Building your first home is a huge and timely endeavour. It is a project that is extremely costly and time-consuming. However, the benefits of building your home are invaluable. You can build your perfect home in the ideal geographic location.
Whether you are building your dream retirement home or the perfect place to raise your family, you should have all of the vital information when considering a pre-designed floor plan. Before you choose a blueprint, here are three things to consider when you are building your first home.
- Create a List
Before you start looking at pre-designed house plans, you should create a list of your “must-haves” and “can live without.” There are hundreds of companies that offer pre-designed construction options with hundreds more designs. Once you have narrowed down what you “must have,” it will be easier weeding out house designs. For example, if you must have at least three bedrooms, you can easily eliminate all two and one-bedroom home plans.
If you find a home design that fits all of your “must-have” lists but does not have something that you were hoping for, you can consider modifying the pre-designed plan or chalk it up to the “can live without” column.
- Modifications
Each item you want to modify in the pre-designed house plan (known as แบบแปลนบ้าน in Thai) will increase the cost of the overall project. Some modifications are much cheaper and more reasonable than other modifications. For example, if you would like to change what colour or type of windows will be installed, this is a relatively easy change.
If you want to make structural changes to the home, it will be significantly more costly. The company will advise you on whether or not they can make those structural changes, as it could compromise code and safety measures.
- Restrictions
Local municipalities set different restrictions on construction zones. You should check with your local municipality on building code restrictions. For example, they may set restrictions on the height of your home among other limitations. You will want to ensure that you meet these restrictions during the building phase so you are not forced to spend more money hiring construction crews to destroy and rebuild your new home.
Pre-designed plans can be altered to fit the needs of these local restrictions by lowering ceilings or slimming the width of your home. Pre-designed plans are an excellent way to cut costs. You can modify them and save thousands of pounds on hiring an architect. You can move into your new home comfortably, knowing you carefully selected each item to fit your needs.
