You deserve a home that meets your specific needs and desires! If you find yourself dreaming of the perfect patio, the ideal kitchen, and inviting rooms where you love to spend time, it might just be time to start building! With Building Your Custom Home For Dummies, you won’t have to feel intimidated as you plan, finance, and oversee construction on your new oasis. You’ll learn what it takes to build a custom home, including which pros to call and when. This updated edition also covers the latest in real estate and home construction trends, including smart homes, green building, and banking options. It's more important than ever to live in a home that’s truly how you want it, truly your own. Now is the perfect time to get started—if you’re still in the dreaming stage, this book will help you identify your style and articulate your vision. If you’re further along in the process, you’ll benefit from checklists and pointers on reviewing architects’ plans, evaluating contractor bids, flipping the home you build, and more. The latest guidance on building a beautiful home on any budget New ideas for high-tech homes with low carbon footprints Step-by-step instructions for securing financing, hiring architects, and finding reliable contractors Advice on how to invest your home-building budget wisely and plan for the future Building Your Custom Home For Dummies takes you from finding the perfect homesite through laying the foundation to framing and finishing—in the friendly Dummies style you can trust.

Keep construction on track with helpful checklists Turn your dream of a custom home into reality! Thinking about building your own home? This easy-to-follow guide shows you how to plan and build a beautiful home on any budget. From acquiring land to finding the best architect to overseeing the construction, you get lots of savvy tips on managing your new investment wisely -- and staying sane during the process! Discover how to: * Find the best homesite * Navigate the plan approval process * Obtain financing * Hire the right contractor * Cut design and construction costs * Avoid common mistakes

Complete with illustrations, checklists, sample contracts, forms, and survey maps, and a must-have homebuilding timetable, this guide gives you everything you need to know to build your dream home.

Keep construction on track with helpful checklists Turn your dream of a custom home into reality! Thinking about building your own home? This easy-to-follow guide shows you how to plan and build a beautiful home on any budget. From acquiring land to finding the best architect to overseeing the construction, you get lots of savvy tips on managing your new investment wisely -- and staying sane during the process! Discover how to: * Find the best homesite * Navigate the plan approval process * Obtain financing * Hire the right contractor * Cut design and construction costs * Avoid common mistakes

Creating your dream home is an exciting idea, but it's also a major project and one where you need to be an expert on everything from planning laws to landscape design, and all that's in between. Self Build and Renovation For Dummies takes you through every step of the process, from choosing and buying a plot of land, through to the building's design and on to the actual build – plus all the financial and legal stuff – using plain English in an easy-to-understand format. Here is everything you need to know to create your perfect home.

This complete guide to building your own home covers every step of the process. It includes advice on: how to select land ; design guidelines; the roles of professional consultants ; how to deal with the workings of control authorities ; preparing working drawings ;who's who of subcontracting and supply industries. Includes in detail the practical steps that owner-builders need to take to ensure their building meets the aims of local regulations in environmental efficiency. Also included are detailed drawings showing how all the components are assembled to achieve the home of your dreams.

Shows homeowners how to stay within one percent of their budget Delivers the perfect balance of information--covers everything homeowners need to know without overwhelming details Ready-to-use worksheets save time and money Tells homeowners who to meet with, when to meet, and how to track progress and control costs