Portland Home Builders: Find the Perfect Plot and Build

Whether you're planning a move or already live in The City of Roses, the prospect of building a new home is as exciting as it gets. Fortunately, Portland is one of the absolute best cities for home building. A model for city planning, other metropolitan areas have looked to Portland to plan their own mass transit systems and urban development projects. A great combination of affordable and luxury housing also means that whatever your budget, you'll be able to find a house plan that fits your needs.

Portland Home Building and Urban Growth Boundaries
If you're unfamiliar with Portland's local government, urban growth boundaries (UGBs) are a big buzz word. Since 1979, the Portland City Council has enacted strict land-use controls that encourage dense housing developments in the city center and allocate outlying areas for purely agricultural use. Then, big business came to Portland, primarily in the form of Nike and Intel, and in 1995, the Oregon State Legislature got involved and forced Portland to expand their UGBs. This doesn't mean land development was suddenly a free-for-all and wisely so. Suburban sprawl can kill a city's culture. Now, however, is the perfect time to build a home in Portland. Past land-use controls has left plenty of building sites available close to the city, but at the same time, the flexibility of the new laws allows people to build homes.

Portland Custom Home Builders
Many people who choose to build their own homes have a vision of a dream home where they intend to live for the majority of their lives. This alleviates any concerns about the current state of property values. So long as you have the credit and income to get a home loan, Portland home builders will be lining up to build your home, and they'll give you the home of your dreams. You might want to take a page out of European architecture, for example, and consider an interior courtyard where you can have your own rose garden.

Custom home builders have also taken up the call for new standards of energy-efficiency and luxury. Rising fuel costs will be offset by the latest technology in home heating and electrical and plumbing efficiency. The most popular forms of luxury and customization include wireless operation of home temperatures, lighting, home security, and other basic home functions. Various electrical wiring and conduits will enable you to conveniently hook up the latest TVs, computers, and stereo systems for generations to come. You can roll out of bed and hit a button that will fire up your coffee pot in the kitchen. However you want your home wired, any level of automation is possible and customized to your needs and lifestyle.

Hiring a Portland Architect for your New Home
Most home building companies have an in-house architect. They can design your custom home, or you can choose a home from the home builder's catalogue. Of course, for a decision of this importance you might want to talk to a few different architects about designing your house plan. Most Portland home builders will happily work from plans created by your own architect. The benefit of hiring an architect includes an expert to oversee the work, which can guarantee quality and cut down on unnecessary delays.

Other Portland Home Builders
The same land-use advantages of individual homeowners apply to home building companies who typically build entire subdivisions to reduce labor and material costs. Like anything else, mass production of homes makes individual units cheaper. As long as you find a building project in an early stage of development, you'll still have a good number of design options. Otherwise, you'll need to choose from homes that have already been built but not yet sold. Another way to reduce the cost of new home construction is to seek out a prefabricated home builder. These companies complete the majority of the building process in a factory-controlled setting that protects the building materials and dramatically cuts down on weather delays. This process may also reduce the overall construction time from six to nine months to about four to six months.