Why our potential clients buy an existing house

If you build it, they will ride by and ….

Hey, we love the custom home that you guys are building on Patricia Avenue. How much does a house like that cost?

The voice on the other end of the phone continued, we would prefer to build in the Harrisburg area on a half acre lot. Do you know if there are any lots available?

Sure. Regardless if the caller decided to build a custom home with Carbon Custom Homes, I feel it is always important to become a good listener and give sound advise. If you don't build with us, it is our goal to be a trusted adviser.   

Mam, we have two lots that we own right here in the Harrisburg Park community and there are a number of lots for sale out near the high school on Rocky River. It is a new community with six existing homes, all built last year.     

Those lots are closer to .35 to .42 in size, not quite a half acre, but you are still in the Harrisburg community.

Could you give me an idea on price range for that size house and land? No mam, we never throw out numbers around without looking at the floor plans and confirm spec sheet.

Really? Just give me an average. Please?

Keep in mind, custom home construction in our region averages $125-$160 per square foot based on condition of existing lot, spec sheet with product selection, such as full brick, flooring, and cabinetry.

So, with lot cost averaging $60,000 and you want to build a 2,800 to 3,000 square foot home, it is a good idea to keep a mental note for budgeting: $325,000 to $350,000.

Ok, thank you. I know we paid $223,000 for our 2,600 square foot home here in town. So, to pay $350,000 for something smaller is not going to work for us.

Completely understand.

Always remember, you get what you pay for and with that being said, existing home prices in our market vary from $72-200 per square foot depending on location and amenities.

We have built homes for $185,000 to $725,000. It depends on client's needs and wants and most of all, their budget.

You can always look at community home values here: http://findcompsnow.com/searchcomps/comps

Why build new? 

The benefit is you are designing your house. The floor plan is custom designed for your family's lifestyle and everything is new and picked by homeowner and our clients like those features.

Newer homes appreciate quicker in five years and our client's see that as a good investment. Superior safety codes and advanced technology is a plus too.

Anytime you want to research cost to build in this area, Google new home construction cost, time frame and process.

Interview builders, ask questions. 

We encourage it.

After all, it is your dream home.

www.carbonhomesllc.com

Looking at new homes?

Why choose a Custom Home Builder versus 

Production Home Builder

In today’s world, there is a huge misconception that most families cannot afford a custom home.

Even though it is one of the biggest investments in their lifetime, they talk themselves out of the idea due to fear. Fear of the unknown or financial insecurities without doing any research.

So many convince themselves that a custom home is too expensive to build or they feel that as an average consumer, they cannot afford a 4,500 square foot home at $150 a square foot.  

You decided to sacrifice your desire to build a custom home based off the perception, that a custom home is too expensive.  

That is not the case and I will arm you with the facts that reveal quite the opposite. You should hire a custom builder to build your home and the cost will justify the return.   

Never have I heard a client say, “I am buying a new home and I am going to let the builder dictate every aspect of the construction of our home.”

Nor, do I hear roaring approval from new buyers excited about moving into a cookie cutter community where production builders cram 300 houses on 78 acres off the expressway.

This house will not have your personal touch. It will not have the unique features that you wanted for your home. And more and more families are seeing poor craftsmanship with production builders, eventually fighting with the warranty department. Production builders have millions in legal fees set aside for these issues. Read article: New Home Heartbreak.

Your design ideas are important. Your input is necessary. It is a must for our clients looking to build their dream home. It might be the wraparound porch that you remember from your grandmother’s home and you always wanted to build your home with this same porch. Don’t you want to personalize your new home?

Move into a production built house, you won’t be able to participate in the design of your home or have input into the construction of your home. And that is shame. It is your home and truth be told, you can choose your floor plan and it can be built within your budget.

A production home is just that. It is one of many homes produced for a specific community. Sure, there may be five to eight floor plans available from a production builder in these neighborhoods at your price point. But, did you find your ideal floor plan? Will your house sit on an ideal lot?

Production builders buy large parcels of land with the intention of building as many homes that they are allowed to construct on for each parcel.

And, you can expect a Homeowner’s Association to be organized for your community in any production built neighborhood where you will be required to pay a monthly fee and adhere to their guidelines.   

Keep in mind, the HOA’s main objective is to protect the structural integrity of the community and maintain the entrance and common areas for the neighborhood. All well and good, but some restrictions may seem as unnecessary or too invasive.   

