Katherine Salant - The Brand-New House Book: Everything You Need to Know About Planning, Designing, and Building a Custom, Semi-Custom, or Production-Built House

Building a house looks deceptively simple. You sketch a plan on the back of an envelope, hand it to a builder, and voila! You get your house. Maybe a hundred years ago this was possible. Today the whole process is a lot more complicated. But you dont have to become an expert in home building to get a good house. You do, however, have to know enough to make good decisionshundreds of them. That is the premise and the intention of this book: to provide you with enough information, on a wide range of topics, so that you get a very good house. And the right house for you.

The key is knowing what questions to askboth of yourself and others. It also helps to know some pertinent facts about materials (for example, what makes for a good window or a good carpet) and how to evaluate builders, the people to whom you are ultimately entrusting your hopes and dreams and money.

The questions to ask yourself include not only your laundry list of functional requirementssay you need four bedrooms and a large home officebut also your quirks and habits. The right kitchen for you depends on what kind of cook you are: neat or, frankly, a bit messy? Do you catch every spill right away? How organized are you in the kitchen? Do you spread out over every square inch of counter when you prepare a meal, or do you work within a small, confined area?

I organized the book as I imagined you would go about collecting information and thinking about building a new house, starting with nailing down your needs and articulating exactly what it is that has led you to decide to do this. Then there are the big-picture issues: Why do houses cost so much? How much can you afford? Who are the players? Next I consider the broad categories of different types of builders as well as the experts who you should engage to help you.

Along the way, you need to know how to find, evaluate, hire, and work with the many expertsfrom a buyers agent to the site supervisorwho will work on your house. I explain how to go about this.

Eventually you will start to focus on specifics such as kitchen cabinets or selecting a hardwood floor or the heating and cooling systems. Youll need to make your own choices or assess those made by a builder. The chapters have been written so that you can read them in any order, no matter when you want to tackle these issues.

At the end of each chapter, Tips from the Trade offers specific advice from experts in the field discussed. Each topic is presented in some, but not overwhelming, detail.

Over the seven years that I have been writing about building a brand-new house, I have interviewed experts on every aspect of home building imaginable; their advice is reiterated here. For example, if you decide to work with a production builder, he will sell you a basic house and optional upgrades. Which ones are good choices that can help with resale and which are frivolous? Realtors who work with resale buyers and real-estate appraisers have definite opinions. You can measure a room in a builders model to see if your king-size bed will fit once its in the room, but can you actually move it there? That can be more daunting than you thinkask any mover. I have.

The furnished models always look terrific because real life never intrudesno one lives in models to dirty them up. Your new house will never look as good, but a professional house cleaner can offer tips on the details that can make your new house easier to clean. If this is your first home purchase, you may be agonizing over color choices. Interior designers offer some useful suggestions, such as taking a look at your closet to see what colors you favor. Many kitchens in new houses have an open wine rack. It looks good, but wine specialists say you are better off putting the wine somewhere else. And if you want to go the extra mile and add a few things that will make your production house unique, architects suggest some design ideas that would be easy to fabricate out of standard materials.

Youve decided that your new home office will be your primary work space, so what do you need to know in planning it? Office designers, acoustical engineers, and specialists in high-speed data transmission all have important things to say. Youve already thought about cabinets and flooring and countertops for your kitchen. But who really knows how well the materials will not just look, but last? The installers. If theres a problem, they have to come back and fix it. If you want a deck, do you really want a wood one? Is all that maintenance worth it, just to get the natural look in the great outdoors? When you know the score, a deck made of recycled materials or virgin vinyl may have appeal.

At some point you will have to pick a building lot. They may all look the same when you have to pick one, but they wont be when all the houses are built and the grading is finished. One could become a lake with every downpour. You can avoid drawing this short straw by hiring a landscape architect to help you choose a lot. A landscape architect can also develop a master plan for your new yard and help you decide which parts you want to do yourself and which are better left to the experts. For example, a good-sized starter tree with a four-to-five-inch diameter can weigh seven hundred to one thousand pounds. Youre a tree hugger, but you dont want to pay a bundle for a lot with trees that are diseased or dying; you need an arborist. A house with a view of a golf course sounds great; golf course architects have plenty of tips for how to choose a lot and avoid getting broken windows from errant balls.

Finally you will sit down at the table and negotiate a price for the house and all those options. Buyers agentsRealtors who represent buyers in a new-home transaction with a production builderoffer some advice on negotiating strategies. Real-estate attorneys point out clauses in the sales contract that should be of more than passing interest, such as substantially similar. You need to know what this doesand does notmean.