Designing and building your own home is a unique opportunity for you to create a home that perfectly fits your needs. While it is an exciting endeavor, it can be a complex and challenging undertaking. You can avoid some common pitfalls by taking the following suggestions into consideration.
Check Your Numbers
As you take on this project, it is important to keep in mind that you’ll spend more money than you plan. Your home planner will probably offer a cost to build option to help you get a better grasp on the total cost for your new home, but, even so, you should be prepared for unexpected expenses. The total cost of building a home will include the construction, cost of hiring skilled contractors, taxes, your down payment, and you’ll have to fund a slush account. The slush fund will provide easy access to cash for unplanned extras that may arise throughout the construction process.
Work With a Reputable Builder
While most construction companies are reliable, honest, and highly skilled, there are also quite a few disreputable contractors that are looking for a quick payday. There are many ways to find a good quality company to build your home. You can ask friends and co-workers, go over customer reviews online, or you can research specific companies that interest you. A good rule of thumb when looking for home builders in Bluffton SC or your particular locale, is to focus on businesses that are members of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).
Take Your Landscape Into Account
Another important consideration in building your own home is to pay close attention to the features of your landscape. If your land is hilly or uneven, the placement of your home on the property can affect how much water damage you experience. It will make more sense to place the home on an elevated mound of land, rather than at the bottom of a hill. If the home sits at the base of a hill, you’ll be subjected to runoff from rain and melting snow, which will erode the ground around the foundation of your home. You should also be wary of other landscaping challenges, such as trees, rocky soil, and other factors that can affect the construction or condition of your new home.
Remember Your Closing Date Isn’t Set in Stone
While your contractor may give you an estimated completion date, you shouldn’t hold them to that date. Anything can happen to delay the completion of your home, including a bad patch of weather. Since you’ll likely be renting an apartment as you wait for your new home to be “move-in ready,” you should discuss the possibility of extending your stay with your landlord. Getting a month to month lease may be more expensive, but it will offer you the freedom to leave when your home is ready. If you can move into your new home earlier than expected, you won’t want to be tied into a lease for a predetermined time period.
Add Essential Repairs to Your Punch List
As your home is being constructed, it will be helpful to take regular tours of the property to evaluate its progress. During this time, taking notes about any problems you see will be helpful. As the home nears completion, you’ll go over these issues with your contractor to create a punch list. It’s important to recognize that no new construction is without its flaws. Minor, or nonessential, flaws are items that you can fix yourself and that do not affect the livability of the home. However, essential flaws are those things that must be fixed before you can move into your new home. These items should be added to your punch list, so your contractor will know to fix them. On your final walk-through, the items on your punch list should have been repaired to reach a point called standard completion. At this point, you can begin closing on your new home.
Building a custom home is a complex process, but it will go smoother if you plan ahead. When you work together with your contractor and realize you both have the same goals, any problems that arise can be handled much more easily. This is why many homeowners who have built their own homes say maintaining a good relationship with contractors is the best advice they can offer to first time home builders.