Many folks have told me some horror stories from dealings with their HOA and every tale ends with two negative factors, expensive fees and HOA board of director’s egos. 

Not only can you build a custom home, it is within your budget to have your dream home.

Call us at Carbon Custom Homes and let’s chat! 

Visit us at http://www.carbonhomesllc.com.

Donald Gardner is My Favorite Architect

As a custom home builder, I constantly meet with clients looking for the "perfect" floor plan when deciding to build their dream home. Customers who might be looking for 3,000 square foot home with two master bedroom suites or a floor plan with a full 1,000 square foot walk out basement.

Some folks search online for days, sometimes weeks, to find that unique plan for their custom home. A design that fits their needs and highlights the house's features which are timeless.

Quite often our clients get loss for a week or two during this process of picking a floor plan. Others might take a month or two to find their house design.

Don't get frustrated. This can be a daunting task and a search can be overwhelming considering there are over 100,000 floor plans listed online. And, it can even be more difficult to agree on a specific floor plan with their spouse. Good luck with compromise.

After building 32 custom homes and looking at over 1,300 floor plans, I finally came to the simple conclusion that Donald A. Gardner is my favorite architect. Period.

His work is well known and his passion for craftsman style homes is obvious when you see his work. He is, hands down, my go to architect for anyone looking to build a custom home.

Donald Gardner, The Architect 

Donald Gardner is nationally recognized for his talents and interests lay in residential design, Don saw a need for better designed, more livable homes that would meet families' changing needs and busier lifestyles.

With this dream his primary focus, Don founded Donald A. Gardner Architects, Inc. in 1978. By 1984, Don was able to commit his attention to the firm on a full-time basis. Through his experience and insight, Don has grown his architectural firm into several successful companies that have provided career opportunities for many in the Greenville community.

Under his leadership, his firm has brought national recognition to South Carolina as well as local suppliers, individuals, and businesses through articles in the firm's national publications as well as other consumer publications.

Carbon Custom Homes are licensed general contractors based in Harrisburg, NC. specializing in custom home construction. We have a great family of trades that are part of our team and we take pride in our craftsmanship. It is our passion to build custom homes.

Currently, we are building two Donald A. Gardner (DAG) designed custom homes here in Cabarrus County and we have four more clients leaning towards a DAG designed home. 

Here is an image of the front elevation for a Donald Gardner designed custom home that we are building in Harrisburg, NC.

Interested in building a custom home? Visit us online: Carbon Custom Homes or call us here at Carbon Custom Homes at 704-455-4500.

Carbon Custom Homes

6495 Morehead Road

Harrisburg, NC 28075

704-455-4500

Such Great Heights!

Such Great Heights

One of the biggest concerns for our clients when they are selecting a floor plan or deciding to build a custom home with Carbon Custom Homes is ceiling height.

So many of us grew up in a home with 8 foot ceilings, but what is today’s standard?  

According to a survey by the National Association of Homebuilders, nearly 92% of consumers want nine-foot or higher ceilings on the first floor and almost 40% want similar ceiling heights on the second floor.

Sometime between 1995 and 2004, nine-foot ceilings replaced eight-foot ceilings as 

the most common ceiling height in single family homes. 

In today’s world, an eight foot ceiling gives the sense that each room is much tighter & cramped with less light. For tall folks like me (6’4”), the 9 foot ceiling just "feels" a lot better, less claustrophobic.  Unlike the houses with 8 foot ceiling, the extra foot is more scaled to for today’s full-size human. 

Open up that floor plan!

Carbon Custom Homes recommends the 9 foot ceilings for the main floor and we have built homes with cathedral ceilings at 18 foot high. Not only does it make the house appear larger but it also gives you the ability to install can lights or install solid core 8 foot doors which is a bigger bang for the buck. Just be prepared for higher heating and cooling cost if you decide to build a home with ceilings that are 10 feet or above.   

A nine foot ceiling is a good investment for you as a homeowner wanting the space to feel open yet cozy, for increasing light through the windows, deeper porches and customized ceilings.  

This will give the house a much larger scale and raising the ceiling height from eight to nine feet creates an additional 12% more space per room, allowing the builder to customize ceilings. They can drop a ceiling; install a tray ceiling or coffered ceiling for a specific room.

Plus, the higher ceilings allow a much better view and better sun light into a room, introducing more natural light, saving on energy that was used for artificial lighting. Even tall windows can't compensate. 

