Building your dream home on a budget
There's nothing more exciting than finally reaching that point in your life when you can finally start building your dream home. Unless of course, you've neglected your budget. Building your dream home on a budget is one of the most important aspects of building your home. If you don't make a budget, and stay within the boundaries, then you might not actually get to live in your dream home. So here are some helpful tips to building your dream home on a budget.
Tip #1: Work with even numbers
Sounds like a strange tip right, but you might be surprised at how much money you can save in wasted material when you round the numbers up to an even number. It's much easier to work with even numbers than it is with odd so look at your plans and change a few measurements so everything is an even number. For example, you may have to round the size of your home up or down a few feet. This is going to help cut the costs of wasted material in the long run.
Tip #2: Simple Shapes
What is meant by simple shapes is that most homes that you see you might notice are either a rectangular or square shape. Why, you ask? Well, it is much easier to work with homes that have a simple shape than not. Of course adding unique trusses and odd shaped peaks and corners can look nice, if you're trying to stay within a budget it's better to stick with a basic shape. Adding extra shapes can also drive up the cost of labor and materials needed to build your home.
Tip #3: Consider your lot carefully
Picking your lot has a lot to do with the cost of building a new home. You may want a hill top home with a gorgeous view of the valley (or whatever your view is), but will soon discover that building a home on a rocky hill will increase the costs significantly. Building on a flat surface that is accessible to cars and other machinery will decrease your costs. When you're looking for a lot to build your dream home on try and keep it as easy for the builder as possible. Look for land that needs as little preparation as possible.
Tip #4: Prepare for surprises
When building a home, it is not uncommon for the build to go over budget somewhat. It doesn't matter how well you plan, there are usually surprises along the way that will incur some extra cost, or heaven forbid you change your mind about something and have to pay more. After all it's your dream home! When planning your budget try and set aside at least ten percent for those extra little things you might want to add or change, or that unexpected problem the builder runs into. This will help cushion those extra charges a little if you're already prepared for them.
Tip #5: Blueprints
Now that you have a better idea of what to look for before you start building and how to better stay on budget, you can get some blueprints worked up. Take them to a professional and have them done so that you can then take and show them to several different builders. Have different builders give you their bids on how much it would cost to build your dream home. Make sure the price they give you includes the cost of building and labor. You may even be able to save more money if you're willing to do some of the work yourself. You will want to make sure to see a list of materials they will be using. This can also help with your budget.
Building your dream home on a budget can be tricky, but it is possible. Remember to always allow for those little surprises so you're not surprised at the end ticket price.
Like this article? Then Digg It
or
add it to your Del.icio.us Bookmarks!
Tags: building dream_home budget home even_numbers numbers wasted_material simple_shapes squares rectangles cost_of_labor labor costs lot location flat_surface little_preparation surprises ten_percent blueprints builders
