Ok, so let's say you want to get moving with your new modular home. You've looked at the options, sorted the perfect design and found an excellent builder - now you need to get a move along and get this thing done!
Suddenly, you find your builder is telling you that it's going to take about 12 months before you move in! Yes, we understand that building a home is a complicated and time-consuming task, but 12 months?
A long build-time doesn't necessarily mean a builder is poorly managing their schedules. Things like a large order bank and initiatives like the HomeBuilder Grant only cause lead times to lengthen.
So, that said, how can you ensure that you can get your home finished within six months of giving the builder the go-ahead? Believe it or not, the length of the build time will depend on you - the prospective owner - a lot!
Let's look at five things you can do to ensure you can move into your home in 6 months or less.
Tip 1 - Get your modular home finance sorted early!
The most significant reason for time blowouts in the building process is bank finance. One of the most common mistakes made by clients is to make their home building decision based on a pre-approval. Doing this is fraught with risk, as generally, a bank pre-approval tells you that you have enough income to support a loan when in fact, the market value of your finished home project is what counts. Check out our post on Bank Finance here to find out more about getting a loan.
Our essential tip here is to get in contact with your bank early in the process, find out what sort of approach they follow and get your application underway so you can get that all-important "valuation" done!
We've also got some helpful articles on relocatable home finance on our website.
Tip 2 – Check out your power situation.
If you have got an acreage site and power is not connected yet, then it's essential to get your electricity sorted. We would recommend that you get in contact with your local electrician and energy supplier throughout the early stages of your home building journey to get the power connected to a property pole.
While it's becoming a more rare problem, sometimes power companies can take months to get power connected. And when you are just waiting for the connection of electricity to your nearly finished home, there is nothing more frustrating for you, or the builder!
Tip 3 – Get your council situation in hand.
Another drag on the building timeframe can be your council approval, especially if there are second dwelling applications or development applications involved. We recommend you get onto a town planner or your local council as early as possible to find out what potential issues you may come across. If you need to get development applications done, then get them done in the initial planning stages before you've finalised your selection or even pricing with your builder.
At Westbuilt, we aim to get any council issues identified in the first few weeks of the process and second dwellings or approvals lodged in the first month.
Tip 4 – Be Decisive
The next tip applies to you personally. While the builder can do the best and offer you as many ideas as they can, it's up to you to make some decisions. One of the biggest traps we see clients fall into is that they can 'over research' their selection choices. Yes, it's imperative to get it right, but there has to be a point where you have to make a decision. And the effect on your building timeframe can be quite dramatic – before you realise it, you can spend a month just deciding on minor details!
One of the best ways to prevent this decision trap is to use a Must-Have list. To do this, grab a pen and a few pieces of paper. Put three headings on the page. The first is Ideas, the second is the Wishlist, and the last is Must-Haves.
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Must-Haves for your home.
Under the must-haves list, you should put all the items that are critical and important to you personally. These are the items you can't do without and have to be right. Spend the most amount of your time researching and choosing these. -
Your Wish List.
Now for your wish list. Put the items that you would like to have but could pull out if you can't afford them or could add to the home in later months and years. These are semi-important items, list them out but don't let them take up too much of your time. -
Your Ideas.
And lastly, your ideas. In your researching, you will come across countless ideas and concepts. These can become overwhelming. When that happens, we notice that our clients will stop focusing on their must-haves and wish list and get caught up in trivial or minor items. When this happens, not only is it time-consuming, it only leads to cost blowouts and headaches.
To combat this, make a note of all those ideas and photos. Save them, write them down and then leave them. And then, only come back to them once you have got your must-haves and wish list locked down and sorted.
Now, run over your list of ideas and add good ones to your must-haves or wish list. What's left can be discarded and set aside.
Bonus Tip – Choose a modular home.
Hopefully, this helps you understand what you can do to make sure you get into your home quicker. But let's face it, there aren't six months in it! If you really must be in your home then less than six months, then the only way to go is modular.
Modular building not only guarantees a fast build time, but it also allows you more time to focus on your wish list and must-haves!
