Having a custom home built gives you the opportunity to get exactly what you want in a home. However, you need to make sure you're very thorough in the planning stages so that you don't overlook important details and end up somewhat disappointed with the end result.

The following are six things you should do when planning to have a custom home built:

Tour homes and go to showings to get ideas

To get started with your planning, you should definitely take some time to tour homes and go to showings of real estate on sale. Looking at existing homes sparks ideas and reminds you of what's most important and most desirable to you in home design. 

Set a budget before you get started

You need to set a budget when you get started to keep costs under control as construction progresses. More often than not, unexpected price increases come up during custom home construction.

Therefore, you should set a conservative budget and pre-qualify with a lender before you get started on everything to make sure the endeavor will be financed. 

Make a list of everything you want

After you have a budget in mind, set out a list of everything you'd like to have in your custom home. This way, you won't forget about some important features you want until after it's too late to add them later on.

Once you have a budget set and a list of custom home features that are important to you, you can determine whether you can have everything on your list and stay within your budget or if you need to cut down your list for the sake of affordability. 

Talk to several builders

It's best to interview more than one builder to get a feel for what the specialty and experience levels are of builders in question. You want to consider not only the experience of builders you're working with but also how personable they are in terms of ease of communication. 

Hire a professional designer

A lot of prospective homeowners who are building a home make the mistake of wanting to do all the designing themselves. In fact, the end result is often much better with the help of a professional designer.

A professional designer can provide expert input so that all the diverse features of a custom home can blend together into a visually harmonious whole. 

Start making furniture plans early on

The earlier you start planning out your furniture purchases and placement, the better off you will be. Furniture is an important part of the design and must fit in comfortably with the dimensions of your interiors.