If you are in the market for architectural plans / home plans, chances are you have been doing a lot of online research looking for the best plan for the perfect home for you. This is time well spent!
When looking at the plans, you should understand the scale of each space by looking at floor plans, 3-D perspectives, and any images to show exactly what the house will look like. If this is not offered on the website that you are looking at, click out quickly!
What to Look for in Home Plans
There are two primary considerations when shopping for home plans:
- Floor plan – does the layout work for you and whomever else is living with you?
- Design aesthetics – do you like the way that it looks?
In addition to those vital considerations, there are additional factors to look for, like:
- Footprint size – does the house actually fit on your lot?
- Solar orientation – where there are windows, does this work as it has to be oriented on your site? Remember, windows facing south will provide the most natural sunlight and will be passive solar.
- Are the quality of the plans high enough that they can actually be built?
- Design elements such as materials can always be changed so don’t get too hung up on what materials are used on the rendering of the house.
- Do you have an avenue to getting the materials needed specified? For example, plumbing, lighting, cabinetry, tile etc.
Common mistakes people make when buying plans online
- If there is a floor plan that you think is perfect, except it needs to be edited, do not buy this plan. In my experience, many of these plans cannot actually be built. Many people have inquired for me to edit these online plans, and trust me when I say it never goes over well. Now, as a business protocol, I no longer provide this service because it frustrates people that they have spent money on something that cannot be built or edited to work how they want it to.
- If you purchase an architectural plan thinking that your builder can just edit plans. There is not only code to contend with but also the logistics of how one edit impacts the bigger picture. For example, I had one Unfold consultation because they wanted a three-car garage instead of two. They poured the foundation, built the walls, then… for some reason, they were surprised that the roofline didn’t work. Buyer beware: this is a costly mistake!
Buying house plans is much more than just looking at a pretty picture. Too often people buy the house plans thinking “That’s that, now the builder can take the information and build a house.” True with our Amy Dutton Unfold products, but not true with many of the other house plan products online.
We even offer purchasing interior design packages so that you can buy the house plans with the finish and material specifications, hand that to your builder and get an accurate price and timeline then go on vacation. There is nothing more for you to do.
And if you want to customize that house plan or materials list, we can absolutely do that too! We are a mother-daughter team ready to help you make your dream home a reality!