Building the home of your dreams is an exciting and challenging process. If you’re looking for a high-end, luxury finish to your home, you will likely want to engage a custom home builder. However, there is no real difference between a custom home builder and a luxury home builder. The level & types of finishes to your home is endless and is primarily determined by what budget you have available. This article gives you some advice about what a luxury home builder is and how you can finish your dream home to a luxury standard.
Typically a luxury home builder specialises in building unique, custom & high-end homes. Many builders use select pre-designed homes for clients to choose from, while a custom builder enables you the freedom to explore different design options to suit your lifestyle and budget. Designing and building should go hand in hand when it comes to luxury or custom homes. A luxury home builder will normally have building designers or architects to refer you to, or they may even have a home designer in-house. Building a luxury home starts early during the planning and design stage.
Every person’s idea of luxury will vary, just like individual tastes and preferences. Normally a luxury home could be categorised by high-end finishes, including things such as PC items, tiles and flooring as examples. The size, design and overall functionality of your home can also have a luxury feel to it. Luxury doesn’t always mean that bigger is better. You should expect a luxury finish to your home or a luxury size build to mean more cost and will ultimately be more expensive. A quality custom home builder should be able to accommodate luxury for different tastes and different budgets. It all comes down to your definition of luxury and what your budget is to build your home.
You should look for similar things when you engage any type of builder. It becomes critically important when designing and building a high end home to find the right builder…
- Testimonials from recent projects they have worked on. You must get current and up to date reviews on builds completed.
- A list of projects completed so you can get an idea of the level of workmanship and the quality of finishes
- Some information on their team and subcontractors
- References from suppliers and subcontractors
A custom home allows you to design and build something that is unique and tailored to how you want to live. If you’re building you forever home, you may want to go the extra mile for high-end luxury finishes. You must discuss your budget with a builder at the early planning and design stages so you can incorporate everything you want in your new home.
5 Tips For Buying the Perfect Piece of Luxury Home
Searching for and securing the perfect home always comes with a few challenges. This is as true when it comes to luxury real estate as it is for properties at lower price points. Fortunately, a bit of knowledge—and some guidance from the right professional—can help ensure that your high-end purchase is a success.
Here are five luxury real estate tips for finding a property that suits you perfectly.
Consider exclusive listings
Not every seller wants to spread the word about their home far and wide. For various reasons—which include the desire for privacy—many prefer to keep their properties off the MLS. These homes are known as exclusive listings, and having access to them can increase the chances that you’ll find that one-in-a-million luxury real estate property.
The key is to work with an agent who’s well connected within the high-end market. Someone who has plenty of luxury experience can draw on their networks to find as many homes with potential as possible.
Interested in seeing what’s for sale beyond the MLS? Get a sense of what’s available with our selection of exclusive properties.
Know your communities listings
Knowing about promising local areas is always crucial. Whether you’re seeking a luxury living space or not, consider the amenities you’re looking for (which could include everything from local green spaces to nearby grocers).
Of course, as a high-end buyer, you may be seeking a lifestyle that only a select few communities can offer. So the exclusive neighbourhood features that interest you may help determine where you start the home hunt from private schools and country clubs to high-end boutiques and restaurants.
Take the time you need
Buying a home is always a big commitment, especially when large sums of money are involved…it pays to consider your options. As a luxury buyer, you’re almost certainly well-positioned to purchase a property that checks all your boxes.
Of course, you may opt to act quickly if you feel certain that you’ve found the perfect upscale home. Having said that, there’s nothing wrong with being discerning. There’s less competition for luxury properties (since there are fewer buyers who can afford them).
Every buying scenario is different. A skilled local agent can help you understand the demand for any home you’re considering, and how it could impact your purchase.
Work with the right agent
There are differences between buying a luxury home and one at a lower price point from financing options to what constitutes a good deal. To ensure that everything goes smoothly with your high-end purchase, it’s best to work with an agent with the right expertise.
Fortunately, you have no shortage of options. Here at Harvey Kalles, our local professionals have the market knowledge and luxury experience to help buyers secure the outcomes they deserve!
You don’t have to forgo negotiations.
Just because you can afford a luxury home doesn’t necessarily mean you should pay the full list price. As is the case with other real estate types, you may find yourself in a good position to negotiate using recent local data.
Of course, rounding up prices for comparable homes can be slightly more challenging in the luxury sector. That’s because, as a rule, there tend to be fewer properties at these price points, and the homes tend to have unique features. Fortunately, an agent with the right expertise can use the most relevant information available to help secure the best possible price for you.
