if you're watching this video it's because you're either considering doing a new custom build or
maybe you're in the middle of it or just gathering some information just because you're curious and
wanting to understand if it's something that is meant for you guys however a lot of people will
approach us a little late in the game they've already bought a lot they've already started
on designs and then they'll reach out to us and say hey listen we like what you guys are doing
i'd like you to get your uh engagement and helping us consult on this project to understand
you know are we going down the right path what is the total cost this is going to cost us what
are some of the things that we can do to tweak to actually make the design you know that much more
impressive however the problem that we run into is when i ask the question what's your total budget
and then i try to understand did they already go through a proper formula to figure out are
they going to be able to accomplish they want within the budget that they have
and if we were to start from the very beginning what could have they done differently to ensure
that they're going to be as close to that budget as possible in today's video we're actually going
to cover right from the very get-go what are the things you should be doing in the very beginning
so that you can actually build that custom home and be within a budget that you intended to be at
without really sacrificing the property and at the very end we're going to share with you
an existing opportunity if you're thinking of doing a build that's already taken all of this
stuff into consideration so it's really just served up for you and i'm really excited about
it because the plans for this particular property and this opportunity is pretty awesome one of the
things we want to do is reduce the footprint of the house reduce the entire square footage but
at the same time more than ever because a lot of people create something really grand by making it
big well we're not doing that so how we're going to make it grand we're going to do it through
a very strong design and then we're going to add certain features in the house that really give it
that wow factor so when somebody walks into that house it's going to be memorable in a good way so
i'm going to highly recommend this is where you spend a little bit more money
on an architect a designer who has the skills who has the experience to do that unfortunately
on this project we work with a company called element modern dwellings and think about it even
though let's say and i'm not saying that they charge ten thousand dollars more but let's say
if they did you're spending ten thousand dollars more but we figured out a way how to reduce our
construction costs by 350 000 by changing the size so is it worth spending an extra 10 thousand
on working with a designer that's going to give us a superior design that that house will have a
better impression than if you walked into a 4 000 or 4 000 square foot home that just
had a lot of wasted space so here's what i really love what they did with these designs number one
if you look at the front elevation of this house it's the floor to ceiling glass
that actually gives it that that presence where it really makes the house stand out
also some of the materials that they're using on the outside little features like on the front with
the landscaping actually draw the front eye of the house to like where it now starts by where
that concrete a number sign is so all these little things have a huge impact in making that house
feel bigger than what it actually is now if i scroll here to the main floor plan
so when you're looking at the main floor plan they really knocked it out of the park here so
what's important is that we're going to maintain our double car garage
and then as a focal point when you're spending money at construction the staircase in a modern
house is a really nice focal point so not only from the outside as you're driving by through that
that glass but just seeing that staircase and by the way the staircase is not necessarily
considered as floor space so it's a good way of kind of cheating the system to feel like you're
getting a much bigger house without adding additional square footage the other thing
that was done here is again it has a main floor office which is a great feature not only for you
to be able to leverage when you're living there but if you're ever selling the house and what
did we do to give it this wow factor well we added this corner window here uh that really accentuates
the view to this street because this street has like a roundabout on this area so you're really
seeing that panoramic view from that corner window the millwork you'll look at is not going
to be based in drywall with the normal doors on it like those colonial doors it's actually going
to be all cladded in millwork for that entrance closet and then there's this little feature here
where there's a fireplace that's cantilevered into this kind of common area that you would see
all these different elements bring everything in and really give this house this like i'm walking
into something that really really stands out and then when you look at the kitchen across the back
if you notice they didn't create a separate formal dining room instead they have a massive
breakfast area where the family would normally gather in the morning or lunch for a quick lunch
to eat but then their dining room is more in this open concept less formal but the nice thing is is
now for dinner you actually use that dining room and then they have this massive family room here
across the back that's about 20 feet by 15 feet now what i really liked about this layout too
small little things like if you look at the powder room it's got a pocket door
and it's away from the kitchen and everything like that but when you walk by it the focal point is
actually the sink and this is like a signature thing that element does that i really like
