If you were looking for a house today, what would you watch out for?
First of all, you should decide just how quickly you want to move in. If your folks or your current landlord were just raring to throw you out, then your search could be tinged with somewhat more urgency than otherwise. In which case, building a new house from scratch may not be an option for you, as this could take months or even years to get right. Instead, you should be scouring the ads for a ready-made abode.
On the other hand, if you had enough time and patience to get by, you would have to decide on your architect and builder. This is a vital decision, one of those make-or-break points that dictate whether you would cherish or despise your undertaking henceforth, so you must put in much study on this future partner to your venture. If you have had no previous dealings with the firm, you must surely ask around about them and scrutinize their previous projects. Naturally, you should only strike a deal if you like what you see. Take note that taking on someone to handle your design and construction is similar to a marriage, with concomitant desires, schedules, budgets, and expectations.
The next question, albeit the all-pervading one, would be: how much are you willing to spend? Do you have the funds available to spend right now or will you have to take out a loan, in which case, you should get going with the paperwork soon. Remember that good real estate deals can be had if you are backed by a good credit history, stable financials, and some ready currency for down payments. Moreover, several materials purchased could be had at a substantial discount when bought in bulk or in cash. Even buying a ready-made house will also mean some cash layout for minor repairs or finishing, and maybe even additional furniture and fixtures.
After signing up a project mate, you have to buckle down and discover together just what you really want to build. It would help if you had a clear wish list, clippings of structures and rooms attractive to you, colors and textures you would want to live with. This is the learning stage; the designer needs to know exactly what you want, what you really need, and what you expect to grow into. You must both know the parameters of the project, both structurally and financially. You have to be certain both agree on the scope of each one’s responsibility and the repercussions of any changes to your plans. After he has drawn up the house plans to your satisfaction and you have imagined and approved the view from every one of its corners, you can begin the tedious process of actual construction.
For months on end you will be stealing every opportunity to visit the site, watching the growth of your house from a muddy hole in the ground to the topmost tile on your roof. You will be acquiring a vast lingo of construction terms and remarkable knowledge of a range of building materials. Meanwhile, you would have agonized over the smallest rise in cement prices and fretted over the state of your bank account. You would be meeting and dealing with a plethora of personalities, from staid bank managers and strict village board members to lackadaisical city inspectors and fawning suppliers. There would be a variety of decisions to accost you everyday, some as trite as the shade of grout to use or as meaningful as the enlarging of a window, each one with its ripple effect of time, cost, structural consideration, and aesthetic. You would be honing not just your decision-making skills, but you would also be plumbing the depths of your tastes and self-knowledge—the ability to recognize what you really want and the nerve to go with it.
Then, just when it seemed like it would never get done, the house is finished. The final touches of window polishing and garden landscaping are over too and there stands the house of your heart, your sweat, and your dreams. Now it’s time to actually move in, to haul in the accoutrements of your life, to bring in the objects that will define your territory.
But it is only after you have settled down in your new residence --experiencing more than a few sunsets in it-- that you will truly know if your search has ended. Is this the place for which you had hoped, planned, and worked? Only time will tell. But often, you find that it is not the house that will make you happy, not even if every door shuts snugly or if each window showcases a perfect sunrise. You will have to discover the font of self-worth from within your heart that this new structure can only affirm. You will have to find for yourself that sense of fulfillment and gratitude for having achieved a dream and living it. No one, least of all no thing, can offer you that. The wellspring of happiness and satisfaction you must realize from yourself. Only then will you believe that your house is your home; that your quest has ended in success.
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