How Do You Set The Budget For Building A New Home?

Imagine you spend years preparing to build the house of your dreams. You buy a great lot, check the building codes and restrictions, and find a qualified, reliable contractor. All that’s left is estimating the final numbers for your project. The question is, how much is enough? Unless you have built an affordable home on your land in the past, you have no way of knowing how much you should invest in the new building. The truth is, there are lots of steps and factors you need to consider while setting the budget. Find out more below:

1. Floor Plan

A large part of your budget will be allocated according to the floor plan you choose for your new home. Depending on your lifestyle and requirements, contractors generally offer you a wide variety of floor plans. The size, features, quality, and style of your new residence will revolve around these floor plans. So, they essentially serve as a baseline for the overall project and provide a fair idea of how much it would cost to finish construction. You can fix a budget accordingly.

2. Home Features, Style, and Quality

It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that the larger your property, the more time and money you must invest. But size should not be the only determinant of your construction budget. As mentioned earlier, the features you include, the quality you need, and the style you desire all contribute to the home construction budget.

• Features: Wish to add flair to the property under construction? Consider innovative home design choices such as curved staircases, vaulted ceilings, and roof pitches. However, while they look great, these additions increase the approximate square footage and add to the costs.

• Style: This refers to the new home’s architecture. Simple structures, like a square or a rectangle, carry a lower price tag. But the moment you start adding corners and angles to your building, the costs begin to stack up quickly. So, look at the floor plan you selected, and calculate how much it would cost to complete. Only then can you form an idea about the final amount for your home building project.

• Quality: When constructing a new home, quality involves the materials used by the contractors. Based on the type of paint, flooring, appliances, cabinets, windows, doors, paint, and insulation you wish to include in your new home, your budget will either be reasonable or something more extravagant.

3. Income

While it’s admirable that you’ve built up a sizeable fortune to construct the house you’ve always wanted, you need to keep in mind that you do not have limitless funds at your disposal. Thus, it is imperative that you pay attention to your income and not exceed your spending capacity. Otherwise, you will eat into your savings, and that is a complete no-no. If that’s not all, homeowners often forget to factor some common expenses in the excitement of building a new home.

• Permit Fees: Keep aside some money for permits involving local building codes, restrictions, and zoning laws. Based on the location of your lot, these permits may cost a lot.
• Site Preparation: Your building costs will rise greatly if the builder has to clear numerous trees, large rocks, or grades from your lot before construction. So, be sure to take all this into account.
• Season: The cost of construction often depends on the time of year. During times of economic growth and low employment, for example, labor is in great demand. The building costs increase as a result.

If you plan to build an affordable home on your land, take every cost into account – no matter how insignificant and unexpected. This is the only way to ensure your construction project fits your budget and does not pose an unnecessary burden in the long run.