Over the years, I have seen many people getting into the construction world showcasing their small/big projects as only being a few thousand naira to build and many arguing that home ownership is not a cheap business. However, while I believe there are quite so many ways to save a bit of money or cut down construction cost during the building process, this approach equally comes at a price.
In this post, I thought I should share some key factors that those who claim they build their house very cheap often neglect to mention. Hopefully we will be able to see the big difference.
Time
Time is one of the most often neglected price we pay while building our houses and one area that people often don’t assign costs to; especially when you work out the cost of the time spent you on your building project as you would on a normal job. People often neglect this based on the fact that we all use our time differently; some people do not have the money or financial resources to build their house all at once, but they do have the time to source cheap construction materials, workers and reclaimed stuffs. However, as much as we will like to agree that there’s absolutely nothing wrong with this approach, I also want to believe that such a person cannot simply say that his/her time is free. The person is creating value with his/her time and are giving it up in the place of something else. So, when we put the cost of their time into the equation, the build cost will definitely shoot up by some thousands.
Consumables
In most cases, I have seen people who claimed they were building cheap houses simply cutting corners and not adequately anchoring their houses to the foundations, or using lesser materials to save on cost. So I am going to cry foul on people adopting this style because there is no way you can avoid buying some construction materials which you can’t really reuse (nails, glue, cement, quality sand, roof, windows, doors, and a lot more).
Simple Shape Buildings
Curves, arches, domes and other complex shapes are difficult and expensive to build. People claiming to build a cheap house are often primitive thinkers. They often choose square or rectangular floor plans while avoiding complex details and designs. Their building often come out very unattractive but that’s never their worry anyway. So, there’s always a compromise and sacrifice in the cheap builds.
Small Footprints
The easiest way to know if a building is cheap or not is to compare the costs per square metres. Using this approach, one can easily conclude that a big house is a good bargain when compared with a small house because even a single room apartment will surely need highly-essential items like plumbing, kitchen, bath, sewer and security.
No frills
The people building cheap houses always neglect to mention the absence expensive hardwares, faucets, fittings and fixtures which can be easily upgraded later on. Putting the extra cost of this small items can quickly increase a build budget.
Investment in Quality
While a cheap home builder can decide to postpone the frills and the fanciful features to save on cost. There are features and materials in construction that cannot be easily changed and as such a wise home owner will choose to spend more on. Thus, driving up the final build cost of a house.
Hiring a Pro
Many people are often tempted to skimp hiring a professional while trying to build a cheap house. Pros have access to money-saving resources that a first time homeowner might not find on their own.
While I do think there are areas that you can get some great savings on, I really could go on for a while about the fallacy of a Cheap House for only a few thousand naira, but I think I made my point. If I do the math on the topics I covered here you are looking at around N1,500,000 or more plus whatever your time is valued at.
Hope this helps!
