Starting the Building Process

When my husband and I decided to move in together, we initially started looking for an older home – this is a blog about all things DIY after all – that we could make our own. Since everyone knows what happens to the best laid plans…we ultimately ended up building a house in an established subdivision. When you are a diy-er at heart ❣️, you tend to look at the world through a special lens – like the Hobby Lobby version of beer goggles. So surely no matter what house you build and what spot you decide to build on will be fine, right? You can make it great.

Wrong. When it comes down to it, there is truly so much to be considered before starting the building process. I’m going to share with you seven things you have to consider before building a house. This is not to discourage you from building a house, but is meant to share with you some insight and reminders that will make your experience (and more importantly your outcome!) meet all of your expectations and help you create a life you love. 

If you’re even thinking about building, read this now. Those change order fees can get expensive! 💵

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1. Location is Key

This may seem a rather obvious thing to consider when building a house, but maybe not in the way that you would think. It’s easy to narrow down your search to particular city or side of town; but, what else can your location offer? After all, this is not something that can be changed once the house is there. (Okay, maybe if you’re really, really wealthy? But seriously, just do the research up front). 

1. Is there enough outside space for relaxing, gardening, just enjoying the sun?
2. Can you easily walk to shops or restaurants? Do you want to?
3. Do you have neighbors? If you’re building in a new neighborhood, could you have neighbors?
4. Is it inside city limits? Have you lived in that sort of area before? Did you like it?

For instance, in our neighborhood, we could see the master plan and be confident that we wouldn’t be getting any surprise neighbors down the road. In fact, we were the last ones to move in on the block. Maybe we were the surprise neighbors no one asked for. 😊

2. Budget and Finances

The next thing to consider is simply whether or not you can afford it. My husband and I both have banking in our professional backgrounds so knowing our budget and having a general idea of what our overall finances looked like made this really easy for us.

Fun story – when we attended our premarriage counseling camp (not by choice, mind you), one of the exercises was to have each partner list out expenses you had as a couple and any individual expenses/debts you would bring into the marriage. Not to brag, but we basically scored a 100% and were within a few dollars of each other. As great as it is that we were on the same page, the biggest benefit was that we both had a really good handle on what our monthly budget needed to be. And because of our banking backgrounds, we could pretty easily discern how much house we would be approved for and how much house we could actually afford. Ramsey Solutions does a good job breaking down how to find the number that works for you.

So maybe you’ve never actually owned a home before and been responsible for all the extra things that come along with it. Here are some expenses you may not have thought about when building a house:

• Utilities – Gas, Electric, Water, Cable, Internet
• Furniture – Not a necessity, but sure nice to have. ✨ Free mortgage advice – Do NOT go out and open a credit card to buy furniture before you close on your new loan. Your mortgage lender will thank you. ✨
• Maintenance – That’s all on you now. When something breaks, you get the bill.
• Taxes and Insurance – Maybe these will be part of your loan, but maybe not. Either way, you’re paying for it. 

If you’re new to budgeting, I highly recommend using an app like YNAB. I have used this for years for both business and personal. It has saved me so much time in reconciling accounts, tracking my spending, budgeting for purchases or savings, and has even helped me find a few errors in my accounts. 

Don’t worry – if you’re more inclined to use a pen and paper version, I can also recommend these books. I used them before YNAB when I was still combining accounts with my husband. They were easy to use and effective. 

3. Your Personal Flow

The whole point of building a house is to make it yours right? So it’s important to consider what I like to call your “flow” throughout the day. This can affect the layout that you choose and the location you choose. This continues to be something I focus on. I talked a little bit about it in my previous post. Here are some questions to ask that might help uncover some needs you didn’t know you had.

• What is your daily schedule? Do you go to the gym on your way home from work? Is it out of your way?
• Do you work in the same city as your partner? Your daycare? Your parents? Do you want to?
• When do you like to do laundry? Do you like to keep it going while you’re cooking dinner? Maybe the laundry room should be close by. ✨ Fun Fact: We actually changed the entire front of our house plan to allow for a laundry room off the kitchen. ✨
• How do you relax? Is it outside in a hot tub? Or maybe in a luxury bath tub? 

I’ve been very interested lately in the hygge lifestyle and it seems that, without oversimplifying it, finding your hygge or your flow and planning for that can really make all the difference in how you feel at home.

4 & 5 Kids and Pets

This is a big one for many people. For the first few years we were married, my husband and I were lovingly referred to by his family as DINKS (dual-income, no kids). We each had a dog that required the attention and patience of an actual child, but we were, for the most part, pretty free to do what we wanted. That meant we didn’t have any concerns about our house for the safety or comfort of future kids. Fast forward a couple years and there are some things that I’m glad we have and some things I wish we had thought of.

• Safety electrical outlets
• Built in Baby Gates (for dogs and kids)
• Nursery on the main floor (for refrigerator access)
• A separate area for a playroom
• Dog washing spot
• Easy to clean dog crate area
• Fenced in yard to kids and pets

6. Entertaining

This was a major consideration for us when building a house. Here’s why – we knew from years of experience that no matter what sort of gathering, no matter how many people, just – no matter what, people were going to gather in the kitchen. It is a fact of life in our circle. There’s food, there’s drink, there’s just a lot of activity in the kitchen and it’s easy to spend your time there. Therefore, our kitchen is easily the largest room in our house. Best decision ever.

What sort of entertaining do you do?

Maybe you have movie nights and need room for some comfy lounging furniture.

Do you host a weekly barbecue in the summer and need room for a large deck?

Maybe you have a monthly game night and need a big table. Or,

Maybe you don’t like entertaining and just need some small spaces. That’s fine too. 

I hope the thoughts above help you figure out what you need to consider before building a house. It’s a lot of work – but can be so, so worth it.

✨ Spoiler: You Might Not Get it Right. ✨

Whatever you’re into, planning ahead and save you so much frustration. (Although, take it from me. In a family where holiday gatherings can easily pass 50 people or more and at least 30% of them could be found standing in my grandmothers 8×10 kitchen. No one will mind if you can’t get the space just right.)