There is no such thing as having too many extra custom home resources in the project, and you can find a few handy resources for finding land and arranging your financing, as well as listing the major associations that work with custom home people, or specialty resources for owner-builders, log homes, and environmental help.
Land Custom Home Resources
Lotfinders (www.lotfinders.com) is an Internet resource focused specifically on helping the consumer find land to build a custom home. It works with developers to publicize properties for sale. They also help prospective homebuilders to identify landowners with property not listed.
Other resources for finding land also on the Internet include:
- www.Realtor.com: This site can get you to any land listed in the Multiple Listing Service.
- www.land.net: This site has a large database of land for sale as well, although much of it is commercial land or raw land, which is land that’s not prepared for building.
Stratford Financial Services
Stratford Financial Services (www.customhomeexperts.com) is a company dedicated to real estate financing education. The company has financed thousands of homes and more than 800 custom home projects. Its Web site has tons of custom home articles and essays designed to keep consumers from making costly mistakes when financing real estate.
Log and Timber Frame Homes
Goodman Media, publisher of Log Homes Illustrated magazine and Timber Homes Illustrated magazine, acts as the best all-around resources for log and timber home enthusiasts. Log on www.loghomesillustrated.com for more information.
Another great company providing resources for such projects is Log Home Authority (www.loghomeauthority.com), which has two major magazines that service the log home industry, Log Home Living and Log Home Design Ideas.
Finished Plans
The Garlinghouse Company serves as America’s premier publisher of home plan books and project plans. Its Web site (www.garlinghouse.com) is a great online resource. Garlinghouse provides great information for converting bought plans into approved plans. Hanley Wood is also a good resource. You can find Hanley Wood’s plans online at www.eplans.com and www.dreamhomesource.com. Hanley Wood also publishes a number of trade magazines for the building industry. If you’re interested in seeing things from your contractor’s perspective, check out Builder magazine or Custom Home magazine or www.hanleywood.com.
Home Depot Expo
When you’re in the market for appliances, fixtures, and cabinetry ideas, there is no better showcase open to the public than Home Depot Expo. This store exhibits an amazing designer showcase where you can see how bathrooms and kitchens come together. Log on to www.expo.com to find a design center near you.
American Institute of Architects (AIA)
The American Institute of Architects (AIA) provides information about architects. You can go to the AIA Web site (www.aia.org) to read up on the subject of architects and the public. You can also search the architect-finder service by location. The AIA has local offices in most major cities, which can be a great resource for meeting architects in person.
National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)
The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Web site (www.nahb.org) looks to be for builders only, but you can find plenty of consumer information about builders and the building
process spread throughout the site. The site has detailed explanations of the building process and listings of trade shows that you can attend to see building materials and processes.
One other resource is www.homebuilder.com, which is a consumer site connected with NAHB. It’s a decent source for information and houses a referral source for finding contractors.
For Owner-Builders
You can utilize two strong resources for owner-builders not quite looking to do it all themselves. U-Build-It (www.ubuildit.com) is a set of franchised dealers that educate and consult with you through the entire construction process. The other resource, Complete Owner Builder Services (COBS; www.cobshomes.com), is a one-stop shop for owner-builders. It combines its expertise along with supplier relationships to help you save money and achieve your goals in the owner-builder process.
Building Green
Building Green (www.BuildingGreen.com) provides authoritative, independent information on environmentally responsible design and construction. Building Green’s resources include:
- Environmental Building News (EBN): A newsletter featuring comprehensive in-depth features, product reviews, news, opinions, and more, on a wide range of sustainable building topics
- GreenSpec Directory: Featuring more than 1,850 green building products carefully screened by the editors of EBN, plus guideline specification language
- BuildingGreen Suite: Providing instant online access to EBN and thousands of past articles, cross-linked with the GreenSpec product database and high-performance building case studies.
Wild Ones Native Plant Landscaping
This organization promotes environmentally sound landscaping practices incorporating the use of native plants in landscaping for houses and buildings. If you’re interested in native plant landscaping, check out Wild Ones at www.for-wild.org.
These custom home resources can be very helpful in your new quest, so make sure that you check them out before starting the project.