When you start with an existing plan – like Plan 888-8 shown here — all of your design dollars are applied to tailoring the plan to your unique needs and desires and the requirements of your site.

Building a house involves hundreds (thousands) of decisions. Selecting a new range or picking kitchen countertops may be fun but other decisions, like selecting trim rings for recessed light fixtures, are just work.

No single decision effects the experience of building a house more than the selection of a contractor. Find a good one and you may want to write a book about your life changing experience. Pick the wrong one and it's a different type of book...

What makes a good floor plan? The first consideration is the placement and connection of rooms ... the "flow." Next consider light and views and finally (but not in any way less important), the scale of the rooms.

The best way to minimize cost overruns is to clearly define your project and give your contractor the opportunity to steer you away from decisions that will blow the budget.

Here is a secret; building departments are usually much easier on homeowners than they are on builders and architects. You do not have to be a contractor or an architect to get a building permit in many places. You can pull an “owner-builder” permit.

Building a new house involves thousands of decisions. As hard as you try to make them in advance, inevitably there will be unanticipated decisions every day. Be prepared to make these decisions quickly.

The "punch-list" is the last stage of every construction project. The punch-list describes all of the things that need to be completed or adjusted before the owner feels that the job is complete. As irritating as the punch-list is for builders, it is a useful tool for reaching agreement about the path to securing final payment.

In recent years, water issues have become a very hot topic. Water shortages throughout the western United States, as well as severe droughts in the southern, have made water usage a major concern. Many green building experts agree that with a growing global population we can no longer rely only on water conservation. Even for residents in gloomy states, solar panels can greatly reduce power costs, let alone carbon footprints. In fact, because of solar power success in Germany, the state of Washington (a state that receives overcast days 65% of the year) decided to copy Germany’s solar financial incentive programs. Let’s take a closer look at some factors to consider before making a purchase decision.