You, Your project and the “Professionals” (In simple words. Planning your project and getting quotes)

Definition: Professional (noun)    plural noun: professionals

1. a person engaged or qualified in a profession
2. Not everyone in a profession is a professional

Now the fun starts. You have heeded my brilliant advice  or not and have found the perfect piece of land for your dream house.  You just want to start “Googling” for architects, builders, kitchens, tiles, buy all House and Home magazines available. I mean you are on an ”Ideas High” and a creativity rush. You get up in the middle of the night to add to your portfolio.

Remember all these “professionals” and not so  professionals  you contact, charge and they are not scared to charge. So take a deep breath and think this through, preferably both you and your partner. It is no good one if one is on a dream fantasy and the other firmly on the ground. Remember you still want to be married, with money when you move into the new house. Be realistic and mindful of you budget when you start approaching the professionals.

Keep in mind, you pay for the glossy brochure and pretty blond kitchen sales consultant from Diamond Kitchens at the Waterfront. I guarantee the kitchen might not be better than the guys based in the industrial area, but it will be a hell of a lot more expensive. You want the professionals to add value for money to your project. It is no good you paid a fortune for an architect and now you cannot afford  granite tops and a pool. I mean you cannot really use the plans as carpets, and  the novelty of dropping the architects name wears of quickly and nobody really cares anyway.

It might be a good idea to good to speak to someone, not emotionally and financially invested in your project, very early on in the project. Someone like me.  
 

I got side tracked, again, but in my next posting I will go into some more practical advice on costing and planning your project but feel free to contact me if you need advice. I also do marriage counselling and life coaching for a fee.

* Note - If you find the Blog interesting, it makes more sense to read the Blog entries cronologically from the start.

Hunting for land

For the followers of my blog, all three of you,  I apologize profusely. I was trying to update it and link it to my website. Kind of an amazing one stop building information shop, but it seems the IT industry has cloned the building industry, nothing happens quickly or it just fails to happen. 

That brings me to the blog layout, for a serious writer it makes no sense, there is no logical flow. A bit like reading a book backwards, makes no sense. I tried it with Tolstoy’s War and Peace, just ended up with a giant migraine and a huge disappointment as I  then knew how the story ended and had no clue how it started.  So I need to rethink how to write in blog format.

 

Back to the building story. Firstly you need to really understand why and where you are buying a piece of land to build on. Not just because it has a pretty view and a big tree and you can see a square inch of the see if you climb on a ladder or in the big tree. Keep in mind what your neighbours can build and where and how that can impact your living and design.

Make sure you understand where North is, not that you will be able to find your way when you move, because you don’t like your and building it was a rubbish experience. NO, so that you can orientate and plan your living space and views. It is really not nice in the winter when all your living areas faces south or are in the shade of your neighbours three story house uphill to the north and six meters away. Because if he or his designer was half clever they would have put the scullery, servants quarters and dog kennel on the south side. That is if you live in the Southern hemisphere and on Earth.

 Also please understand what goes on underneath your stand. Most people just walk around admire the view, climb the tree to see the sea, but pays no attention to the  huge granite builder just peeping out from the soil and the swamp with the mosquito’s right in the center. No it will not make for a cute natural koi pond, unless you have to much money and it is a real big stand. For most of us mere mortals is will turn into a financial nightmare, just to get a suitable foundation and drainage in the there and that seriously impact on YOUR COST PER SQUARE METER, that is that term again. It will also not be included in the provisional quote provided by your friendly builder. I am not kidding, it happens all the time, had it with my clients as well. They ended up with a house with a lot less expensive finishes.

So the moral of the story, know what you buy and why, before you sign any offer to purchase. No matter what the “nice” estate agent tells you.

 

 

* Note - If you find the Blog interesting, it makes more sense to read the Blog entries cronologically from the start.