Get an architect if you are not finding anything on the net that you like

Stephanie do you have a property for this house? What are the reasons why you don't want a dining room? I have attached a photo of a 5 bedroom house plan, what spaces are you willing to remove to reduce the square footage from 4300 sq ft to 3300 sq ft?

I think I have to agree with you! I've just never built a home from the ground up and really have no idea where to even start. I guess I will start looking up architects and researching them through the BBB, because I have no idea what to look for in an architect......but I'm ready to learn! Thank you so much!

I do have property, 8 acres of wooded land that will have to be cleared for the house. I really didn't want a formal dining room because we have always had one and NEVER used it. I realize I can use that space for something else, I just really don't know where to start when it comes to building a home. I don't even know what a reasonable price is to pay for an architect. I'm looking to spend around $300,000 on the home itself, but this will also have to include a pool and septic system, as we are out of the city limits. Property is paid for.

I kind of have an idea of what I am wanting as far as the house goes, but do I just walk into an architect's office and say, this is my idea, can you draw me some plans? Or do I take several plans that I like and show him/her the bits and pieces I like and say, can you create this house for me? Sorry for all of the questions...I'm a nurse...completely out of my scope of knowledge ;-)

The BBB is not where you research businesses. Those business pay to be part of the BBB. It's a joke.

You need to make notebook of things you like in houses and house exteriors you like. Then you need to make a prioritized list of what you need in your home.

See....where do I research then?

Atelier, that house is AWESOME.

You can start ideabooks here on Houzz or on Pinterest. Magazines, etc. If the property is paid for, then it sounds like you have time. Don't rush this project. Take your time and get it right.

When we built our home, I found a plan I liked most of, drew it the way I wanted it, then took to an architect. But I new what I wanted.

Things to think about:

How many kids will you have total?

Do you need a home office?

Do you want a mudroom?

How many will use your kitchen at one time?

What bothers you about your current home?

One story or two?

Laundry location?

If you find a plan with a dining room, see if you can convert it to a home office, bedroom, craft room, whatever works for your family.

I agree...that house plan is amazing! Do any of you know a ROUGH estimate for the cost of an architect in the Birmingham, AL area? Am I looking at $5,000-$10,000, or more than that?

Stephanie............I"m in the business, have worked daily with architects, but unless you are looking for the architect to create their concept house for you, don't start with the architect. Architects, like other professionals have to charge for their time. Next you'll be on this forum wondering how you spent $$$ and have no house. If you select an architect, you select them by work you favor which they have done for other clients. Just like hiring an interior designer.

Since you are a person with the concept of the house, start with house plans and designs that are already created to convey your concept. You might find a house plan that has everything you want, but maybe you need some changes to the kitchen layout, or want the bathtub in front of a window. Some times these changes can be accomplished by the architect who designed the plans. Here is an example of a rendering of a home.

The plan of the house

And a pic of the house once built with a client's personal finish choices.

Since you are in the south, start with: http://houseplans.southernliving.com/

The services of an architect, depending on the parameters of their service, could cost you 10% of the cost of the home you plan to build. You are likely not in the market for an architect.

Sorry, I don't. But you could ask FLO Mangan if she knows or any of the designers here. Maybe one will stop by your thread.

Hi Stephanie,

Your best place to research is right here. At the top of the page there is a link called "Find Pros".

Look in there for "Architects and Building Designers", enter your area and voila!

After you find a few who do work that resonated with you, interview them and see if they feel like you could kinda like them as people...it's always more enjoyable when you enjoy the people you're working with.

Good luck!

Stephanie,

use the houzz pros in your area. I am located in miami so drawings are around 8 percent of your budget so if your budget is 300,000 for construction then expect to pay 24,000 for your drawings for a high end set of plans and survey to clear the 8 acre property.

Dear Stephanie: There are many ways to get ideas for floor plans but when designing a home, my suggestion is to visualize exactly what you want and draw it yourself as a sketch based on some inspirational drawings and then have an architect draw the floor plan for you. Also, you have to consider that there are a lot of regulations that changes from State to State and there are limitations on the survey of your land. So, in my opinion, be creative, draw your dream home and get a local architect that can draft that for you. Good luck and don't be scared of drawing your own ideas.

Here is a plan from Southern LIving...........a farmhouse type plan.

Birmingham has many well renowned residential architects. I'm surprised you are not aware of their work. They are well published.

Study, study, study the various plans until you find the home you want. You might be surprised on what you select.

Stephanie, I'm a homeowner- a recent custom, ground-up build. The advice above to NOT start with an architect is the worst I've ever heard.

