“Will I go over budget?” is often one of the first questions we are asked by clients or potential clients. The cold, hard truth? It’s likely. Although, it’s not impossible. The key is to learn exactly how to stay on budget when building your custom home!
Determine Your Budget
First thing first, determine your budget. There are many factors to take into account when setting a realistic budget, such as: size, location, quality, etc. All of these factors will help you understand what your project will realistically cost you. Do not start your build until a realistic budget is determined.
Factors that Pull You Over Your Budget
While it’s possible to stay within your budget, time-and-time-again, we see clients make the same mistake that puts them over their thoughtful and strategic budget. And here it is: allowing for small upgrades here-and-there. Sure, a $800 appliance upgrade doesn’t sound like a big deal, at the time. But, after upgrading your flooring and windows, adding an additional closet, and changing the light fixtures, every little upgrade adds up to a large sum. Making these small upgrades along the way is the easiest and quickest way to go over budget.
Bottom line: even if you increase your budget by 30%, many people would still spend more than their budget allows. So, what’s the solution?
How to Stay on Budget When Building Your Custom Home
The number one way to stay on budget when building your custom home? Working with a builder early in the process. An experienced and trusted builder will be able to assist you in creating an estimated line-item budget for your new home. You want to work with a builder, who will provide you with a realistic budget, not the budget that you want to hear. A quality builder will listen to you and understand your wants and desires. As a result, he will be able to establish allowances that are appropriate of your home. Once you know your allowances, spend some time shopping at each vendor. This will help you determine if your allowances are big enough and prevent spending over-budget during the build.
Together, with your builder, you should be able to set and stick to a reliable budget for your custom home!