| Choosing The Right House Plan | | | | foot is $100, then a 2,000 square foot home is in |
| Everybody would like to live in a mansion or a | | | | your budget($200,000/$100= 2,000). |
| sprawling ranch but there are many factors to | | | | Another consideration is the size of the lot you |
| consider when choosing a house plan. There are also | | | | intend on building your home. You don't want to |
| a few pitfalls that can be avoided by doing your | | | | invest in a blueprint for a house that won't fit on |
| homework and making the right choices. | | | | your lot. Check with your municipality or county on |
| Before you commit to buying a stock or custom | | | | the distances you must have between the building |
| house plan, you should know how much of a house | | | | and the lot lines. Most have rules on how much |
| you can afford to build. A good place to get this | | | | backyard you must have and how much your house |
| information would be the bank that you might use to | | | | must be set back from the street or building line. |
| get your loan from. | | | | Some towns and subdivisions also have what are |
| Once you know what your budget is, you can | | | | called covenants. These are rules that dictate what |
| determine how much house you can afford and pick | | | | you can and cannot build. Some of these covenants |
| a house plan that fits that budget. One way to | | | | might include the minimum square footage house you |
| accomplish this is to call several homebuilding | | | | can build, brick or frame construction, minimum roof |
| contractors in your area. Ask them what the building | | | | pitch, and types of building materials you are allowed |
| costs per square foot are. Not all contractors are | | | | to use. |
| willing to volunteer this information, but you will find | | | | These are some of the important things you must |
| enough of them that are willing to help at the | | | | consider. Building a new home the biggest investment |
| prospect of gaining a customer. | | | | you'll ever make. Doing a little homework will keep |
| With this information you will be able to determine | | | | you from getting an unwanted surprise and wasting |
| the square footage of a house plan you can afford. | | | | time and money on a plan you can't use. |
| If your budget is $200,000 and the cost per square | | | | |