Two things that can derail a house building project
It's important to be aware of the things that could potentially derail your house construction project. Read on to find out what these things are.
Using money from your contingency fund for non-emergency expenses
If you have put some of your construction money into a contingency fund, it is important not to allow yourself to dip into this fund for non-emergency expenses that crop up during the project. For example, if you decide that you prefer a type of floor tile that is much more expensive than the one you originally chose, you might be tempted to use money from the contingency fund to cover the cost of purchasing these pricier tiles. However, this is precisely the kind of poor judgement that could create serious financial problems.
If you use up a third of your contingency fund on the aforementioned tiles and a few weeks later, your contractor informs you that, due to the soil on your plot being expansive, they need to build a deep foundation instead of a standard shallow one (in order to prevent subsidence), you may not be able to afford to cover the extra costs associated with creating this deeper foundation. If this happens, you might have to postpone the construction of the foundation until you can find the money to pay for it. Depending on how long it takes you to do this, the construction of your house could be delayed by a few weeks or months.
No matter how tempted you might be, it is critical not to take money from your contingency fund for non-essential purchases.
Getting friends and family with building experience to help out
If you have relatives or friends who are tradespeople or that have experience with building work, you may be tempted to ask them to help out with some parts of the house construction process, as they would probably charge you less than the going rate. However, this is generally not a good idea, as it could quite easily derail your project. If a friend or a family member does a poor job of constructing a part of your house, or if they start showing up late on a regular basis, it will be very difficult to resolve this problem. You may, for example, not want to confront them about their actions out of guilt or out of fear of causing a rift.
Even if you manage to muster up the courage to speak to them, you may end up getting into an argument which could result in them refusing to correct or complete their work. If this should happen, you may have to spend time and money finding other tradespeople to fix or finish the house. If the tradespeople in your area are booked up for weeks or months in advance, you may have to wait a very long time for your house to be built.
To have a better construction experience, begin the process by reaching out to local house construction teams.