A major cost-saving strategy when deciding to build a new home is to purchase a “stock” home design instead of a “fully-custom” home design. However, it can be confusing to determine exactly what plan package and/or options that a particular person needs.

“Part of the issue in picking a home design is the sheer variety of plan packages out there,” said Mark Mathis, owner of HousePlanGallery.com, a leading national home designer. “Since every designer offers a variety of different ways to buy their house plans, it can become confusing to a new person shopping for designs.”

To choose the right package, you should know the basic features most include as well as some of the add-on considerations. The “right” package will ultimately depend on your needs and budget.

The Basics

Most designers will packages that include a single set of blueprints stamped with the words “Not for Construction.” These packages usually will not include a license to build the home or allow for copies of the blueprints, and the main purpose of these type packages are simply to obtain accurate bids and materials quotes to build that specific home, in that specific local area.

In addition, most designers will also offer more typical “construction ready” packages which allow you to have a valid license to build, obtain a building permit, secure your financing, and actually build your home.

In all cases, “construction-ready” plan packages will have multiple copies (usually 3-10) of the complete sets of house plans, which will include all four exterior views (also called elevations); complete floor plans; a foundation plan; a roof plan; building sections; and other details necessary to build your house. These “construction-ready” plan packages will also typically come with a single license to build the home, although many designers also offer a “multi-build” license for an additional fee.

Changes to Stock House Plans

If you plan to make minor changes to you house plans, you’ll want to upgrade to a package that allows for modifications to be easily made by a local design professional. By upgrading to an electronic CAD file package, PDF file package, or even a Reproducible plan package which is printed on erasable Mylar, sepia, or vellum paper, you’ll have the flexibility that you need to have those changes made, locally.

Included in these “modifiable” type plan packages is a legal release, allowing your local design professional to make the relevant changes necessary to the stock plan. In addition, when shopping for these type plan packages, you’ll want to look for those designers who also include a second copy of the plan to be used as a reference, and a release to make additional copies of the modified documents to aid in the bidding and building process.

According to Mr. Mathis, a popular package on his website is the “PDF File Set.” , which is a modifiable plan package delivered in the digital Adobe PDF file format. In addition, Mr. Mathis said clients like it because of its flexibility. “You can make your own copies from the PDF version, which makes it an excellent option when you need plans very quickly, and will need to make substantial modifications. For example, if you wanted to update the style of a set of craftsman house plans to look more like country house plans , etc.”

Serious Freedom

A final type of popular plan package is the CAD file. CAD stands for “Computer Aided Design.” These electronic files allow the home plan to be modified, substantially, and is typically the best option for modifying a stock plan as the actual design files can be easily manipulated in the computer, with no need for conversion or re-drawing of any type.

Finally, many people look to have a fully-custom home design developed, however Mr. Mathis notes that the design process can take up to 6 months for a design professional or licensed architect to complete the detailed working drawings and can easily cost several thousand dollars.

“While we offer fully-custom home designs at HousePlanGallery.com, we always recommend that our customers first find a stock design that fits their needs, fairly closely, and then discuss changes with us,” he said. “We can usually modify that stock plan to fit their exact needs in a much more timely and inexpensive manner, but whatever the customer wants, we always strive to make them happy with the final product.”

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For more information on House Plan Gallery and its Award-winning collection of house plans, visit http://www.HousePlanGallery.com/pr1210-2

To view this press release online, go to http://www.webwire.com/ViewPressRel.asp?aId=128591

House Plan Gallery, Inc., one of the nation’s leading residential home designers, is excited to announce the winners of their hugely-popular “New Home Success Story” contest.

The lucky recipients of the $750 cash prize is Ken and Beverly Smith of Lascassas, Tennessee, who built the very popular HPG-2369-1: Easton Ridge house plan, which is an attractive 2,369 square foot home design with 3 spacious bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths, and the very popular French country Architectural style…

House Plan Gallery opened the competition to its customers, challenging them to submit an inspiring story, walkthrough video, & pictures that show the successful completion of their new home, and what its meant to their lives.

In their winning story, the Smiths detail their long journey to building their dream home. “Over the years, we put together lists of likes and dislikes,” said Ken Smith. “We also spent a lot of time touring homes, looking at house plan magazines and online sites, as well as studying local housing designs and trends.”

