most homeowners buy their home, without having any say in the design and building process. Those that build their own home do so for varying reasons. If superior quality, custom design, or adventure would be any of your reasons to build, then Central Sound Construction, can certainly fulfill your desires.
 

Land Selection- As a builder, we are constantly provided with information about building lots for sale by Realtors, and brokers. Pick the area you'd like to live in, and we'll let you know what building lots are available. We'll even help you decide which would be best for the type of house you want, resale value, land quality, and community information.

Picking House Plans- If your plot of land fits the average plot characteristics, we have house plan books, as well as computer programs that we can use to help you choose from stock plans. Maybe your plot is unique in it's shape or view, or maybe you just want a very custom house. That's great- you can sit down with our design team and we'll draw our own house plans to match your dream.

Interior Design- Debra is marvelous at seeing what your dream is, and make the finished product just like you pictured. We'll help you pick everything from the paint, to tile, Counters to carpets, Toilets to light switches, Finish trim to faucets. You'd be amazed just how many choices there are to make that you would never have thought about. Walk around your house, and just think that everything you look at has 10-15 other models like it to choose from. That's a lot of choices.

Wiring the House- Have you ever wondered why they didn't put that light switch where you think it should be placed? How about why isn't there enough phone jacks in your house? Would you believe that phone wire is the most commonly purchased item when moving into a new house. You'd think that by now we'd have it figured out, but the truth is, everyone is different. When it comes time for wiring, you can walk through the house with the electrician, and tell him where to put each light, switch, phone jack, and outlet. In this technological age in which we live, we can even wire your house so that you have a high speed Internet connection in each room, background music everywhere you go, and even let you watch your baby monitor from ANY TV. If you can think it, we can most likely make it happen.

Landscaping- The most commonly forgotten part of building, but truly the icing on the cake, working with our landscape architect we'll help you figure out the very best way to use the land you have for beauty, ease of maintenance, or both.
   
 

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I "Customize" a house you are already building?

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Do you ask a baker to "customize" his cake for you? If it's all completed, the only thing he can change is the icing, or maybe the writing. House building is very similar. The earlier in the process you get involved the more decisions you will be able to make. We call these homes "spec upgrades." Finishes can be decided at the last moment as well as exterior and interior paint, however, Ceiling type (Vaulted, Open Beam, 9ft), kitchen layout, household wiring, and even some lighting is very difficult to change once the plans have been approved and the house is taking shape. This is not to say that you can't customize any of our houses, but in the interests of finishing our houses on time it may be better to build you a Custom Home.

Doesn't it cost millions to build a custom home?

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Do you want a million dollar house? Probably the most difficult question to answer because of a simple disease that I believe infects 90% of all homeowners. This is the "While-we're-at-it" disease. I'm commonly asked how close the actual building cost will come to the estimate. The simple answer to that is about 3-4% - If nothing is changed. I've built enough houses to know how much things are going to cost, so I can estimate very accurately. The practical answer is more like 10%. This is due primarily to the homeowner adding, and changing things once the walls start going up.

  • While-we're-at-it- Can we just put an alarm system in the walls?
  • While-we're-at-it- Can we change the entry from a simple door to an elegant glass door?
  • While-we're-at-it- Can we put a Jacuzzi tub in the Master Bathroom?
  • While-we're-at-it- Shouldn't we just finish the basement?
  • While-we're-at-it- Is there any way we can make that room a little bigger?
  • While-we're-at-it- I'd like to put in commercial appliances
  • While-we're-at-it- Do you get the picture??

Houses are not disposable like many other things in our society, and we realize that. Additionally, there are many things that we don't realize until the walls start going up, and the house starts taking shape. This is what drives us to add things along the way, and we're quickly exceeding our budget.

To give you a rough estimate of what your dream home would cost to build, take a look at our "Building Calculator." You just may be surprised.

Why would I want to "Customize" a home. Aren't all the homes you build nice?

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We like to think so, and if you ask any of our homeowners, they all think so too. This doesn't mean that every home we build meets your specific desires, but working together we will do our best to make the home of your dreams a reality.

A custom home is merely a home that you have designed, or had designed for you. It doesn't have to be made of overly expensive materials, and be the most intricate plan you can find, it just needs to be what you want it to be. In addition to the things listed above, we see custom homes for some of the following reasons:

  • Waterfront setting
  • High Tech homes, controlled by a central computer
  • Hobbyists requiring special rooms, and spaces
  • People desiring a house that makes sense, switches where they think they should be, or not be

To give you a rough estimate of what your dream home would cost to build, take a look at our "Building Calculator." You just may be surprised.

How do I pay for a custom home?

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There are many different ways to pay for a custom home- The simple answer is a mortgage, just like buying a home that's already completed. Obviously, you knew this much, you're more concerned with from the very beginning until you move in, are you going to have to pay two mortgages, live in a trailer, or what? To directly answer this question it would be best to look at your specific situation, however the following options generally apply.

True Custom homes

  • Apply, and obtain a Construction loan from the mortgage lender of your choice for the total estimated value
  • Purchase the land just before beginning building
  • We'll draw the money from your lender in chunks throughout the building process, and you'll make payments to your lender based on how much money has been drawn to date.

Spec Upgrades

  • Apply, and obtain a Mortgage loan from the mortgage lender of your choice for the Spec home price plus any upgrades
  • We'll already own the land, or have been planning to buy the land.
  • Spec home materials are paid for out of our bank account, so you will not be required (or allowed) to close on your loan until the project is completed. In order to ensure you will be able to cover the costs of the upgrades, we require payment up front on any upgrades prior to installation.
  • Unless you take a loan out for the deposit and upgrades, you will not have to make payments during the building process, but at closing you will be charged for our closing costs on your land, and the interest we paid on the money we borrowed to build your house.

Spec Homes

  • Apply, and obtain a Mortgage loan from the mortgage lender of your choice for the Spec home price.
  • A true spec home you may walk into at any stage of the building process, and the advertised price is based on buying the house exactly as we have designed it. Time spent upgrading the house, slows down our progress, and many times costs us more to build, thus the reason for our Spec Upgrade program.
  • The final sale price of our spec home already incorporates our closing costs, and interest for the building process, so you don't have to make payments while we build, just close on the house when it's completed and move in.

How long does it take to build a Custom home?

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Custom homes for the most part take the same amount of time to build as any of our "spec homes." If your house is particularly fancy it make take a little while longer, but that will be best determined by looking at the plans for the house you'd like. For a generic answer it's easiest to break down house building in slices of time. If everything goes like clockwork, and all the subcontractors are available the average custom house takes 6-8 months to build.

Central Sound Construction is licensed and bonded in WA • CENTRSC71L8
360-297-5143 • 1-800-400-9694 • 360-291-5143(fax)
www.centralsoundhomes.com • csci@telebyte.net
 
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