Home Design Checklist: Questions to Ask During Your Design Meeting for Your Custom Home

Once you have found a team to handle construction of your new custom dream home, the exciting process of developing project plans can commence.

Typically, a custom home build in the Colorado Front Range starts with a series of discovery and design meetings during which you will refine your vision, make a myriad of decisions and lay the foundation for a successful project that also provides a rewarding experience.

What Questions Should I Ask a New Home Builder?

In order to create a new home that is crafted to your exact specifications and unique lifestyle needs, you need to ensure that both you and your builder/home designer have the right information. You can start that process during your initial discovery meeting with your custom home builder in Colorado Springs. Here are a few of the questions you should bring the table so you can set realistic expectations and fully understand the process that will take place over the next several months:

1. Are we on the same page regarding budget?

Your budget will determine numerous aspects of your new luxury home build in Colorado, including the scope of work, timeline and level of finishes you incorporate throughout the space. While you may only have a ballpark range or maximum project price in mind at this point, it’s still important to start somewhere. With this information, your design-build team can give you a better understanding if the vision you have in mind is feasible.

2. What cost-saving measures do you implement throughout the design phase?

You know building a home is an investment—and a worthwhile one—but you still want to have procedures and processes in place to prevent scope creep and unnecessary overages. A reliable design-build team will have plenty of past experience, as well as an understanding of what drives up costs. They should also have measures they will implement along the way to keep your project on track in terms of budget and schedule.

3. Who is on my team, and how will we communicate?

After hiring a builder, you should be given a project manager or a point of contact who will oversee communications. One of your pre-construction meeting questions should deal with confirming who that person is and their preferred method of communication. Are you free to call or email whenever you have ideas or want to discuss the design? Are they open to texting? What things need to be put in writing? How often will you have scheduled meetings with your design team? It’s important to feel confident that there is someone you can talk to about your project how and when you need to. It also doesn’t hurt to find out who all will be involved in both the design and construction of your new Colorado home and how they will be involved.

4. What is the payment schedule for my project?

Although you may have already discussed the financial side of your project when hiring the builder to construct your new luxury home, it doesn’t hurt to nail down specifics during your design meeting. Is the design process charged separately or wrapped up in the overall project price? What fees are required to secure your custom home builder contract? What does the remaining payment schedule look like? Make sure you share the same expectations as your team to prevent potential delays or financing issues.

5. What is the process for requesting change orders?

By nature, designing plans for your custom home in the Colorado Front Range is an in-depth process. Over the following months, your team will create drawings, get your feedback, make revisions, present you with new drawings, and so on. However, there comes a point when you need to finalize the drawings so construction can commence. One of the questions to ask your home builder is when that is and how you’ll get there. What is the ideal timeframe for requesting modifications? If you want to make changes during the construction phase, what is the process for doing so and how might that affect your project schedule and budget? There needs to be a balance between feeling comfortable revising your house plans until they meet your specifications and also setting deadlines so the process doesn’t stretch out indefinitely.

6. What are common obstacles in the home building process? How do you typically overcome them?

In order to have a positive custom home building experience, it’s helpful to know what to expect—both the good and the frustrating. New construction projects are complex and involve a lot of moving parts. As a result, challenges are inevitable. The question is, how does your team deal with them? Do they clearly communicate what is expected of you and what part you can play to prevent mistakes or miscommunications? You will spend the next year or so working with your Colorado Springs design-build team. Figuring out the dynamics of your relationship early in the project is critical for a smooth ride.

Designing Your New Luxury Home in Colorado

Your design meeting with your new home builder is the ideal opportunity to lay a solid foundation for your project. Go into it with plenty of questions so you can gather all the data you need to gain confidence and clarity about what to expect during this lengthy process. With Gowler Homes, you will get the opportunity to have an initial discovery meeting with our team, ask questions and review the preliminary budget proposal before signing the contract and moving forward to develop plans for your custom home.