Yet despite all the preparation, Ken said one major factor prompted the move to a new home plan. The master bedroom of their first home was on the first floor while the others were on the second. “We quickly realized the inconvenience and safety concerns of this home design after our first child was born,” said Smith. “When we had our second child, our desire to find more family-friendly new house plans became our number one priority.”

Their new home is a 2,369 sq. foot one-story design while their previous home was only 1,300 sq. feet.

Mark Mathis, owner of HousePlanGallery.com, said growing families like the Smiths are a large portion of their customer base.

“We see lots of families coming to us looking for family-friendly home designs,” said Mathis. “Like the Smiths, most are looking for a home that has ample room for the kids to play but is also a design that will be easy to add on to later.”

Ken confirms he was looking for a safer home for his children and describes why he decided to go online for his country house plans, “The search options gave us the opportunity to look for the specific features we were hoping to find.”

In their story, the Smiths described favorite features of their new home focusing on the zoned bedrooms which help with the family’s diverse schedules; a fluid layout allowing easy and efficient flow from one room to the next; and a large bonus room where the children play with most of their toys.

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For more information on House Plan Gallery and its Award-winning collection of house plans, visit http://www.HousePlanGallery.com/pr1210

To view this press release online, go to http://www.webwire.com/ViewPressRel.asp?aId=128588

House Plan Gallery, a leading nationally-published designer of stock house plans, wins “Most Marketable Portfolio – Overall” award from leading homeplan publisher Hanley Wood.

Hattiesburg, MS – January 30, 2009 – House Plan Gallery is a leading, Hattiesburg, Mississippi-based home design firm that has been marketing its highly-popular collection of over 200 stock house plans for over ten years.

On January 14th, 2009 at the International Builders Show in Las Vegas, Nevada, House Plan Gallery was awarded the “Most Marketable Portfolio – Overall” award by Hanley Wood, one of the North America’s leading house plan publishers.

The award was given at the 2009 Hanley Wood “Top 25 Stock Home Plan Designers” banquet, and was House Plan Gallery’s first time to win this particular award, and sixth consecutive design award for the marketability of its plan collection and the company’s commitment to providing the highest levels of customer service.

“As our home plans collection has grown, in both size and diversity, we’ve been able to partner with the largest house plan publishers in the industry. Hanley Wood is, clearly, one of the leading publishers in the market, and we’re very privileged to be able to work closely with their team to provide the highest-quality, and most-popular house plans in the industry”, noted Mark Mathis, President of House Plan Gallery.

In 2007, House Plan Gallery won two awards – one for “Top 25 Home Designer” and one for “Most Marketable Portfolio – Builders”.  As a followup in 2008, the company’s designs won the same two awards for a second year in a row.  And in 2009, the company won the “Top 25 Home Designer” award, in addition to the highly-coveted “Most Marketable Portfolio – Overall” award, which recognizes the designer with the highest sales volume as it relates to the total number of house plans in their portfolio.

House Plan Gallery primarily designs floor plans from 600 to 3,000 square feet of living space, in a wide variety of Architectural styles including Southern, Country, Traditional, Craftsman, European and French Country.

The company is also one of the first, and only, home design firms to offer full video walkthroughs of their top home designs, which can be viewed on their website at  http://www.houseplangallery.com/index_files/house-plan-videos.php

“We understand that our clients place a high value on being able to see additional photos, videos, and/or additional details for a fully-constructed version of a house plan that they’re interested in,” noted Stephen Mathis, Vice President of House Plan Gallery.  “Thats why, where possible, we actually go out to constructed models of our homes and record a lengthy walkthrough video, in which we’ll also include running narration as we’re walking through.” 

“At the same time, we’re also developing alternate videos for many of our other home designs, where we walkthrough an entire floorplan and provide specific designer insight as to the layout of the home, floorplan features, and popular modification requests for that particular plan.  We’ve found that our customers really enjoy these types of videos, and it provides an additional level of understanding on the quality of design and livability that our clients can expect when purchasing a House Plan Gallery design,” continued Stephen.

