Your house is arguably the most expensive item in your investment portfolio. It’s also your home. The place where you and your family create memories, grow, squabble, play endless games, share meals and more. It’s the heart of your family. When it comes to new builds, extensions and even renovations, it really pays to get the professionals involved to provide you with quality house plans.
When you work with a professional to design a house plan, not only are you getting high quality designs, you are accessing their creative, analytical minds. Here are some of our top reasons why you really should invest where it counts.
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Sometimes, designers have great ideas
The other day I had a retiree couple who approached me for a custom house design. They had in mind a beautiful classic contemporary home on stumps – about 750mm off the ground. The one thing that had slipped their mind? They were building their ‘forever home’ – the place they would retire and grow old in, but they had only stair access. Adding a ramp now, during the planning process, means they won’t have the hassle of converting their home in the future when stairs become too hard or dangerous to negotiate.
Designers don’t necessarily know exactly what you need like you do, but an experienced designer can bring some great, unique ideas to the table that you might not have thought of yourself. The icing on the cake so to speak. And sometimes, they can discourage you from making a really annoying design decision as well.
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Quality designers aren’t free
As the saying goes, nothing worthwhile in life is cheap, or easy, and it definitely isn’t free! Many homeowners choose to skimp on their planning budget, without fully considering that quality house plans can be the difference between the success and failure of the project. And even, if a project goes over or under budget.
For example;
- Properly detailing exactly what YOU want on the plans, and even in a written specification means that when a builder quotes he can quote exactly on what you want. Reducing the uncertainty for him reduces the ‘unknown factor’ he adds in his margin, and can reduce the likelihood of being stung by expensive variations halfway through the contract.
- Designing your house right the first time can save you thousands of dollars in renovations in the future. By taking the time now to plan for the future and designing a home you can grow into rather than out grow in a couple of years. I.e: if your children are young now you can pre-plan for a teenagers retreat in the coming years saving the hassle of an extension down the track.
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Sustainability
This is a big one. Designers are well-versed in designing energy efficient, sustainable homes. If you want to save thousands on electricity, water and gas, hiring a designer is the way to go. They will take your homes location into consideration and provide innovative solutions including solar power panels, natural heating and cooling options and more.
There’s nothing worse than getting into a ‘dream’ home only to realise it’s freezing in winter and stifling in summer. Smart design will minimise this by working with your surroundings, not against them.
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Quality Investment
Being the proud owner of an architecturally designed home is not only a great conversation starter at a BBQ, it gives your home a nice little tick to potential buyers in the future.
It’s a cold, hard, fact that custom designed homes sell quicker and for a higher price than their counterparts (dependent on circumstances such as; market conditions, location and the condition of your home) which gives you peace of mind when it comes to resale value. In the current economy, every advantage in the residential market is a bonus.
When it comes to return on investment, the outlay for quality house plans will well and truly pay for themselves.
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Customise Every Square Metre
There’s something to be said for the beauty that is ‘customisation’. Are you an avid reader? Why not add a purpose built library to show off your literary obsession? If the kitchen is where your family spends most of their time, why not order an oversized island bench ready for daily family catch-ups? Are the kids always on top of you? There’s nothing quite like a separate ‘parent-wing’ to ease the congestion and noise associated with a large family.
Basically, all of those dream home images you’ve spent hours pinning on your Pinterest can easily become a reality with a qualified, experienced home designer. Yes, it will cost you but the benefits? We’re confident they outweigh each and every argument for saving that $3k or so.
If you’ve been in the market for a new home or customised build for a while now and haven’t yet found what you’re looking for, contact us to find out how we can help.
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18th Sep 2018
