GFD Architectural Design

Buying Stock House Plan Concerns:

As a general contractor of over 25 years and now a home designer with 10 years experience I have and continue to be surprised at the huge online “Stock House Plan” market. All you need to do to see this is Google House plans on the internet and start scrolling. I have spent many hours looking at these sites and their inventory as well as working with individuals that have purchased one of these to actually use for the construction of their new home. I don’t want to give you the impression that what I am going to cover in this article is pointed at 100% of the Stock Plans market, it’s not. It is however going to point at the large majority of them and is intended to be a voice of concern from a professional experienced point of view and nothing more or less. I know there are some companies out there selling stock house plans that are both responsible and strive to offer a good up to date product. Problem is you really do not know which is which and so this begins the foundation of my concerns.

I think I have a very tuned in idea of the whole concept of building a home not just from the technical side but also from the emotional side. Despite the current housing downturn, up evil and in truth JOKE of a media frenzy, owning your own home is still a very big deal. If you are one of the lucky ones you can actually go about the process of picking the place to build and the actual house to build just for you and exactly the way you want it. Millions of people look forward to being able to pick the house and the lot and then be active in the whole process of converting their dream of that special place called home to their reality. I have built several of my own homes and I can tell you there is nothing more meaningful than to have a lot of me reflected in my home in the form of thought, planning and sweat. As a small time designer that works with a growing group of “Owner Builders” and clients that after the design is complete will contract the whole project out, the feeling is the same for everyone.

This process starts the same every time. After the dreaming and hoping comes the first step and involves the planning stage. This part will eventually end up requiring some type of house plans that then take the planning process to the reality or action process. What happens from this point forward has a lot of variables and pitfalls that are going to be dealt with and worked through to get from planning the home to be built to move in day and beyond. One of the most important keys in the entire process of getting your dreams for a new home from dream to sitting in the living room of that dream is without a doubt the house plans.

Last year I wrote about how I consider the set of house plans the “Most Important Tool in the Tool Box” in the process to get any house or project built to completion. My business tag line is “A Good House Plan Doesn’t Cost You Money, It Saves You Money “  and you can bet real money that both of these tag lines are the whole truth and the money they refer to is yours. House plans do more than just show how far it is from the kitchen door to the pantry door. They are a key tool in acquiring bids from subcontractors, estimates on costs of materials, getting a building permit, construction loan and contract documentation just to name a few. The plans are the largest most important key to taking your dream for your new home and translating it to the people that are going to create it for you using your money!