7 Features Luxury Home Buyers Shouldn’t Ignore
Designing, building and furnishing a luxury custom home from the ground up should be an enjoyable experience. But through our work revising design and construction mistakes — from replacing light fixtures to revamping entire floor plans. Unfortunately, luxury home buyers often focus on the obvious, such as fixtures, finishes and appliances, instead of the features that will have major impacts on their lifestyles. And they often don’t know enough about building a luxury home to ask the obvious: Is the floor plan effective for my family? What will the cabinets, countertops, tiles and floors be made of? How about the lighting? What type of paint will be on the walls? And how many colours can we use?
It’s easy to be wowed by glamorous renderings or models at sales centres. But it’s critical to think carefully about how a home will “live.” For instance, does the floor plan really suit your needs? What about the durability of the materials and finishes? Are countertops and tiles engineered or natural stone, and how does each perform? Is there storage in the right places for your needs?
Certain issues come up so often in our luxury interior design practice that I’m calling them out here. Luxury home buyers should pay attention to these seven issues at the beginning of the building process to avoid costly mistakes when building custom homes:
Floor plan: The open floor plan that’s ubiquitous and beloved today isn’t for everyone, especially if you want to hide the mess that comes with cooking and eating. When you walk through models or look at renderings, strip away the gorgeous finishes and furnishings and imagine using all spaces. Will the floor plan offer family members enough privacy? Will the room accommodate the right pieces of furniture — from large, comfy sofas to exercise equipment to king-size beds? Are the spaces safe for all family members (balconies and landings can be dangerous for small children)? And does it allow you to be comfortable and productive? Make floor plan changes before breaking ground.
Insulation: Out of sight, out of mind. Insulation not only maintains a home’s environment but also diffuses sound between rooms and floors. While insulation isn’t usually part of the interior design process, we’ve had so many homeowners complain of noise issues between rooms and floors that we advise clients to make sure their home builder is using the best option — in my opinion, spray foam insulation. In addition, we’ve had to open walls and floors to beef up insulation for soundproofing purposes. This extends to doors as well: Instead of hollow, they should be solid wood to buffer noise.
Materials used for the flooring (or tile or countertops): Let’s say the floors are rift sawn wood. That’s a nice start (we prefer solid woods over-engineered products), but hardwoods like oak are more durable than softer woods like pine, birch and walnut (think heel marks!), and long, wide floorboards are more visually pleasing than short and narrow ones, which can look choppy. They’re also more expensive in some cases. The same logic applies to other materials used for flooring and countertops. Review every tile or countertop choice. Is it the best option for your needs? Natural stones are always more luxurious than engineered surfaces, but do they have the properties you need? Also, smaller tiles are almost always cheaper than larger tiles (Italian glass mosaic tiles are an exception to this rule).
Paint job: Most builders, even the most luxury-focused, will paint everything in some variation of white. But they may not necessarily be using top-quality paint such as C2, Fine Paints of Europe or Farrow & Ball, or offer you a range of finishes. For example, will they use eggshell or satin on the walls and semi-gloss or high-gloss on trims? Can you use several colours in a room to call attention to architectural features? True decorative finishes, such as lacquered walls or Venetian plaster, are time- and labour-intensive and require specialists. But if the home comes with painted walls, why not make sure you’re getting the best paint job possible?
Lighting: Builders rely on their architects or interior designers, rather than lighting specialists (as luxury interior designers do), to do the lighting plans in their homes. They often buy lighting fixtures in bulk, especially larger recessed can fixtures that tend to be more economical. That means the lighting plan in a home, and the quality, style, versatility and strength of the fixtures (from recessed cans to decorative chandeliers), may not be right for a home buyer’s needs. Lighting should be purposeful. It should highlight conversation and activity areas, art, and anything else that’s important to your lifestyle. This kind of specificity calls for a specialist.
Cabinets: When you evaluate cabinets, you have to look way beyond style, finish and hardware to make sure they’re well constructed and versatile, and that all components (from interior boxes to hardware) are high-quality and durable. Are the shelves flexible to accommodate different items? Is the hardware solid and secure? Details like this make the difference between cabinets that last 10 to 20 years or twice that long. High-quality cabinets can be refinished or revamped with new hardware and doors time and again.
Technology: Does your tech go crazy two hours before you have company for the Academy Awards or the Super Bowl? Fully integrated tech isn’t always the best option, especially given the exponential speed at which updates are issued, and components go out of production. Think hard about whatever tech your builder is offering. Ask how it will be supported if it’s confusing to use or if it breaks.
So how do you turn that custom home into your dream home? Have your experts vet the home, and then negotiate. Most buyers tend to ask the builder for a discount on the home’s base price. We’ve found the best way to negotiate with builders is to work on upgrades. That means you may pay a little more, but as we’ve learned through experience, you get what you pay for.