To view a listing of best-selling floor plans, visit http://www.houseplangallery.com/index_files/best-selling-house-plans.php
About House Plan Gallery, Inc.:
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House Plan Gallery is an Award-winning designer of stock house plans that include all the most-popular home amenities and most-requested floor plan features. The company’s home designs have been purchased and built by thousands of satisfied consumers and home builders throughout North America.

To learn more, visit www.HousePlanGallery.com and search our large database of home plans in a wide variety of Architectural styles. Join their mailing list to receive special Subscriber-Only offers and to learn money-saving tips on building your first new home…

About Hanley Wood, LLC:
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Hanley Wood, LLC, is the premier media and information company serving housing and construction. Through four operating divisions, the company produces award-winning magazines and Web sites, marquee trade shows and events, rich data and custom marketing solutions. The company also is North America’s leading publisher of home plans. Hanley Wood Business Media (Washington, D.C.), publishes 36 award-winning residential and commercial construction titles, including Builder, Remodeling, Architect, Concrete, Construction, and Residential Architect. Hanley Wood Business Media also offers the construction industry’s foremost collection of Web sites, including BUILDER ONLINE, REMODELING ONLINE, and ebuild, the comprehensive online guide to building products, as well as the largest collection of house plans online through eplans.com and Dream Home Source.

Founded in 1976, Hanley Wood is a $250 million company owned by affiliates of JPMorgan Partners, LLC. CCMP Capital Advisors manages the Hanley Wood investment for JPMorgan Partners.

HousePlanGallery.com, a leading designer of affordable and unique house plans, releases five new home designs.

Hattiesburg, MS – Thursday, August 28th, 2008 – With the high price of gasoline and groceries taking an ever-increasing bite out of the average American family’s monthly budget, every penny counts….especially when it comes to the costs related to building a new family home.

“We know that families are looking for value, both in the house plan designs that they choose and in the actual home they build”, notes Mark Mathis, President of House Plan Gallery.  “Currently, the trend is towards smaller home designs that include flexible and highly-efficient floorplan layouts.  These type designs offer a multitude of benefits to the customer, including minimizing “wasted space” in the floorplan, providing for inexpensive future expansion options, and allowing for varied use of certain areas of the home over time (i.e. playroom, to office, to media room, etc.), in addition to the obvious benefit of a lower overall cost to build.”

House Plan Gallery has just released five new home designs that include the flexible and highly-efficient floorplan layouts that are in such demand:

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Home Plan HPG-2272-1 – The Kensington is a Single-Family – Country / Traditional / Farmhouse / Southern style home design that includes a spacious 2272 square feet of living space, 4 bedrooms, and 2.5 baths. The home is available in Slab / Crawlspace foundations.

House Plan HPG-2203B-1 – The Bedford Avenue is a Single-Family – Country / Traditional / Farmhouse / Southern style home design that includes a spacious 2203 square feet of living space, 4 bedrooms, and 2 baths. The home is available in Slab / Crawlspace foundations.

Floor Plan HPG-1806B-1 – The Brentwood Avenue is a Single-Family – Country / Traditional / Farmhouse / Southern style home design that includes a spacious 1806 square feet of living space, 3 bedrooms, and 2 baths. The home is available in Slab / Crawlspace foundations.

Home Design HPG-2203-1 – The Bedford Lane is a Single-Family – Country / Traditional / European style home design that includes a spacious 2203 square feet of living space, 4 bedrooms, and 2 baths. The home is available in Slab / Crawlspace foundations.

House Plan HPG-1806-1 – The Brentwood Lane is a Single-Family – Country / Traditional / Farmhouse / Southern style home design that includes a spacious 1806 square feet of living space, 3 bedrooms, and 2 baths. The home is available in Slab / Crawlspace foundations.

All these house plans can be viewed online  in the New House Plans section of HousePlanGallery.com

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“These five new home designs represent our company’s continued committment to providing high-quality, affordable house plans that meet the needs of today’s families”, noted Mark Mathis, House Plan Gallery’s President.  “These homes were designed to provide flexible space layouts with plenty of room for inexpensive future expansion that may be needed as your family grows in size and in space requirements.”

In working with thousands of clients each year, the award-winning home design firm House Plan Gallery, has developed an extensive collection of over 200 affordable house plans that address the needs and wants of today’s new home builders and families.

