A home is where you live your life, your own place
to unwind and revive. Building your own home i
s
a life time dream and once in a life time experience. It can be compared
to the birds building their nests by gathering together smalls twigs and branches
of trees. Tremendous effort and thoughtful planning is needed for the same.
Most of the people are not aware about how to go about building a house and
from where to start. A lot of things needs to be done like estimating costs
and time, dealing with architects and contractors, locating and buying land,
securing home loans - if the funds are insufficient, selecting building materials,
overseeing construction etc.
Know your limits & Budget
Knowing your limits is essential before you build a house. A house is the
biggest savings in a man's life. So it is important to invest money wisely
for building a house. Discuss with your family about the needs. Consider your
household, present and future. You should also have a clear idea about your savings
for the home and how much you can generate from the loans and other sources.
Your needs and your budget should balance out. Friends/relatives who have recently built a
house can help you a
lot.
Select a good location
The
first step to build a house is to find a good location and land. Before you can even begin to look at a plot you must have a clear idea about
the style of the home that you are going to build and the facilities. Look at
real estate classifieds or talk to agents. If you are putting an advertisement in
classifieds, be specific about your requirements for the land to avoid
confusion.
The size of the home you require, will have an enormous impact on the nature of the plot you will be
looking for. It is best to get the land you are planning to buy, assessed by an
expert or engineer. You
should also check out the civic amenities like drainage, sewerage,
garbage disposal systems, roads and transport links, proximity to market, post
offices, schools, medical facilities, power availability and even
atmospheric pollution. The access to the site is important as it can save a lot of
money, if the building materials could be brought directly to the plot. It is advisable to look for less expensive land further
away from the city centre to reduce land cost. Check whether the land is
affected by any road widening scheme or any specific reservations for public
amenities.
Planning the design
You need to determine exactly what you need and
want in your new home. 
Consider the major elements you would like in your new
home, the style, the number of floors, the total area, the number of bedrooms
and baths, size of the sitting room, car porch, kitchen etc. You probably have
a design in your mind. Discuss with your family and ask for their
opinion. You can discuss with the friends/ relatives who have recently
build a house about their experience and the cost they incurred. From that you
could get an idea whether your plan will fit your budget. It is a
good idea to analyze the positive and negative features of the house you lived
in before. You will also want to choose a plan that suits the area in
which you're planning to build.
Selecting Architect /Engineers
A good architect can build your dream home within
your budget. It is important to find a good architect when you start planning
seriously to build a house. A good architect doesn't mean, a busy person who
have lots of offices and built so many houses nearby your area. Instead of
that you have to find out the one who is able to and has the time to, listen
to your dreams and wishes
about your home, make you understand the errors in your design, consider your
needs and create a cost affective aesthetic design based on specific needs. He
should be able to handle layout problems or budget
problems by suggesting good alternatives and that is also within your budget
and then overall he must be a person who is able to understand you well.
Ask
your friends/relatives who have recently built their own homes about the
architects/engineers they engaged. If they were reliable in terms of time as
well as expense they estimated and the overall construction was satisfactory,
you could make a choice among them.
One you have decided on the architect, give the details of your budget and also about
your plan about the floorings, bathrooms, bed rooms etc. Fix the rate
and terms of the payment before work starts. If you have any future plans
like extension, partitioning, renting out etc. discuss them with the
architect. It is better to ask for 2-3 plans of your idea
and choose the best from that.
Choosing contractors
After selecting the architect and finalizing the design, then comes
the most important part of your house building. That is choosing a good contractor
and starting the work. When each brick is laid with cement and mortar,
you can see your dream taking shape in front of your eyes. Choosing
a contractor is as important as choosing an architect. When you choose
a contractor it is important to know about his previous work, his responsibilities,
materials supplied by him etc. Compare the rates and terms quoted to you with
at least three other contractors. It is advisable to check the contractors
registration. Visit the contractors present work sites and get satisfied with
his work. Fix the rate and terms of the payment before work starts. Usually
most of the building contractors could get all your paperwork done - like
plan approvals, approvals for power connection, water connection etc. Once
the construction work starts, you have to ensure that you make timely payments
and visit the site daily to make sure that no unpleasant surprises are in
store for you later.
The architects and contractors should have a real
understanding between them. That is important for the smooth functioning of
the construction work. There are some architectural firms who have all the
facilities to handle the construction also. In such cases, one does not need
to look out for a separate contractor.
