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Buyers now have tools and applications that allow them to search by location, to get to know the neighborhood in detail. The online search allows you to compare available homes by characteristics and situations. And that information search process is done before contacting a real estate agent.

The main division that they make of the buyers, is for their belonging to each generation; To understand the data, we summarize the generations by the years of birth:

Generation – Birth date

Young Millenials Generation Y – 1990-1998

Greater Millenials Generation Y – 1980-1989

Generation X – 1965-1979

Young baby boom – 1955-1964

Older Baby Boom – 1946-1954

Silent generation – 1925-1945

Its main conclusions are:

• The buyer usually uses a mobile device to search for online properties. Search the homes for portals and real estate websites for information about the purchase process.
• After that first inspection, the buyer contacts a real estate agent and visits an average of 10 homes in about ten weeks before buying the home.
• 81% of Millennials and 78% of Generation X found their home with the help of a smartphone, compared with 68% of the baby boom generation.
• The main sources of information for homebuyers, in their initial process, were portals and real estate websites, real estate agents, and mobile applications.
• “Social media” is cited as the best source to generate high-quality leads, according to real estate professionals.

First Steps Of The Home Buying Process

• 98% of Millennials searched real estate portals, compared with 72% of the Silent Generation.
• 57% of Generation X and older Millennials visit an open house.
• Baby boomers used a mobile phone only half the time of Millennials, a ratio similar to the use of videos to consume information.

Main Difficulties During The Purchase Process

• In the purchase process, the most common problems are paperwork and documentation, in addition to understanding all the necessary procedures, especially for Millennials.
• 31% of older Baby Boom, indicate that they do not find difficult steps in the purchase process, compared with only 8% of Millennials.

Main Features Of Real Estate Websites

92% of the websites have property listings, whether their own or a shared portfolio, with the MLS to which they belong.

That percentage increases in companies focused on the residential market.

76% of real estate websites show a list of their agents and profiles. More than half add comments and testimonials from their customers.

The buyer’s profile is that of someone who wants:

• become independent or form a family home,
• reside in neighborhoods or downtown areas of cities or municipalities,
• in second-hand properties,
• small in size and
• for a price that ranges between 125,000 and 150,000 euros.

On the other hand, second-home buyers are between 45 and 55 years old, and in most cases, they are couples looking for a home with higher benefits, greater comforts, or holiday residences.

Preferred Communication

• 93% of real estate agents prefer to communicate with their clients by telephone or instant messaging, 92% by email, while only 27% use postal mail.
• The real estate professionals who most use a blog for their activity are those between 30 and 39 years old; 12% of them manage their own blog.

You and your partner have decided to make a house for you. You are very eager to start the whole process, but …  a lot of doubts run through your body.

These doubts turn into fears when you see what is coming on you. You want to do things right from the start, but the world of construction is a swampy terrain unknown to you.

Do not worry.

In this article, I explain to you the doubts, the fears and the problems that people had who, like you, one day set out to make their home. And, of course, how to avoid them.

Also, as “extra content,” at the end of the post, I leave the video of an interview I did to my friend Esther, two years after making her home.

What are the steps to build a house? Where do i begin?

The first thing that comes to mind is the idea itself to make you a house. It is possible that you have land so that “problem” you have solved.

With the land and the desire, you should visit banks to get an idea of ​​how much money you can / will have.

Once you know your spending limit, you have to go to an Architecture Studio. There they will inform you about what can be done on your land and what maximum area the house can occupy, taking into account your budget. There are also specialized technicians who carry out this work. Without going any further, I am a Surveyor (or Technical Architect), and I carry out Economic Feasibility Studies to my potential clients completely free of charge.

With the Project made by the Architect, it is time to look for a Surveyor  – perhaps you will have already counted on him to advise you during the development of the Project (two Technicians always contribute more ideas and knowledge than just one) -.

With the three previous “ingredients,” we will request the Municipal Work License in the Town Hall. Once granted, you must choose the Construction Company that will execute the work according to the project and with the supervision of Rigger and Architect. The Rigger will also be in charge of Health and Safety Coordination.

With the work executed, Rigger and Architect issue the End of Work Certificate, which will be endorsed by the Official Associations of both Technicians.

The previous Certificate will be essential for the City Council to issue the First Occupancy License of the home.

The penultimate step will be to go to the Notary. This, with all the documentation provided, certifies that there is now a house where before there was only one plot of land.

And finally, you must go to the Land Registry, where the house will legally come alive.

How Much Cost Would Be Involved To Build A House?

Although it depended on many factors, for single-family homes of natural qualities and located in Galicia, I usually handle ratios of:

Price of the Material Execution (the work itself), from 900 € / m2 built

Total final cost (in addition to the previous PEM, includes licenses, technicians, VAT, hooks …), about € 1300 / m2 made

I explain it more in detail in this section of this other article.

How Many Square Meters Of Housing Will We Need To Meet The Needs Of Our Family?

This doubt is quite common but very easy to solve. The Architect that you hire will do a project according to your needs and tastes.

Contract A Single Construction Company Or Several?

If you are wondering this surely, it is because you have heard that with the second option you will save a lot of money. It is not true. At least not at all.

Yes, there will be games in which you save a lot of money, even in some you will be over 20%. But … at the expense of what? At the cost of multiplying the probability of problems.

There are items outside the bulk of the work that you can hire other companies without just “risk”. I speak of items such as installations or interior carpentry. However, having one company for the roof, another for the structure, another for the partition … is to have the desire to look for problems.

The day there is a humidity, for example, everyone will blame themselves and no one will solve the problem. And that has no economic value.

If you know of a specialized company that you especially like, ask the main company to subcontract it. If it really works well in quality and price, it will not put you in trouble. Obviously it will increase the price, because the main company could respond with its own insurance of its defects, but it will be worth it.

Energy Efficiency, Renewable Energy And Home Automation How To Decide Which Options To Use?

If this is the first time you go through this Blog, I tell you from now: For me, energy efficiency is non-negotiable. The more efficient our housing, the better. Elements such as thermal insulation, very good quality windows and very efficient boilers are my premises to make a house in conditions.

The use of renewable energies is already stipulated in the Spanish regulations (Technical Building Code). The CTE determines a percentage of ACS that must be satisfied with clean energy. From there, the initial financial outlay must be adjusted with the monthly amortization. The best thing for these cases is to talk with an installation company specialized in the subject and to shed light on the possibilities and costs.

Home automation is also recommended for both comfort and energy savings. For example: having the windows configured so that they are lowered at nightfall or opened by solar radiation, will save us heating. Like the previous point, the ideal will be to speak with a company specialized in the matter (and if it is the same as the previous installation company, better than better).