The Comito Column ~ Custom Building Exposed

As part of our Design-Build process we focus a lot on value engineering the plans we design. The process of Value Engineering is closely looking at how a plan or blueprint functions in an effort to make the living space as efficient and cost effective to build while maintaining the overall feel and design of the home. In many cases simplifying the plan a little bit can save big money, in order to realize the benefit of Value Engineering it is important to have an experienced builder who has a handle on current construction costs on your team at the start of the design process. This is a great article with an example of how it is done.

Value engineering can save time and money on any size job, even a multimillion-dollar home. The key is to start early with a team that you trust and communicate well with, says Robert Hidey of Robert Hidey Architects in Irvine, CA. “We ask a lot of questions initially, trying to drill into budget issues and define the overall direction of the project,”

He recommends that construction costs be reviewed at the conceptual, schematic, design development, and construction document phases. “I’d say 50 percent or more of the time it’s not done that way, and we end up at the back end of a project when it’s very difficult to take significant dollars out. You can always dial back the finishes and minimize some of the ornamental detailing, but the sad part is you’re downgrading to hit a construction budget.”

To illustrate proven value engineering tactics for the custom home building market, Hidey put together this side-by-side comparison of two homes designed in 2002 (before VE) and 2012 (after VE efforts). The concepts include condensed program spaces (no living room or family room); simplified, functional outdoor spaces; a simplified roof structure; and the elimination of recessed and shaped window openings.

Example Before Value Engineering:

After Value Engineering:

The husband and wife team of Claude & Debbie Comito of Comito Building and Design are feeling good about the custom home building market in 2012. With recent home sales and building permits trending upwards, land costs at relatively low levels, now is the time to take advantage of the opportunity to build a new home.

Comito Building and Design has been designing and building high quality custom homes in the Pikes Peak Region for over 29 years, they have a proven reputation for excellence and an unmatched level of customer service. They utilize a unique design-build approach that takes on the process of building a home as a team, with an architect, a builder and a homeowner.  “When we take this approach, we hit our goal almost all the time of getting people what they want for what they want to spend” Claude Comito says.

Incredible Land Buys. The process starts with finding the right home site, and right now there are incredible land opportunities. Comito Building and Design is a great resource when it comes to locating a building site for your new home. They are experts in evaluating building sites and the advantages or constraints that each may present.  They currently have a handful of lots that are incredible buys in the District 12 area.

Once the home site has been selected the team works with you to design a home that fits the site, your needs and your budget. Construction costs are down 15%-20% and the team at Comito Building and Design doesn’t see that lasting much longer, again making this an ideal time to start the building process. Comito Building and Design is able to build homes from $650,000; with land prices where they are, clients are able to get Comito’s top-notch quality and thoughtful design for under $800,000.

Remodel. If you are looking to stay put and update or re-invent your current home, Comito Building and Design is available to remodel as well. “We feel we offer the best value of anyone doing what we do, because you know you are getting top quality and service at very competitive prices” Comito says.

If you are interested in obtaining additional information on the custom home building process or any of our Colorado Springs luxury home sites call us at 719.219.5421 or visit us online at Comito Building and Design.

As we enter our 4^th year of economic downturn with the resultant stresses in the housing market the temptation is greater than ever to go “cheap.” Cheap lots, cheap architects, cheap builders, cheap subs, cheap materials and components and on and on…..

Unfortunately “cheap” almost never equates to good value. While it’s true that many things involved in building cost less than 4 or 5 years ago, there is still no free lunch.

Do you really want to buy a lot that is cheap but offers no view, challenging conditions and is not in a quality area?

Do you really want to hire a cheap designer or architect or draftsman who can’t really spend the time necessary to sweat the details?

Do you really want to commission a builder that is foregoing a reasonable profit to survive but that will be gone soon – maybe while building your home? Or, one that hires the cheapest subs with little talent?

Do you really want to accept inferior lumber, windows, insulation, cabinetry, floor coverings, etc. etc. to save a few bucks? Only to be disappointed and face the prospect of replacing them too soon?

Common sense tells us that a superior home will cost more than an inferior home. A superior home, built by a quality builder with a proven track record, will be built with quality as its theme from the foundation to the final finish details. It will be built to exacting standards, according to a plan that has been carefully prepared by an accomplished architect and builder.

All of us have to find ways to cut cost and offer high quality homes for less in order to be successful. But we also must focus on perfecting performance and customer care as our reputation is on the line with every home we build. If you only want cheap, it’s easy to find – and it’s everywhere. I submit that value is what you really should be looking for.

“Will you have any masonry on the exterior or interior of your custom home?”

Most likely you architect has indicated on your plans some sort of stone or brick accent.  Often times whatever this material is; it will also be carried onto your interior fireplace surround or maybe an accent wall inside, say over your range in the kitchen.

