So, you’ve decided to build your own home instead of buying one. Congratulations! Now get ready for that search for model homes to turn into a full-scale homebuilding project and all its perks.
Building your own house is an exciting journey. And, in the beginning, you seem to have all the energy and motivation in the world. But will that save you from all the pitfalls of building a home? Most likely not.
So, before you buckle up and start this journey, ask yourself some questions and consider the following things to make sure that you are making the right decision and that you will have a smooth build.
Can you afford it?
Like it or not, we first need to talk about money before you go any further. Why? It’s no brainer that building a house is a massive expense and you need to make sure that you afford it before you start researching contractors and decide the colors of the walls.
On paper, building a house seems to be very affordable. That’s because the numbers on paper don’t get every single detail into consideration. And, trust us on this one, there will be a lot of small expenses that you didn’t see coming at the beginning.
So, besides the construction costs of building a house, consider those costs that are usually not planned too. For example, while building materials might be cheap today, if your building project is delayed, those costs could go up too.
One good way to be prepared for the unplanned costs would be to pad your budget by at least 10% of the total cost. If you can barely afford the total cost, you should better not sign on for this project at all because unforeseen expenses will follow too.
Do you have the time and patience?
Building your own house instead of simply purchasing one requires a much lengthier amount of time. Therefore, you need to make sure that you have not only the time to wait until it is done but also the patience to deal with all the variables involved in building a house.
And, you should know right from the beginning that even the most basic home project takes somewhere between three to six months to build. Whereas customed homes can take up to more than one year or even longer if there will be some problems throughout your journey.
Thus, if you are into a rush to have your own home, purchasing an existing one might be the best option for you.
Are you planning to sell it?
No matter how much you may love the home you are building, chances are that it won’t be the last home you will ever own. Thus, it is wise to build with resale in mind, with its potential resale value to be more precise.
We get that, after all, you build this house for yourself meaning that you want everything to be absolutely perfect. However, you shouldn’t add so many upgrades that will overprice your building project. Also, don’t choose something too out of the ordinary because this will overprice your home for the neighborhood which can be a real challenge in the future to sell the property. Plus, make sure that you choose features that are likely to appeal to others too.
Design for your future
Let’s be honest, after a while, say 5 or 10 years, your lifestyle will change completely from how it is today. You may start a family, relocate, or simply have other tastes in what a home should offer. Therefore, it is wise to design your home for the future, not only for the present moment.
For example, if you are building your first house with your spouse, as a child-free couple, some things may work great for you now. Yet, in 10 years from now, after becoming a parent, those things that worked for you right now won’t be ideal anymore.
Simply put, don’t design your home with “right now” in your mind but rather have a 5- or 10-year perspective in your mind as well.
Properly research contractors
There are many builders out there but it doesn’t mean that you have a pool of choices because not all of them might be reliable or capable to offer you the services you need to build your dream home.
Choosing your building contractor should not be based just on costs alone, although you should keep your budget in mind when choosing one. However, you should also consider quality and reputation first too. Especially since building a home is such a major expense and you can’t really afford to make any mistakes.
Moreover, once you decide on your building contractor, don’t make the rookie mistake of paying for everything upfront as the contractor may not be as reliable as you imagine and they might not be as motivated to finish building your house faster.
However, if you don’t want to work with a building contractor for multiple reasons and you want to build it on your own, at least make sure you get the right equipment to build it. For example, look for contractors that offer building equipment such as spider lifts for hire.
Plan for storage
We get it, planning for storage seems boring and when there seems to be so much free space at the beginning in the house, it may seem irrelevant. However, once you move inside the house and start bringing all your belongings, you will realize what a huge mistake you made for not planning for storage right from the beginning.
So, even if planning for storage isn’t the most exciting part of the journey, it will have a major impact on your lifestyle and organization later on.
Building your first home is a very meaningful and exciting journey, especially when you do it together with your loved ones. However, before you sing up for this process, make sure that you are aware of all its implications and possible challenges.