My husband owns an advertising agency- I'm involved, as well. When we started the project (mine, from start to finish) I started by interviewing builders (GCs) and interior designers. Very natural, for homeowner's focus. I wasn't finding what I needed, until one day?

Mr. just laid it out- "Goodness- you're trying to find your production people before the script is written. Would you ever take a client's $$$$ and do that?" No...Goodness. I'm a producer, and he knows that. :)

At the same time, I talked with a neighbor-recommended builder- had lived in our neighborhood for years. He basically supported Mr.'s premise, and directed me to an award-winning architect (Best of Houzz, too) who also is very value- conscious.

From there, we worked with these architects seamlessly- they gave me a questionnaire, I wrote the story of how we wanted to live, why we were doing a tear-down/custom build. 3 weeks later- I'm serious about the time frame- I had not one, but two plans for our lot. AFTER the architects had read the story, visited the lot, gaged the light/wind flow, researched county restrictions etc. you show me an interior designer who provides all of that- first- and maybe...

We ended up with what I affectionately call the "love child" of those two plans. An entire month... Then?

Our architect introduced us to three quality GCs that he knows, worked with often, and who were appropriate for our project. We chose one and then moved on.

Starting with an interior designer? LOL. Had we done that, we would have made some initial, hard-to-back-off-of decisions BEFORE we saw real walls, real things like HUH- I would have ended up with all bright white- blizzard- counters and a lot of grey...And it would have been a disaster, especially when it came to the limestone in the house- natural rock, straight from the quarry? Plus concrete floors that aren't grey, as all the designers wanted to design to. Nope. They have a ton of earth tones- mud has colors you can't always plan on, ahead of time-and waiting on other decisions, based on those very large features? ? Saved me thousands in mistakes, based on colors alone. This is simply something NO designer (or even the sweethearts at the quarry) can foresee, before the start. And the list goes on...

On the other end, our contractor also did some basic specs, based on our budget. A wonderful plan to follow, and mine to change, as I saw fit. BUT? He showed me how to do beautiful, within the budget. Without taking another %%% out of the equity I wanted on what it both our home AND an investment.

Get an architect, first- look for one who cares about value- and the rest of it will flow. If you have time and interest to "do it all", get a comprehensive list/lime lime from your GC- when all choices need to be made. And do it.

Or be prepared for a designer to ask for a percentage of your $$$$ spent. For some, that's value. For me? I had the time and vision to do it myself. Saved about $40K...

A pic, below, of the kitchen/downstairs living area.

902juanita how much did it cost to build your home?

The OP has 8 acres that needs clearing

• She might need a well
• She needs a septic system
• She wants a pool............that's $25k almost no matter where you live
• She's likely going to need soil tests
• She'll still need permits to build
• She'll need a construction loan

Of course it's less expensive to build in the South, but now her budget could be down to $210k. I doubt she can get 3,000 sq ft built for that money. However, a manufacturer home could fit the bill.

http://www.modulardirect.com/SearchResults.php?str=1.0&bdr=any&bth=any&min_sqft=2500&max_sqft=3000&price=&new_search=Search+Designs&jumpToDesign=

BeverlyFLAD- Start to finish, I spent $379K on the build- just under 2,400 sq ft- 3beds plus an office that can also be turned into a 4th- 3 baths. EDIT:

That doesn't include the cost of the lot/house- add another $272K-whew. Today? Land has gone UP>>>>

Build includes ll demo, burying of electric wires and replacing underground water pipes/gas lines, tons of upgrades, from that beautiful rock wall (an in-out, through the house feature) to Brazilian tiger wood to custom closets, mic-end appliances (Wolf cooktop, etc) tow living areas, a master bathroom that is at once spa-like and very low maintenance and I'll go back to the kitchen- we've had professional chefs cook there, and they're blown away by the ease of it. That one, I'm particularly proud of, since one of the architects is a commercial kitchen designer, and I had to really fight for things that were "right" for the house.

I hesitate to give the $ we spent on our architect, as they've switched a bit of focus and are more on the development side now. What I will tell you is take the $35K-$45K that everybody else wanted, and cut it nearly in half :) They were very into what I was into:

How to achieve beauty, great build and affordability, in what was (still might be) one of the nation's hottest residential building markets? And this is a "best of Houzz" architect. Our home was chosen as one to feature in the Austin, TX Modern Homes Tour, last year. We couldn't do it. Had barely moved in, were exhausted from the process, and basically just wanted to have a tumbler of ice and Tito's and relax... Fun to be asked, though- and the strength of our architect's reputation, alone, was enough.

