Thinking of building a custom home? You’re not alone! Building a home to suit your family and your lifestyle allows you to have full control over your home design. At Beachside Construction, we specialise in building custom homes on the Sunshine Coast. We love working with our clients to make their dream homes a reality!
However, the one question remains for many people – “is a custom home more expensive?” Unfortunately there isn’t an easy answer, and there are so many factors which go into the cost of a new home, from the type of block you want to build on, through to the design features you’d like to have in your new home.
In this article, we’ll explore the main factors and variables, but first of all, let’s look at the reasons to choose a custom home builder.
What is a custom home?
If you’re not familiar with the term ‘custom home’, this is a home building project where you have complete freedom to choose the design and layout of your home, including all the finer features inside and outside.
The opposite of a custom home is an ‘off the shelf design’, which you’ll often find with a project builder. An off the shelf design is where you select a completed home design and are limited to a certain number of changes and a certain range of internal and external fittings and features. You’ll often find that project builders won’t build on blocks of land which are sloping or have uneven contours; in many cases an off the shelf design is made to fit a flat block only.
When you work with a custom home builder like Beachside Construction, we can design your home based on your specific vision, or you can have the home designed by an architect – the choice is yours. It’s important to remember that a custom home requires attention to detail and a high level of customisation. In some cases, this can result in more time, effort and money.
Factors that influence the cost of a custom home
There are four main influencing factors when it come to the cost of a custom home, these are:
- Your land / the chosen site
- The size of your home
- The design complexity
- Your chosen specifications
Your chosen site
Every block of land comes with its own advantages and disadvantages and these factors can significantly impact the cost of your custom home.
One of the biggest factors to consider is the contours of your block – is it sloping? Is it uneven? What is the soil/earth like? Is there a lot of rock that requires excavating? Often, the steeper the block, the higher the costs, and if there’s a lot of rock that requires excavating, this will cost extra.
Also consider access to utilities and services, especially if you’re building in a more rural or remote area of the Sunshine Coast, as you may be faced with extra costs in transporting or laying necessary equipment.
The size of your home design
It’s no surprise that the larger your home, the larger the costs, however size and cost don’t directly correlate. You might opt for a small home with luxurious features, as opposed to a large home with just the basics.
The complexity of the design
Complex designs can add a unique touch to your home, helping to boost your return on investment down the track if and when you sell, but they can also increase your costs.
Features to consider when designing your home are:
- How many walls will you need? The more the walls the greater the cost; an irregular shaped plan might require more walls than a square shaped plan, even if they share the same square metreage.
- Will your home design feature a lot of corners and elevations? The more corners, the higher the cost and additional elevations might require additional block work or materials to achieve the desired effect.
- Do you want high or raking ceilings? High ceilings and raking ceilings can make a space look bigger, and it can have the same effect on costs.
Your specifications
When we think of specifications, we often just think about the types of tiles or tapware, but there’s a lot more to specifications than just the finishes and fixtures.
Firstly, there are structural factors; the size and quality of materials that your new home build requires. Think of things like energy efficient materials, or the size of timber columns.
Secondly, consider the systems required to run your home comfortably; air-conditioning, home technology, security, and so on.
Lastly we come to the fixtures and finishes. This comprises your flooring choices, appliances, cabinetry, lighting, tapware, countertops and even roofing.
Building your custom home with Beachside Construction
At Beachside Construction, we have an enviable reputation as one of the best custom home builders on the Sunshine Coast. Not only do we deliver a fast, efficient and quality build, our customer service and dedication to our clients is second to none. We take the stress out of building with a custom home builder and we’d love to chat to you about your dream home plans.
Contact us today to arrange an obligation free on-site meeting where we can discuss your vision.