Are you dreaming to have your own home but don’t want to have a contractor and as far as you know you are capable of doing the job of the contractor. So here are some steps to contract your own house?
1. Do a Financial Plan
Ideally, you have to do a budget before thinking of having your own house. You should follow the allotted budget for the lot purchase to balance between land cost and construction cost and to make sure that you are develop within your means.
2. Finding a lot for your home
Of course, before planning to construct your dream home, you should have lot or a piece of land where you can build your home. You should choose a lot that is suited to your budget. Investigate first before buying a lot to know if the area is safe to live and has amenities as well if the place is accessible to your work, school, church, market, etc.
3. Prepare for house plan
Decide whether you construct a bungalow or two-storey house. You can get the help of a draftsman or an architect in order to do a house plan which shows how the house will be built as well as the plans and specification of materials. House plan will determine what the home will look like and how big it is as well as the materials to be used. It includes the foundation plan, floor plan, site plan, elevation, and other construction details.
4. Do estimates
One should prepare an estimate for house construction in order to know how much money needed for your house construction. Cost estimates include the materials to be used in your house construction and the labor cost such as subcontractor cost. You can be dealing with different subcontractors in order to choose the best price with quality works. Also, you can go to different supplier (hardware) for the estimates of materials. Also, includes the cost of required documents for your house construction.
5. Make house construction schedule
It consists of detailed schedule showing the sequence of construction procedures. It only shows how activities overlap for instance two or more activities going on at the same time. Also, it includes the duration of each activity.
6. Prepare for financial budget
Prepare your financial budget for your house to avoid delays of your house construction. If you decide to lend some money from bank or other lending institution, make sure that you have stable job so that you can pay your loan on time.
7. Secure building and construction permits
Make sure that you have all the necessary permits and documents before proceeding to house construction.
8. House construction process
As contractor of your house, you will be in-charge of all the duties and responsibilities including hiring a person who will construction your house such as mason, labors, foreman, etc., dealing with subcontractors, computing payrolls, paying for the bills, purchasing of materials, etc. It is also a good idea to hire someone knowledgeable about house construction processes; it could be an engineer or architect to check for quality of works.
9. Supervise and monitor house construction
It is important that you monitor the works of your people to avoid modification of work.
10. Move in
After house construction, you and your family can now move in to your dream home.