One of the most exciting projects is to build your dream home. Many people spend a great deal of time fantasizing about this. The notion that dream homes are only for a select few is far from right. Dream homes are within reach, provided you have the knowledge and know-how you need and the ability to flex your creative muscle to build your dream.
Build your dream home on a budget by planning immaculately, budgeting precisely, and managing the entire process yourself. It is most important to not compromise on the quality of the building and to decide on what is immediately essential to your home and what you could want to do at a future date.
The challenge of building your dream home is gratifying. However daunting it seems, careful planning, accurate budgeting, and clever thinking will make it possible to move into your home without a hole in your pocket.
Building Your Dream Home Within A Budget Is Possible
One of the reasons that homeowners shy away from building their dream homes is budget. The perception is that a dream home comes with a high price tag and is unattainable. On the contrary, building on a budget is possible with a thought-out plan, a clear vision of the dream, cost-effective budgeting, financial discipline, and a hands-on approach to the project.
Many resources are available to prospective home builders, though accessing them is time-consuming. Getting advice upfront is the best way to tackle this project. A dream home becomes a reality if you are prepared to invest time and effort.
Step One: Plan The Project
The priority is financial planning. Building on a budget requires meticulous planning and weighing up the value of each dollar spent. Wastage and carelessness will eat into your budget in no time at all. Set a budget and commit to it.
Secondly, decide on your dream. How should your home look? How can you build for now but allow for future improvement and expansion? Look at as many as possible references for homes and keep your eyes peeled for good ideas that can add a personal touch.
The next step is marrying your dream with your budget. It is well worth your while to use the services of an architect to advise you regarding your plans, provide a guideline for costing and highlight the areas that need special attention and those that can improve later.
After this, you will need to get quotes from reputable contractors and look for ways to save without sacrificing quality and good building. Building on a budget will require you to be very hands-on and involved in the entire process and to keep an eye on every stage in the project.
Step Two: Decide On Your Dream Home
You should be clear about your dream home before starting your building project. If you don’t do this, you will most likely make the mistake of chopping and changing mid-project, and this will cost you more and draw out the building process.
Next, consider finishing touches, floor covering, paint, light fittings, tiles, door handles, decorative items, and countertops. You can decide to compromise on these, but ensure that compromising will not hinder any future additions or alterations to your home.
Where you plan to build is just as important and will ultimately add to the enjoyment of your home. Consider your daily life and ensure your building site aligns with your routine. Also, look at good neighborhoods where houses tend to increase in value. Instead, build a smaller home in a better area than a larger home where the value of your home will not increase.
Take into account the size of appliances and the storage space required and measure everything precisely to prevent snags and additional costs later on. Look for special offers on appliances and cupboards, and shelves.
Using a pre-existing house plan is the most cost-effective starting point, then create your home around this. Look for ways to add a personal touch to your home within the plan’s confines.
Step Three: Set Up A Budget For Cost-Effective Building
Realistic budgeting is the first step in building your dream home. It takes careful consideration because the success of your project depends on effective budgeting. In addition to this, there are several key points in setting up a budget:
- Do not plan to build to the maximum you can afford; always allow at least 10% for contingency.
- Shop around for reputable contractors, not only on price but also on the quality of their building. Insist on references and speak to their previous clients.
- Enlist the services of a professional to examine your plans and advise you of ways to stretch your budget.
- Figure out what is essential and what you can live without, then decide whether it’s best to add this to your initial project or whether it will be simple to add at a later stage.
- Buy the building material yourself. Please don’t leave it to a contractor who may put markups on the building material.
- Shop around for building materials, fixtures, fittings, and decorative items but always keep quality and longevity in mind.
- Look for ways to centralize plumbing and any other high-cost utilities.
- Consider whether you want to add on later, and make sure your plan allows for this.
- Take exact measurements so you don’t buy too little or too much.
- The fewer walls you build, the cheaper your home will be. Opt for open-plan spaces where possible.
- Decide which rooms will be used most and add space by compromising on space in lesser essential rooms.
- Project manage the building yourself, so you are always up to speed.
- Keep a watchful eye on wastage and keep this to a minimum.
- Determine whether there are little projects you can do yourself and enlist the help of friends and family where ever possible.
- Return unused building material.
Step Four: Manage The Building Project Yourself
Be vigilant about the quality of the basic structure of your home and be wholly involved; it is your dream home, after all. There is also great satisfaction in being part of the entire project.
Get up to speed on building techniques, essentials, and good building practice. Draw up a comprehensive checklist and refer to this. Never compromise the quality of the structure, as this may need to last a lifetime.
Your checklist should include; placement of plug points, quality of electrical installations, neatness of painting, alignment of doors, adequately installed roofing, evenness of flooring, leak-free plumbing, sturdy attachment of door handles and locks, and proper opening and closing of doors and cupboards.
Managing the project yourself, you will ensure that the project meets deadlines. Building beyond the projected completion date costs money; as the saying goes, time is money.
Conclusion
To build your dream home cost-effectively, you must be committed to a budget and manage every step of the building process. The key to success is finding cost-effective ways to get the most value out of your building budget by getting professional advice upfront, contracting builders with excellent references, and doing what you can yourself.
Never compromise on quality; rather, sacrifice space. Take cognizance of future additions and alterations you would like to make and build accordingly. Creativity plays a role as well. Look for ideas that you can use to add unique touches to your home.