Building Your First Home
Those first blueprints, followed by a contractual agreement with a builder, and at the outset facilitating the financing part, are some of the key elements that make up the task of building your first home. Design and construction play as much role as the financial side of things, denoting the source of money that will help keep the building going. One should also map out the future of the house because it must be sustainable, so that if future buyers have an eye on it, it will have improved in its equity. After engaging an architect and contractors, each playing different roles in the new development, now it would be time to revisit the financing phase.

First things first: financing involves filing for a construction loan which is better in these circumstances than an extended mortgage because one may cease to use it once the building process is over. Alternatively, you may decide that the cost of materials, staff fees and landscaping costs have spiraled. This can as well be the opportune time to do a refinance, which may be lucky enough to coincide with a time of depreciated interest rates. This is technically known as double close credit because one first applies for the construction then goes for refinancing. There are even circumstances that one does not have to settle the building mortgage but purchases a home that is just in its finishing touches and pays for it in installments.

Now comes the important phase: the time to receive permits to construct that particular design in that given county. To avoid litigations and even earn damages in case of a default during the construction phase, it is important to photograph all blueprints and even the signing of concessions with the county engineering team. This means that should the inspection personnel lodge a complaint about a fault in the structure, you will not only win the case on the grounds of photography evidence but may get compensation as well, which can help settle the mortgage. Of course this is not an everyday occurrence but an anecdote.

Designing the house for construction after the entire blueprint, financing and other foundation matters are complete becomes the next point of focus. Here are a few ways to ensure that the house will stand the test of time:
·    Take a tour of the neighborhood and compare similar residences.
·    Correspond with other homeowners who have passed through the same process of building under a mortgage plan.
·    Seek the authority of the local engineering department to earn the legality of the design in that particular jurisdiction.
·   Select far and wide the most capable builders. Recommendations can come from friends and family or even relevant     websites.

Making of floor plans is another important stage of building your first home. Though money may be the major problem, imagination and insight into issues to do with light and space will prove personal. You can view through an architect’s eyes the best plan for the entire household. If there will be frequent visitors to the house, there might be a need to extend annexes or outlying buildings, all constituting part of the plan. Most importantly, it is essential to stay within the budget of the construction mortgage.

Voila! The house is complete after all the planning of rooms, sketching of blueprints, talking to the engineers from the county, engaging the finest builders and even staying late hours to supervise the site. All this, of course, happens after finding the right real estate agent to negotiate the best financing rates to settle the bill of financing your first home.