Buying a new home can be one of the most stressful things you can do. In fact, in terms of stress, it’s right up there with getting married and having a new baby. So I wonder how stressful will it be building a new home?
That is exactly what my wife and I are planning to do. Over the next few months we will be building our first home and I‘m going to document the whole venture and share it with our readers. In the upcoming summer and fall issues, I will share our personal experience, the good and the bad, of building a new home for us. There will be a few things I will keep in mind through the process:
1) I don’t want to break the bank
A new home may seem worthy of breaking out the credit for, but struggling to pay the bills is no fun at all. I’m going to try to set a strict budget and stick to it, no matter how tempted I feel!
2) Don’t be in a hurry
This is a home that we want to live in for many years; we want to make sure we have our wish lists made and executed correctly.
3) I want to have a contingency plan
I don’t want to find myself caught in a “chain” (I can’t star t building until our home is sold) The last thing I want is to be stuck with a bridge loan (a loan to tide you through the gap between building a home and selling another), so make sure we have somewhere to go, even if it is the spare room in your parents’ house, in case your chain breaks down.
4) I want to plan out as much as I can
I want to do as much research and planning before I even break ground. Ask the expects, go online and talk to people who have built their own homes to get as much information as I can.
The next 9 months will be a great learning experience for our family. I’m looking forward to sharing my experience, good and bad, with you.
Stewart Dyck
Publishing Editor,
Design Your Home
