Building a house is a tremendous project. If it is not managed correctly it can be exhausting and financially burdensome. Before you venture out on this adventure, be sure you don’t make these mistakes:
1. Being hasty with choosing the location
The location will have an important role while living in your new house. You need to consider the neighbourhood, the distance between the lot and everyday facilities such as supermarket, the bank or schools and the quality of the land itself. Also, pay attention to the costs of the building process that a certain lot demands (building a driveway, connecting water, gas and sewer lines). Investing more into a lot of land that allows you to minimise on any additional land costs could save you in the future.
2. Not knowing how to properly read a builders quote
Don’t be hasty and choose the lowest bidder. It’s quite often that building the house will cost more in the end. There are expenses people don’t consider and they are often unaware that not all builders use the same method of pricing. There are three main methods contractors use. Square foot pricing, which gives you an average price per every square foot. On a rare occasion specific price of the materials are included. On the other hand, assembly pricing requires detailed analysis and shows the cost each component. Still, the most reliable method is unit pricing because it includes the precise cost of all the necessary supplies, without any surprises.
3. Choosing the wrong new house builder
Another mistake is not checking all the potential builders and reliability of the company. Make sure you do thorough research and ask the important questions such as to see some of their previous work, so you can get the impression of how your house would look like and if it suits you. You could also talk to the residents of the previous subdivisions and hear their experience. At iBuildNew we make sure that our member builders have a strong financial history and have experience building houses. It is easy to compare builders using our comparison feature, letting you to look at all the features side by side.
4. Making big purchases while building a house
Forget about buying a car when you’re in a process of building a house. Even though it could be a bargain, you still can’t be sure if some unexpected expenses will appear, and you would find yourself in deep trouble if your backup budget went somewhere else.
5. Making changes during the construction phase
The changes in the design should not be made when the construction has already begun. They can result in additional expenses and significant delays. When the construction part is over, structural design services can be of help if you still want to make additional changes, but without a headache for you and the workers.
6. Having too many under-utilized rooms
A playroom or a home gym can sound cool, but if you can admit to yourself that it will be empty after a month or two, do yourself a favor and leave it out from your floor plan. If you really want to have a room for a hobby or fun, just make sure it can easily transit into a room with a different use.
7. Wrong placement of rooms
This is something to be taken seriously so bear these things in mind when creating a house plan:
- The laundry room should be near the bedroom
- The bedroom should be at the furthest part of the house and the garage (away from the noise from the street);
- The kitchen should be near the back entrance or the garage, as well as next to the dining and the living room.
- The garage is preferable close to the kitchen, so all the mud and dirt coming from there can be limited to the kitchen only.
8. Trying to cut every corner on the budget
Even though it’s tempting don’t try to save up some money by choosing the cheaper windows that will need to be replaced in five years’ time. Search for quality materials, quality contractor and quality workers. After all, this is your home that you are building and you may be planning to stay there for a long time.
If you are worried about making costly mistakes when you are building a new home, let iBuildNew do some of the leg work for you. We can help you find a builder who can cater to your budget, building type and location. This can reduce any headaches in the future and can help you avoid some of these mistakes. If you are interested in finding the perfect floor plan you can even do that at www.ibuildnew.com.au. Compare houses side by side, finding one that ticks all your boxes.
Interested in personal advice from a team of home building experts? Call one of our consultants on 1800 184 284 or book a call online.
Let us do the legwork for you.
- We’ll ask the right questions to better understand your needs
- We’ll create a recommended shortlist ideally matched to you
- We’ll answer specific questions or concerns related to home building, land purchasing or financing
Zoe Langenberg
Zoe is passionate about coffee and interior design. You can find her most weekends exploring an art gallery or devouring a good book.
1800 184 284
