Building a custom home is a big, life-changing decision. To make sure the process is as smooth and easy as possible make sure you ask yourself the following questions before you begin. Taking an honest look at your life, yourself, and your family will help you determine the best course to take when it comes to your home.
“Can we afford it?”
Cost is a big factor in building a home. From construction materials, building permits, design features, and other costs everything costs money in building a home. Take an honest look at your finances to make sure you can afford to build a custom home. Talk to your custom home builder and work together to build a budget you can afford.
“Can we handle the stress?”
You think moving is stressful? Try building a house on top of it. There will be tons of decisions that need to be made during the construction of your custom home. Not to mention delays and setbacks will be bound to turn up. Ask yourself and your family if you can handle the never-ending stress that comes with construction. Hiring a custom home builder will help some with the stress. They’ll be there to manage the day to day and be a single point of contact, which makes everything easier.
“Do we have the time and patience?”
Building a home is a long process. From design, through construction, and to completion can take months if not years. Ask yourself if you have the time and patience to wait for a build to be complete. Assume there will be delays and ask yourself if you can deal with a timeline pushed back. A home builder will try their best to make up for any delays but between weather, subcontractors, and deliveries nothing can be guaranteed.
“How long do we think we’ll be living in this house?”
People often think that when they’re building a custom home it has to be their forever home. Don’t feel like you have to stay in this home just because you’re building it instead of buying it completed. Ask yourself how long you think your family will be in this home. Things can change obviously but having an estimate will help you make decisions. If you think you might sell someday there are certain things you should add to boost resale value.
“Are we planning on expanding our family?”
Ask yourself if you think you’ll be expanding your family in the future. Whether that’s adding a baby, having parents or in-laws move in, or even adopting a new pet. This will help you plan for additional space or special features. The worst thing is waiting so long for a home only to outgrow it in a year because the yard isn’t big enough, you need an in-law suite, or don’t have an extra room for the new baby. Talk to your custom home builder about adding flex spaces that can be used for any potential future residents of the home.
“What are our must-haves?”
When building a custom home a lot of people focus on only their needs or only their wants. The key to building a home that you love long term is to look at both. What features are must-haves in terms of needs and wants. When building a custom home you can get a lot of things in your new house but you usually can’t get everything. Having a list of firm must-haves, that include both needs and wants, will make sure you build a home that you’ll love.
“Do we know what location we want to be in?”
Figuring out location is a big decision when building a custom home. The beauty of a custom home is that it can be built anywhere. However, deciding that anywhere can be difficult. Consider school districts, zoning laws, and commuter distance to your work. Once you find a location you like have your home builder run soil tests to make sure the lot is good for building.
The most important thing when building or deciding to build a custom home is honesty. Ask yourself these questions and be sure that you are honest with yourself and your custom home builder. The last thing you want to do is get in over your head whether that’s in terms of money, time, or stress. Contact us today to talk about getting started on your new custom home.
