After going through my own experience of building a home there are a few things I wish I'd known beforehand and a few things I wish I could go back and change.
1. Research the builder
Not all home builders are created equal. And not all of them are good. Some home builders have a better reputation than others and their reputation can vary state-by-state and city-by-city. Also, some home builders provide more features in their base prices than others. So it's a good idea to do your due diligence and research the ones you're considering. Some ways to do this are
See if there is any recent news, good or bad, about them on a local and national level
Visit some of the home builders newer neighborhoods in your area
Talk to people you know who've bought homes from them
Ask to visit the builder's design center before signing a contract
Find out what's included in the base price and what's not
Get information about their home warranty to see what is and isn't included
2. Set and stick to a budget
Yes, budgeting. A house is one of the largest purchases you will make in your life, which can make this a stressful purchase. Setting and sticking to a budget helps to lessen the stress.
Going into the home buying process I set a max and min budget. This was based on the minimum that would get me the type of house I wanted and the maximum I could and felt comfortable paying.
Though my budget changed a few times I ended up purchasing a house for less than I originally planned and have no regrets. It did mean there were several upgrades I had to pass on that would have taken me to the top end of my budget and I just didn't feel comfortable with that.
This is where visiting the design center before signing a contract can come into handy. I was able to do that and see what materials were included in the base price and what materials were upgrades. I also got to take home a pricing sheet so I could price out the cost of the upgrades I was interested in. This allowed me to prioritize what I could and couldn't live without and not feel rushed into making a decision.
3. See the schedule and get a completion date
My biggest regret is that I didn't insist on seeing a schedule for the construction or insisting they provide a completion date. What I got form the builder was a vague time frame that was three weeks before the date they had in the construction schedule they were working against.
As I'll mention a little later, delays can and will most likely happen, but if you are all working off the same schedule and time frame, you're better able to plan for delays.
View Source to Continue Reading: 6 Tips for Building a New Home
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