My contractor SELLS this feature, on this build, every day. Because all that (pain- yep, for all of us, sometimes) put $400K value into my portfolio in just under 2 years. I'm a realist, and understand market fluctuation. The point is this:

I had designers/contractors/design,build firms all tell me that sure, we can do this...And you'll get your equity in 3-5 years. HAHAHAHAHA.

I spent the extra time to make sure the equity, whatever it it, stayed in my pocket- not flying our the door on highly priced services I didn't need/couldn't afford. We win!

I apologize in advance for the long post, but hopefully something that I say will be helpful for you. In my experience, the best first step to building a custom home (before finding a builder or architect or interior designer) is determining your budget. If you already have the cash, great! Otherwise, talk to a few construction lenders and and ask them to pre-qualify you for a loan. This will tell you how much they are willing to lend to you, but make sure that the monthly payment is not more than you can comfortably afford.

Armed with this information, I would then suggest that you talk with a few reputable builders in your area and ask them to give you a ballpark estimate of the price per square foot to build based on the size of the house and the quality of finishes that you want. This will help you to determine whether it is feasible to build the house you want within your budget. If those numbers match up, you are now ready to select your team!

I say "team", because you need to find a group of professionals that have the common goal of helping you design and build a house you love within the budget you have set. You can start by looking for either an architect or a builder. It does not really matter which you find first, because you are going to quickly identify the other before pressing forward with your project. But I agree with what BLDG Workshop said, after making sure that they are reputable and well qualified, choose people that you like and get along with. If your personalities clash in your initial interviews, find someone else. Typically a good architect will be able to recommend good builders and vice versa.

The reason that you want both on your team upfront is so that everyone can consult with each other to value engineer the home. For example, on one of our recent projects (as the builder) we suggested a design change to the architect that used girder trusses instead of beams to support the roof. This change looked better and saved the client thousands of dollars! In our experience, people who work exclusively with an architect first often end up with a beautifully designed home that they love but can't afford to build. They run into similar problems starting with an interior designer. However, when they start with a reasonable budget and then select a team of professionals whose goals are to work together to give them the best value for their dollar, the projects run smoother and generally everyone is happier in the end!

I recognize that this is not how most people approach the process of building a custom home, at least not in my area. And it does take more work upfront to find the right people for your team. But I think that you will have a much more enjoyable experience building your home and be happier with the results in the end if you follow these steps. Good luck with your project!

Beacon Rock says:

" In our experience, people who work exclusively with an architect first often end up with a beautifully designed home that they love but can't afford to build."

That can be definitely true, since architects don't always pay attention to costs, and a lot of attention on aesthetics/features. Homeowners, though, can alleviate that problem, by being very clear up front, and looking for the right architect for the project.

In my experience? This also applies to builders. I can't tell you the number of builders who basically told us that our plans were just :good ideas", and that they'd do what they "needed to do", if they saw the need.

NO. And I mean NO. A builder is there to execute an accepted plan, that is often very expensive and has taken quite some time in consultation (between owner and architect), city regulators, time on the lot etc. etc.

Now- if there are the unforeseen issues that arise? ALL get together to resolve. But that isn't just a builder finding the most expedient (usually cheapest) way around. Thanks be to the gods, I had those folks around me- an architect tong enough to tell the builder from the start: "these people paid a lot of money for these plans. You need to follow them" A builder smart enough to come to the client and say- "whoops- best laid plans...We have a small issue..." and then with the guts and integrity to take us all on the lot, work through it and STILL stay within the integrity of the plans.

I have no idea why this entire industry has such issues with working together, for client benefit. But you do. In our case, our award-winning architect has also spent almost a decade as a GC. The biggest win-win of the entire project, since he could see it from all angles, and the project management services- included in his fee- all flowed from that.

Beacon Rock's advice is great

902juanita, it sounds like you were fortunate to have an architect that also had experience working as a general contractor, which certainly has its benefits. I agree that there are a lot of builders out there that will ignore the plans and specifications and do whatever is cheapest. (As a side note, their bids usually come in the cheapest which is why I think people need to be careful about the team they choose.)

Builders should absolutely stick with the plans! However, many times what is specified on the plans is not the best way and can be done just as well by a different method that costs significantly less and will save the homeowner money. Like you said, architects are typically more design driven and don't pay as much attention to costs. That is just one of the reasons that I have found that having both professionals on your team very early on in the process is best for all involved.

You will get great advice by posting this under "Building a Home".

Thank you everyone for the advice! I truly appreciate all of your help. I will be referring back to this thread often in the coming months!!! Thank you again, I know all of you are busy and taking time out of your day to help and make suggestions.