If you want a home with everything you need, the way you want them to be, building a custom home is the way to go. No matter how hard you search the market, it’s just impossible to find an existing house that fits all your needs. But building a home has its downsides. It’s more expensive, time-consuming, and stressful. Some people even end up fighting with their contractors or suppliers. There’s just many ups and downs in home construction, but if you ask any homeowner who has built their homes, they’d think it’s worth it.
To prepare you for building your first home, we’ve created this list of everything you need to start. This consists of the steps you’d take and the professionals you need to begin planning your dream home project. Once you’ve commenced construction, it’ll be a different process altogether. So buckle up and anticipate these responsibilities as you start:
Table of Contents
Financing
Unless you use your savings, you have to get financing from a bank, online lender, or another financial institution. In the case of building a home, a standard mortgage won’t work. Though you’re not prohibited from getting a mortgage to build your home, you’d be giving lenders too much of a risk. Why? Because you’re asking them to lend you money for a home that doesn’t exist yet.
So instead of a mortgage loan, you should seek a construction loan. It’s a short-term loan that covers the costs of building a home. You can turn it into a long-term mortgage after your home finishes building. Just expect a higher interest rate since construction loans are considered risky.
Timeframe
To streamline the construction process, you need to make a timeframe—for example, one year. Then set monthly goals so that the construction’s progress will be in stages. Set an exact date for the completion as well.
Take into account specific events that may affect the building of your home. Maybe you have a baby on the way, or you’re getting married. Consider your existing or upcoming financial obligations as well. If you have a debt to settle in the middle of the project, that may affect your budget for the next construction stage.
The seasons matter, too. In rainy or snowy seasons, multiple stages of the construction may get delayed. If you want to finish the build as fast as possible, start during a season with the clearest weather, like spring.
Location
You’re one step away from starting your build by this stage. Whether you’ve already bought land or are still searching for one, research the zoning laws, building codes, septic connections, energy codes in the area. If you have yet to buy, find out the home values in the surrounding neighborhood. An expensive designer home may not fit in a lower class neighborhood, for instance.
A Team of Professionals and Experts
By this time, you can already start designing your home. But before having your architect draft plans, let a land surveyor assess your land. Land surveying is a process that finds the boundaries of a land. It helps you determine up to which extent of the land is considered your property. In turn, it’ll help you ensure that the design of your home follows the building code.
Once that’s done, you may now create a team of professionals and experts for the project. Below is a breakdown of each person you’d need:
- Architect: for designing your home and providing the blueprint
- Civil engineer: for ensuring the structural integrity of the design and the actual home
- Electrical engineer: for installing the electrical system
- Master plumber: for installing the plumbing system
- Contractors: for overseeing the builders and laborers
- Painters and drywallers: you may DIY the paintwork if you want to, but drywallers are tradesmen that you’d need. They can also achieve any wall texture that you desire
- Masons and roofers: for concrete works and roofing installation
- Carpenters: for woodworks (e.g. doors and cabinets)
- Interior designers: optional but highly recommended for designer homes
- Landscapers: for beautifying your yard and giving it extra features, like a pond or a pool
Ensure that you’re hiring licensed and experienced professionals, and they’re familiar with the style of home you want. For example, if you want an industrial style home, your architect and interior designer should know how to design that. If they specialize in modern farmhouses, they may not be your best pick. So be careful in this part the most.
With your construction team ready, you can now envision your dream home more clearly and start the groundbreaking soon. Be as active in the entire process as much as you can. Even with trustworthy professionals in your team, your input and involvement are still essential.
