Top tips for Building your Perfect Architectural Home

1. THE RIGHT BUILDER:

Choosing the right builder is absolutely critical to the success of your project and in delivering your dream home. The builder you choose is going to help you create the home of your dreams. You must choose a builder you can trust, that you can communicate with and one that you must feel comfortable being around and with sharing your ideas. After all, you are going to be dealing with this person a lot, making some hard decisions, perhaps making variations to the original plan and, of course, spending a lot of money.

During the build process, you will be working very closely with your builder. Word of mouth is always a good place to start, have any of your friends or relatives used a builder they would recommend to you. Have you seen any building work you like? Have you noticed anyone around o social media that seems to share some of your values and appeals to you? Does your architect work with anyone in particular or recommend a builder they use regularly? These are all good places to start when trying to find a builder for your new build.

Before you sign a contract with the builder, you need to feel comfortable that you have chosen the right person, there IS a right and wrong fit. If possible, visit other jobs they have done, or that they are working on at the moment.

We here at Ferguson Builders open our own home to you, that we built ourselves, to showcase to you the kind of work we can do and have done. We are also happy to have you visit our current sites and see what we are working on. This is a quick and easy way to see if you like the level of workmanship, craftsmanship and our attention to detail.

2. Set your budget and stick to it.

It is important that you know what your budget is, and that you are conscious of the decisions you are making to stay within that budget. ONLY BUILD A HOME YOU CAN AFFORD. This is your dream home and the word dream doesn't have to mean a mansion on a hill overlooking the lake, it might be your tiny house dream home or perhaps a two-bedroom dwelling to start your family journey. You will put plenty of love and time into a number of the decisions you are making no matter how big or small the build and this is what enables it to become your dream home- always make well-informed decisions and keep your spreadsheet of costs close. The number one thing that will bring stress upon you when building your home is money and the threat of overspending.

A premium kitchen or bathroom with premium products will add considerable value to your home, but they cost too. This is where you must consider what you want to do, its cost and what it might add to the value of your home.

What a lot of people don’t realise is that it can be easy to overcapitalise. Be careful and budget the cost of fixture and fittings for any building project.

We here at Ferguson Builders use the latest project management software which helps you see where your money is going, and we can help you with figuring out where your extra spending could go to increase the value of your home and where you don't want to be spending that money in case of overcapitalising. We look out for our clients, we want you to be able to build with us again in the future should your idea of your dream home change over time, and so we promise you that your money is in safe hands and we are transparent through online software that both we the builder, and you the client can access at any time of the day, any stage of the build.

3. Select your Architect/Designer with the same caution as you do your builder.

There are an awful lot of things to consider when choosing your designer or architect.
First and foremost, does the work of the architect or the designer you are considering choosing to resonate with you?
Once that has been established there are still several things to consider.

•Can the references are given by the architect or designer be easily checked?

•What services are provided by each party within the contract?

•Is there a requirement in your subdivision to choose from a list of preferred architects, and if you chose your own, how will this complicate the process in regards to time and money?

Deal with a good communicator so that your architect can share their ideas, and also clearly describe the stages involved in the build process.

Do you want weekly updates, phone or email communication as a record of what is happening and what changes are being made? Will there be regular meetings? If so; do you want them weekly or fortnightly during the build? Do they offer the use of modern software and apps that can help you understand the home, the process and communicate easier or do they stick to the way they learnt 30 years ago and how will that choice impact you and your build?

4. Remember that communication is KEY

So you have decided to create the home of your dreams. You’ve got a design (or idea’s, at least), an architect, you’ve contracted a builder and work is about to start. Now everything has even more importance placed on it as your money is being spent every day.

Your vision, communicated clearly to your architect and builder will result in your dream home becoming a reality.

What is critical to the project now is communication;

•Between you and the architect

•Between you and the builder

You are all interrelated and you are all involved in making the project a success.

That's why Step One above- is so important. A builder who makes you feel at ease and who will listen to your concerns is crucial. If you trust your builder, it is easy to talk to them about any concerns you have and vice versa.

If you have a clear vision of what you want your dream home to look like, then that is a great start. But if some aspects of the build are not clear to you then that's where your trusted builder will be able to answer any questions you have. Good communication between the team you have put together will result in your house morphing into the dream home you have always wanted.

We here at Ferguson Builders pride ourselves on our open lines of communication, our transparency and our relationship building. We have built not only some beautiful dream homes for clients but made some fantastic friends in the process that we still keep in touch with.

This is why we want you to get to know us well before we look to build your dream home for you- we are all mature adults, we know that you can't throw a group of people in a room and expect them to all get along swimmingly- it is important that you get to know us, our values, how we work and what we expect of you as well as whether what you expect of us matches what we offer.

Building your dream home is a big investment of your money and a considerable investment of your time and we can't stress enough how important it is that you share the process with someone you trust, get along with and can see yourself building a professional and friendly, open, honest relationship with.