Building a new home can be a very stressful project to take on, especially if you have been saving up for this day for a long time and don't want anything to go wrong. It is best to be fully prepared before you start the project so that you can reduce the chances of any mistakes being made that could prove to be costly for you in the future.
To start off, figure out how much you can afford to spend. This will end up influencing a lot of your decisions like the kind of architect you hire, the contractor you sign on, as well as the size of the house. Make a budget, and make sure you and everyone involved in the project is willing to stick to it. Include a ten percent miscellaneous fund or contingency in case you need to spend a little extra.
The next thing to do is to hire a very good architect. Make sure you talk to people you know to find out about the various architects in your city. You should do some research on this as well as set up meetings with your shortlist of architects and talk to each of them about your vision for your house. There is no point in hiring someone who will build a generic plan for you; your house needs to show your style so make sure you go in with a very good idea of the kind of house you want.
This means knowing more than the basic things like number of bedrooms and cost, you need to really think about the way you want your house to look. For example, if you want privacy for each room, if you have a lot of children and want the focus on the living area, or if you want a huge garden.
All these things are very important when the architect makes the plan for your house so make sure you think about these and then sign an architect who can understand it and help make it a reality.
Your architect will also give you options for the plan based on your budget. All the plans will be based on the vision you have for your house, but will have things that are different based on the amount of money you have to spend on the house.
Next, hire a good contractor. Talk to your architect, family and friends about people they know in the business. Look to hire someone with good references, and if you are on a tight budget make sure you hire someone who is known to stay within the budget. Set expectations with the contractor on the amount of influence you will have on daily matters, as you can choose to be very involved or simply sign the checks.
Once you have a good contractor in place and the plan has been finalised, make sure you stay involved with the project to make sure it proceeds according to the plan. While small changes might need to be made here and there, the larger picture needs to remain like the one you envisioned.
By:Edward Jonstone
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