If you are intent on building a home, you have a number of choices for the building plan that you'll be using. First, you can use a pre-set building plan from your construction firm, often with the option to make changes here and there to customize the plan to your desires. Alternatively, you can hire an architect to design a customized building plan of your ideal home. Each option has its own attractions, making it better suited under certain circumstances than others.

 Using a Pre-set Building Plan

 Here are the pros and cons of using a pre-set building plan straight from the construction firm:

 * Pre-set building plans cost fewer resources to use than customized building plans. At a minimum, the cost of hiring an architect to design the building plan is eliminated. Furthermore, most pre-set building plans are optimized to reduce the costs of construction in terms of both funding and time.

 * Furthermore, since the pre-set building plan comes straight from the construction firm, it is probable that the firm has a great deal of experience building homes using the plan. As a result, it is not unreasonable to expect that the construction firm can build using pre-set building plans both at a faster pace and with fewer mistakes during construction.

 * In exchange for these advantages, you get little chance to add input to the construction of your home. Since the details of the pre-set building plan has been laid out beforehand, you must make do with the building plans that you can get from the construction firm rather than building the home of your dreams.

 Customizing a Pre-set Building Plan

 Here are the pros and cons to choosing the middle option of semi-customization:

 * Customization gives you the chance to have a home that is better suited to your needs and tastes than the one laid out in pre-set building plans.

 * Even a limited degree of customization makes construction more expensive than building using the pre-set building plan.

 Using a Customized Building Plan

 Here are the pros and cons of ordering a customized building plan:

 * First, using a customized building plan is the best method for getting exactly the kind of home that you desire. You do not need to tailor your dreams to fit into the confines of a pre-set building plan but can instead dictate the details so long as your budget is not exceeded.

 * Second, using a customized building plan means that your home can be designed to best suit the land that you'll be using. For example, if you are going to build alongside a lake, you can have your home designed to take into account the soil and take advantage of the lakeside view.

 * Using a customized building plan is the most expensive option both in terms of funds and the time spent building the home. Even designing the building plan can cost tens of thousands of dollars, never mind the costs of preparation and actual construction. Furthermore, untested building plans can result in higher incidences of errors during construction, which can end up costing you more for the process of building your dream home.

 Conclusion

 In the end, it is important for you to consider all possible options before making a decision. Remember to keep your dreams grounded by practical concerns and not get carried away by over-committing on your home-building efforts.

Travis Bayles is an independent real estate researcher. He enjoys sharing his insights on various property publications and websites. Visit Baywest Homes, to find out more details.