It’s a human truth that “the joy is in the journey”. But can you be certain your custom home-building journey won’t be a joyless, costly and stressful nightmare you’re forced to live with forever? Follow our 5 smart tips to stay on track for a smooth journey to your dream home.
Personalised design means perfect living
A beautiful, custom-designed home will make living easy. So it’s important to find a builder who understands what you want and has the experience and design creativity to interpret your vision. Look for a builder who is open to ideas and can offer fresh inspiration. Your home design should work perfectly for the way you love to entertain, relax or gather with family. Our GM Glenn Stannard adds: “Good design is also about interior styling, from colour choices to where you hang your favourite artwork. Only an experienced custom home builder will offer the service you need to achieve the result you dream of.”
True style is timeless
Design trends come and go, but real style lasts forever. Your new home design should be ageless and avoid quirky trends, ensuring it retains its looks and holds its value for years to come. An experienced builder understands this and can advise you how design elements work for today and tomorrow. For example, clever use of space and lighting never goes out of fashion. As Glenn notes: “We place emphasis on size and scale in custom designs, so all our homes have a sense of presence from the moment you walk in.”
The 3 Qs count: quality, quality and quality.
It’s hard to stress this point enough. While your budget will be a substantial consideration, avoid falling into the lowest-price trap, as it will invariably be at the expense of quality. Choose a builder who takes pride in delivering quality construction and inclusions, such as Australian or European tapware with local service backup. Look for double brick construction. “We use full double clay brick in all our double storey homes, and any premium home builder will tell you it’s superior and very solid” says Glenn. “Framed homes loosen up after 4 or 5 years, and feel different.”
Get energy and tech efficient
Expect your new home to carry a current energy efficiency rating that is the industry standard. This is constantly changing so make sure to ask what you’re getting. A good builder will also know how to future-proof your home design for technology. They should offer today’s standard tech inclusions, but design your home for integrating new technologies down the track. For example, if you include solar panels, make sure the inverter can be adapted to integrate with battery technology in future. “Think too about where solar panels will go – you don’t want them ruining the look of your home and devaluing it” warns Glenn.
Contract clarity counts
Contracts feel like the ‘boring’ part of seeing your dream home come to life. But it’s critical your journey begins with a good, clear contract. It secures and safeguards you, removing stress. An experienced and trusted builder will be open, honest and thorough with contracts, and should take time to ensure you understand it. Ask plenty of questions. “After 56 successful years in the industry, we’ve heard them all, and we’ve learned how to help our clients understand contract obligations,” says Glenn.
Stannard Homes designs luxury one, two and three storey homes for Perth families. Find out more about this family-owned builder.
