Wife and I seriously considering building a house

Write down everything you want. Then call 10 people who recently built and ask them what they did. And also what they would add if they could start over. Run cat5/6 everywhere. Run coaxial cable to the same spots. Add PVC pipe in the walls to the main entertainment hub. Don't forget outside receptacles in the soffit for Christmas lights. Add a Transfer Switch for a generator (about $800).

dont forget blinds in your budget. they can get expensive

Make sure you know exactly what you want before you break ground

If you start making changes during the building process it's going to cost you a fortune

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Run cat5/6 everywhere.

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Good advice. The cable is cheap enough to get in during the initial construction phase.

It might not be something that everyone wants but if you have multiple desktop PCs, you'd much rather just have them with a hard connection than using wireless.

On that note, you might want to look at where you'll want to place your router (I would wall mount it somewhere centrally located) and have a connection set up there.

If you like to cook and entertain a lot you might want to consider a double oven and/or warming drawer

My advice is hire an architect and designer. They're cheaper than lawyers.

Brother and best friend are architects.
Wife is lawyer.
Bro in law is electrician
Other Bro in law is pro at plumbing. Does on side.

I got this I think.

Sounds good. Do recessed lighting in bathrooms over vanities vs. stupid ugly expensive lights coming out from wall. Pick out all your tubs, toilets, sinks, fixtures, appliances, baseboards, crown, etc...get allowances for this.

Finally remember in all likelihood you are financing this at historic rates, spend a little more to get exactly what you want and keep your cash, there has never been a better time to pimp your house

Best thing that I did while building was put a natural gas spout on my back porch for a grill. Never have to fill a propane tank again, and doing this pre-construction cost an incredible $50 where this would cost over $1,000 to do post-construction. I would also recommend having the contractor deck a large portion of your attic for storage. Also easier to do pre-construction. I put a cable outlet in my garage as well. Hasn't come in handy yet, but it was like $20 and I know I'll want it at some point.

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I would also recommend having the contractor deck a large portion of your attic for storage.

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That's an easy do it yourself. I'm not handy but it only took me half a day.

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We just built a house and when the wiring guy asked about cat5/6, he said he would love to run it for us, but also said that by the time we sell the house, it will be outdated

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Then you can use it as a pull trough for what you will be using at that point. It's cheap and good to have. I ran all of mine myself.