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Building tips
1. Decide on what type of home you can really afford. It is critical that you know your finances in-and-out, only then can you truly know how much home you can afford to build.
2. Calculate how much it would cost?
3. Where is the funds coming from? Do you have your budget saved up? If so, then build your home within months, If you do not have the budget at hand, you can try finance it through home finance or mortgage finance. You can also build your home bit by bit i.e rest and save up between stages, although i wouldn't advice on this option if you have the budget saved up already.
4. Be aware of omo onile if you're building is going to be left unattended for a long time as they can sell on your property to someone else. I would advice to do all necessary papers if you'll be building your home bit by bit so as to make it difficult for the omo onile to sell your property.
5. Ask and shop around for building materials, you'll be surprised on a how much you'll save, this will also help to reduce the overall cost of the project.
6. Take advantage of quantity discounts and buy in bulk this will also save transportation costs.
7. Try to group certain activities together, for instance, if you plan on cutting the cost of sand you need to fill your foundation, dig your sewage system (soak away) and borehole simultaneously. This could be before you start the house foundation or shortly thereafter. This approach generates free sand from these sources. You can then use the sand to fill your foundation. The sand would obviously not be enough nut it is minus what you'll have to buy. This way you save money. Another example is not filling the compound untill the sewage system, drainage system (gutter) and bore hole is done, this way you'll save on labour and won't end up with excess sand. Group activities reduces the overall duration of the project.
8. Use experienced Sub-Contractors instead of contractors as contractors are the big guys who are the middle men between the home owner and the sub-contractors. The sub-contractors are those that actually do the work and the contractor supervises. Building contractors can be quite expensive to hire. As an individual who want to build your own home, your best bet is to deal with the little guys directly. This reduces the overall cost of your project.
9. Supervise Sub-contractors as many far from honest. Sub-contractors (e.g. brick layers, mason, electricians) lie on material prices. Some even connive with sellers to inflate the price on the receipt. Thereafter the difference between the actual price and the price written on the receipt is shared between the sub-contractor and the seller. Buy building materials yourself. Go with sub-contractors to the seller and negotiate the price together. Then pay and collect the items.
10. Keep your eyes open as some Sub-contractors lie on quantity of materials used. Many steal from construction sites and either sell your materials or take them for personal use.
11. Don't buy ready made gate and iron doors instead have yours made, it could take some time but you could save as much as half the price of ready made ones.
12. Review your project as it progresses, sack incompetent workers and dishonest workers, they will only end up costing you more money.
Articles inspired by personal experience and naija real estate.com
Build According To Your Budget
What is the cost to build a home in Nigeria?
There is no one answer to that question, reason is that it's depends on the type of home you wish to build.
Let say you have 3-bedroom all room ensuite bungalow in Lekki for N15 million, you can still have the same 3-bedroom, the same design for less than N6 million. It is just the level of finishes that would vary. If you're building on a budget, try and bring the level of finishes to what you can afford, what is simple and within your budget. In most cases, people are not always sincere about their budget, remember you can decide to finish a house with cement sandcrete and at the same time, you can decide to finish the house using granite tiles. You can also say, I am not as rich as that, I want to use ceramic tiles".
Also remember that the cost to build a home will be higher if you decide to build a more complicated design.
What's your budget?
The money you have to spend should dictate what sort of home you decide to build.
For, instance if you want the home mentioned above but don't have 6 million Naira to spend, you can cut the cost by building a smaller home. You could build a 2 bedroom with 1 toilet and 1 bathroom, no fence, no floor tiles in sitting room or anywhere else, louvres (window) or even wooden window.
This might sounds drastic but the bottom line is how much money you have to spend, remember that the cost of a building can be drastically reduced if you cut your coat according to your size.
Build a better home if you have the money but build something small if you're cash-strapped. It's important to build according to your budget as construction may come to a halt when funds runs out, it could then become an abandoned project and all who has seen it will begin to mock you saying i.e This man/woman began to build but after the foundation was laid, he/she was unable to complete the building
The best thing to do is to calculate the cost before you start.
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