Custom home construction work is a chance to do some amazing things. While it's great to be excited about the process, you also need to take a very rigorous approach to creating and maintaining a budget. Here are three tips that will help you to manage the money that will go into your project.

Find a Contractor First

It's tempting to think you should create a budget and then hand it to a contractor. That's a formula for creating a lot of friction and misfires. You'll be much further ahead on your project to talk with a contractor before you write down a single number for a single item.

A contractor will be able to explain what the potential costs are for a job. They also can help you generate a list of "musts" versus "wants." If you end up pushing up against the edge of your budget at a later time, this list will help you to prioritize what has to be done so you can subtract a few items to stay on budget.

Explore Financing Options Early

One more advantage of hiring a contractor first is that your list of features for a project will help you to seek financing. It's a good idea to talk with a financial officer from a bank or credit union where you already have an established relationship. Tell them what your goals are and what sort of budget would be required to check them all off the list. They can then figure out how much financing you'll be eligible for.

It's also worth looking into state- and -federally-back home building programs. Many organizations, like the Veterans' Administration, FHA, and even the USDA, have programs aimed at providing housing to specific groups or in particular regions. Your lender should also have an officer who is in charge of connecting customers to these programs, so feel free to ask.

Conduct Surveys

Nothing is going to throw your budget off faster than running into an unanticipated problem. This is one of those cases where you'll need to spend money to save money, but conducting several engineering studies of the property is critical to a project's success. You should come away with a detailed knowledge of what the ground and hydrology at the site are like.

Also, have a surveyor come in to make sure you know where the property line is. You don't want to have to rethink a custom home building choice late in the game because you're in a zone where you can't work.

Talk to a custom home construction contractor to learn more.

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