What to Know When Building a House: 6 Realities

If you’ve always dreamed about building your own home from the ground up, it’s 100% possible with enough time, planning, a solid budget, and a little building-savvy knowledge.

So before you dive into your home construction project, here’s what to know when building a house…

What to Know When Building a House: 6 Important Realities

When you find the right contractor, architect, and designer to help you build your custom home, there can be no greater joy in life than seeing your dream come to fruition.

But building your own home is no simple feat. It takes time and plenty of careful planning. Of course, a few insider tips couldn’t hurt, too. Here’s what to know before you break ground and build a custom home…

1. Know Exactly What You Want

There’s no point in going into a home construction project with a vague idea of the home you want. It’s important to have outlined the specifics of everything you want. While an architect will create the exact plans, you need to have a sense of how many rooms you want, the building materials, the size, and the overall style of your home.

2. Understand Site Preparation and Servicing Costs

Don’t rush into picking the lot or site of your new home without considering site preparation and servicing costs first. Have you taken into account environmental remediation and municipal zoning of the lot you’ve chosen? Are you building in any specific zones which require permits? These are all added costs that could put your budget out. So, don’t settle on your lot choice immediately before considering these factors.

3. Adapt Your Home Design to the Environment

Sure, you may have a very clear dream of how you want your home to be laid out. But just like humans, building sites have their own distinct character. If you aren’t flexible in your home’s design and build in order to suit the local environment, you could face serious grief down-the-line.

If you’ve already bought your lot of land, you’re better off adapting your home design to the unique character of the land and environment, rather than trying to fight it.

4. Don’t Begin Your Project Before Outlining a Budget

Before you submit your design layout and ideas idea to your architect or contractor, make sure your budget is set and very clear cut. If you have little-to-no wiggle room in your budget, let your contractor know beforehand.

All-too-often, homeowners find themselves in tricky, expensive situations when they just can’t afford it. This will put your project on hold and only incur debt. Be clear about your budget and let everyone know about it before you break ground!

5. Ensure Everything Is In Writing

Your contract with both the contractor and architect should be very detailed and always in writing. Each contract should outline the services you’re paying for, the timetable of payments due, and the timeline of work. If your contractor is unable to list specific models of appliances you’d like in your home, have them include allowances in specific dollar amounts.

6. Visit the Site As Much As Possible

Queries tend to pop up all the time about how something should be done, or what your preference is on certain things. Your architect should visit the site at least once a week, while you should visit daily, if possible. This gives you a chance to answer your contractor’s questions and queries. It will also help you to assess the progress of the project and adjust your budget if needs be.

Bring Your Dream to Life with Homes by Artisan

We hope this blog on what to know when building a house has been helpful to you! If you’re looking to build your very own dream home in Tampa, FL, Homes by Artisan is your local expert. We also offer extensive home remodeling services.

Learn more about the projects we’ve worked on and browse our custom home exteriors for more…

HOMES BY ARTISAN 813.649.7230 OR CONTACT US NOW