Tips and Considerations for Choosing the Right Location for Your Custom Home
Find a neighborhood that aligns with your budget and lifestyle.
Creating a custom home that melds perfectly with your needs, tastes, and lifestyle isn’t only about selecting amenities and floor plans. Another crucial aspect of building your ideal custom home is choosing the right location. The location of the lot you choose to build on will play a large role in the overall investment required for your custom home and in countless aspects of your daily life. Keep the following considerations in mind as you set out to choose the best location for your future home.
Budget and Affordability
The neighborhood you choose will be one of the largest determining factors for your overall budget. Beginning your location search by setting realistic expectations around your total spending for your lot and your finished home will help narrow down your options.
Once you’ve determined your budget for your custom home project, take time to analyze and compare the cost of land throughout the area you hope to live in. Break it down to average price per square foot where possible to give yourself a clear-cut idea of what you might pay for your future lot.
Remember that in some cases, lower-priced lots may still end up incurring more development expenses due to utilities considerations, permits, and taxes. Working with an experienced realtor and the skilled custom building professionals at Atmos can help you ensure you’ve taken each detail into account as you weigh the affordability of various locations. This first step is a great way to narrow down your options so that you can focus on the locations that work for your wallet.
Lifestyle and Personal Preferences
Once you’ve gotten clear about your budget, it’s time to consider your lifestyle needs and personal preferences. This is the stage for weighing factors like proximity to each family member’s place of work, which school district each location falls under, and where amenities like recreation centers and parks are located in relation to each neighborhood.
Building a custom home means you get to design a place that truly fits your lifestyle. Choosing a location that brings you closer to the things that matter to you plays a huge role in this endeavor. For example, choosing a very safe and secure neighborhood is especially important for someone who loves to take early morning jogs or walks after sundown. Families with children might place special consideration on school districts and bus schedules. Nature lovers might prioritize a neighborhood with mature landscaping and walking trails.
Just as the amenities within your new home will be specific to you and your needs, so will your location selection process!
Future Considerations
Thinking ahead can help inform your location selection for your custom home. What are your long-term goals and plans for the home? Are you looking for somewhere to age in place? A house to raise a family in? An investment to move on from in less than ten years? This plan will play a role in how closely you might consider analyzing neighborhood resale values and potential for appreciation. Plans like aging in place can warrant digging into accessibility and transportation options near your potential neighborhoods.
Lot Selection With Atmos
With Atmos 3D tools for lot analysis and visualization, the process of finding a lot that will fit your custom home vision is streamlined and straightforward. Whether you know every detail of your dream home or you’re still working out kinks, digital renders with Atmos and the skilled professionals waiting to help you build your dream home will smooth out the process.
Finding the ideal North Carolina location for your new custom home can feel overwhelming, but every bit of effort is worth it. By identifying a neighborhood and a community that resonates with your values and lifestyle, you can pave the way for a balanced and happy life. With Atmos, building custom has never been easier. Get started today!
