I recommend “The Not So Big House”

I wrote a post a while back about my thoughts on the American McMansion. I received a few responses from people who felt the same way about them, but one response in particular intrigued me. David Helm told me about a book called “The Not So Big House“, and that it might interest me since I was writing an anti-McMansion blog post.Well I think the word about this book should be spread. The book is written by Sarah Susanka, an architect. That alone should tell you that economic considerations are not the focal point of this book. Rather, The Not So Big House is about quality over quantity. Anybody who has paid attention knows that quantity, in the form of McMansion housing, has all but taken over home building in America. Unused, impractical space in a home is ridiculously common in builder’s floor plans these days, but that is where Susanka’s book comes in.

The gist of the book is not that you should live in a small house. It’s that you should utilize space wisely, create more livable space, and do so on a scale more fit for your family as opposed to a small village. You do not have to sacrifice style or comfort either. What you will find are spaces that you might call ‘cozy’, or ‘warm’, rather that ‘vastly spacious’, or ‘magnificently scaled’. If you prefer the latter terms, this book probably is not for you.

You do not have to have deep pockets to follow Susanka’s advice. Some of the book covers people who obviously spent a lot of money, but that’s not the rule. Anyone can apply these principles in building their own home. If you’ve already built, read it still and I’m sure you’ll get some good ideas on how to modify your space.

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Be well informed and thorough when building a new home

Homebuilders come in all shapes and sizes. You may know of “custom”, cookie-cutter, small, large, luxury, or any other number of labels to attach to certain builders. Every buyer is different and therefore will choose a builder based on their specific needs. But may I suggest one common characteristic that your builder should and must have before they earn your business: a strong track record of outstanding customer service.
Lately I’ve heard story after story from friends who have had horrible experiences with their builders. Not unforeseen disaster experiences but experiences that could have been avoided by great customer service. I understand it’s a tough market but they must understand that these horror stories spread like wildfire and can slowly tarnish reputations.
Here are a few suggestions that may help if you are considering or already are building a home.1) Thoroughly understand what your base price is plus what your upgrades will add to that cost. You do not want to be like the couple I know of whose builder basically dropped off the face of the earth and then at closing told them that they owed $200,000 more than they were expecting. Constant communication and more importantly, documentation of what your costs will be is very important. Your agent should take care of this, but make sure you have an agent that’s on your side and not the builder’s.

2) Find out what the builder will do if something goes wrong. Will they send someone out to take care of it? Will they tell you that you’re one your own? This may require that you speak to some people who have dealt with them before. Many people claim that the larger more established builders are better in this respect than the smaller ones. That may depend on how many people you talk to, but I think there’s some truth to it.

3) This goes along with number two, but ask neighbors who already live there and used your builder. Ask them if their building process went seamlessly. If they had problems, did the builder take care of it promptly? Was he nice about it or did he act like you were putting him out?

Thankfully, many builders to a great job and they take care of their clients. Just make sure you know your stuff or have an agent that knows theirs in case you build with someone who doesn’t.

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