More and more people are working from home, and not just temporarily for Covid-19. The pandemic gave many employers the push they needed to change their business practices to allow many of their employees to work from home permanently. If you’re in this situation, you may find that your home’s design doesn’t reflect your new lifestyle. There are many design features you can add to an existing home, or include in your custom home, to make working from home more practical and productive. Here are six of them.

When you’re building a custom home, you can get a loan to cover the costs, just as you’d get a loan to cover the cost of buying a prebuilt home. However, as your custom home isn’t built yet, it is a riskier loan from the bank’s perspective. You have to jump through more hoops to get a custom home loan, and there are other important differences that you should be aware of before you start.

Silicon Valley isn't just for young tech entrepreneurs. May families find the excellent lifestyle, high-quality amenities, and safe suburban homes they are looking for in Silicon Valley. If you are considering moving your family into the area, you may want to familiarize yourself with the best cities for safety, education, healthcare access, and more. As natives to the area who are always helping families move, we've compiled a list of the top five places in Silicon Valley for families.

Custom homes are exciting precisely because they are custom. Your custom home should be personalized to suit your needs, tastes, and lifestyle perfectly. However, some people who think they are getting a custom home don’t actually get one. Some “custom” builders offer only a few more choices than a production builder or those who build whole neighborhoods at a time. When you’re building with these companies, you may not even realize how limited your design choices are until it’s too late. Or, you might be working with a spec builder who has a design in mind and doesn’t care who they sell that home to.

So, how do you know that your home won’t be truly custom? Here are the signs that your design is limited and that you won’t get the full custom home experience.

Is building a custom home within your means? Are there facets of the build that you can sacrifice in order to reduce the cost significantly? Those might be the questions behind the question: what is the most expensive part of building a home? The answer is that it depends on the home. Still, there’s a lot you can learn about the most expensive parts of building a home and how they may affect your final budget or price. Here’s the main contenders for the most expensive part of building a home and what you need to know about them.

While looking through pictures of custom homes and beautifully renovated spaces is fun, it may feel a little like spinning on a hamster wheel. You see a lot of beautiful things, but you don’t necessarily make any progress on choosing your designer or narrowing down your own tastes and desires for your custom home. Whether you’re looking at a builder’s portfolio, a design website, or your Pinterest board, there are ways to look at these inspirational photos more productively. Following our method, you’ll be able to nail down what you love (and don’t love) so you can better communicate your dreams and end up with a better custom home. Here’s how to do it.

At a certain point, your dreams about building a custom home start to sink in and become a reality. Once you’ve set your mind on building one, your first question is likely to be how long you’ll have to wait to be living in your home. According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2018 Survey of Construction, the average time to build a custom home is 7.7 months. That is counting from when the builder applies for permits until the final walkthrough of the home.

Home renovations in Silicon Valley often start trends for the rest of the nation. Trendsetters here are up on the latest features that can make your home more practical, comfortable, luxurious, and brag-worthy. We’ll look at Silicon Valley’s biggest trends in home renovation and what you can expect if you decide to include some of these trends in your own home, whether it’s undergoing major renovations or even if it’s a new build.

If you’ve looked at many master suites in homes that aren’t custom-built, they seem to take on a certain pattern. Sure, the best may be large, with attached bathrooms that have some luxurious features. However, they often seem impersonal and bland. The master bedroom is supposed to be a personal space where you can relax. It should cater to your needs exactly and have features that make sense for your lifestyle. Here are six advantages of a truly custom master suite that you should consider for yourself.

The best part about building a custom home is that every element can be customized to fit your exact needs. Or, at least, that’s how it should be. Many people do not realize that some “custom” home builders aren’t much different than production builders, or those that build most suburbs.

Once your home is built, it is a challenge, a significant expense and inconvenience to change out its insulation. So, while you’re in the planning and construction process, it’s vital to get your insulation just right to keep your home energy efficient and comfortable. These days, people rightfully expect great energy efficiency from their homes, to make keeping it cool in the summer simpler and to keep their utility bills low. We believe that a high-end home should surpass your expectations and should have a high-end function as well as beauty. To that end, we spend time with our clients, walking them through their insulation options. Here’s a guide to the best insulation options for new home construction.

Accessory dwelling units are secondary, separate, dwellings on one larger property. Your custom-built home may have a separate in-law suite as an accessory dwelling unit. In general, the accessory dwelling unit will use the same utility connections of the larger home, but for building code purposes, is considered a separate space.

If you want to make the most of this space, choosing its amenities is key. Typically, these spaces have their own kitchen, bathroom and bedroom. The other amenities and features are up to you. Whoever you plan to have in the unit, you should cater to their needs. If you might be renting the space, you should consider the desired amenities in your market. Here are some of the best accessory dwelling unit amenities.

Designing a home takes time, while constructing a home takes money. With Covid-19, you may be uncertain about starting a construction project—and that’s understandable. But while you’re at home and have time on your hands, you may want to get started on your building design plans anyway. It doesn’t cost you anything, not until construction begins. And, as creating the right design plans takes a lot of time, when you’re done, you may be ready to start the build anyway. Let’s discuss why and how you can start building your home while you’re in quarantine, or while you have more time on your hands.

Adding a second story to your home is a clever home renovation project that can double your square footage and make your home twice as functional and beautiful. Still, it is a huge undertaking that you don’t want to step into lightly. To ensure your home can support this project, and that it makes sense for you and your family, you should ask yourself (and your home builder), these questions.

Designing a house is many people’s dream come true. Most are so excited to start the design process that they don’t take as much time as they should choosing a custom home builder who suits them. However, this decision will determine the quality of your home and how stressful the build process is. To help you make the right decision for you, we’ve collected these eight mistakes to avoid when hiring a custom home builder.