Home accessibility and aging in place are becoming common topics of conversation. These, along with preparing for the unexpected, are important considerations at Elements. You see, my father became disabled when he was in his early 40s. Unfortunately, our home was not wheelchair accessible. Because of this, I try to be more cognizant about accessibility [...]
Often, our clients ask if they can purchase some of their home products, such as light fixtures, plumbing fixtures, and even appliances, online. While the short answer is yes, we encourage our clients to consider the pros and cons of buying home products online. The Pros of Buying Home Products Online Advantage #1: Selection As [...]
Disorganization. Is it that big of a deal if your builder is disorganized? Is it that big of a deal if you, the client, are disorganized? Well, it might be… Disorganization: The Builder First, let’s talk about the builder. Organization (or lack thereof) is one aspect of choosing a home builder that often gets overlooked. [...]
Our ultimate goal at Elements Design Build is to have happy clients. We reach that goal by building a quality home while striving to stay within our homeowner’s budget. That being said, sometimes, we simply can’t build a home for a family. Yes, you heard me correctly. Home builders can’t always help. What do I [...]
One of the first steps in building a custom home is to find the right lender so that you can obtain financing. You must be careful when making this choice, as financing new construction is different than simply getting a mortgage. When building a new home, you have to get both a new home construction [...]
Obtaining a construction loan to build a house on your land or lot can be an intimidating process. This is partially due to confusing construction loan jargon. So, we are going to talk about two very important terms—loan to value (LTV) and loan to cost (LTC). Understanding the difference between LTV and LTC will help [...]
If you’ve talked with family and friends about wanting to build a home on your land or lot, you’ve probably heard some stories. Unfortunately, when it comes to new construction, everyone seems to have a home building horror story about a terrible experience with a builder. And the two most common horror stories involve time [...]
One of the first inquiries potential clients make when they contact us is, “How much does it cost to build a custom home?” They are usually looking for (or at least hoping for) a straight-forward answer, either an over-all or price-per-square-foot cost. Unfortunately, it is impossible to give a straight-forward answer. There are numerous factors [...]
In our professional opinion, one of the first steps to building a custom home on your land is to obtain financing. We realize that applying for construction loan financing can be a stressful part of building a new home. We also know that knowledge can help ease worries. Because of this, we are here to [...]
When it comes to home building, we realize many people are cautious about sharing their top-price budget too soon. Often, they have two budgets—the lower number they share with realtors, designers, & builders and the higher number they're actually able to spend. So, an important question is, should you share your real budget with home [...]
