But first an update…

Okay,  it’s been a little while since I have updated you on our new build. Things have been happening behind the scenes, I promise. We are still working with Clayton on finalizing our floor plan and we have started going section by section of the exterior and working on materials and other details. We also were able to walk the site with him a few weeks ago while we was in town from Utah and you can now watch that video on my YouTube channel. We are hoping to submit our plans to engineering by the end of the month. If you want to get caught up on this project from the start you can head to this post or just head to the last post.

And Our Builder is…

One of the biggest decisions that we have had to make over the last couple of months is who to work with as our builder for our new home. As you might know, we thought about self building the home. Which means that we would have general contracted the build ourselves. We would have needed to have someone build the shell of the home and then we would manage all of the subcontractors ourselves. We thought that this would save us time and money. Here are the reasons we decided to not go this route:

1. Time – We thought that building it ourselves would allow us to control timelines better; however, the amount of time that it would take to bid of the jobs, research what we didn’t know, etc would most likely prolong our build by months. That time could be better served focusing on our businesses to pay for the house.
2. Experience – Or lack thereof, I should say. Our knowledge and expertise are in flips and remodels. Building a custom home from the ground up is a whole new thing and we could have figured it out, but you don’t know what you don’t know. And we both felt that we would end up with a better product at the end of a long and expensive process if we worked with someone who is experienced and knowledgable in building custom homes.
3. Execution – One thing our architect, Clayton, kept saying was that if it looks good on paper and it looks great in renderings that it will look awesome in real life with the right builder. We realized that we were not the right builder to execute the design decisions that we have been making for this house. I don’t want to feel disappointed with the final result because it wasn’t executed the correct way.

After thinking through those things a little bit more, we decided to contact a few local custom home builders. I wanted to interview 3 builders. I feel like it was the right number for us to know that we were making the correct decision. We interviewed 2 builders close together and we knew who we liked between the two of them. And then we wanted to talk with one more builder to solidify that our decision and our instinct was correct and to make sure that the numbers and timelines were about the same across the board. After our third builder meeting, we knew for sure that Rafterhouse was who we wanted to work with. So…meet our design and build team – Rafterhouse!

via Rafterhouse

more than a home. a rafterhouse.

Rafterhouse has been building homes pretty much as long as we have been flipping homes. Their quality and craftsmanship is incredible! I have been following along with them on social media for years and years. They started working in an area of Phoenix called Arcadia and it’s this pocket of homes with charm and character and I have always been drawn to their work. But besides their amazing work, we were so impressed with Austin and his team. Every interaction left us more and more comfortable that we made the right decision. Here are a few reasons that we chose to work with them:

1. Amazing Systems & Processes – We know in our own businesses how important having systems and processes in place. They were super upfront about how they work and with a project as big as ours, we knew that working with someone who had proven processes in place would keep the project on track and we would know what to expect at each point in the build. Austin cares about timelines and budgets and will work actively to keep everything moving along.
2. Design Team – I know that it seems a little different that we would be working with a design team as someone who would consider myself a designer. HOWEVER, I have said it before and I will say it again – flipping houses is not the same as building a custom home. And although I feel like I could do it on my own, there are so many benefits to working with a design team for sourcing, CAD drawings, coming up with design ideas that I may not think about and keeping me from getting design fatigue. I got to meet the design team and they are excited to collaborate with me and allow me to have my handprints all over the house. I want to feel like I had a huge part in designing the home, but I know that the final result will be so much better if I work with someone else who has more experience and can bring really great ideas into the project.
3. Experience – When Clayton talks about how the drawings and renderings will coming to life with the right builder, we really feel like Rafterhouse is that builder. They are familiar and experienced with building traditional style homes and with the level of details that our architect is drawing and that is important to us. We feel like they have the expertise to execute the design, but also help us navigate the process of refining the floor plan and making sure that things make sense fro a functional standpoint and from a design focused perspective as well.

Check out some of their projects below! We have our design intake meeting with them next month, so until then I will be working on design concepts for each space and really narrowing down the style and look that I want to see inside the house. I’m super excited to get started on this!!

via Rafterhouse via Rafterhouse via Rafterhouse via Rafterhouse

I can’t wait to fill you in more as the design and build process progresses!!