Which Comes First: The Home Builder or the Designer?

Just like the proverbial “chicken and egg” question, “Which comes first” is a question that confuses some people, but must be answered before you start the custom, homebuilding process. While the answer may seem obvious, it’s important to know the right answer in order to avoid problems from the beginning. The designer comes before the builder, right?

Wrong! Read on…

Sometimes people get the cart before the horse and in all the excitement, they get ahead of themselves. They spend countless hours dreaming about their new home and holding meetings with their designer. It was a lot of work and effort, but they think they did it all right. They went through revision after revision poring over the plans until late in the evenings. They worked tirelessly to make every detail of their home just right.

Now they have a roll of plans tucked under their arms, a sparkle in their eyes, and a skip in their steps because they knew they had something very special… they have the plans to their dream home.

And then the moment of truth arrives. They are ready to talk to a builder and get started on their new house. But there is often a common problem. The actual cost to build this house… the house they had labored over for so many hours, over so many months… ends up costing 65 percent more to build than they expected. How did this happen?

Well…they asked the designer and he gave them his estimate of what it would cost. That’s what they based their plans on. The designer’s estimate. And that is the problem. Most designers do not have adequate training and experience in doing cost estimates. After all, designers are trained and skilled in designing and creating what they are asked to create. Homeowners who don’t have a good handle on pricing will tell the designer what they want and the designer will only do what he was retained to do. I’m not blaming designers for not knowing about estimating accurate costs, it’s just not their area of expertise.

Tragically, the news that their design is extremely over budget is usually so devastating to the home owners that they either give up entirely or start making extreme compromises on their perfect home.

But fear not. You are smarter than that. You now know that this can all be different. You now know the importance of which comes first… the builder, not the designer.  

Finding a competent builder can be challenging but when you know what to look for, you’ll get an accurate estimate and good advice throughout the entire design process. Many builders won’t make the effort to (or don’t know how to) price a home while it’s still in the concept stage. If most builders can’t do this, it certainly makes sense that most designers can’t either.

BOTTOM LINE: Meet with your builder and discuss your budget before you meet with a designer.