Are you thinking about building or buying your dream home? If you are, you’re not alone. Americans have constructed around seven million homes in the past decade, with people buying around five million homes each year.
Regardless of whether you plan on building or buying, it’s important to make a game plan beforehand. This will help give you a vision to work towards, ensuring that you end up with exactly what you’re looking for.
So what are some of the things that you need to consider?
Keep reading to learn how you can build or buy your 2021 dream home.
Figure Out What Your Dream Home Looks Like
The first thing you’ll need is a vision. Reality will come in the next step when you factor in your budget, so for now, just think of all the things that you want your dream home to have.
This is something that is going to look different for everyone. That being said, some popular features that most homeowners want include things like:
Once you have your list, try and find a few features that you can’t live without. The rest you might be able to compromise with.
Stick to a Budget
The not-fun part of planning your dream home is figuring out what you can and cannot afford. It’s tempting to embellish your finances while planning so that you can make your dream a reality, but try and avoid doing that.
You’ll only hurt yourself in the long run or have to be realistic later on.
If you’re buying a home, try and figure out what sort of purchase plans you qualify for. If you’re building, create a budget, but understand that costs can often be a bit higher than what contractors tell you.
Your dream home shouldn’t cripple you financially, so make sure that you can afford it!
Decide on a Realtor
We’ll touch more on finding the perfect neighborhood in the next step, but understand that the key is first finding the right realtor.
Besides ensuring that you land your dream home, your realtor can make or break the entire moving experience. You want them to be communicative and transparent, able to answer any questions whenever you have them.
They should know exactly which homes and lots you’re interested in, as well as which ones you’re not. If they’re hard-working and reliable, you’ll end up seeing things like these real estate listings.
Find the Perfect Neighborhood
You can have the most beautiful home in the world, but if it’s not in a location suitable to your needs, then it’ll all be for nothing. Make sure that you and your realtor work together to find the perfect neighborhood to live in.
If you commute to work every day or have kids, you’ll want the location of your dream home to be close enough to work and school. You don’t want to move only to find out that you have to spend an hour commuting every day.
Aside from that, you’ll also want to consider the neighborhood in general. Is the neighborhood conducive to your wants and needs? If not, keep looking.
Focus on Functionality
Remember that in addition to having luxurious touches and finishes throughout your home, you also want everything to be practical. If it’s not, you’ll start to see cracks in your dream home after living there for a while.
Things like walk-in pantries and shelving units in mudrooms and closets might not seem important, but for many homeowners, they make a huge difference. Look for them when buying, or make a point to install them if building.
Go Through the Different Rooms of the House
Make sure to sit down and consider how you want each of the rooms of your home to look. Of course, if you’re buying, you won’t have as much flexibility, but it’s still worth having a general idea of what you want.
Decide on how many bedrooms you want your home to have, as well as what stories of your home they’ll be on if your dream home is multi-level. Make sure to put the same amount of thought into the number of bathrooms.
Open concept rooms are trendy right now. These can make it easy to entertain in areas like your kitchen, dining room, and living room.
Don’t Forget About the Outdoor Spaces
Remember that your home should extend outside of the physical walls of your house as well. You don’t want to have a beautiful interior that looks like it’s set inside of an unattractive box.
Decks and patios are great additions to homes that also add property value. If your home is close to the ground, add a patio. Otherwise, build a deck.
You can also think about landscaping and different natural elements that you want your yard to have. Many people do that piece by piece to make it more affordable.
Make Your Dream Home a Reality
Whether you’re interested in building your dream home or plan on searching for an existing one, you need to go into the process with a plan.
Make sure to follow the tips laid out in this guide when building, buying, or remodeling. In doing so, you’ll end up with the home of your dreams.
Do you now have a better understanding of how to construct the perfect house? Before you go and start mapping out your 100-day dream home, make sure to check out some of our other articles for more helpful guides and tips.
