8 questions to ask yourself before building a home
Michael Kobi is passionate about DIY, gardening and interior design. He loves bringing the practical and beautiful together in one design. You can follow him on Twitter at @kobibuilds
Are you thinking of building a house? Knowing what’s involved in the home building process and understanding what home ownership entails can help you avoid difficulties and make it possible for you to build and live in your dream home.
Building a house for the first time is also one of the biggest decisions you’ll ever make in your life. So getting into this financial commitment with your eyes wide open is important. Building a house can be overwhelming, but to ensure the process goes as smoothly as possible, here are eight questions to ask yourself before you start building.
1. Why are you building a house and who is it for?
When asking yourself this question, think about your current situation and what you expect in the future. If you have family with you, will they be living with you for many years, or will they leave home in the near future? Do you simply want to have your own home or are you looking for a change of scenery? Create a list of your must-haves, or you can even take a quiz to find out what you really want. Knowing the answers can help you create a detailed design brief and avoid spending more on unnecessary spaces and items.
2. Do you plan on staying in the house for a long time?
Building and buying a home is very expensive. Stamp duty, construction costs, loan costs, moving expenses, and miscellaneous items such as new furniture can add up to hundreds of thousands of dollars. If you sell the house and buy another one, you’ll have another set of costs to pay for, so it’s a good idea if you stay put for at least 3-5 years to break even.
If you’ll be staying for many years, the features and location of the house will be more important than its price. If you’ll be selling the house, whether for personal, work or investment reasons, the price is important as that’ll determine its future value and return.
3. Can you afford to buy a house?
You should have a deposit of at least 10 per cent of the purchase price, but if it’s less than 20 per ent you’ll need to pay lenders mortgage insurance. If you struggled to save a deposit, then you’re not ready to buy a house. Consider improving your financial situation before buying your home. As for the mortgage, you should be able to afford the repayments every month even when the interest rates go up. You need to understand your budget (look at your income and expenses) and speak with your lender or mortgage broker to determine whether you can actually afford to buy a house.
4. What are the additional costs?
While your deposit and mortgage will cover the purchase price of your home, it’s important to consider the other costs involved in buying a home. These include bank/lender charges, conveyancing and legal charges and ongoing expenses, such as:
- The home loan application fee
- Property valuation fee
- Stamp duty
- Conveyancing fees
- Title insurance
- Title and mortgage registration
- Building and pest inspection fees
- Moving expenses
- Connection fees and ongoing charges for utilities
- Council and water rates
- Maintenance and upkeep
- Renovation costs
- Home and contents insurance.
5. How do you find the right builder?
It’s important to find a builder you want to work with. Consider their track record, experience, relationship with other tradespeople and ability to build a custom-designed home. Also get recommendations from your family, friends, colleagues, real estate agent, lender or mortgage broker, local home builders associations and other tradespeople.
You should also ask the builder questions in regards to:
- How they got started in the business
- Whether they offer a guarantee
- Whether they provide a fixed timeline
- Whether their supervisor will be fully focused on your project
- How many homes they build in a year
- Their payment terms and who the payments are payable to
- How they carry out their work
- Whether they can incorporate special requirements in the contract
- How much the entire project will cost.
6. What other tradespeople should you hire?
Building a house involves many tradespeople. Depending on the rooms and parts of the house being worked on, they include carpenters, bricklayers, painters and plasterboard experts, as well as plumbers, electricians, timber floor installers and ceramic tilers. When it comes to designing the house, you’ll need a draftsperson, building designer or architect. Make sure the tradespeople you hire are licensed, reputable, experienced, and can work with a brief and a budget that’s similar to yours. Also ask your family and friends for recommendations.
7. Are you happy with the design and location of the house?
You need to make sure that the house is right for you, both now and in the future. Are you happy with the design? This includes the interior and exterior appearance of the house, the size of the house, the number of rooms, where the rooms are located, and so on. Two other important things to consider is whether there’s enough space to extend should you need to later on, as well as the orientation of the house. If the lounge room can capture the northern sun, there’ll be more sunlight and natural warmth, making the space liveable and it reduces the need to artificially heat the space.
As for the location, is your home close to amenities? This includes shops, schools, hospitals, medical clinics, banks, public transport, parks, entertainment venues, and more. You should also consider whether you like your neighbours and the entire neighbourhood.
8. How long will the building process take?
If you’re building a small, one-storey house, you can expect it to take 3-6 months to finish. But if you’re building a large, two-storey house, it could take 6-9 months to be completed. Keep the estimated build time in mind and allow for unexpected interruptions such as bad weather which could slow down the process. The time it will take to build will impact your timeframe for flooring, landscaping and decorating; so be aware of the timeframe to ensure your build goes smoothly.
Did you build your own home? Share your experience with us.