Building your dream home has to be, literally, a dream come true! Right?! The home will be exactly what you have always wanted! Space, lots of closets, maybe a pool!? Yes, possibly it will be a dream! There is a lot to know about building a home! Having an experienced real estate agent who has built homes and helped others build homes is a huge advantage!
What Do You Want?
What are the must-haves for a newly built dream home?! Start by making a really good list of must-haves, nice-to-haves, and even a list of must-nots! Is a good view a must-have or a nice-to-have? Is open concept a must-have? Living in a community with a HomeOwner’s Association is that a nice-to-have or a must-not? Visiting open houses is a good way to get an idea of what should be on each list.
What Can You Afford?
The next step is to determine what the budget will be. Keep in mind there is usually land to buy, as well as the home. In some cases, the builder may already have purchased the land and will build the home on that land and sell you both at the end of the build. Financing new home construction is a bit different than getting a standard mortgage. Some programs will let you finance just the home, others will finance the land and the home. Get lender recommendations from professionals and friends who have built a home and really research which program is right! In almost all cases a substantial down payment will be needed to either buy the land or get the financing to build.
The Process
One way to get the substantial down payment is to sell your current home and rent during the build process. Some people live with friends or family during the build. Building a home is usually at least a 5-6 month process and can take up to a year or longer. There are a lot of variables that go into calculating how long it will take to complete the home. For example, are you using a plan a builder already has or are you designing from scratch? If a builder has a plan they have built before the process is usually a little quicker. Be sure to get professional and friend recommendations about builders too! Ask if they communicated throughout the process, were they on-time with the build, were they on budget? Check out 10 Things I Wish I’d Known Before Building a Home
Some Tips
Having built several homes myself, I have several more tips about the building process. Contact me anytime to discuss building a home! Here’s the view from two lots currently listed for sale on Candy Mountain.
