For best results, narrow down the options up front before building your Custom Home. 

Allowances–that is, budgeting general costs for items before the specific items are chosen–are a fact of life on many luxury custom home projects. Some homeowners have trouble making decisions before work begins, most commonly for appliances, cabinets, floor coverings, and plumbing and electrical fixtures. In those cases, the custom home builder can allocate a dollar amount to each category and let the homeowners choose specific products later.

That doesn’t mean homeowners can postpone thinking about these products altogether. For an allowance to serve the homeowners’ interest, it must be based on accurate numbers. For example, the homeowners should at least decide what grade of products they want. That decision can require legwork as well as self-awareness.

How Can The Custom Home Builder Help?

The custom builder can provide average dollar numbers based on past experience with similar projects, but this is only the first step–the homeowners need to ask follow-up questions. For instance, the builder may suggest a $6000 allowance for light fixtures. How many of what kind of fixtures does that represent? Does it include bulbs? Recessed cans, sconces and chandeliers come in a range of prices, so it’s important to be realistic about like-to-haves versus must-haves when building your custom home.

Or take the example of tile. That $5,000 shower allowance might cover a large-format ceramic or porcelain, but what if the homeowner really wants travertine? It’s best to decide up front and budget for it, including finding out whether the price includes labor.

Some people go online to compare products and prices, but the results can be misleading. Although internet pricing may show the relative costs of different grade levels, the quality and warranty coverage may not match that of products sold by a professional supply house.

In most cases, the best way to create an allowance budget for your custom luxury home is to visit the builder’s recommended supplier or showroom. The builder can work with the showroom after the initial visit to generate a realistic number for the grade of products the homeowners want. The time invested in this work will yield allowances based on real-world numbers, not on guesswork or wishful thinking.