Picture a custom home built on the side of a hill overlooking the ocean with long coastal views and pleasant sea breezes. Building a house of your own in a foreign country can be an adventure that rewards you with your dream home. However, it’s not a challenge to be undertaken lightly.
I’ve been involved in the construction of houses in more than a dozen countries over the past 20 years. In each instance the experience became painful at some point.
You will encounter frustrations and setbacks. Some days, you’ll wonder what in the world you were thinking when you started down this path.
Then the construction will pass the critical stage. The house will begin to resemble an actual house. The roof will go on, the floor tiles will be laid and the custom cabinets will be installed. You will begin counting down to that glorious day when your beautiful custom home is ready for you to take up residence.
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In an effort to make the path from breaking ground to signing off on the punch list as painless as possible, here are 10 things I wish someone had told me before I undertook my first home construction project in a foreign country:
Be sure you have the time and money to complete the project. Assume that the construction is going to take longer and cost more than you’re projecting. It always does.
Have someone you trust at the site. If you can’t be on site full-time, you need a plan to protect your investment.
Hire a good contractor. Take the time to investigate your contractor’s track record and reputation. Your contract is only as good as the person with whom you enter into it. In addition, insist that your contractor present you with a detailed itemized bid based on the architectural plans that includes everything from window and door frames to iron railings and zinc-plated screws.
Don’t skimp on the architectural plans. You get what you pay for. We worked with one of the most expensive architects in Panama. We could have saved a few thousand dollars at least by using someone else, but we’ve seen how wrong things can go when plans aren’t painstakingly detailed and fully thought through. When working in a foreign country with workers of varying levels of experience and expertise, it’s a risk to leave anything open to interpretation. The crew on the ground then has no choice but to improvise. Their improv will not meet your expectations.
Use local materials. These are more affordable than importing everything and more familiar to the local crew.
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Be aware of language challenges. If you’re building in a country where the language is not English, your first challenge will be communicating with your architect, contractor and builder. The second challenge is to make sure the professionals you hire can communicate effectively with each other and with all the crews in play. In Panama, for example, it’s not uncommon for work crews to include nationals from nearby Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Venezuela and Colombia. People from all of these countries speak Spanish, but they don’t speak Spanish in the same way. They use different vocabulary, expressions and slang and have different accents. Small language misunderstandings can have big home construction consequences.
Consider the location. If you’re building at the coast, remember the toll that sun and sea air take. We’ve chosen to finish the local hardwoods we’re using in the construction with wax, and we’re prepared to have to reapply the wax finish at regular intervals. It will be a constant part of the maintenance of the property. We’ve invested in oversized rain gutters because, during the rainy season, the rain can fall in torrents. And we’ve installed extra insulation beneath our red clay tiled roofs to help control air conditioning costs over time. Already, we feel good about this choice. It’s at least five degrees cooler inside our house than outside it, and that’s before the windows and doors have been installed.
Don’t pay in full up front for anything. You know this. It’s common sense. However, we’ve gotten into trouble when we’ve listened to various hard-luck stories. Pay something to get the work in question under way, something more at agreed-upon progress benchmarks and the final amount after all punch list items have been addressed. Don’t be tempted to compromise on that plan.
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Keep tabs on costs. Insist that your contractor present you with invoices for all purchases at regular intervals and take the time to review them. Compare money being spent with the detailed itemized bid you received from your contractor at the start of the job. Be alert for big expenditures not in the original plan and address them immediately. The more time that passes, the more difficult it will be to review and adjust for cost overruns.
Be prepared for the complications of dealing in cash. If you’re building in a small town or a remote location, you may find that many expenses must be paid in cash. Local vendors and suppliers may not be able to accept credit card or wire payments, and local rural crews may not have bank accounts.
Kathleen Peddicord is the founder of the Live and Invest Overseas publishing group.
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10 Things You Should Know Before Building a Home in a Foreign Country originally appeared on usnews.com
