Why Build Your Own Home?
Building your own home is a pipe dream for most people. It conjures up thoughts of an idyllic existence in a home designed especially for you, perfectly constructed splendor in an idyllic neighborhood, built by your own fair hands. There are a few disadvantages to self-builds, but the advantages outweigh them a thousand-fold. There will be obstacles to overcome, and many trials during the process, but once finished, the end result makes them pale into insignificance.
The financial incentive is a significant one. Building your own home is much cheaper than buying on the open market, or from a development builder. Much depends on your own skills and how much time and effort you can expend on the project. With the advent of online entities like country house plans, architects are no longer needed, as you can choose a house design that suits you, and either buy it vanilla or have it modified to suit your particular needs.
Quality is another incentive to self-build. When you’re running the project, using contractors you trust, quality is going to be inherent in everything you do. The adage, “if you want something done well, do it yourself” rings true more than ever when self building. You have none of the compromises that development builders have. You don’t have to design to a template, rush construction to meet deadlines and other commercial limitations. You are free to adapt according to your needs and can determine your own budget and time-scale for the build.
Personal satisfaction is one of the biggest drivers for people who self-build. There’s nothing like sitting back and thinking “I built this.” Even if you use ready-made country house plans, the blood, sweat and tears will be yours, and so will the satisfaction. The finished home will meet your every need, you will know every nook, every nail and delight in the effort it took to construct. It should not be underestimated that the satisfaction, while not worth money, is worth more than its weight in gold.
Beating the recession, and property values is another big driver for those who build their own home. Even with rising land costs, it’s still significantly cheaper to build your own home than buy one on the market. The home will often be higher specified, have better build quality, and be designed to suit a particular lifestyle, which all add value to the home. Even if you didn’t use country house plans, and designed a bespoke home to your own tastes, there are bound to be prospective purchasers out there who share those tastes. So when it comes time to sell, you should have no trouble at all.
We’re certainly not saying building your own home is going to be a breeze, because it isn’t, not by a long shot. But, every single downside has more than one upside to counter it, and on balance there are far more advantages in building your own home if you have the time, and the courage to do it.
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