My Dream House

custom home

Home-Sweet Custom Home $15.67 Home-Sweet Custom Home

Custom Home Office $17.44 Custom Home Office

3br - Beautiful custom mountain rental home $125 This rental home is located in a quiet subdivision where wildlife abounds. Home has 1750 square feet, 3 bedrooms, 2.5 bath. Home features master suite on main floor with queen size custom log bed, ample closet space, french doors to exterior covered...

3br - Custom Home on Meredith Bay of Lake Winnipesaukee! $421 PRICE JUST REDUCED!! WINNIPESAUKEE: 5 year old custom designed home on Meredith Bay!! This gorgeous home rests on a pretty lot with 100' frontage. 3 bedrooms (queen bed, queen bed and 2 double beds). 2 bedrooms are suites with jacuzzi tubs and ...

3br - Beautiful Custom home in Encinitas $375 Beautiful 3 bedroom home with granite countertops throughout, steam shower in master bathroom, stainless steel appliances in large open kitchen. Double oven, microwave, dishwasher, gas stove, large refridgerator, coffee pot, dishes, pts/pans,...

3br - Secluded Country Estate, custom home, no neighbors $140 This beautiful, custom home features hickory flooring, real hickory cabinets, extra large master bed room jetted tube, walk- in shower, dual sinks and such more. There is plenty of area to take in a special meal at the separate dinning room, breakfast...

4br - PGA West Entertainers Delight Custom Home $350 4 Bedrooms + Convertible bed(s), 4 Baths (Sleeps 8- 10) Golf Course front, 6th Hole on Palmer Private course, Mountain ViewThe Very Best Value At Pga West For a Home of this Size!! Enjoy The tranquility and privacy of this 3600 sf custom retreat....

8br - Island Luxury 8 Bedroom Custom Home $784 Rates starting as low as $3, 200 per week depending on time of year. This luxury custom- built brand new home is OVER the TOP! There is currently nothing else like it available on Anna Maria Island. Experience the ultimate luxury of this beautiful private...

2br - Secluded Santa Fe Custom Home $160 Fully furnished, 1800- square- foot, two- bedroom, two- bath home just one mile from downtown Santa Fe plaza. Adobe- style stucco home overlooking arroyo on one- acre lot dotted with pi juniper, and fruit trees. Seven full- length, southern- ...

3br - New Custom Cedar Home Near Ocean $130 This three bedroom home, features open living space with plenty of windows for light and to catch trade wind breezes. Ocean is approx. 1/2 mile away. Master Bath features jetted tub, glass block & tiled shower. Separate Laundry room with washer & dryer....

4br - Huge Custom ocean view home with easy beach access $325 AWAKEN BY THE SEA ~ just across the street from the beach, ready for up to 16 guests in popular Road's End area of Lincoln City on gorgeous Central Oregon Coast.With 4 bedrooms and 3 baths, plus den, this gorgeous custom home has everything for...

The Custom Home $46.86 Vernon Swaback, FAIA, FAICP is extremely passionate about his craft, as is evident in both his words and his own architecture...

5br - Golf Log Home $129 Clean air and Clean new home! Experience northern Michigan at its best! Spectacular views from luxury log home on 15th tee at Cedar Valley Golf Course. Full custom kitchen, laundry facility, great room with 23' ceilings, Large family room, surround...

3br - Luxurious Las Vegas Custom Home Heatedpool/Jacuzzi $295 Plush, single story 2800 Sq ft home features 3 master bdrms with 3 lavish bathrooms. Situated on a 1/2 acre + corner lot with panoramic views of the mountains and desert, surrounded by 8ft walls, beautiful landscaping and palm&pine trees, heated...

5br - $250 night **CUSTOM CHALET** 5 br home $275 Custom built 3000 sq. ft 5 br /3 full bath luxury cabin, located south of Park City in Heber City. Sleeps 10. Includes such features as new 6 person indoor hot tub, fireplace, gas grill, game room with air hockey & foosball tables, sat tv, free long...

2br - Luxury beachfront home $395 This custom built, contemporary Mexican- style beachfront home features soaring ceilings, and an open floor plan. With 52 windows to take in the view from any room and at any glance, it feels as bright and airy as the beach itself.Offering two ...

2br - Lakeside Home $150 Beautifully renovated Lakeside Home ready for you and your family. Completely custom designed kitchen and bathrooms for your vacation pleasure. Minutes away from Tampa International Airport. Enjoy screened in salt water pool and porch area with sunroom...

4br - Stunning Beachfront home $333 Built in 2006, this lovely 2- story custom home sits on oceanfront property in the sleepy village of Surfside Beach, 35 miles south of Galveston. Nestled in the dunes on a large lot, we are footsteps away from the beach. Decks surround 3 sides of the...

4br - Beachside Home, Galveston, TX $275 Our beach house, Abby's Dream, is your home away from home. A colorful, beach retreat with 2200 sq ft of luxury surrounding you as you enjoy the sound of the surf and the beautiful sunsets. This 2007 built custom home with granite counters and bamboo...

Sweet Home Custom Stamp $41.99 The Sweet Home Custom Stamp by Three Designing Women can be personalized in so many ways: address, name & monogram, business contact info, save-the-date, From the Kitchen of, From the Desk of, to name a few... This customized self-inking stamper is perfect for anything from general letters, packages and cards to birth announcements, recipe book labels and so much more! Your personalization is quick and easy! Simply indicate the text you would like around the outer edge ("Outside Text"). This text can include your name, address, phone number or any combination of these or other sayings. Be sure to add all information exactly as you would like it to appear. Include any special characters, such as the ampersand (&). Stamps are limited to 15 characters (including spaces) for your name and 22 characters per line on the bottom. The size of the text will vary depending on the amount of text requested.

