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If building your dream home from the ground up is something that’s on your bucket list, don’t worry: You’re far from the only one. Indeed, many people imagine building their dream home from scratch because it means they will end up with a finished product made specifically for their needs.
It can be tempting to barrel forward, going right into the construction phase. However, take a few moments to think about all the other considerations you’ll need to make, such as finding the best home insurance for new builds.
We’ll dive into those additional considerations in this guide, ensuring that you’re covered from start to finish.
#1 – Schedules Are Loose
When it comes to building your own home from scratch, you’re going to be excited. There’s no question about it. However, be aware that the process may take longer than you think. So if you’re already in a house, you may have to sit tight longer than you expected. Weather can bring in delays, or contractors may run into a need for additional time.
Planning for emergencies will help you understand how important it is to set aside more time than you need and keep your end date as flexible as possible. We understand you may be under a deadline to leave your current home, but try to give yourself as much time as possible.
#2 – Make Your Budget Flexible
A budget is one of the most difficult aspects of building your own home from scratch. And while there are no right answers for how big your budget should be, the reality is you will have to make some changes to your budget as the project progresses.
Overruns are expected, which means it’s a good idea to set aside more money than you planned to address issues that come up while building.
Make your budget flexible to have wiggle room for emergencies. Doing so will keep a lot of stress out of your relationship as well.
#3 –Think About Your Later Years
Most people want to imagine aging in place, which means staying at home instead of transferring to a senior care facility of any kind. If that is a long-term goal, you’ll want to keep it in mind when you’re designing your own home. What will you need to make your later years more comfortable?
You have many options when it comes to making your home friendlier for the later part of your life. This can mean everything from designing a walk-in shower that has extra hand-holds all the way up to choosing to build a ranch home instead of a two-story house.
You could even make sure you have the infrastructure for a chair-lift system that moves you up and down the stairs, even if you don’t put it in until later.
#4 – Put in More Storage Than You Think You’ll Need
Unless you’re super committed to a minimalist lifestyle, the chances are good that you and your family will bring quite a bit of material goods into the new home. You want to put in more storage than you think you’ll need and make the storage a core component of the house.
After all, nobody wakes up and wishes they had fewer closets in their home or fewer places to store items out of sight.
Good storage solutions make your home look and feel organized, and they can also make your home feel more open. This is ideal when you don’t have a lot of square footage to work with. You’ll just get more creative to meet the goal.
#5 – Pitch in Where You Can
Not everyone can contribute to the labor needs in custom home construction, and some builders even prefer that you don’t jump in. However, if you’re controlling the project and picking the contractors, you can save time and money by doing certain things yourself.
There are limits, of course. You don’t want to do things that really do need a professional, like handling the home’s electrical and plumbing needs. Bad electrical design and wiring hold a higher risk for fire in the future, which is why it’s so critical to have a pro handling this task.
#6 – Think More About Function Than Style
Thinking more about function isn’t as fun as thinking about style, but the two really do go hand in hand. When you have good function, you can use your home no matter what it looks like. This is incredibly important if you have special needs that must be addressed for optimal living, like certain medical conditions.
When you walk into a room, where will you put the tables? What about the chairs? What about where the entertainment center will go? Are you going to have built-in places to put souvenirs and other parts of your collection, like books?
#7 – Throw in More Outlets Than You Need
As homes become more and more reliant on technology, it’s important to balance the power needs in your home by having enough outlets. Older homes without a lot of outlets have to rely on extension cords, which can be unreliable.
A custom home lets you start out on the right path by having more outlets than what you need. As your needs grow in the home, you aren’t going to have to worry as much about finding an outlet.
Protect the Future Through Specialized Home Insurance
As you might imagine, building your own home means you will need to take special care when you’re looking for home insurance. That doesn’t mean you can’t find good home insurance, of course. It just means you will want to supply as much information as the insurance company needs to measure the risks around insuring your home.
The most important thing to do when building your home is to keep good records of all services and materials you purchase during the process. Being able to show the insurance company exactly what materials were used in your home’s construction is very important.
Shop around and make sure you’re talking to a company representative during the process, or at least taking extra care when filling out forms if you are trying to buy a policy without speaking to someone.
Do your research to see if you can bundle insurance plans. You can research what types of insurance Progressive offers or whether the company providing you one kind of insurance also provides another.
Ultimately, Take the Time to Build a Thorough Plan
Building a house is both stressful and rewarding, even if you aren’t doing most of the work. There are a thousand things that can certainly go wrong, but there are so many things that can go right. In other words, everything tends to balance itself out.
Give yourself plenty of time to walk through the points in this guide and build a plan that works for you and your family daily. Be prepared for things to change as you really start putting your plans into motion. The end result is truly worth all the planning in the long run. For more tips and resources on building your dream home, click here to explore expert advice and recommendations.
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Luke Williams writes and researches for the insurance comparison site, ExpertInsuranceReviews.com. His passions include best practices for home building and other ways people can plan and protect their homeownership.
