#1 tip when building a home

The biggest thing I learned while building a home

After taking a week off from the building a home blog series, I am back with another topic that I am hoping you will find to be quite helpful! I had thought about saving this particular topic for later on in the series, but after much deliberation, I think it is best suited for now. Today I wanted to talk about the biggest, most important thing I learned while building a home. Building a home is a business transaction.  Since this is something I wish I would have learned a-lot earlier, I thought it may be helpful for those of you just getting started.

It’s a huge investment

For many of us, building or renovating a home is one of the biggest financial investments we will make in our lifetime. Attached to this huge investment comes emotion and stress. It’s nearly impossible not to have emotion tied to something so important. Your home is a place where you spend the majority of your time. It’s full of tradition, memories, and family.

When we started the building process, I 100% went into it with my heart on my sleeve. I was so excited and just felt so blessed to have the opportunity. I do wish I would have known a little more about the process before we started. Building a home is lot of work. You are essentially relying on other people to bring your dream to life. So here is the #1 thing I learned, building a home is a business transaction. It is a series of tasks that need to be completed, in a certain order, before you can move in. There is no room for fear of upsetting someone, or questioning yourself. As much as its hard to do, emotion needs to be left. Building a home, is a business transaction, period.

 

Remembering you are the customer

Ever heard the saying “the customer is always right”? Well I am not sure I completely agree with this saying, but you do need to remember you are the customer. In a home building experience, the customer is the person who is putting up the funds. That my friends, makes you the boss. The boss gets to identify when things are going as planned and when things need to be changed. I think I learned this role far too late. By the time I realized it was okay to be the “boss” my emotions had already gotten the best of me. It is so crucial to identify your role as the customer early on, so that when things go wrong (as they will) you feel strong enough to acknowledge and communicate about them.

You are the customer, you are the boss

I think one of the biggest things I want you to take away from this blog post is that it is okay to be in control of your build process. Yes, sure, your contractor is the one who will make sure the job gets done correctly. You however have the vision, and unless you have an interior designer that is 100% on board with your vision, it’s up to you to make sure it’s done correctly.  Letting go of your emotions and focusing on the business will allow you peace and less stress. Don’t feel bad about needing something changed or asking for clarification. It is your builder’s job to help you and walk you through it.

So, although I know it is likely impossible to take all of the emotion out of building a home, I hope you gained some confidence in this blog post. I hope this post provided you with the little nudge you needed to keep going and to be okay being the boss. Hang tight, your dreams are within reach.