Most of us dream of owning a home and getting a chance to build one as per our specifications. To see this dream coming true is no doubt challenging, but is also extremely satisfying. Constructing a house on a bare plot of land allows you to customise the layout as well as the specific features that are a prerequisite for your needs. However, there are a number of things to consider when building a house, many of which you might overlook in the excitement and eagerness to get started.
Here, we’ll share some of the essential considerations during home construction that will help you streamline the process.
Things to Consider When Building a House
Well, along with using our step-by-step guide to home construction, here are seven things to keep in mind while building a new house:
- Know what you’re getting into
- Keep your finances in order
- Hire the right people for the job
- Customise the home to accommodate your needs
- Build with resale in mind
- Maintain communication with the contractors
- Don’t let small hurdles hold you back
Let’s discuss each point in detail to give you a better idea of what to expect during the process.
1. Know What You’re Getting Into
First things first; be well aware of what you’re getting into. Home construction can be a tedious and time-consuming project that will take a chunk out of your everyday routine even if you have the best professionals working for you on-site. There is also a lot to be done before the home is ready to move-in, and homeowners need to be mentally prepared to take on the challenges that constructing a house brings to their doorstep, literally.
2. Keep Your Finances in Order
You might have an estimate of how much you’d ideally like to spend on constructing the house, but one of the best tips for building a new home is always to be ready to spend more than you initially planned. That does not mean that your contractors will not stay true to the quotations they offer. It merely implies that you need to always budget for more than you initially planned because there are a lot of things to consider when building a house and the costs may add up over time. Planning for unexpected expenses will help you accommodate them in the build if and when they arise.
3. Hire the Right People for the Job
Unless you have a background in construction, one of the most important considerations during home construction is hiring the right professionals for the job. While many contractors will bring their labour, designers, engineers, and so forth, you may choose to or be required to hire each specialist individually based on their capabilities and portfolio. When hiring a construction contractor, make sure you check their reputation and credibility in the industry based on their previous projects. Ask them for referrals of past clients and discover how satisfied they were with the job before you sign on the dotted line.
4. Customise the Home to Accommodate Your Needs
You’ve got the opportunity that many only dream of, and you are about to design and customise your home as per your needs. Do not take this lightly. Sit together as a family and discover what each individual expects or requires from their room or the house as a whole. For instance, your kids might require a study area, or if your spouse works from home, they might want a quiet and dedicated office space. Determine how many rooms you need, whether you want an open space for gardening at the front or back of the house, whether you want small balconies or a large patio on the upper floor, and whether you need a single or a double-storey residence.
One of the tips for building a new home is to design a tentative plan on paper based on your requirements and then to contact a designer or architect who can design the floor plan for you, based on your specific criteria. The perk of constructing a house from the ground up is that you have a blank canvas to work with, and while many housing societies might have set building codes on how your home should look like the rest of structures on the block, you might just be able to pull off some customisations indoors once the floor plan is approved.
5. Build with Resale in Mind
This is also one of the most important things to consider when building a house. There are many ways to add value to your property during construction. If you are building a new house as an investment, you’ll ultimately be selling it for a profitable bid. This means you need to build the house, keeping the requirements of future occupants in mind. However, even if you are planning to live in this house with your family, make sure that your design adds to the value of the property and is friendly enough to attract prospective buyers a few years down the road, should you decide to sell it.
6. Maintain Communication with the Contractors
It’s very easy to take a backseat and let the contractors do their thing, but that’s not recommended, as any mistakes made during construction will generally require costly renovations later on. Keep a flow of communication between the contractors and different professionals involved in the build and visit the site from time to time if possible to ascertain that things are progressing, as they should. It is quite normal for people to misquote construction progress to an absent owner and if you want to stick to a timeline, surprise your builders with an occasional visit.
7. Don’t Let Small Hurdles Hold You Back
Constructing a house is a challenge, and things may look bleak halfway down the road when only part of the structure is built. Don’t lose hope, don’t let unexpected problems shake your resolve, and stick to your plans. While the process is tiring and tedious, it will bear good results if you are consistent and have the right people on the job.
These are 7 of the top things to consider when building a house in Pakistan. These considerations will help you keep the build on track and deliver great results in the end.
Keep reading Zameen Blog for more posts on home construction tips and tricks. Email us at blog@zameen.com if you have any questions. Good luck with the build!