6br - Shenanigans, an Oceanview Home on the Outerbanks $292 Shenanigans is a custom built home with fantastic oceanviews, off street parking and landscaped for your privacy. Located across the street to pleanty of shopping, restaurants and entertainment. Amenities include 6 BDR, K, Q, Q, Q, 2S, 2B, 4.5 baths,...

3br - Winter Spec! 3 bed 4 bath Custom Log Home $150 You have arrived at your Smoky Mountain destination vacation log cabin! Walk in and sit down by the fireplace or walk around the covered porches, sit in a rocking chair and enjoy the mountain view. Spend an afternoon curled up with a good book in our...

3br - PEACEFUL CONTEMPORARY POOL & JACUZZI HOME *40% OFF $116 Very nice and the newest also. We are proud this Home and this one has a Custom Paint job that really brings out the warmth and feeling throughout the Home. This Custom Home with a Model Home feeling is on the Water- side of Highway 95. It is only five...

3br - Beautiful Sedona Home $250 5600 Sq. Ft.(underroof) Lavish Spanish Colonial features 3 bedrooms, 2 baths with stunning panoramic mountain views, spectacular Koi pond, fantasy courtyard, 3 car garage, cozy gas fireplace, custom cabinetry, laundry room, office, theatre room...

2br - Stylish, comfortable mountain home, great views, $106 DATES AVAILABLE ~ SKI SPRINGBREAK ! From March 18 available.Our roomy comfortable and well furnished home welcomes you to Pagosa; a modern yet characteristic moutain structure, custom design, custom built to our specifications. The house is decorated...

Before You Break Ground On Your Custom Home Consider These 5 Tips

Copyright (c) 2011 Gerry Stringer

The upside of a down economy where the near collapse of the real estate market is dragging home value down to historic lows is that the cost of acquiring land, constructing and designing a new home and financing rates are at an all-time low as well, making it as cost effective as possible to build a custom home now.

For those who have always wanted to build a dream home, a new custom home with all of the personal touches that will make it truly unique, experts advise that this marketplace couldn't be better. All building materials are seeing a supply surge in the down economy which is creating many discount opportunities on even custom pieces like stone and tile or fine amenities like salvaged stained glass or weathered barn wood. Contractors and subcontractors, design engineers and housing architects - all super busy and high priced in the go-go years of the mid 2000s - have open schedules and can complete projects in record times and because they are hungry for work, their fees are at a minimum.

People looking to finally take the leap into the custom home of a lifetime also have the advantage of being able to pick and choose their building partners and command their full attention. However, even with the stars aligning to make this one of the best times to build a custom home in decades, prospective new home buyers still have to be vigilant in their planning.

Here, according to custom home building experts, are the Top 5 Steps to Take Before Starting to Build A New Custom Home:

· Do your research on the housing market. Every new custom home begins with the selection of building location, typically an existing older home in a desired neighborhood that would make an excellent location and a good building site. Look around for neighborhoods with the type of home you are looking to build with new homes in the price category you want to achieve; a neighborhood where the housing stock is turning over to newer homes. This will afford you the opportunity of finding a smaller "scrap-off" home for the price of the lot, and the proximity of other newer, larger homes will protect the investment.

· Find an architect with a similar portfolio. You need to find an architect experienced at designing custom homes similar to your planned project - the same size category, in the same area, with similar types of building materials. If you are planning a lot of custom stone work, or a custom kitchen with unique attributes, better to go with a designer who has been there before.

· Find a custom home builder with similar experience. Finding the right builder, who will act as project manager, is a very important step. The requisite experience should not only cover the size of home in question, and the building materials projected, but also the area in which the project is going to be done. Building codes and availability of resources vary widely from area to area, even within a single metropolitan area, so having a custom home builder with experience in that specific area can save time and expense.

· Look for subcontractors who can handle the job. Not every electrician, roofer, plumber, landscaper, etc., has the demonstrated expertise to handle the amenities you are planning. Often sub-contractors are selected on the basis of price, which can be the wrong way to go if the project includes special additions. Have they installed a home theater? Do they specialize in whirlpools, spas, or swimming pools? Are they experienced in xeriscaping? Paying for experience can save you money in the long run.

· Cost, financing and project management. Custom home building projects inevitably run into snags and changes that alter the cost and can affect the financing. Work with vendors - realtors, designers, contractors, lenders - with experience in such matters. Before breaking ground on construction, make sure the entire project is priced out with clear advance delineation of how changes are handled in order to avoid surprises. Many builders work on what is known as a "cost-plus" basis, which can be an incentive for cost overruns; better to decide on a fixed fee where the incentive is to stay within budget and schedules. Lenders can be very helpful in this process, building a construction loan and then long-term mortgage package with enough flexibility to cover the unexpected.

The more research the homeowner does in advanced, the more involved the home owner is in the process and it can lighten the load because there are literally thousands of variables at hand in designing a custom home. The designer, builder and lender are going to be partners in the process until move-in day, so it pays to go with experience and with people and firms you can live with - for a lifetime.

About the Author

Gerry Stringer is a real estate expert in the Denver market and he has experience with
custom home building
, which is why he recommends
Denver custom home builder
Chase Custom Homes for all building and remodeling because they deliver on time and under budget.