New Home Construction Tips
Building a new home is very exciting, but does come with quite a few challenges as well. Here are some new home construction tips to help make the process easier for you.
Get pre-qualified for your mortgage ahead of time
When it comes to financing, building a home is very similar to buying a house that is already constructed. You will need to pre-qualify for mortgage in order to have the funds to finance your new home construction. Contact several lenders and provide them with the information they need such as your income, assets and debts to find out what size of mortgage you will qualify for. Before home construction begins be sure to get your final mortgage pre-approved. You will need to fill out an application for the mortgage and then wait for the lender to approve your loan. If you are in the UK you may find this mortgage calculator tool useful.
Research your builder
Not all home builders are the same. Make sure to do some upfront research on several builders and compare your findings. To get your initial list of potential candidates you can obtain references from family and friends or check directories locally and online. Interview your builder and make sure you are comfortable with them. Also ask for references from past customers to be sure that they were satisfied with the work they received.
Carefully choose your location
It is important to build your new home in a good location. Research the community, property values, and any other factors that are important to you. Make sure that good schools, shopping and transportation are conveniently located. Location will be very important if you decide to sell your new home down the road, so in addition to making sure it is an area that you want to live in keep resale value in mind as well.
Budget carefully
You and your builder will need to set a budget for your new home construction. However, keep in mind that there could be unexpected costs and budget for that. Be aware that changing your plans after construction has already begun can add thousands to your budget as well as introduce delays into the construction schedule.
Take resale value into consideration when constructing your new home
Obviously when you build a new home, you are building it to you and your family's specifications. It is one of the biggest advantages of building a new home. However, you need to keep the potential resale value in mind. If you add on costly additionals or unusual features it may be hard to recoup your costs if you need to resell in a few years.
Understand your time line
It usually takes many months to build a new home. Many things will need to be coordinated during the home construction process. If you own a home already you will need to sell it and you will also have to make arrangements for your new mortgage. Be sure to keep track of the estimated time frame, and in changes that occur during the construction process.
Track the progress
Stay involved in the building process and keep in touch with the builder on a regular basis. If unexpected changes do develop, stay flexible and keep your new home construction project on track.
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