When I made my first house it wasn't anywhere near the dream house I had envisioned simply because my cutting method had resulted in uneven size pieces, lop-sided corners and roof pieces that wouln't fit. So I went through this board and read every message on it, put together all the instructions and tips I found and this is the method I now use: Cut a piece of aluminum foil the size of your cookie sheet, dampen (not real wet) your rolling surface and lay the foil on it, roll out gingerbread on foil and then lift the foil onto the cookie sheet. Lay out your patterns on the bread leaving at least 1/2" between them. Cut out with a sharp knife and then cut around each pattern again leaving a 1/4" margin. Gather up all the left over scraps to reroll. Be sure your 1/4" margin pieces are laying right up against the pattern pieces. This ensures your pattern piece edges won't thin out or get too dark while baking. Immediately after baking cut the margins off. I've only used this method with the oven plywood which is a very stiff dough so I don't know how it would work with other recipes, but with the plywood it results in just about perfect pieces with very clean edges.
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