Steps to your dream home
“If you care enough you just do it. You bind the goods and trappings of your life together with your dreams to make a place that is uniquely your own. The crucial ingredient is concern, care for the way that a house is built, and the shape it gives to your life.” - Charles Moore, architect.
All of us have a dream to built our own home but even though dreaming about how your house is going to look like is pretty easy, how reality hits you with this, is a different story. So here are some steps to follow when building your dream home.
Set goals and get real about what you need.
Creating a new home for yourself is all about setting goals and taking the steps to achieve those goals. You’ll want to establish the answers to a whole host of questions so that you can set these goals.
In an age of Houzz.com and Pinterest, a list of wants versus needs can become very confusing. Goal setting requires satisfying both leftand right-brain activities.so your list of goals will include two sides: a practical, meatand-potatoes side and an emotional, ice-cream-and-pie side. Each is important, and each needs to be recognized so that the end result will reflect a totality.
Establish a budget.
The primary source of conflict and melodrama in the building process is budget. Set your number, and then listen.if you have a reputable builder or contractor, trust him or her to tell you what things cost. And don’t get stuck on the cost-per-squarefoot metric. If you are building or remodeling, know what you can afford to spend. Start there, and have your builder and architect walk you through your options and explain how real-time costs are established.
When making your budget, of course you’ll begin with what you can afford, and how the cost of your house fits in with your overall plans for the future.
When you’re ready to get down to details, include everything that will go into the project: the cost of the land, local fees and taxes, design and engineering fees, construction of not just the home but the landscape, plus furniture and decorating.
Select and assemble your team.
While you might think you can go it alone, assembling a team of professionals is the better approach.in a perfect world, you would have your architect, builder, designer, and landscape architect on board and in place before you have even selected the site of your new home. Why do you need the whole team there from the beginning? Each individual will be looking out for your needs from a different vantage point.
This is crucial as you choose the property upon which you’re building. Your team will take things like sun orientation, zoning, setbacks, area-coverage restrictions, and height restrictions into consideration while you’re going on and on about how “pretty” the views are.
Once you decide on a lot, your team can come together to create detailed plans. On the cost side, it is your builder who will produce and oversee your budget. An architect and a builder (if not one and the same) are going to be your most important team members. These people will act as guide, therapist, advocate, and counselor throughout the journey that creating your home is. And, as with all good professionals, the right guide can ensure that the journey is all the more enjoyable.
As you embark on this journey, you will likely want to add team members. A kitchen and bath designer, perhaps; maybe an interior designer, too. Certainly a landscape architect, who shouldn’t be the last person hired when all the money is gone; you want to create a beautiful yard that will complement the house.
Pay attention to the timeline.
Spoiler alert: Your house is not going to be built in three days. Your backyard will not be done in an afternoon. “People have preconceived ideas about how simple and easy everything will flow. They think, ‘Oh, it’s not difficult.’ But it’s always a process,” landscape architect Glenn Bonick of Bonick Landscaping says.
Bottom line, no matter what you see or hear, with construction comes delays. If you’re dead set on putting in that basement, you’re going to add time (and money and headaches due to probable problems with soil depending on your neighborhood). If production shuts down for some reason, then there’s nothing to load on the truck to head your way. Even acts of nature like weather can put you behind. If you know to expect delays and a few momentary setbacks, your experience will be smoother and saner throughout.
Play the ‘what if’ game.
Sometimes the first answer is the right answer, sometimes it’s the 27th. Just remember not to settle until you’ve explored all the possibilities. You don’t want to say after the project has been built, “We should have done ...”
Get ready to accept the inevitable.
You’ve made the plans, gotten the permits and secured the money; now the only thing left to do is build your house. You’ve accounted for everything, so it should all come together as smooth as silk. Easy, right?
Oddly enough, stuff happens. That’s a fact. How you and your team react to these challenges will be very important. My advice is to stay calm, keep your sense of humor, and work with your team to address the issue. This is where having the right team in place can pay dividends. An architect, a builder, and others who can work together and share ideas without criticizing one another will go a long way to helping you keep your sanity.
Enjoy your new home.
Good job! Once your home is done, start enjoying every bit of it. All the rooms, how the light falls through the windows, how the furniture adds color, just simply everything about your new home.
In the end you’ll be amazed that your new house is so much more than the sum of just its three bedrooms, living room, and so on. It’s the place you get to call home and make uniquely yours.