Using “natural stone” products are both beautiful and functional.  They create a timeless and natural feeling for your home.  The depth and texture that a mason creates as he carefully assembles the puzzle pieces will forever be the cornerstone for your home.  Keep in mind that “natural stone” prices for both material and labor can be approximately 40% more expensive than other faux products that we will mention below.  Also, in order for your foundation to carry the weight of “natural stone” a foundation “brick ledge” has to be created.  The labor costs associated with the style of application (i.e. dry stack application with no grout) can also incur additional cost.

Another option would be “natural thin veneer”.  There are several companies that take natural stone and create a thin veneer product.  This accomplishes several things; The “natural stone” look is still there, the cost is less and the weight is now substantially less and does not require a brick ledge.  The mason will still create his masterpiece stone by stone.  This also applies to “natural thin brick” products.  These are created by cutting off the face of a full size brick  (examples of veneers and thin brick  - www.telluridestone.com)

Finally there are “faux stone and brick” products that are a concrete and pumice mixture; manufactured to look like natural stone/brick.  “The faux brick options are often considered more dynamic as they have more options than natural thin brick.  The manufacturer can create a distressed look, various size options, rounded edges, etc.,” says Brian Johannsen of C & C Sand of Colorado Springs.  The cost of faux stone and brick are substantially less than natural stone.  These products are surprisingly very authentic looking and there are endless options.  (www.edloradostone.com).

Visit the C & C Sand showroom at the Coutura Design Inspirations building – www.ccsand.com and take a look at all these options, you’ll be amazed at the look you can create for your new custom home.

As a third generation Colorado Springs Custom Home Builder, Comito Building and Design has been designing and crafting award winning Colorado Springs custom homes since 1983.  Our luxury homes in Colorado Springs are synonymous with extraordinary design, quality, and innovation.  Our team creates homes that are a solid investment for our families who live in them and a testimony to our creativity and craftsmanship.  We hope you will consider us as your resource to help you make your Dream home a Reality.

If you are interested in obtaining additional information on the custom home building process or any of our Colorado Springs luxury home sites call us at 719.219.5421 or visit us online at Comito Building and Design.

Debbie Comito – Client Coordinator

Comito Building and Design, LLC

When it comes to choosing a builder for your new Colorado Springs Luxury Home, there are so many important things to look at. The homebuilder you choose will be the one orchestrating everything that goes into building your new custom home, from early design of the home plans to final walkthrough. The relationship and trust you have in the homebuilder needs to be strong, as the process can last up to a year and sometimes longer, plus you will want that strong relationship and trust when it comes to warranty items after your home is complete. When evaluating your options it is important to look at all aspects of each company; Who is on their team? Who will be guiding you through all the selections decisions? Who will be running the jobsite? What is their experience level? How long have they been in business? What do their past clients have to say? Have you seen their product, both under construction and complete?

The National Association of Homebuilders has released a great guide to use when interviewing potential builders click here.

Remember it is always best to do your interviewing early (even before any home plans are drawn) as the homebuilder you choose can be a valuable resource when it comes to designing a home that will fit your home budget.

This process called Design-Build is what we at Comito Building and Design strongly believe in. The team at Comito Building and Design is known for our relationships with our clients, working as a team from the beginning creates greater continuity of service and ultimately a better home at better value for our clients.

As a third generation Colorado Springs Custom Home Builder, Comito Building and Design has been designing and crafting award winning Colorado Springs custom homes since 1983.  Our luxury homes in Colorado Springs are synonymous with extraordinary design, quality, and innovation.  Our team creates homes that are a solid investment for our families who live in them and a testimony to our creativity and craftsmanship.  We hope you will consider us as your resource to help you make your Dream home a Reality.

If you are interested in obtaining additional information on the custom home building process or any of our Colorado Springs luxury home sites call us at 719.219.5421 or visit us online at Comito Building and Design.

Ready to build the Colorado Springs Custom Home of your dreams, but need to sell your current home first. If you're ready to sell or already have your home on the market, you know all too well about today's selling challenges.  When buyers have so many choices, your home MUST make a positive first impression and appeal to the greatest number of buyers. 

Professional staging services are designed to do just that - and to give you a faster sale at a top dollar price.  You choose whether to do-it-yourself, follow their consultation report, or have them stage the property for you. 

The investment you make in staging is MUCH lower than the cost of a possible sales price reduction.  For more information about this proven marketing tool for your Colorado Springs Home, call me for a fantastic resource. We are happy to be your resource for anything you need when looking to start the custom building process.