Aside from the positive psychological factors, the 9 foot ceilings sell faster and for more money giving you a better return in your investment and the incremental cost to heat or cool this space is not significant.

www.carbonhomesllc.com

It Takes a Team

It takes a team

A team of trades to build your home

Ever drive through a new community and watch the activity during home construction?

One of two things will be obvious, the congestion of trucks and vehicles up and down the main road, dumpster in driveways as well as mud and debris on both sides of the street from all of the construction traffic will make it look somewhat chaotic.

Or,…. you are drawn in to the actual building of each project. The orchestration of each worker applying their specific trade on the house. You see the construction flowing from foundation to framing and brick masons moving ahead of sheathing crew which is followed by siding crew.

It is a team effort with constant communication between project foreman and each trade throughout installation to final inspection. 

Nothing is more pleasing to thebuilder or potential home buyer than seeing teamwork during the construction of a new home. Experienced crews and a clean job site are daily requirements for professional builders that set expectations for their team.

For the project to be successful, you need experienced trades who work well together and communicate throughout entire process. Each phase of new home construction depends on logistics. Time management for each worker throughout the entire process for custom home building and controlling activity each day spent on job site is key.

Making sure that all materials are dropped the morning of that first day of that trade’s installation schedule. Monitoring conditions and adjusting on “the fly.”

It is the project foreman’s main purpose to manage the entire process of building a custom home. His/her experience and ability to foresee any and all issues that can or may arise during the timeframe.

It all comes down to the flow of each job.

From project scheduling for each trade to material drop off through each inspection to the final walk through. The project flows as smoothly as the communication.

And, if the team works as a team, the house will become a beautiful home that we can all be proud of. 

Gut Feeling

We have all heard that old saying, trust your gut feeling haven’t we?

Maybe it was regarding a football game that should be an easy win or maybe it is the confidence that our brother’s new girlfriend is not the ‘one.’

“It just didn’t feel right,” is our natural response or, “I had a gut feeling that their relationship wasn’t going to last long.”

Well, turns out that your gut feeling, your first response is right more times than not, so go with it and be more intuitive. Trust that feeling, that inner voice.

Intuition is the ability to understand it instinctively, without the need of conscious decision.

I mention this to you because of a recent conversation that I had with a client. She interviewed six custom home builders as her and her husband decided to buy a lot and hire a licensed residential contractor to build their new dream home.

She was slightly overwhelmed, but let’s face it, building a home is a huge endeavor with one of the biggest investment in our lifetime. A huge commitment for anyone to endure.

So it is encouraged to research all of your options, prepare notes, seek advice from your bank or a loan officer and interview a handful of builders.

‘I was impressed with every builder that we interviewed and all of them had some great selling points too,’ she noted. ‘I feel like each one of these builders are capable to build us a custom home, but I went with my gut feeling,’ she finalized.

I decided to hire the builder that I was most comfortable with during our meetings. He was not the most expensive contractor on my list and he was not the cheapest bidder. I just felt confident that he would be honest and communicate with me to address any issues that might come up during the construction of our custom home.

Although each builder was qualified, she knew that there would be a few changes made on the fly or even a mistake or two during the construction of their home , so it came down to trust. She wanted to know which builder would be open to her ideas, but more importantly which builder would be upfront and honest and tell her what they can (build or install) or cannot do for this specific project.

Sometimes we need someone that we trust to tell us why we can or cannot do certain projects when building a custom home.

So, be intuitive and trust your gut instinct.

wwwcarbonhomesllc.com

Hidden Cost in Home Construction

HIDDEN COSTS IN HOME CONSTRUCTION
Oops there goes another one!

Have you ever gotten a quote from a professional that seems affordable so, in good faith, you move forward with the project only to learn (that the estimate quoted) is merely a fraction of the final bill?

So, you dispute the bill with your contractor who justifies the addition expense due to 12% increase for materials and the project will take 6 days instead of 4 days to complete.

Shut the front door!

Not only do you get caught off guard, you never saw a change order, much less signed any contract that you agree to additional or incremental cost.

What is a change order? A change order is work that is added to or deleted from the original scope of work of a contract, which alters the original contract amount and/or completion date. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Change_order

A change order may fork a new project to handle significant changes to the current project.

Occasionally, the client will want to add can lights to the foyer or request cedar columns for porch, or switch out a ceiling fan, maybe decide on higher end appliances.

Or, a change order may become an entirely new project to handle significant changes to the current project.
Whatever the case, it must be signed and dated by both parties.

