Take some stress out of your new construction home.
In 2017 we built our dream home. If you would like to read our story of a new construction home you can start here.
We had a lot of ups and downs in our process. I am going to use my experience to share with you 5 Things to Consider with New Construction.
YOU CAN STAY WITHIN BUDGET-
Obviously things that are out of your control can and will happen with a new construction home. However, there are also several ways that you can stay within, or dare I say under budget. Sweat Equity is the best way to save money. If you are handy whatsoever, talk with your contractor about doing things yourself instead. This won’t work with all contractors, but we were able to save around $30,000.00 by doing things ourselves. These were projects like flooring, painting, and the stone on the outside of the house.
SHOP AROUND-
Sometimes there will be certain things that you fall in love with and are worth splurging on. i.e. that gorgeous chandelier or stainless steel refrigerator that you have been eyeing for months. However, more often than not, there will be things that you don’t overly care about and you can shop around for. For example, closet lighting. Depending on the amount of closets in your house something as simple as saving on lights can make quite an impact on your budget.
Lets just say you have 10 closets in your house including bedrooms, linen, laundry, pantry, storage etc. Because these are places that most likely wont be viewed often, you may be inclined to say yes to the first light fixture offered to you for say $40.00 each. Now say you do some shopping around and find a simple light fixture on amazon that will do the job for $20.00 instead. That’s a $200.00 savings on closet lights!!! It may not seem like much, but when your considering a faucet that is $200 vs. “the perfect” faucet that is $400 you will appreciate that $200 savings from lights. Plus it makes it easier to justify to your husband! Ha.
STAY ON TOP OF THINGS-
This one can be a little tricky. If you are working with a large company, you may have no problem with your timeline. However, I had private contractor, and mid build he took on a commercial job and we were thrown to the side and nothing was done on our house for WEEKS. If you are renting while you build or in our case staying with in-laws, those weeks feel like years. Staying on top of your timeline can help prevent things like this from happening.
IF ITS WRONG – FIX IT NOW!-
We had been given this piece of advice before we started and unfortunately did not take it. We tried our best not to be overly picky and a pain for our contractor. In part because we thought if we were nicer he would do a better job, and secondly because redoing something meant time wasted and we were eager to get the house finished. A couple of our doors were mixed up and put in the wrong place so the swing was incorrect. We noticed it right away. We chose not to say anything because all of the trim was already up and painted and we didn’t want to create more work.
However, fast forward 6 months of having to go completely into the closet, shut the door, and in the pitch black try to find the light switch – we decided to ask the builder to switch the doors. He had them switched when we got home from work that day. I’ve never been so excited to have access to a light switch. This is a perfect example of how if we would have mentioned it to begin with, we would have been better off. You are paying these people to do a job for you. It should be done the way you want it. Don’t feel bad asking them to correct their mistakes.
TRY TO RELAX – IT WILL ALL BE DONE SOON-
This was the hardest part for me to accept. Relaxing is not in my nature. I wanted it done and I wanted it done NOW. If you read my previous post you should remember how I learned this the hard way. I worked myself almost to death, and had to take a 3 day hiatus to recover.
Had I tried to relax and not get everything done so quickly, I’m sure I could have accomplished more in those three days than I did the previous week. Find your balance, get stuff done-but don’t over do it. There is an end in sight I promise. A new construction home is not for the faint of heart. But, when the day comes that you spend the first night in your new home, all of those days will be worth it!