7 Steps to Building Your New Home: Part 1

Building your new home isn’t just about creating the place where you will live. It’s a journey that draws from your personality, that defines your tastes and lifestyle, and creates a sense of accomplishment that will be seen for years to come. Like any journey it requires some specific steps to get you from start to finish.

Whether you’re looking to build your new home at McKinley Beach, somewhere else, or are renovating your existing home, here are the steps you’ll want to take to make sure you’re going about it the right way:

1. SET GOALS

Setting goals is an important part of home construction. What do you want to achieve? What will it cost? Is it do-able? Do you have a plan-B? Here’s the part where you need to argue with yourself a little. You’re going to need to dynamically fuse your creative side with your technical side (we all have them, they just reside on different sides of the brain). Think about the practical goals, house location, house size, how many rooms, what kind of framework, etc. And then add the creative elements like placement, style, colour, the general look and feel, etc. and you’ll be on your way to setting up your goals ready for construction.

2. BUILD YOUR BUDGET

Your budget should be included in your goal setting but as it’s such an integral part we also wanted to give it its very own step. Why is it so important? Money, that’s why. When building your budget it’s important to factor in what you can afford. You don’t want to over spend but at the same time, you don’t want to plan such a stringent budget that there’s no room for movement. Be sure to include all the practical elements including, but not limited to, the cost of the lot/land, property tax, local fees, design and engineering fees, construction and material costs, furniture, interior design, decorating, landscaping, etc.

Don’t forget the ever-important contingency fund. There will likely be a few bumps along the road and it’s better to have a spare tire than have to tape something back together with duct tape and will-power. Make sure you have some extra padding in the budget in preparation for unforeseen circumstances.

There are lots of programs that can help you with budgeting so find the one you’re most comfortable with even if it’s just an Excel or Google Sheet.

3. CLAIM YOUR LAND

Determining the location of your new house is not a decision to make lightly. It’s important that you’re comfortable with the place you choose as, we can assume, you’re going to want to be there for a long time. Do you want to live in the mountains, on the lake, in the suburbs, on a large property, small property? These are all things you’ll want to take into consideration. We highly recommend McKinley Beach as the ideal destination for your home as it combines the best of a number of elements including close proximity to downtown while still being close to the natural amenities of the Okanagan. But then, we’re biased. But really, check it out. 

Be sure to check in next month when we talk about steps 4-7! In the meantime, check out the McKinley Beach Site plan, and take a look at where you could be building your next home: http://www.mckinleybeach.ca/siteplan/