 The Results Are In!
2008 ~ 18 sold ~ 94% of asking price ~ 28 DOM
2009 ~ 58 sold ~ 97% of asking ~ 34 DOM
Q1 2010 ~ 11 sold ~ 99% of asking ~ 26 DOM

Staging Statistics
Staging reduces time on the market by as much as 40% 
Staged properties average 17% higher sales prices than non-staged houses
Sellers recover nearly 200% return on their staging investment on the sale of their house

At Comito Building and Design, we believe a great home at a fair price and a wonderful experience should be the desired outcome of your custom home building process. As a third generation Colorado Springs Custom Home Builder, Comito Building and Design has been designing and crafting award winning Colorado Springs custom homes since 1983.  Our luxury homes in Colorado Springs are synonymous with extraordinary design, quality, and innovation.  Our team creates homes that are a solid investment for our families who live in them and a testimony to our creativity and craftsmanship.  We hope you will consider us as your resource to help you make your Dream home a Reality.

If you are interested in obtaining additional information on the custom home building process or any of our Colorado Springs luxury home sites call us at 719.219.5421 or visit us online at Comito Building and Design.

As a Colorado Springs Custom Home Builder, we often get asked to competitively bid out a finished set of plans for potential customers.  Homebuyers use this process as a way to get a handle on what the home will cost and to obtain the best price. At Comito Building and Design, we prefer to take a different approach, called Design-Build. In this approach we formulate a team consisting of an architect/designer, the client, the builder and sometimes an interior designer. As a team, we will work together from the beginning to design a home that will fit your budget, your home site and your overall design goals.

For nearly 30 years,  this approach has proven to be the best, most efficient and ultimately the least costly in time and money.

Most professional residential architects have embraced this approach because they have seen the true benefits for all involved. The ones that don’t support this approach and instead advocate the “bidding approach” should be asked this question: How many of the homes you have custom designed for your owner clients have never been built? I believe you’ll find the percentage to be quite high! The reason is that even experienced and otherwise very professional architects typically lack the knowledge of where construction costs really are, resulting in a plan that is more costly to build than what the client expects. With a builder involved from the outset, we can advise our clients as to the cost of what they are designing along the way, helping you make design decisions more informed and budget focused.

In the bidding approach; when the costs from a qualified high quality builder come in too high, the first response is to bid the project to inexperienced mediocre contractors to obtain a lower cost – at least initially. Most often the completed project ends up costing as much or more than what the more experience Colorado Springs Custom Home Builder originally quoted.  Additionally, our experience has also shown that the ultimate quality of the finished product and the customers’ experience are sub-standard as well.

In my 30+ years of experience in building high quality homes, I have never seen plans and specifications for high-end custom homes be of adequate detail, quality and clarity for clients to obtain truly comparable pricing. The bidding process encourages the contractor to use inferior products, materials and workmanship to be successfully chosen.

When we manage or participate in the design-build process we are responsible for identifying early on where the budget is going. We help gather all the utility, soils, engineering, geological and other information for the best, most predictable result. Most architects are ill equipped to provide these services and if asked to do so have to charge accordingly. We also provide useful material, product, and contractor recommendations for the architect and client to ensure the best-finished product.

Let us provide you with best experience throughout your Colorado Springs custom home experience! From site selection to move-in, we will seamlessly handle all the details to ensure that you are getting the finished product  and the finished price you desire.

At Comito Building and Design, we believe a great home at a fair price and a wonderful experience should be the desired outcome of your custom home building process. As a third generation Colorado Springs Custom Home Builder, Comito Building and Design has been designing and crafting award winning Colorado Springs custom homes since 1983.  Our luxury homes in Colorado Springs are synonymous with extraordinary design, quality, and innovation.  Our team creates homes that are a solid investment for our families who live in them and a testimony to our creativity and craftsmanship.  We work with many of the top Realtors in the county.  We hope you will consider us as your resource to help you make your Dream home a Reality.

If you are interested in obtaining additional information on the custom home building process or any of our Colorado Springs luxury home sites call us at 719.219.5421 or visit us online at Comito Building and Design.

Many interior selection decisions have to be made throughout the custom home building process –tile, paint, countertops, flooring, cabinets, light fixtures and more. At times these decisions may seem overwhelming and stressful. But, with the help of a qualified lighting professional, the lighting decisions can be made with a certain degree of ease for the homebuyer, the homebuilder, and the electrician.

At Comito Building and Design, we use Austin Bluffs Lighting, a member of the American Lighting Association.   The trained lighting specialists at Austin Bluffs Lighting recommend the following list to ensure that you properly light up your new custom home:

• Think back to the homes you lived in previously and make a list of the lighting you liked and disliked. Be sure to consider closets that where too dark or a laundry room in which it was difficult to sort colors and so on. Have this list with you as lighting is planned for each room.
• Make a list of special places art work will be placed in your home as these areas may require the appropriate bulbs for maximum presentation.
• Walk the exterior of your home and consider home lighting mounted on your home and dramatic lighting for landscaping as well.
• Tour model homes for ideas.
• Collect photos for lighting styles and techniques that appeal to you.
• Identify the location of electrical boxes or recessed cans. Changes to the electrical plan can be costly.  And, properly placed boxes and can lighting (in the right places and the right quantities) ensure that your new home will not have the same pitfalls as your old one.

