Designing and building your own house can be a wonderful experience, giving you a home which expresses you as a person and which you can pass down to future generations. However there are pitfalls which are all too common. Here are the most common 3 and how to avoid them:
• Asking for rough estimates of prices before plans are finalised. It is a quandary. You want to know if it’s financially possibly to build before you start paying an architect and getting professional plans drawn up, but without these proper plans you can’t get an accurate estimate of costs. Additionally, by asking for a “rough estimate” you’re leaving yourself vulnerable to being ripped off – a contractor will give a low estimate hoping you’ll pick them for the job, at which point the costs will skyrocket. How can you avoid this? Try and seek out impartial advice. Find people in your area who’ve recently built their own home and ask them if you can discuss costs with them. Be warned – many might be uncomfortable or embarrassed talking about it, or they may not even really know the final cost, but if you can find a couple of people who will give you honest advice based on their experience it will help you enormously, not just with budgeting.
• Trying to do everything yourself – trust your Architect. A good, experienced architect can help you manage the process, including such potential pitfalls as planning regulations, obtaining quotes, managing the timescale and all the other things that you are probably unfamiliar with or simply don’t have enough pairs of hands and hours in the day to handle alone. Even if you are certain of your vision and consider yourself highly organised and intelligent, unless you have experience in building there will be things that flummox you. Do you know what blockwork is? Lifting slings ? A Scrabbler? Not knowing things leaves you vulnerable to being ripped off so take help where it’s offered and know your limits.
• Choosing a builder too quickly. Other people will also be able to give you feedback on the builder they used, which will help you select your builder. This is a tricky business, and one that is more complicated than just picking the one that’s cheapest or answers your calls quickest. The first thing you need to do is ask them for references and follow these up. Be aware though that this system is open to abuse – how do you know that the referees are impartial? You don’t. Thankfully the internet is helping people to find honest traders with websites such as MyBuilder and Find a Builder. Ask anyone you can find who’s recently had work done for recommendations and feedback. Take your time and don’t make assumptions.
