Building a Home: Things to Consider Before You Start

Building a home can seem like a dream come true. It is easy to imagine what it might be like to design and build exactly what you want, rather than having to pick from the stock of existing homes in your area. But building is not all it’s cracked up to be. It is still a viable option worth looking into, but building has its own downsides.

You can avoid some of the well-known traps of building a home by thinking things through before you start. Below are some things to consider in the early stages of your project. They are offered compliments of Sparano + Mooney, a Park City, Utah architectural firm that designs luxury homes based on modern mountain architectural design.

Where You Will Build

Unless you choose to build in a community in which plots of land have already been subdivided, you are going to need to acquire a piece of land. Note that there is more to this than meets the eye. For starters, buying a piece of land that has already been improved to include utilities will cost you more. However, you will eliminate the hassle and added expense of bringing utilities onto the property.

Another thing to consider are any local regulations that might restrict what you can put on a particular piece of land. For example, if you are looking to build in an area where historic preservation is a priority, expect to be limited by local building codes. It’s these sorts of things that make your choice of land so critical.

Your Build Priorities

You have undoubtedly heard horror stories of people experiencing significant cost overruns on their building projects. This is so common that it’s almost hard to quantify. Why does it happen? Because property owners do not prioritize in relation to their budgets.

Before you start building your dream home, establish a list of priorities. The things that are absolutely non-negotiable go to the top of the list. Everything else follows in order of importance. With your list of priorities in place, you have to come up with a budget. The idea here is to know how much you can afford to spend and what you intend to spend it on.

Who Will Build Your Home

There are essentially two models for building homes. The first is to go with a design-build firm that does everything. Such firms eliminate a lot of the hassles that come with the other model, but the big downside is limited options. Design-build firms tend to offer a set number of home styles and layouts from which you choose.

Your second option is to hire an architect and a builder separately. In turn, the builder hires its own contractors and subcontractors. This option gives you maximum control over most aspects. It also opens the door to getting exactly what you want within your budgetary framework. But understand that this model is also the more expensive of the two.

Your Timeline

Finally, consider your timeline for building. Your architect and/or builder will estimate how much time it will take to complete your home. Whenever that time is, add three months. You might need to add another month or two if you are insistent on a custom build requiring extra time for design and sourcing hard-to-obtain materials.

There are other things you will have to consider during the home building process. However, these four should be addressed before you get started. The choices you make in regard to these particular items will ultimately influence every other aspect of your project.