As a client of Comito Building and Design, you and your client coordinator will personally meet at the Austin Bluffs Lighting showroom for a personal lighting consultation to effectively plan the lighting for your new Colorado Springs Custom Home.

• Prior to your lighting appointment, plan to spend an hour or so (the day before) wandering through the showroom to narrow down the list of items that reflect your style and taste.
• While the entire showroom may seem a little overwhelming, the truth is you need only to decide between those items that suite your style and décor so you can review appropriate options with your lighting consultant.
• Make sure to bring your floor plans with you to your lighting consultation. Your salesperson will be much more helpful knowing the general layout of the home in terms of spaces, dimensions and out of the way areas like closets and storage.
• Bring color samples, swatches of material, paint chips, wallpaper, tile, stain samples, etc. This will help you select lighting finishes that coordinate with the rest of your home’s finishes.
• Don’t wait until the last minute to schedule your lighting appointment.  While the lighting store will have hundreds of options in the showroom, they will have to be ordered which may take 6 – 8 weeks.
• If  you do not complete your selections in that one visit, don’t be alarmed. Due to time constraints with other decisions about your house, several trips may be necessary to complete your lighting selections!           

By following these common sense steps and utilizing the expertise of your Comito Building and Design Client Coordinator, the lighting process can be nearly painless. Remember, lighting is the most illuminating part of your new custom home so light up your life and enjoy the process!           

At Comito Building and Design, we believe a great home at a fair price and a wonderful experience should be the desired outcome of your custom home building process. As a third generation Colorado Springs Custom Home Builder, Comito Building and Design has been designing and crafting award winning Colorado Springs custom homes since 1983.  Our luxury homes in Colorado Springs are synonymous with extraordinary design, quality, and innovation.  Our team creates homes that are a solid investment for our families who live in them and a testimony to our creativity and craftsmanship.  We hope you will consider us as your resource to help you make your Dream home a Reality.

If you are interested in obtaining additional information on the custom home building process or any of our Colorado Springs luxury home sites call us at 719.219.5421 or visit us online at Comito Building and Design.

At Comito Building and Design, we have a designated Client Coordinator (Debbie Comito) who walks our customers through (and holds their hands if need be!) the design and interior selections process.  Additionally, Comito Building and Design likes to enlist the creative services of award winning interior designer, Jodi Bader. Having grown up in the Colorado Springs home building arena, I’ve seen Joni’s work for years with Comito Custom Homes and Nichols & Comito.   But, it wasn’t until I had the opportunity to work with her on our personal home that I truly appreciated how talented Joni really is!

Comito Building and Design has been working with Joni for many, many years.  Her experienced design eye enables our clients to truly get the style and look of the dream home they have envisioned. A look that is uniquely theirs!

And that’s just what Joni is helping Mark and I do!  She’s helping us select our tile and solid surface countertops, carpet, hardwood floors, paint colors, cabinet style, exterior colors and finishes, furnishings and window treatments.  Yes, she’s helping us take our style and preferences and turning them into reality and a home that uniquely reflects who we are! 

Debbie, our client coordinator has worked right along side Joni - guiding us through decisions that need to be made and deadlines that need to be kept in order to keep construction (and our closing date) on schedule.  A real plus to having Debbie working hand-in-hand with us is that she also makes sure our selections stay within our budget (an important component of building a Colorado Springs custom home) as well as communicating all selections and decisions to the project managers in the field.  (You’ll be hearing more about our Project Managers in future writings!)

This team approach to building a luxury home in Colorado Springs is invaluable. I am so excited and so confident in the design selections that we’ve made.  And, we have peace-of-mind knowing that we’re staying on budget and on schedule with a home that will be built exactly as we’ve planned

Our home is really coming together beautifully! Debbie & Joni have really embraced the “Urban Colorado Ranch” style we were looking for! It’s so much fun to see our home coming to life and changing weekly! We are beyond thrilled!!

At Comito Building and Design we believe the team approach to designing and building custom homes is one of our greatest strengths.  In not only saves time and money but it creates greater continuity of service throughout the process.   We also believe a great home at a fair price and a wonderful experience should be the desired outcome of your custom home building process.

As a third generation Colorado Springs Custom Home Builder, Comito Building and Design has been designing and crafting award winning Colorado Springs custom homes since 1983.  Our luxury homes in Colorado Springs are synonymous with extraordinary design, quality, and innovation.  Our team creates homes that are a solid investment for our families who live in them and a testimony to our creativity and craftsmanship.  We work with many of the top Realtors in the county.  We hope you will consider us as your resource to help you make your Dream home a reality.