Debt-Free Home Building

(Page 2 of 6)

February/March 2002
By Lynn Underwood 
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Within a year we left our home in Mesa, Arizona, for Tucson, Arizona, where I had found a job. We temporarily lived in a friend's mobile home while we shopped for property and used the time to discuss our future home's layout and design. We picked everyone's brains for design ideas, kept notes and later sifted through those ideas for those that fell outside the bounds of rea son or practicality. For example, each of the children wanted a really big room - larger than our planned living room - but we con vinced them more modest rooms would work as well. Cyndi wanted a sewing room in an attic, but I knew that I couldn't build that without some professional help, so that idea had to go. Cyndi did insist the kids have their own bathrooms, and that plan did make the final cut. Now that they're teen-agers, we especially appreciate this luxury. I remember drawing the plan using a piece of finished plywood as my drafting table. I drew most of the floor plan while watching Super Bowl XXVII, sitting on the floor, since we'd packed our furniture in a cargo container. I finished the plans over the next week. By then we'd found an acre site with utilities. The price was right and the land was just what we wanted.

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Are you ready for this?
Are You A Likely
Home Builder?

People who achieve success in such a project share some common traits. Attitude toward your project is the most important. Keep your eyes on the prize. Share your vision with family members and keep them motivated. Here are some other suggestions from one who's been there:

1. Be Considerate. This means to everyone - your family first. Be considerate to your boss for paying you so you can do this project; your neighbors for enduring it; your helpers, salesmen, building inspectors and everyone you meet. The Golden Rule works as well now as it did in kindergarten. Being considerate means avoiding actions that adversely affect others.

2. Be Patient. Your project may take several years. Do not grow weary or impatient. Be the tortoise, not the hare. You'll win by being persistent. Maintain morale. Get some rest away from your project when you need to.

3. Be Careful. The cost of your project should not be an injury. Keep a clean project site. Maintain safety rules. Be methodical in your actions. Look before you leap. Watch one another. And parents, above all, watch your children.

4. Be Frugal. No matter how dedicated you are, you cannot build your home unless you save money in a disciplined manner. Put the money into a building fund and pretend it's gone - like rent money.

5. Be open to new ideas concepts and ways of doing things. Listen to the advice of others in a position to know. Accept setbacks and respond with renewed optimism. Remember character building is like house building: It's supposed to be tough, otherwise everyone would do it.

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