3 Things to Avoid When Having a Home Built

Having a home built is exciting. You’ll be building a home that, hopefully, is your dream home – or a home you really like. It’s a time when you can settle into a new area, but there are a lot of hurdles along the way that will make the process tedious.

Builders not showing up a few days a month can extend the time it takes to build the home.

Storms and bad weather can cause the building process to be delayed. Financing the project can be a hassle, and an increase in costs is more common than most people are prepared for when going into the building process.

When having a home built, you’ll want to avoid:

1. Being Oversold

It’s possible that you’ll be oversold when having a home built. Architects or the seller of the home may advise you to add an extra room here or extra space there. It’s not that these experts don’t have your best interests in mind, but every addition adds to the overall cost of the home.

Before agreeing on any additional space or rooms being added, make sure that you give yourself a day or two to mull over the recommendations.

You, and only you, know the lifestyle and needs of your family.

2. Stay Out of the Building Site

If you are like most soon-to-be homeowners, you’re very anxious to see the progress made on your home. But, there’s also the issue of homeowners going to the building site whenever they want.

“For every law-abiding citizen holding a door for you, it seems there are even more people seemingly ready to put you or your family at risk,” claims DePaolo & Zadeikis. But entering into a construction zone, even if the construction is your own home, may result in you being negligent.

Let’s assume you went to the building site after all of the workers went home and tripped and fell.

You’re not going to be able to sue for damages because you were negligent by going into an active construction site. If you want to view the progress being made, ask the supervisor to schedule a viewing of the progress.

3. Overextending Your Budget

You’re having your dream home built, and the price estimate suggests that the home will cost $150,000 to build. But, there are too many variables in the equation for this to be an accurate estimate.

Rather, construction loans will account for a 10% to 20% overage on the “estimated” cost of the home.

Lenders realize that the construction process may cost more than initially stated, but you can also help by not choosing every upgrade to the base home available. You may have to wait to have hardwood floors added into the home or to upgrade the countertops to granite.

Always keep your budget in mind when building a home, and ideally, you’ll make sure that the costs are a decent amount lower than the total loan amount that you have been approved to take out.