Having a home to call your own is a dream for many especially with the record high inflation rates, making people earn just enough to live from paycheck to paycheck. For those who can afford to own a home, difficulties arise in terms of decision making such as questioning whether to buy or build a home, even more so for one of the most economically vulnerable provinces like Ontario. However, the housing market offers various house properties that aptly suit the buyer’s budget and preferences. Let us walk you through some factors you need to know before building a house in Ontario.
Things to consider when building a house in Ontario
The first and foremost factor when it comes to building a home is buying the plot or property that you intend to demolish followed by building the home of your dreams. When planning to customize the home as per your preferences, buying a plot of land is a smart choice in lieu of paying for demolition charges if you plan to rebuild the house property from scratch. Finding a suitable plot of land in an urban province like Ontario would be a nail biting task, however nothing is impossible if you are determined to undertake the challenges involved.
To build a house, firstly, you might want to settle yourself down into some quiet place, ponder over your needs, weigh your choices and prioritize available options regarding the location, your budget, proximity to amenities, travel stops and other things that you consider of utmost importance. Once you have a mock up plan for the house, you can list your requirements to a real estate agent of your area, who will let you know about available house properties or land plots for sale.
Another critical factor you need to keep into account is to know the building laws in your area or municipality. To make it a smoother process, you should consult a lawyer or a trusted building contractor, both of whom will guide you into the right direction and help you get a practical estimate about the total cost of building a house in Ontario.
How to choose a building contractor?
When choosing a building contractor, you must invest time researching the list of contractors offering building services in your area. It is essential to enquire about their past work experience or even better survey the house properties they have built to get a more comprehensive view of their work and if it satisfies your preferences for your own home. You can also follow through client references who have received services from the house contractor in question, as this will let you fortify your decision about whether to hire the building contractor or continue your search.
Cost breakdown for building a house
Getting a considerable number of bids from building contractors in your area, additionally eases your search for a building contractor. Generally, the fees charged by building contractors includes:
- Building permits that abide by local building codes and regulations and have to be obtained. Costs may also include demolition permits, notably for provinces like Ontario with strict building laws.
- Pre made house design costs which may be offered as part of the house construction plan. You can choose the design as per your choice however with minimum customization options such as changing the paint. In case you want a fully customized home, you can seek services from a skilled architect and dispense the design to the building contractor.
- Material Costs are an expected expense when building a house. You can either hand over the responsibility to the contractor to buy the materials or let yourself have the headache of choosing the best material within your budget.
- Labour Costs, charged by per hour or as a fixed fee, form one of the major chunk of the expenses in house construction
- Management fee and profits, calculated by the contractor are added to the total house construction costs. These include supervising the construction process, working in coordination with subcontractors and guaranteeing project completion in time and within budget.
- Extra fees that consists of costs for insurance, licensing, and last minute building expenses
You can get a reasonable estimate for hiring a building contractor by consulting one or by contacting references who have received services from the particular building contractor of your interest.
Though the house market in Ontario provides a range of options to buyers, they may not be able to provide a carbon copy of their ideal home. In case you just cannot compromise on your wishes for a home that fits your criteria of the ideal home, you can opt to build rather than settling with buying a fully constructed home.
