The idea of building a custom home is very exciting, but there is A LOT that goes into making your home build a success. And it all starts with 5 simple steps to building a home that you should complete BEFORE you even think about breaking ground!

Believe me … I know from experience that the more effort you put into preparing for your home build early on in the process, the less stress you’ll feel when the decisions come flying at you and the happier you’ll be with your results (i.e. your completed home and your mortgage).

In this blog post, we’ll cover the 5 steps laid out in my signature Building Your Foundation Method (taught inside the Building Your Foundation Home Build Prep Program).

Following these steps will help you strategically plan for your home build in a way that makes it easier (and more likely) to stick to your realistic budget, confidently make design decisions that you won’t later regret, and bring your beautiful dream home to reality … a home that makes you, your family, AND your wallet happy :).

5 STEPS TO BUILDING A HOME (BEFORE YOU BREAK GROUND)

STEP 1: GET ORGANIZED FOR YOUR BUILD

There are MANY moving pieces that go into building your custom home, so it’s important to create an organizational system to keep all the pieces in order. I share all the ways that I organized my own custom home build inside my BYF Home Build Prep Program, but you can organize in whatever way that makes sense for you.

Not only will getting organized help you feel more in control of your home build, but it will also allow you to really focus on your budget and your design selections without the stress of wondering where important information is when you need it.

My favorite organization tools to use while building a home are Pinterest, Google Drive, Asana, and good ol’ fashioned email folders. These are ALL FREE (!) tools and keep your thoughts and docs just a click away on your smartphone and/or computer.

STEP 2:  CLARIFY YOUR VISION

Before your dream home can become a reality, you first need a crystal clear vision of your future home. When you can envision exactly what you want your custom home to look like (and feel like and function like), it will help you to define (and refine down to your budget) your goals for your future floor plan and design details.

By taking the time to define your vision and understand exactly what you want to accomplish, you’ll be able to successfully communicate your vision and goals to your builder so they can provide you with a REALISTIC quote/budget for your custom home. This alone will give you a much better possibility of staying within budget.

STEP 3: HIRE YOUR CUSTOM BUILDER (+ ARCHITECT)

The custom builder you choose can make or break your entire building experience (including whether or not you stay on budget), so it’s imperative that you do some strategic research and a thorough interview process before you choose a builder so that you hire a builder with a good reputation and a track record of staying on budget. It’s also important that you feel comfortable with him/her, and you can communicate well.

You might also enjoy: HOW TO CHOOSE A CUSTOM HOME BUILDER and DO I NEED AN ARCHITECT FOR CUSTOM HOME BUILD?

STEP 4: CREATE YOUR REALISTIC BUDGET

Your budget is the absolute foundation for your entire home build. Your budget will determine your maximum floor plan square footage, your design finishes, and which custom details (e.g. extensive trim work throughout the house) make sense to keep or cut from your wishlist.

It’s critical that you are open and honest with your builder about your vision so that you can work together to create a realistic budget that takes into account both your financial situation (i.e. your construction loan amount + current home equity + ‘cash’) as well as your vision for your home.

This will allow your builder to give you a realistic quote of how much your house will cost and help you avoid any financial surprises (i.e. budget overages) once you are already in the midst of the building and it’s too late.

STEP 5: CREATE YOUR CUSTOM FLOOR PLAN

One of the best things about building a custom home is that you get to create your floor plan from scratch.

While this can be an overwhelming and time-consuming task, it’s also fun to create a functional floor plan that is perfect for the way YOUR family lives.

It’s important to thoroughly consider efficient space planning and overall floor plan design BEFORE you start building … and be sure to communicate with your builder throughout the process.

Making floor plan changes AFTER you start building is a recipe for budget overages!

You might also enjoy: 11 COMMON FLOOR PLAN MISTAKES TO AVOID

NEXT STEPS

When you follow these five steps (that are taught in-depth inside my BYF Program), you’ll be well on your way to laying the groundwork for a successful home build that allows you to stay within your realistic budget (yes, please!) and to confidently make design decisions without making costly mistakes that you’ll later regret. Best of all … you’ll bring that dream home vision swirling around in your head to life. Whoo-hoo! 

If you wanna dive deeper, go ahead and download my *FREE* Custom Home Build Prep Guide. Inside this guide, we’ll dive a little deeper into the steps PLUS you’ll get a handy dandy checklist of the steps to take BEFORE you break ground :).

Psst … I happen to have a *FREE* on-demand video training that I think you’ll LOVE! Learn the ‘3 Simple Keys to Build Your Dream Home Within Budget … without sacrificing your must-haves, no matter how big or small your budget’ in this free training. Click here to save your (virtual) seat!