DIY Home Builders: 5 Things You Need to be Successful

It’s quite the challenge to build your own home from scratch. If you’re willing to put in the effort, however, you can ensure that it rises from the ground with your exact specifications. Here are just five things that you’ll need to successfully build a custom-made home.

Energy

Energy should be one of the very first things that you think about when planning a new piece of property. This is because you might have to build in certain ways to accommodate your power lines. For example, you might need to split your wooden door bucks to run vertical cables along them, or you might need to hide a wiring chase behind a particular wall or alcove. You won’t know until you work out your energy requirements.

Money

The average cost of building your own home is around $305,00. However, you can reduce that figure substantially by doing the work yourself instead of hiring contractors. Grab your calculator and start thinking about expenses. Factor in everything from the fireplace that you’ve always wanted to the aerator that you’ll need to put on the kitchen sink.

Materials

Construction material delivery can make it easy to get what you need for your dream home, but you’ll still have to know what to order in the first place. For example, if you’re installing hardwood floors, you’ll need to decide between cherry, maple and mahogany. If you’re lining a walkway, you’ll have your pick of cement, asphalt and crushed stone.

Blueprints

This might sound obvious, but some DIYers get so enthusiastic about their projects that they run into them without a fully-realized plan. You don’t want to make this mistake with real estate. The best architectural blueprints are intricately detailed, and they include specific measurements for each room, level and hall closet.

Location

Last but certainly not least, you’ll need land to build on before you can start swinging your hammer. If you want to save money, look for a “problem” lot that’s cheaper than the rest because it’s been on the market for so long. It might only have minor issues like resting on an incline or getting bad drainage, and with what you save on location, you’ll have more funds for that fireplace.

These are just a few things that you’ll need if you plan on building your own home. There are many more, however, so keep doing research on DIY property construction. It’s better to be fully prepared before you lay down your first brick.