Building A Home

A house is an investment that is meant to last, theoretically forever. So it's wise to plan well into the future when you build your first home. Is your family growing? Do you want a place to entertain? Is it in a location where you'd consider spending the rest of your life? These are big questions to answer but will help you get the right home—a home that will grow with you. Take a look at the housing market; should you intend to sell your home down the line you'll want to place your investment into an easily resellable home.

These days, owners of smaller homes are dedicating less time and resources initially developing and maintaining their landscapes. But a house that simply sits between block walls or fences obviously isn't going to be very appealing in the long term. So when you’re planning your home, leaving some space around the house for future gardens or outdoor living spaces is a really good idea.

It’s extremely important to feel safe and secure in your home. Planning for things like fire exits and a security system go a long way in improving the safety of your new home.

A big trend in today’s market is the green home. There are a lot of green, water-saving technologies in a list of price ranges. These days you can easily find a good number of solutions for your bathroom or kitchen that will save you water and energy. There are a variety of renewable resources for flooring and eco-friendly, low or no-emissions paints.

You should put some careful thought into how large or small a home you really want and need. If you are building a large home you can obviously expect to pay more in mortgage payments, maintenance and utilities but if you plan something considerably smaller than what you'll need you could end up feeling like you're living in a birdcage. Really think about the spaces you'll need and what you can afford when planning your house and you won’t have regrets later on. This is one reason why pre-drawn house plans can really help to streamline the planning process.

When you are planning to build your first home, you should actually plan to allocate half to two-thirds of what you can actually afford towards building it. No house comes in at or under budget, and sometimes quite a bit over. This results from a variety of factors, some of which may be due to your upgrading specifications, fixtures or materials as you go along. Sometimes it's an oversight, or increase in building materials costs, or even weather delays. You can reduce overages with diligence and planning but some will always sneak by.

It’s easy to think about how many bedrooms you need or what you want in your kitchen but don’t forget other details too. For instance, there should be a bathroom on each floor if you are building a multi-story home. You'll want to consider amenities for any guests you might periodically have staying with you.

The best advice anyone can give you when building your home is to make as many preparations in advance as possible and let the professionals execute your dream. You should visit the construction site and see what your contractor and subcontractors are up to but making lots of changes during construction will hinder the timeline and ultimately cost you more money. So don’t be afraid to hold off on construction until you are really happy with your design on paper.