I think the most underrated advice for anyone thinking about building their own home is "take your time." Hear me out. I understand there is somewhat of a deadline to get the build going, and to finish it in a timely manner. But taking time before you break ground, in my humble opinion, is the preplanning that can make your build run smoother. And save you the cost of change orders!!
My husband and I bought our lot and took the next 2 months to pick a floor plan. We looked at hundreds online, we talked for hours about what our daily life entails and how this house would benefit us the most. We thought about our children, grandchildren, aging parents, aging in place for us, holiday parties, out of town visits, we even talked about our dog and how we could benefit him. We talked, researched, met with friends who built, anything we could do to help in our final floor plan choices. After we picked the floor plan we then met with an architect to customize the plans to our needs and get permit ready. There were many, many emails back and forth for that part! This took another 2 months. Whew, the details of moving walls, adding a basement garage, changing bathroom layouts, I will be honest.....kept my husband up many, many nights. Side note: you WILL lose sleep when you are building a house. We bought the lot in May, didn't break ground until mid-August and changed floor plans up until October! That's about 5 months!
So grab some coffee, a pot of coffee actually, sit down with your partner, and talk and talk and talk some more about the house you will build together. I promise that if you do this, it will help the construction go smoother once it starts and benefit you in the long run.
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