Building your own home is most certainly the best way to experience the property of your dreams. This way, you get to control every conceivable aspect, and from the overall layout to even the lighting and air conditioning systems installed, it’s the perfect option if you’re looking to settle down in one particular location for a long time.
That said, it’s also by far the most complicated option. Given how much you’ve got to factor into the build, many people find the process overwhelming.
You can greatly mitigate that stress, however, if you formulate a proper plan in the beginning. As they say, to fail to prepare is to prepare to fail, and that sentiment couldn’t be more true for house building.
Below, and in no particular order, you’ll discover ten of the most important things you’ll need to prioritize.
Setting Your Budget
In your budget, you’ll need to account for all possible costs, including the purchase of the land, contractor fees, design, construction, landscaping, permits and regulations, and more. You’ll also need to establish an estimate for the ongoing costs, such as your bills, insurance, and overall maintenance.
Finally, you should always factor in a separate contingency budget in case something goes wrong. Unexpected expenses are common, and it’s generally accepted that you should have around 10-20% kept back for these situations.
Location and Land
Before you start to figure out the sort of house you want, you should first consider where you want to live and what kind of land is available in the area.
Where the area itself is concerned, only you can determine what’s important. For most people, though, an ideal location means good access to the town or city center, a low crime rate, and being near local schools if you have children.
For the land, you’ll need to look into elements like soil quality, radon exposure, and drainage.
Hiring Your Builders and Designers
Choosing the right builders and designers can be a challenge. Home building is a highly specialized process, so it’s never a good idea to go the way of hiring multiple different contractors and organizing everything yourself.
Instead, opt for a custom house building firm – someone like Timber Haus Developments, for example. From the smallest essence of an idea, they’ll flesh out your project and design and build your home from start to finish, ensuring no stone is left unturned.
Understanding Planning Permission and Legal Requirements
One of the most important things to get right in the beginning is adhering to your legal requirements.
You’ll need to approach the local authority to ask about the planning permission you’ll need to build, as well as the local building codes and zoning laws you need to be aware of before your project begins.
The Importance of Future Proofing
When you’re going through the design process, it’s important to ensure you’re adding features that age well. Your designers will help you here, but you’ll want spaces that are as adaptable as possible, and you should always be forward-thinking and investigate any new technologies on the horizon that would be a good idea to invest in.
It’s also essential to think about how your family might grow: if you’re planning for children or more children, or possibly an elderly relative living with you, this will need to be factored into the build.
Sustainability Features
Part of establishing the projected costs of living in your new home is estimating how much your bills are going to be, and a lot of that is down to the features you install.
Using energy-saving double glazing, LED light bulbs, smart heating systems, and other forward-thinking installations can make a huge difference to how much it costs to live there, so be sure to have these features baked into your build.
Finishing Materials
It’s common for people to spend so long on the building itself (layout, exterior, infrastructure, etc) that they forget about the importance of the smaller elements.
The materials you choose for your flooring, countertops, facades, and more matter a great deal, as they determine a big part of the longevity of the property. Don’t skip out on these!
Determining a Rough Timeline
You’re never going to be able to figure out a perfect timeline, but you and your design and build team should come up with a rough plan for how long everything’s going to take.
Having even the most basic timeline can ensure things don’t get on top of you, and it enables you to plan appropriately for moving out of your current property (this is something you should be planning a few months in advance).
Understanding Resale Value
While you may well be considering this build to be your forever home, you never really know what’s going to happen ten or twenty years down the line. Things change, and you need to be ready for that.
It’s impossible to predict the future, of course, but you can make sure your new home is as marketable as possible should you ever need to sell. Carefully consider how your choices might impact a future sale – go for a layout and features that have a broad appeal.
Your Current Lifestyle
The element that has the biggest bearing on how your home should be designed is your lifestyle.
You’ll need to go through your life with a fine-toothed comb and make sure everything is accounted for. Think exhaustively, from your smallest daily habits to any hobbies your new build could accommodate. You’ll also want plenty of storage if you have a family, and having extra rooms, like a games room or play area, can offset the burden on the main rooms.
There’s a lot to think about here, so you’d do well to make a detailed list of your must-haves to go through with your designers.
Wrapping Up
You should now be a little clearer on the most important aspects involved in building your own home.
It won’t be easy, and there’s much more beyond what’s covered here, but so long as you take things one step at a time, you’ll get there without becoming overwhelmed. Before you know it, you’ll be sitting relaxing in a beautiful new living room.
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