You looked at all of the homes available for sale on the Tulsa real estate market. Unfortunately, you failed to find anything that fit your needs. So, you decided to build your dream home. Before you break ground, though, you might want to read about some mistakes people made when building their homes from the ground up.
New Construction Mistakes to Avoid When You Build Your Dream Home
Hiring an Amateur Architect
You need to draw up building plans before you start to build your dream home. That means hiring an architect. This can cost several hundred to a couple of thousand dollars. To save money, you might consider hiring a student studying to become an architect. Stop! Hire a licensed, reputable residential architect. Novices may make big mistakes that cost you much more than a licensed architect’s fees.
Hiring Friends/Family to Do the Work
Your brother-in-law lays tile. Your father is a general contractor. Bob, your friend, works for a painting company. They all offer to help you build your dream home. Great. Money saved, right? Hold on a minute. Sometimes, to avoid any possibility of hurting your relationship, you may defer to your friend or family member’s suggestion even if you do not like it. Or you may not be happy with their work and, again, instead of “offending” them, you decide to just “live with it”. Then, your dissatisfaction eats away at you every time you see it. Instead, you might want to bite the bullet and just pay a little bit more for another professional to do the job. If you do decide to go with a friend or family member, make sure you bring up exactly what you want and what you expect up front to avoid any misunderstandings or hard feelings throughout the process.
Upgrade Overload
Your contractor may suggest some things that might increase your Tulsa home’s value during the construction phase. You added a concrete patio to your back yard but the contractor suggests that you make extend the entire length of the house. Or maybe you wanted sliding glass doors but the contractor tells you that french doors would be prettier. Perhaps they suggest that they could “easily” bump out a wall or add an extra bedroom for X dollars that would increase your value by XX dollars. This may increase your already tight budget but what your contractor says makes sense. So, you go with it even though it is more than you really wanted to do. Do not let anyone else influence your decisions. Stick with what your gut tells you. And always do your homework before you agree to any upgrades.
Forgoing Builder’s Risk Insurance
Now, licensed contractors must carry insurance of their own. But this only covers their workers in case of injury and their tools in case of theft. Once you occupy your completed home, your homeowner’s insurance covers your possessions and the property itself. But what happens if someone steals your high-end kitchen appliances while they wait to be installed? Without builder’s risk insurance, your dream home could become a nightmare when you struggle to come up with the money to replace stolen items. Talk to your contractor first to see what their insurance covers. Then, contact your insurance agent to find out about adding a builder’s risk insurance policy when you build your dream home.
Lori Cain, REALTOR®, Serving Midtown and the greater Tulsa, OK area. Call 918-852-5036.
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