Fixed Price Builder Advantages

Once the decision is made to build a new luxury custom home, the next step is to select an award-winning custom homebuilder to bring your vision to life.  There are many things to consider, such as company reputation, time in business, type of homes built and most importantly, the contract and funding program that the builder will use to collect funds and pay for construction.  The most common methods are cost plus, where the builder adds an agreed upon margin on every bill, fixed fee, where you agree to pay a builder a specified amount every month until the new home is completed, and finally fixed price, where a budget number is established upfront and locked in with the building agreement. In this article, we’ll explore the benefits of selecting the Fixed Price method for your custom home.

Budget Clarity and Control:

A fixed price contract is exactly what it says.  You and the builder agree on a budget/price for the new home and sign a contract for that amount.  Typically, unless you make changes along the way, this is the final price that you will pay at closing.  This arrangement includes allowances for items that you will select for the new home, and it becomes the builders responsibility to maintain these accounts and provide updates to the owners as requested.  Zbranek & Holt Custom Homes, a premier Austin and Lake LBJ custom home builder, will only build new custom homes using the fixed-price contract method.

Maximizing Financial Control:

Most custom home buyers fund their new homes with a loan from an approved and competitive lender.  With a fixed price agreement, families know how much money to borrow to pay for the completed project.  Once the home price is known, other items such as landscaping, swimming pools, and septic systems can be added to the loan.  This predictable “all in” cost allows buyers to control the amount of personal cash that they will require to complete the purchase, before construction even starts.

Designing to a Budget:

A fixed-price custom homebuilder like Zbranek & Holt Custom Homes helps clients define a target budget before the architectural designs are started.  Once identified, the new custom home design can be controlled and modified along the way to fit within the preferred amount to spend on the project.  Starting with a plan designer or an architect often results in homes being designed to a new home buyer’s every wish, but out of their realistic budget.  Zbranek & Holt Custom Homes helps predict the final cost of a new custom home, then brings that price range project to life.

Efficiency and Scheduling:

Once the decision is made to build a new custom home, most buyers are eager to start, and then to move in. At Zbranek & Holt Custom Homes, we employ the use of a state-of-the-art online project management system.  This system keeps everyone on the same page for scheduling, budget reconciliation, home buyer selections and allowance tracking.  Since the cost of the home is no longer discussed with a Fixed Price Contract, it frees up time to discuss the things that matter to the clients and enables the projects to proceed more efficiently.

Collaboration and Customization:

A fixed-price Price Contract does not mean that changes cannot be made along the way.  The online management system keeps all players ( the project manager, purchasing agent, interior designer, and sometimes the lender ) in communication so every home can be continually customized to reflect the final owner’s vision.  New charges are handled as changer orders in the contract and are priced for each request before the work is done.  The custom home buyers at Zbranek & Holt Custom Homes continue to be completely in charge of the final cost of the home. There are no surprise bills at the end and choices can be made on an item-by-item basis.

In Conclusion:

A fixed-priced building approach offers distinct advantages such as budget clarity, financial control, design flexibility, efficiency, and a predictable final cost on every project. Zbranek & Holt Custom Homes has a program that makes building a new custom home understandable and fun. The Fixed Price method avoids most of the financial stress often associated with custom home building.  Most of the new custom home clients who build with Zbranek & Holt Custom Homes live in another city or state during construction.  Knowing a firm price upfront, combined with the online project management system, gives remote clients peace of mind that their new custom home will be completed at the agreed upon cost, with their input along the way.