If you have spent a lot of time looking for your dream home, but you can never seem to find a piece of real estate that meets all of your expectations, you might think that building your own home on your own terms is a good idea, and it absolutely can be, if you go about it carefully and don’t make any rash decisions.

With that in mind, here are some of our top tips for building your dream home in 2022:

1. Buy a plot of land with a building permit

If you want to build your dream home, you first need to buy a piece of land to build it on. As well as looking for the perfect piece of land in the perfect location for you, it is a good idea to try and find land for sale that already has a building permit attached. If you do this, it is one less piece of red tape you need to overcome, and you can buy sure in the knowledge that you will be allowed to develop the land, which means you will not risk throwing your money away on land that is no use to you when it comes to building your dream home.

2. Hire your contractors carefully

Chances are if you're looking to build your dream home, you will not be doing the work yourself. If you are hiring contractors to complete the job for you, it is important that you fully vet them before you hire them. It is fundamental that you find the right Home Builder for your specific needs. They should be experienced and able to offer the relevant expertise for your build.

As a minimum, you should ask to see references from a handful of clients whose properties they have worked on recently, and ideally, you should ask to visit those properties to see the work they have done for yourself.

Since building a home can take a considerable amount of time, and since you will want to keep a close eye on the build, it is also a good idea to choose contractors who are competent and who you and your family get on well with so that there will be less friction. This is especially true if you are building a special luxury home as the stakes and potential rewards are higher, so you will want to choose the best luxury residential builders before proceeding to avoid as many setbacks or issues as possible. 

A dream home build can turn into a nightmare if you choose the wrong contractors so do not take this step lightly.

3. Work with a great architect

Chances are you will have an idea of what you want your home to look like and what rooms you would like to have included, whether they be games rooms, sunrooms, or home office spaces. So, in theory, you could draw up a decent plan of what you would want your home to be like. However, you are not a qualified architect which means that some of your ideas may not be logistically possible, or your design plans may not actually make the most of the space you have.

It is always a good idea to scout around for local architects. Check out their portfolios and find one whose style and vision is as close as possible to your own. By doing this, you can ensure that your home is as close to how you would like it as you want, while also being structurally sound and expertly designed to maximize every square inch of space you need. Your architect will also bring to the table many exciting ideas that you hadn’t even known you wanted until you hear about them so there is that too.

4. Set a realistic budget

Many people are overoptimistic about what can and cannot be achieved within their budget. So, before building your dream home, it is a really good idea to sit down and check out suppliers and their prices. 

You may find that you can still build the fifth bedroom if you use slightly fewer luxe finishes in the kitchen and bathroom or you can afford more square footage if you use reclaimed wood instead of brand new beams, for example, so be prepared to trade-off various aspects of your build when you are doing this and try to be as realistic as possible because doing so will help you to achieve as close to your dream home as possible with as few disappointments as possible.

Oh, and when you’re budgeting for your dream home build, it is a really good idea to have a contingency fund of around 10-15 percent because building jobs are prone to go over budget, and should that happen, the last thing you want is to be left in limbo with an unfinished house and no end date in sight.

5. Double check the design

If you want to avoid any delays in your build or any overspends, then one thing you can do is to double, even triple-check the design plans to ensure that you are absolutely happy with everything. If you keep changing your mind, then the builders will have to stop building the architect will need to be consulted and the whole project will become a nightmare for4 you all, so take your time and ensure you are 100 percent happy before you let the contractors get started. 

6. Consider energy-efficiency

If you are building a new home in 2022, it would be really sensible to take into account the energy efficiency of your new home, Fuel bills are rising all the time and the market for energy is set to face an uncertain future, so anything you can do, from using heat pumps to keep your home warm to installing triple glazing to keep energy inside, that will boost your home’s energy efficiency will help you to save money in the future. It will also make your home more attractive should you decide to sell. While helping save the planet wt the same time.

Building your dream home is a big commitment in terms of time, money, and expectations, but if you get it right, it can be so worthwhile because you will get to live in a home that you love; a home that brings you joy every day. So, what are you waiting for? Get out there and turn your dreams into reality.