Building a Home- Meet me in the middle

Now that we’ve laid a good foundation for building a home (figuratively and maybe even literally for you) it’s time to talk about the guts of your house and the guts of building. If you’ve read my first post in this series you know we covered having open communication, making and managing budgets and choosing a cohesive house style. And I will reiterate one more time how important these three things are (among others) to aiding in a smooth house building process. Over the next few paragraphs I’m going to briefly touch on some of the most valuable lessons/takeaways we learned while in the middle of building our first and our second home.

Let’s first tackle everyone’s favorite word: COMPROMISE. Eeeekkk,  just saying it is hard. But get used to saying it (and doing it). Because no matter how well-laid your plans are, there will be moments and decisions that require compromise. I promise you that. And it’s best if you are prepared for it.

For example: one of the major compromises Tim and I had to make in our second home build was about our windows. I had this dream that we would have all black windows. I’ll thank Joanna Gaines for that dream. However, after getting 5 different quotes and them all showing a price triple the amount of white windows, Tim and I had to have a major sit down. There were tears (ok just me!). We talked about pros and cons. And then we talked about the long term. Did this decision matter in the long term? Would people come into our house and notice it? And the answer was no. That we would rather stick to our budget, not short ourselves money when we were barely half way through (this is important) and that there were other finishing touches that would make more of bang for our buck in the long run.

So we went with our second choice, stuck with our budget and to this day I don’t even notice.
So the lesson is this- when it’s time to compromise follow three steps: 1) Weigh the pros and cons 2) Consider your budget/be smart about it and 3) Think of the long term and know that you will have to compromise more than once. If you can walk through those steps for each decision, you will be wiser for it.

The second valuable lesson that we learned is to do your RESEARCH. And do it YOURSELF. Research is your best friend when it comes to saving money. Every little bit counts. Yes, you could pay someone to find that product for you. But that’s valuable money in your pocket towards your house and once you get the hang of researching it yourself, you realize it’s not as hard as it looks. The internet has made “finding the best deal” so much easier than it used to be.

So consider google your best friend. Search for your product. Narrow down what you are looking for (ie style, color, size etc.) and once you can narrow down your product choice, then you can start price comparing. On top of price comparing, search for extra deals and coupon codes. Often times I would just search terms like “current coupon code for {insert store here}” and try out several different codes to see if one worked. And more often than not I would find one that saved us a little money. Another tip is to use sites like Rakuten, Retailmenot and ShopAtHome. These websites offer a percentage back on purchases from tons of websites. And although 2%, 4% or 6% may not seem like a lot, when you are making so many house purchases they really save you a decent chunk of money in the long run.

So the lesson here is this: 1) Do your research and price compare everything and 2) Use websites to your advantage to save cash back on all your purchases. Be faithful in the little and it saves you big over time!

Our last valuable lesson I want to share is the following: You don’t have, because you don’t ask. Sound familiar? It is actually from a Bible verse in the book of James chapter 4:2-3. And although I’m not speaking theologically, the premise is that if you never ask for something, you never know if you would’ve gotten it. And boy did Tim and I put this into practice. Whether speaking with our architect, our contractors, supply stores, websites we were buying bulk items from or anything else, we ALWAYS asked if they would give us a discount or a better price than they were offering. Sometimes that meant making a phone call that took a bit of extra time, but it’s still worth it.

Now a couple things to note here- whenever you ask for something, please be respectful. Each person works hard at their profession and you don’t want to treat them in such a way to undervalue them and what they work hard at. When we would ask for something extra such as a discount or better deal, we always did it respectfully and within reason. And you know what? A lot of the time they would say yes. Sometimes they would say no. But you’ll never know if you don’t ask and asking is FREE! So the lesson here is this: 1) Don’t be afraid to ask for a better deal or discount from whoever you are working with whether it be a contractor, salesman or online store (and be willing to make the phone call) and 2) Make your requests respectfully and within reason. Always be respectful of everyone you work with even if they don’t reciprocate.

I can’t promise you much since I don’t know all about your house project and the who/what/when/where and why! But I can tell you this: Being willing to compromise, doing your research and being willing to ask questions and ask for a better deal respectfully WILL save you more than you think in the long run. And when building a house, every dollar counts! Actually, that’s pretty good advice for building a marriage and raising kids too. But that post is for another day. I hope you enjoyed reading these tips and that they gave you some practical help for building your home whether now or in the future!

xo, Sarah