Homeownership is a big step for many people. Purchasing a home is expensive, stressful, time-consuming, and requires a lot of attention. Many people don’t know how to buy a home, let alone build one. This article will explain the main steps to buying or even building a home and how to make your dream home a reality.
1. Build or Buy
When you are dealing with lofty ideals such as finding a dream house, the question that inevitably arises is whether you should buy or build. Both have distinct advantages and disadvantages, but you will need to decide before you can move on.
Building A Home
This step is fraught with the most obstacles but is also the best way to make an entirely custom house around your own design. It is first necessary to decide whether you can build most of the house yourself, hiring outside contractors only when necessary or if you should use a company. Unless you are a tradesperson, you should probably opt for a house building company specializing in making homes. These companies will often have project homes which are houses that are built of a set standard and template. This doesn’t mean that your house won’t be unique, they often have many designs to choose from, but it will make life more straightforward as they already know about building these homes on schedule and budget.
Pros
- You can choose the location (as long as you can afford the plot).
- Everything will be brand new.
- Your house will be unique to you.
- It will rise in value faster than an older home (depending on other factors).
- You can integrate different aspects such as HVAC systems rather than having to “tack” them onto older homes.
- Maintenance is minimal to nonexistent.
Cons
- It can be costly.
- The land must be purchased separately from the building costs.
- There might be extra costs for feasibility investigations.
- Cost estimations can be tricky.
- There will always be unplanned expenses.
Buying A Home
Contrary to building a brand new home, you could go down the more conventional route of buying your dream house. While you won’t design it exactly how you like, you might end up with a beautiful older home replete with traditional fittings (if that’s your thing). In contrast, you may be able to purchase a newly built house with all of the benefits of a home you may have constructed but is ready for occupancy.
Pros
- You can typically move in immediately unless there is a chain.
- You already know the cost.
- Surveys will have already been completed prior to the house being put on the market saving you time and money.
Cons
- It might not be what you wanted design-wise.
- There will be more maintenance and upkeep involved (in older houses).
- You might need to remodel.
2. Calculate Your Purchasing Power
Whether you are buying or building, you will need to calculate what your buying power is. The first step is to determine how much savings you have and what kind of mortgage you can afford. If you speak with a lender, you can find out how much you can borrow and how much your monthly payments will be.
3. Build A Design Board
You can create a design board if you are still in the planning stages. It is a board of styles and ideas you like and consider incorporating into your home. Whether you build or buy, you can use it for both the exterior and the interior. You can use online platforms like Pinterest or Google image search to discover variations on themes, and eventually, you will get to a style that fits your personality.
4. Plan Your Main Rooms First
The kitchen, your bedroom, and the living room are arguably the most important rooms of any home; the rest is detail, as they say. Therefore, you should focus most of your attention on these specific rooms (and any other that you feel are relevant), and the rest will come naturally. For example, once you have decided on a chosen theme for these rooms, you can fit everything else around this “master” style. This will save you time but, importantly, confusion. If you are attempting to plan every single room in the house, you will end up with a muddled mess of different designs.
There is a lot to ponder when you are attempting to create something magnificent. You will spend a large portion of your life in your home, so you must get it right. Nevertheless, with some thought and consideration, knowing what your monetary limits are and if you are building or buying, you should end up with the perfect house.