Free House Plans Help You Build Green
September 23, 2008 by boygreen · Leave a Comment
If you’ve decided to build a custom home, you’ve probably realized that design fees can take over a huge chunk of your budget, and often need to be paid for out of pocket prior to obtaining financing. Many people opt for stock house plans rather than custom designs in an effort to reduce costs, which can be a great option. Stock house plans are often thousands less than custom house plans, and can also save time since you won’t have to wait for the plans to be drafted.
Two websites have recently popped up offering free house plans. Yes, FREE! I’ve downloaded copies of the free house plans from both sites, and they are the real deal. Here are the details:
FreeGreen.com offers several free house plans. The plans include a LEED® checklist and green building notes. The site offers several different styles, including a spanish villa, a modern, and a more traditionally styled house. The plans range from about 1600-2000 square feet.
TheHousePlanSite.com offers a free contemporary house plan as well as several other reasonably priced modern stock house plans. The free plan is just over 2000 square feet and includes some green building notes. A customer service rep said they have plans to introduce new free plans on a quarterly or semi-annual basis.
When planning your budget, keep in mind that even with stock plans, you may incur some additional costs for changes required by your building department as well as engineering. LEED certification can also add to the total cost, but may increase the value of your home once complete.