So you’ve finally made it! You’ve worked and sweat, and you and your family are finally ready to purchase the house of your dreams. Building a new home can be a fun and exhilarating experience! But all the steps to building a house can also be a stressful process if they are done incorrectly.
Before you make the biggest purchase of your life, take the time to really understand how your new house will be constructed and what you can do to preserve it. It can be fun to pick out how everything will look inside when you’re done, but paying attention to all the basics could end up saving you a lot of headache and money further down the road.
Here are some tips for building a house and making it into a great home. Check out the tips below or use this simple guide to take you through the complex home buying process step by step.
Tips and Steps to Building a House You Love Forever:
Research the Builder:
Unfortunately, not all builders are the same. The home of your dreams shouldn’t be left in the hands of just anyone. It needs to be made by a partner you can trust. Research the web and Better Business Bureau before signing the dotted line with a home builder. A great company should be able to provide you with copies of their license, a list of awards, referrals, and many other things that they would gladly want to share with prospective clients.
Location:
Where you build your new home is just as important as what it will look like. Be sure to consider important factors like taxes, school systems, crime rates, reputation, and much more before settling on your site location.
Also, really give some thought to how much land you think you would like to have. A larger yard can be really nice and work out great in the long-term for fun activities as well as help your resale value. But it can also be a burden if you aren’t prepared to keep up with the maintenance. Consider the pros and cons from both sides.
Think Long-Term:
When you’re first deciding how your new home should be, the costs of all the extras – deeper basements, larger garages, more windows, custom designs, etc. – can be overwhelming. However, after you’ve lived in your new home for a few years, chances are that you’ll wish you had went for those upgrades!
Although some upgrades like landscaping, decks, and even windows can be added at a later time, it certainly is easier to include these things in the initial build – especially if they pertain to the overall structure of the home! Discuss your priorities for your new home and determine which upgrades would make the most sense to add while the home is being built. Remember – it’s a lot more difficult to turn an 8 foot basement into a 9 foot one after the home has been constructed!
Foundation:
Nothing is more important to the structure of the home as the foundation. Be sure to ask your builder what type of material and process they plan to use. Plenty of time should be allowed for curing as well for proper settlement. Also check that there is some type of warranty associated with the foundation and structure of the construction.
Appearance:
We all want our home to look like a million bucks! Be sure that the builder you select has a wide variety of options and can customize the look of your home to your personality. Give your home character by adding features like brick, color, porches, lights, and even windows.
Mortgage:
Though it may not be a part of the physical house, your mortgage payments and loan terms will be something that weigh on your finances for years to come if you don’t shop around for a good. Looking at the rates of reputable companies can help you decide what you can afford to spend every month.
Energy Efficiency:
Building a new home is a great time to take advantage of an energy-efficient infrastructure. Be sure that the correct wiring and plumbing is made available for the most modern and energy-efficient appliances. Choose high levels of wall insulation, window insulation, energy-efficient appliances, etc. P.S. – And don’t forget to take advantage of any Federal tax credits!
Inspection:
Even a new home requires a thorough inspection. Again, find someone you can trust to assist you with the walk-through. Work with the builder by creating a list of any issues you find, and agree to set some target dates for satisfying these tasks.
Readers – What are your tips for building a house? Did you build a home or move into an existing one? If you built, what kinds of things did you run into that you wish someone had told you about sooner? Of the people you know, what experiences have they had building their new home?
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Photo Credit: Microsoft Clip Art
Good tips but would like to add a few more. We built our current home. I would agree with you on the first one and can’t emphasize it enough. RESEARCH THE BUILDER. We built in a planned development. Find out if you will have to join a Home Owners’ Association. If you do try and find out what their restrictions are. This can be a real pain in the butt down the road or even sooner. Yes it is wonderful to have fancy countertops in the kitchen but if you are on a limited budget focus on the home’s basic structure. If you want bay windows or higher ceilings do those things now. You can always (and more easily) paint, get new carpet, etc later on. Find out about things you wouldn’t ordinarily think about such as how many electrical outlets in EVERY room. Also find out about ceiling fixtures. These sound obvious but we didn’t think about them and ended up with two electrical outlets in the basement (opposite sides) and only two rooms with ceiling fixtures. I could go on but I won’t! Final tip, talk to everyone you can who has built new and get their advice. AND RESEARCH the BUILDER!
Suzie, welcome to the site. And thank you for all the wonderful additions to these tips.
As someone who also had their house built, I agree with each of your suggestions. I really wish I had found out ahead of time that I had really high association dues to pay. I was really lucky to take my father-in-law’s advice and build a bigger garage than what came with the package. 10 years later I see everyone else trying to squish their cars inside while I have comfortable room to spare.
We plan on living in our new house for a while so we took the best materials we could afford. It is easy to be overwhelmed by the expenses and try to save money only to regret it later.
We are still on the process of saving up for our dream house. I’ll take note of these tips when we finally start building our own home.
Building a house can be a very stressful time. These tips are great to help readers get through it . Thanks for sharing!
Nice