What are the key mistakes when building your renovation or new build project?

Learn three key mistakes here, and how you can prevent them from tripping you up. Or significantly costing you in time, money and stress.

Hello! This is Episode #217, and it’s the last of four episodes where I’ve been discussing in more detail the four phases of building or renovating your family home.

If you haven’t listened to Episode 214 about the mistakes to avoid during your Pre-Design phase, be sure to head back and catch up on that episode. 

And if you haven’t listened to Episode 215 about mistakes many make in the Design Phase, then catch up on that episode, or grab the transcript here.

And if you haven’t listened to Episode 216 about the mistakes many make in the Pre-Build Phase, then catch up that episode, or grab the transcript here.

In this episode, I’m talking about the Build Phase. 

Now, when you’re planning on renovating or building your future home, it’s natural to be really heavily focussed on the Build Phase. Because it can feel like that’s where all the action is, and many feel that’s where they’ll need the most help. 

And yet, many approach the Build Phase of their project without a true understanding of what it should be like, how they can improve their experience, and the steps to take to avoid dramas and issues. 

They’re in a hurry to get here, and don’t do what’s required to get themselves suitably prepared.

So, I’ll be sharing more about that, and the common mistakes to avoid.

Now, let’s dive in!

So, let’s dive into the fourth and last phase of any building or renovation project, the Build Phase. 

This is a really exciting phase of your project journey, because this is where you get to see all the dreaming, planning and preparing come to fruition on site, as you watch the construction of your future home. 

It’s where you get to see physical progress for your efforts as the floors, walls and roof of your future home become a reality. 

The Build Phase is also where you start to enter or finalise legal agreements with your construction builder or team. 

And this, unfortunately, can be the point at which things can come really unstuck for homeowners. 

Because they’re stepping into a legal agreement that can be difficult to exit from once they commit. And it can involve significant cash, plus processes and terminology you may not feel familiar with or understand.

Many tell me they naively signed their contract, not really understanding what they were committing to, and simply trusting that the builder – who is supposed to be the expert – had it all in hand. 

They weren’t aware of what the clauses meant, what the contract was covering or obligating them to, and what it would mean for their project experience, their budget and their finished home.

I unfortunately receive lots of emails from homeowners who tell me they discovered Undercover Architect too late. 

It’s very hard for me to help you avoid dramas when you’re already bound into a legal agreement via a building contract. 

And so I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it’s not too late for you, and right now you’re listening to this podcast to get prepared before you sign a building contract. But even if you’ve already signed one – I think there’ll still be useful info in here for you.

So, let’s look at the mistakes many make in their Build phase. 

Inside the HOME Method, there are 8 steps to the Build phase, and I share the various mistakes for each of those steps, and tips on how to get it right as well. So I’m going to cherry pick three key mistakes to help you here in this episode. 

The Build Phase of HOME Method also includes my online program, Manage Your Build, which covers the stages of home construction from signing a contract, through to Completion and Defects. I created that program with builder, Duayne Pearce.

The Build Phase module is a really comprehensive part of the HOME Method to support you in all things related to the construction of your new home or renovation. So you can learn how you need to manage yourself and your team during construction, and what you need to know about construction itself.

If you’d like to learn more about the Build Phase, and the steps involved, then stay tuned to the end of the episode, because I’ve got some exciting news about my flagship program, the HOME Method.

We also hear from a homeowner who navigated their renovation project through the first experience of COVID we had in 2020. 

This member’s name is Jacoba and she goes by ‘Kobie’. And you’ll hear her share how the timing impacted her project journey, and the specific ways she felt she had to prepare to do her project more confidently.

You may hear her talk about the program, “Your Reno Roadmap”. That was the name of the first online program I created, and it has since grown and developed into the HOME Method that we offer today.

Listen to the episode now.

RESOURCES:

Other podcast links I mentioned:

• Episode 214 | Pre-Design Mistakes to Avoid
• Episode 215 | Design Mistakes to Avoid
• Episode 216 | Pre-Build Mistakes to Avoid

Other resources:

Join me for my free online workshop “The 4 Universal Factors that will make or break your project” >>> www.undercoverarchitect.com/four

Access the support and guidance you need to be confident and empowered when renovating and building your family home inside my flagship online program >>> HOME METHOD

Access my free online workshop “Your Project Plan” >>> FREE WORKSHOP