Buying a home is a sizable investment that can also be highly rewarding. Whether you’re thinking about buying your first home or upgrading to a better home, your options can essentially be separated into two separate methods of buying a home. The first option involves searching for homes on the real estate market that have already had one or more owners or have been recently built. In this situation, you would be able to purchase and close on the home in a relatively short period of time.
Your other option involves building your dream home from scratch, which comes with an array of benefits that can’t be had when buying a home on the market. When you build your dream home, you’ll be able to design every facet of the home to your specifications. You can choose to use an open floor plan design for your home. You could also decide how large the structure will be and what appliances/accessories the home will include.
To begin building your dream home, you will first be tasked with finding a plot of land to build on, which can take some time unless you know exactly what you’re looking for. There are plenty of online websites that provide users with land listings that they can browse through. A few of the top land-listing websites are Land and Farm, LandWatch, and Landsearch. This article takes you through 10 steps that you should follow when building your dream home.
1. Find Your Plot of Land
As mentioned above, the initial step of building your dream home is to find a plot of land. Even though this step might seem like a daunting prospect if you’ve never searched for land before, there are many online resources you can use to find the plot of land that works best for your situation.
One thing you can do to narrow your options and make it easier to finalize a decision is to identify where you would like to live. Is the plot of land nearby a school that your children would be attending? Do you want the home to be relatively close to the city? Once you answer these questions and find out where you would like to live, you should be able to start searching for plots of land in the desired area. As mentioned above, use sites like Landsearch and PlotSearch to find plots of land for your dream home.
2. Figure Out Your Financials
The next step in this process is to figure out your financials, which is essential if you want to make a sound investment. Keep in mind that obtaining financing will make it considerably easier to purchase a plot of land for your dream home. Unless you have the cash required to purchase a plot of land, hire contractors, and construct an entire home, you will likely need to obtain a loan.
There are two types of loans that you can apply for when you’re attempting to build a home, which includes a construction loan and a land loan. Construction loans are short-term loans with high-interest rates. If you’re able to obtain one of these loans, it can be used to purchase the land that you’re interested in and pay for the home-building expenses.
Since you can’t use a home for collateral, the lender takes on more risk with this type of loan. However, most lenders will allow a construction loan to be converted into a mortgage once the home has been built. The other type of loan available to you is a land loan, which is only meant to be used to help you purchase the land that the home will be built on.
Because of the high risk involved with both of these loans, you will need to have a fantastic credit score as well as a high down payment if you want your application to be approved. The minimum credit score requirements differ depending on the lender but typically range from 680-720. You will also need to provide the lender with proof of income.
3. Create a Budget
Your next step should be to create a budget that guides your decision-making process throughout the remainder of the project. When designing a home, you will be tasked with hiring contractors and purchasing materials. Expenses for materials can vary significantly depending on the types of materials you choose. Premium and long-lasting materials will always be more expensive than materials that aren’t meant to last for a long time.
While you could quickly spend far more than you can afford when building your dream home, having a realistic and firm budget for the project is a great way to keep expenses in check. When you’re creating a budget, make sure that you leave around 10-15% of your total budget as a contingency. Costly problems could arise on any project, which is why it’s important to have a contingency in place. If some of this money is left over once the project comes to and end, you could use the money on furnishings or landscaping improvements.
4. Find a Designer
Before you can get started on constructing a home, you will first need to design it, which can be done with the help of a professional designer. There are several types of designers you can hire, which include a package supplier who can design and build the structure, a house designer, or an architect.
Regardless of the type of designer you wish to hire, it’s highly recommended that you do some extensive research before making a hire. Look for online reviews to determine if the designer is reputable and experience. You should also ask the designer questions about the project before hiring them. They should be able to answer all of your questions and stick within your set budget.
5. Get a Planner
If you want to be certain that the home you’ve designed is viable and can be constructed on your lot, you should get in touch with a planner. Local planning departments typically provide advice or recommendations that you can help you make sure your building plans meet local building code. This is an important step in the process of applying for an obtaining a building permit. Planners will be able to tell you if the size, style, or materials you’ve selected will work with local guidelines and ordinances.
6. Choose Your Building Path
You should also focus on choosing a building path, which means that you need to determine what route you’ll take when building your dream home. For instance, you could hire a packaging company that will help you design your home, obtain the necessary permits, and construct the building once the design is finalized. You could also hire an architect alongside a general contractor.
It’s possible for you to manage the project on your own, which would help you to reduce costs. Keep in mind that package companies and architects all have their own types of homes that they work best with. In the end, however, you have complete say over how your home is designed and what materials it’s made from.
7. Gather the Planning Permission
Now that you’ve hired your team and the design has been finalized, it’s time to gather the planning permission, which is the only way you will legally be allowed to construct a home on your plot of land. Planning permission is oftentimes referred to as a building permit since the planning department will need to approve the permit before construction can begin.
You might also need to seek special permissions depending on where your plot of land is located and what type of home you’re constructing. It’s highly recommended that you obtain the necessary insurance and warranties at the beginning of this process, which will protect you from liability and unexpected costs while construction is ongoing.
8. Prepare Your Plot of Land
The first aspect of construction involves preparing your plot of land for the structure that’s about to be built. During this step of the home-building process, you may need to level the plot, set out trenches for the foundation, and clear vegetation. The general contractor you’ve hired or a groundwork company should be able to provide you with these services. Keep in mind that the foundation pour and drainage will occur during this stage.
9. Building Process
Among the most important steps in this entire process is constructing your home, which is when your designs are translated from paper to an actual structure. If you have control over most of the project, the two most common construction methods to select from include timber frame and brick-and-block, the latter of which is the traditional method. Most home-building projects are separated into five distinct stages, which include:
- The foundation work
- Placing the roof, doors, and windows on the structure
- Primary services, plastering work, and structural carpentry
- All work that takes place after plastering
- Final decoration of the home
10. Move In
Now that your home has been built to your specifications, you can take some time to relax and move in to the home of your dreams. While some small issues with the home may need to be ironed out, the home-building process is essentially complete.