Constructing your new home is always exciting. A process this large and pricey, however, can often come come with overloads of stress and anxiety. Planning ahead can relieve some of the pressure especially since this endeavor will take months, or even years.
Whether you’ve decided to use a custom home builder, such as Sydney private homebuilding or a higher volume home builder, referred to as a production builder, you’ll need to consider a few things when it comes to your dream house. Spend some time researching the latest building trends and materials. Talk to people in the real estate business and home building industries and do extensive online research.
In the end, you will be grateful you spent so much time preparing to ensure your new home really is a dream come true. Let’s look at a list of things to consider.
- Look into hiring your own structural engineer. They will analyze, design, plan and research all structural components of your home. Their purpose is to achieve your design goals and ensure safety and comfort. Although they focus on technical and economic factors, they also will consider your aesthetic wants as well. They can review any plans laid out by the contractor to make sure the foundation is properly enforced and all codes are met.
- Check references from your new construction home builder. If they don’t have decent reviews, this could send up a red flag. You don’t want to work with a builder who is subpar.
- Choose the right contractors. From erecting the structure to designing the blueprints, your contractor will be completely involved in building your home. Check their work history, insurance, permits, subcontractors and prices, among other things.
- Talk to the neighbors. If you’re building in an already established neighborhood, you might have already done this. If not, now’s the time! You want to at least appreciate who lives next door to you, but you also want information. When is trash pick-up or mail delivery? Getting to know your neighbors will make for a better home life, so think about the old idea of baking cookies when you meet them.
- Set a realistic budget. How much do you or are you willing to spend? If your original loan is $300,000, you need to know what will fit inside that. Maybe you want some leftover. If you want to incorporate a swimming pool into construction, you’ll need to make sure you can afford it.
- Review the contract. When your contract is drawn up from your contractor, if you are wondering about a few technicalities, get a lawyer to look it over. This can be helpful for terms or money amounts that might not be completely clear to you. Make sure that any extras are talked over with your contractor to ensure that you aren’t being charged for anything unnecessary.
- Walk through your floor plan. This is a constant necessity as building will change each day. You’ll want to make sure things are in check and properly placed. Are the windows in the right area? Are the doors tall enough? All of these details will be on the blueprint, so check it out as well as the actual building.
- Understand your property boundaries. Hopefully you’ve already figured out your property lines and where they end. You don’t want to have a circumstance arise where you’ve started building your three-car garage and it’s actually on the neighbor’s property.
- Be flexible. Things change, that’s the way of the world, but preparing for them can create less stress on you. With proper planning and consideration, your new home will be built in no time.
