Alternatives to Hiring an Architect for Your Custom Home Design

Luxury homes for sale

Custom home designs are an essential part of building a new custom home, but where do they come from?

Many of the elaborate homes you see on HGTV and other design showcases are created by architects, but going to an architect to get custom floor plans for new homes can be expensive for someone who’s already spending a lot on the building process.

Fortunately, there are a few alternatives to hiring an architect that can run a little cheaper. Let’s outline them here:

  • Stock Building Plans

    Stock building plans are created by home designers and architects and released for marketing purposes in catalogs, magazines, and on the internet. If you can find a stock plan that looks good to you out of the wide selection, you can skip the cost of hiring an architect. However, a stock design will never perfectly fit your needs, tastes and even regional climate. You may end up needing to hire an architect or designer anyway to modify the plans, so sometimes it’s best just to skip to that stage.
  • Production Custom Home Builders

    These custom home builders often construct new homes in places like suburban housing developments, working with designers and architects to keep home plans consistent in a neighborhood. When you work with production custom home builders, you’ll usually have a set number of designs to choose from which you can customize with light fixtures, siding, windows and other features. Builders work fast and homes are usually designed to fit the area where you’ll be living. However, your creativity will often be limited and your house will usually look similar to others in the development.
  • Professional Home Designers

    Home designers aren’t required to go through the schooling and licensing processes that architects are. However, they usually charge lower fees and hold several professional certificates to testify to their skill. Home designers specialize in residential homes, but their designs may be a little more traditional than you’d like.

Choose the design option that works best for your individual needs.
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