The Essential Guide to Maintaining a Custom Home

Design a Legacy Home

There’s an old saying: An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

And when it comes to maintaining the value of a custom home, the best planning starts before the home is even built.

Indeed, for those who are considering building a custom home and want to protect and preserve their investment for the long term, it’s important to start thinking well before you’ve moved in.

To begin, ensure that you are working with a great residential architect and custom home builder. The quality of your team will ensure you are set up for success from the beginning.

During the process of design and construction, ensure there are conversations about timeless elements as well as what is a permanent change versus what can easily be swapped out later.

As an example, a flat roof will be much harder to change to a pitched roof after the home is built, as opposed to the color of your interior paint or the type of furniture you choose to decorate your dining room.

For timeless elements, consider the home size in relation to the lot — including the site, orientation, and general location. A beautiful home in an undesirable geographic area may undermine value.

Underscore the importance of a classic architectural motifs, including floor plan and style, as well as aspirational elements such as high ceilings and oversized windows, while also having candid conversations about accessibility and future maintenance.

As an example, If you have to your heart set on a rare imported appliance for your kitchen, you may find it difficult to have it serviced.

Water intrusion accounts for 70% of construction litigation, with over 63% due to leaks caused by plumbing, HVAC, irrigation, and appliance failure, construction defects, or failure to maintain the building's envelope. As a result, it’s critical to discuss what can be done in advance to waterproof and leak test your custom home before, during, and after construction is complete. With your insurance broker, consider adding water damage rider and umbrella policy.

As you move through the process of building a custom home, ensure independent third party inspections are facilitated at key construction milestones to ensure quality work is being done — not just to the bare minimum of the building code, but to the standard you expect.

And finally, after you receive your certificate of occupancy (but before you move in), walk through the property with your team to create a punch list of items to fix, repair, or touch up.

The First Year

Once you’ve moved in, you will undoubtedly have many ideas about items to improve, things to fix, or areas to optimize.

For the first year, prioritize settling in to the space and documenting any major issues you want your team to come back and fix during your warranty period.

Again, if there is a leak from a window or an electrical outlet that is not working or overheating, it should be documented and submitted to your team so they can address those issues under the context of their warranty. Of course, the hope is that there will be no major issues during this period. But just like during construction, documentation and timely communication is key.

As you watch for any issues, it’s important to establish relationships with trusted service providers like plumbers, electricians, and HVAC specialists. Typically, the same vendors who helped build your custom home will not be the same vendors who are available to regular service calls. So while you shouldn’t expect any specific issues during this period of time, establishing relationship and developing a history of maintenance is key first step in protecting your investment and creating provenance for your home.

Finally, consider applying for a homestead exemption to ensure property taxes are kept in check. While you should expect your property assessment to rise significantly after moving to your custom home, homestead exemptions help cap your increases.

Following the first year

Following your first year of occupancy, you will begin to feel settled in and maybe even have some new ideas to share with your design team.

At this point, you should also consider a routine proactive maintenance schedule, and appreciate that there will be things that call for more reactive ad hoc solutions.

In terms of routine maintenance, consider a weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annual checklist that is manageable and appropriate for the scale of the endeavor. While landscaping may be a more routine endeavor, applying fresh interior paint, flushing hot water heaters, and gutter cleaning may be seasonal.

In terms of larger issues that may come up only time and again, think about regular well and septic inspections where neglect can cause major issues down the road as well as proactive inspections of major elements of your home, such as your roof.

An inevitable consideration

The maintenance of a custom home really comes to fruition when you consider the next chapter of life.

Indeed, while many custom homes are built for generational aspirations, it’s always a good idea to consider resale value and operate under the assumption that the property may end up in someone else’s hands down the road.

In this event, thoughtful design and regular maintenance correlate directly to the preservation of value.

When you put yourself in the shoes of a buyer, who may be spending multiple millions of dollars to purchase your home, there are a few key instincts that kick in.

Is this a timeless home that was designed with thought and has been cared for over the years. Is it move in ready, or does it need some light updates? Or, does it need a complete renovation because it is either in disrepair or it is in a style that is so unconventional it requires a complete reimagination.

Once these questions are answered, it becomes clear how the property will present itself to the market.

While there are certain elements of deferred maintenance that are easy to overcome, there are certain things that are definite red flags, including a beat up roof, evidence of water damage, old utilities or major systems that are in disrepair or have no history of regular maintenance, a home that has been vacant for many years, and overgrown landscaping all suggest deeper issues are present.

Keeping paint fresh, utilities serviced regularly, landscaping kept, all signal quality. Home should serve a purpose beyond the pragmatic, and be places where memories are made. However, in considering your custom home as a strategic asset — designing it well, protecting it, and maintaining great documentation — you will ensure quiet enjoyment and financial success.