One of the biggest dilemmas of people who want to settle down in their new house is whether they should purchase or build their first home. Although building your first home may seem complicated and expensive, it’s a dream of most first home owners that they don’t want to give up on. Building a new home for yourself has lots of benefits if you act smart. This process takes a long time, and requires some serious decision making. However, if you plan it well, you can avoid some common mistakes that people make when building their first home.
Here are 5 tips for building your home to make sure that everything goes smoothly.
Finding a perfect location and working on it
It’s hard to find a “perfect” location, but you should try to find the one that’s at least “almost perfect”. This could be a land in a good and safe neighborhood, close to your work and your kids’ school, in a low-crime area with light traffic and low risk of natural disasters. If you don’t have an unlimited budget on your hands (and who does) – you’ll probably have to sacrifice one benefit for the other (e.g. having a beautiful and affordable house far from your work). It’s important to set your priorities straight and weigh on pros and cons. Always have in mind that flawed landscape (in some cases) can be improved if you’re willing to develop and maintain it.
Hiring the people you trust
Before the construction starts, you’ll need to assemble a trustworthy team around you. You’ll need an architect who’s willing to turn your ideas into reality and design a home just the way you imagine. The builders are no less important – make sure that you hire an experienced team of people who are not afraid to provide references of their work and contacts of their previous clients. They should own an appropriate license and if you can find unbiased testimonials of their happy clients – that would be even better. An unprofessional team of workers without insurance can cause a great of deal of damage and financial loss so pay attention to who you hire.
Safety above all
Hiring the team of professionals is the necessary step towards the safety on the construction site. However, owning the appropriate building license and being covered by an insurance policy is not enough. Numerous building codes ensure that work is being carried out according to top safety standards. If building plans are approved by a council or private certifier, they will be required to check the construction site at the most important building stages. Scheduling these inspections is a responsibility of your builder. You can expect at least 4 or 5 visits from the inspection (and if they are not coming, call them to ask for a reason).
Building green and saving money doing it
Green homes are designed to reduce the harmful effect on the environment and save energy, while providing comfort to their occupants. These homes are both cost-effective and beautiful. They might require investing a bit more money at the beginning, but as soon as your low utility bills start coming, you’ll realize the benefits. These homes are extremely popular in today’s home building market and their resale value is pretty high. Not only that you can design your home to be environmentally friendly and efficient (with the help of solar passive design), but you can equip it with energy-saving appliances that will maximize the benefits.
Control your budget
Your budget is probably the most important factor that will affect many of your decisions: lot you’ll purchase, the size of the home and experts you’ll hire. Above all, it’s important to have realistic ideas and be aware of your budget limitations. Expect the unexpected costs during the construction process. Always set aside two-thirds of your real budget and try to fit all costs into it. Some costs are likely to sneak by, so you’ll be thankful for the remaining third. If you have a choice, start with a small home, and leave enough space to build on it later, when you have more money. Don’t forget extra costs that come after the home is finished – such as utility bills, taxes and mortgage.