House Plan Gallery’s home plans are designed based on significant customer feedback, deep market research, floorplan layout trends, and continual improvements in construction materials and practices. In addition, stock floor plans typically offer the advantage of being less expensive to purchase than other custom home design alternatives, while retaining the ability to be fully-modified to meet a family’s specific needs.

For more information about the company’s Award-winning house plans, visit www.HousePlanGallery.com

About House Plan Gallery:
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House Plan Gallery is an Award-winning designer of stock house plans that include all the most-popular home amenities and most-requested floor plan features. The company’s home designs have been purchased and built by thousands of satisfied consumers and home builders throughout North America.

House Plan Gallery primarily designs homes from 600 to 3,000 square feet of living space, in a wide variety of Architectural styles including Southern, Country, Traditional, Craftsman, European and French Country.

To view a compiled listing of several of the most-popular house plans in the industry right now, you can go to: http://www.HousePlanGallery.com/index_files/best-selling-house-plans.php

To learn more, visit http://www.HousePlanGallery.com and search our large database of home plans in a wide variety of Architectural styles. Join our mailing list to receive special Subscriber-Only offers and to learn money-saving tips on building your first new home…

HousePlanGallery.com, a leading nationally-published designer of stock house plans, releases the much-anticipated “I Need House Plans…Now What?” Special Report.

Hattiesburg, MS (PRWEB) June 18, 2008 – As more and more families look to achieve the “American Dream” of building their own home, “stock” home plans have as a high-quality and cost-effective alternative to “custom” home design services.

“With high gas prices and healthcare costs taking up more of everyone’s monthly income, we wanted to provide an exhaustive resource for families to have for reference in evaluating their next house plan purchase”, noted Stephen Mathis, Vice President of House Plan Gallery. “Stock house plans really provide the best of both worlds. You can have an attractive design, with the features, amenities, and floorplan layout that your family wants, at a price that can save you thousands of dollars over a corresponding custom home design.”

Stock house plans are pre-drawn home designs that are being increasingly offered by leading building designers, and typically include the most-requested and most-popular home design features and amenities.

These designs are based on significant customer feedback, deep market research, floorplan layout trends, and continual improvements in construction materials and practices. In addition, stock home plans typically offer the advantage of being less expensive to purchase than other custom home design alternatives, while retaining the ability to be fully-modified to meet a family’s specific needs.

Alternatively, custom house plans are “one-off” type designs that are developed specifically for one person/family, for one specific location or lot. The highly-customized nature of the plans necessitates much longer development cycles and high design-related costs. These type factors, as well as others, have led custom home designs to have fallen out of favor in many parts of the country.

In working with thousands of clients each year, the award-winning home design firm House Plan Gallery, has developed an extensive collection of over 200 affordable house plans that address the needs and wants of today’s new home builders and families.

“As individuals and families begin the house plan shopping process, it can become quite overwhelming just with the sheer number of house plans available on the Internet and in plan books”, notes Mark Mathis, President of House Plan Gallery. “Our team has one goal, and that’s to help our customers understand their house plan options and how the entire process works. This special report is the culmination of all of the most frequently-asked house plan questions that we receive, and how choosing stock plans can provide several significant, time and money-saving advantages over a corresponding set of custom-designed house plans.”

The downloadable special report is being made available, for a limited time only, by visiting the following website:

http://www.HousePlanGallery/specialreport

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House Plan Gallery is an Award-winning designer of stock house plans that include all the most-popular home amenities and most-requested floor plan features. The company’s home designs have been purchased and built by thousands of satisfied consumers and home builders throughout North America.

House Plan Gallery primarily designs homes from 600 to 3,000 square feet of living space, in a wide variety of Architectural styles including Southern, Country, Traditional, Craftsman, European and French Country.

To view a compiled listing of several of the most-popular house plans in the industry right now, you can go to: http://www.HousePlanGallery.com/index_files/best-selling-house-plans.php

To learn more, visit http://www.HousePlanGallery.com and search our large database of home plans in a wide variety of Architectural styles. Join our mailing list to receive special Subscriber-Only offers and to learn money-saving tips on building your first new home…