If not, then your contractor missed something on his original estimate and did not quote the entire project with a detail for scope of work.
Or greed drives him to justify the addition cost by convincing you, ‘it is more work than we realized.’

Really?

A trusted builder or contractor will incur additional expenses for specific projects in home construction, but it is their job to be fully aware of material pricing and his trade’s labor cost. If the project is slightly more (costly) than quoted, an honest contractor will take the hit and not pass it on to their clients.

Reliable contractors do exist and Carbon Custom Homes survives with this mantra, “Open communication with each client is paramount. Keep each client heavily involved with the building process. Bring your best trades and over deliver.”

A learning lesson for all.

www.carbonhomesllc.com

Today's Floor Plan

Today’s Floor Plan  

Two Master Suites

Over the past year I have noticed more and more clients are interested in building a home with a custom floor plan that includes two master suites.

There are many reasons for this trend with some baby boomers sharing their household with aging parents as well as kids welcoming their grandmother into their home or recent graduates come back home until they can earn a salary that allows them to rent or purchase a home.  

Unfortunately, many elders are faced with medical issues; some are spending over $500 a month for daily prescriptions. Tough dilemma & Social security will not suffice.

Another reason we see this trend is that more and more couples are sleeping in separate quarters. No, it is not always an argument that sends our spouse to the couch or guest bedroom. Everyone has a unique sleeping pattern that can be easily disturbed.

There is nothing worse than trying to catch much needed rest and your husband is snoring. Better yet, the wife has restless leg syndrome that seems to ‘come alive’ at 2:32 am. The Jimmy leg has frustrated many of us!

Bottom line, we need our sleep and there is no love lost when we fumble down the hallway cursing the old man for waking us up at 3:16 am with a snore that rattles the bedroom windows.

Regardless if you are a caregiver to a parent or your sleeping habits have you considering a home with two master suites; this trend is here for the long haul.

Currently, Carbon custom homes have 19 custom homes under construction throughout this region, from fort mill, sc to Mooresville, NC.

We have projects in four counties, including one at Lake Norman and another starting at Lake Wylie soon. Both have two master suites.

As a matter of fact, five of current custom homes have two master suites. We are building homes with two master suites on main floor and others with second master suite located in loft or in a 1,000 square foot basement.

Interested in building a new home with two master suites? You are not alone. Call us and we would be more than happy to show you floor plans & discuss the opportunity to build your custom home.

www.Carbonhomesllc.com

Got a lot? We will build your custom home on your lot

Got a lot?

We will build your custom home on your lot

Did you know that there are nearly 75 new communities in our region? Large production builders and tract home builders have picked up the pace with large parcels of land going to highest bidder. Turn up the volume, because there is no backing down on the Charlotte housing market in the foreseeable future.

Some of these builders have reputation for building quality homes while others are known as production builders.

For those who do not know the term, production builders work on volume. They try to complete a new build every 2 weeks after their land developer tries to see how many houses they can fit on 75 acres.  Their profit for adding a third or fourth home on a cul de sac is crucial.

It is a fast and furious pace that creates chaos for all parties involved. All of the trades, suppliers dropping off materials, inspectors, the realtors and the port a john trucks clogged the streets during construction of these new communities.

Quite hectic and to be candid, I am not in line to purchase one of these tract homes. No desire to fight 300 neighbors on the morning commutes out of my cul de sac and I really do not want to watch my neighbor shave his back in his downstairs bathroom only 20 feet away from my house.  

Don’t get me wrong, there are some nice homes being built in our region. No doubt. It’s just a large gap between the high end homes at $700,000 plus and these production homes averaging $190,000.  What about folks who are more likely in the $300,000 to $500,000 range? Future home buyers that want a quality built home on a piece of land with more than a 6 foot fence between them and neighbors.

What about those people those are stuck in between price range, but want to pay for a custom home? Those people in between the $180,000 vinyl home and the million dollar mansion?

Here is a suggestion for folks like me that are the ‘tweeners. Look for land. Look for a lot that suits your needs. Buy the lot and call me. We would love to build your custom home on your land.  

Carbon Custom Homes will keep you involved throughout the entire construction of your home and build it with your needs & wants. Now that is a win-win.

“Green acres is the place for me.

Farm livin’ is the life for me

Land spreadin’ out so far and wide

Keep Manhattan, just give me that countryside.”

www.carbonhomesllc.com