and then the toilet is kind of tucked away so if we go back into this section on
the main floor here you'll notice the kitchen has this kind of l shape with the
the cabinetry across this side the stove across the back and then you have this really really nice
very functional mud room that if you didn't want to use this main entrance here for the
family they can come across the back in that very functional mud room and then the other thing too
is if you wanted to add a separate laundry down here and we do have floor plans in the back
landscape plans for the backyard with a pool but this becomes very functional as a change
room also as a laundry so you could like they just literally nailed it on the first floor now
for this house here again this is just under 2 900 square feet there's two optional plans
one is a three bedroom plan on the second floor which i'm not going to go into a lot of details
but the couple things i do want to cover is just again the size if you look at this open to below
where the staircase is down here this is where you're not adding additional square footage in
terms of floor space but when you walk in really makes the house feel super grand and then when
you go into the master master bedroom huge walk-in closet with a beautiful ensuite just everything is
perfectly leveraged in terms of space and then you have a really really nice laundry room off
to the side away from the master so there's three bedrooms in here with three different
washrooms like i said there is an alternate floor plan here which we show that has four bedrooms
so this house here is basically under 2 900 square feet today you can buy the lot with these designs
for 1.3 million so if you're going to be building a house that's under 3 000 square feet and today's
price the average cost of construction now for something like this it depends the fit and finish
but if you're starting off at around 350 a square foot at 350 a square foot times 2 900 square feet
the cost of construction into this house would be just over a million dollars so now i want you
to imagine you buy the lot at 1.3 million you end up building the house at around just over
a million dollars now you have the landscaping in the back so if you look at the landscape
plant across the back again a very generous size pool this pool the measurement here is
28 feet long then you have your lounging area with also your hot tub area and that integrated steps
but what i really liked about it is that you have this outdoor living space here as well
so basically you have your your dining area and then you have your kitchen area as well
as basically a kind of a lounging with a fireplace and tv area and within this this walkway leads you
directly into that mud room so let's just say now the cost to do this backyard with the pool the per
goal and everything like that realistically you're going to be at around another 200 000 so the total
cost of this project is now 2.5 million and i want you to tell me where do you buy a house that has
all the features that this house would right at 2.5 million and again i didn't even get into the
finished basement and the layout there which is really impressive but again it's just in
the interest of time and i'll share all of this with anybody who's interested this all started
from the concept of building smaller but hitting all the key points that any family would need
and then that way being able to find a lot in a really good area that was at a smaller footprint
that we didn't have to pay a huge premium for and now we can actually build something that is
actually competing with houses that are basically at the 3m because on this street there are three
million dollar homes so a lot of clients we talk to feel they need 4 000 square feet because that's
what they're used to seeing well when we show them a layout that's closer to just over three thousand
square feet that is very efficient if that person was thinking they needed four thousand square feet
who then designed a house that was four thousand square feet guess what they need they need a
bigger lot because based on mod coverage now they need that bigger lot to fit that house so guess
what's going to happen the cost of the land acquisition is going to be substantially more
so let's say the average price of a lot right now and overall 60 by 120 lot is going to cost around
1.2 1.3 million you can build a 3 000 square foot home but if you think you need 4 000 square feet
now you've got to buy a 75 by 150 lot that lock can cost you anywhere from 1.8 to 2 km
so you're talking almost half a million dollars more just on the lot and if you could just
go back in time and make that house slightly smaller but still make it feel that it was just
as big as 4 000 square feet you've just saved 500 000 on the lot and now in your construction
based on the cost of construction depending on the finishes you might save another 350 a square foot
at easily a thousand square feet that's another 350 000 a total of 850 000
if you just started by making the house a bit smaller so um i hope this video has been helpful
but before we go the last thing i'm going to tell you the other way of actually being
able to come in under what most people will be spending today in construction and buying lots
is if you're able to find something that's turnkey and done where somebody maybe
bought the lot five years ago ten years ago and built maybe within the last three four years
because they didn't pay the prices they did today yes they're still going to ask for a premium but
there's a very strong chance that you can buy that house today for less than what it costs to buy
the land to do the construction and carry that and carry that house during the period of construction
and so a lot of our clients are actually kind of looking at that as a as a serious alternative
so if you're thinking of either buying something like that or building something like this please
feel free to reach out to us we're here to help out as much as we possibly can until next time