As I find myself now in the position of searching for a new home, I'm reminiscing about the time when I built my first home over in Lincoln. Everything was new. Everything was mine. And the whole process of ups and downs, joys and frustrations was something I look forward to going through again someday in the future. If building a home instead of buying an already built one is something you aspire to tackle, today I'd like to cover a few of the lessons I learned in the process and hopefully better prepare you for this awesome project.

At the time of my construction I was working in a real estate office full time. This position afforded me the flexibility of blurring the lines between "working" and "working on my house". I was also fortunate to have a boss that loved construction and home design so he tended to jump right in when I asked a question or needed some advice. A different boss in a different industry would likely not have been so patient. "I encourage first time home builders to get their hands on an experienced mentor to help out with some of the decisions," notes Badger Peabody & Smith Realty agent (formerly Badger Realty), Norman Head. "Having someone who has gone through this before alleviates a bit of the stress and helps the new builder see things from a different perspective," he continued.

I mention that because one of the most demanding parts of the construction process is the decision-making. I'm not great at making big decisions quickly so many of the choices that had to be made took me longer to settle on and required a bit more research. Shifting the kitchen wall a foot or two this way or that way was exhausting. When you are so deep in the project it is challenging to pick your head up and take a breath. The one thing I wished I had kept at the front of my mind is that this was not going to be the final home I ever lived in. Those decisions were important, but were not so critical that they deserved all of that attention (and stress!).

The other factor that plays a big role in construction as well as remodeling projects is who the house/remodeling project is "for". If you are building the home, like I was, with the direct intent of selling it in the very near future, you have to adjust your decisions and priorities accordingly. About half of the decisions I made for my home were based on the notion of "someone else" living there. I wanted to be sure that the house wasn't so customized to my tastes and needs (at the time) that buyers would find it strange or unattractive.

As I noted above, one of the best parts about building a new home is that everything is brand new. Nobody has lived there before and nobody's messes or germs are anywhere to be found. My budget called for hand-me-down appliances and even a "pre-loved" kitchen. But knowing that I was the first person to walk across a floor, shower in the bathroom and brush my teeth in the sink was a very welcome treat. It also meant that there was no one to warn me about certain creeks and noises in the middle of the night. It turns out new homes do a fair bit of "settling" and make a fair bit of noise.

Another sneaky surprise for first time builders is that your budget gets bloated more than you expect. I was on a rather tight budget, but after getting proposals and estimates and getting creative with appliances and other big-ticket items, I felt comfortable jumping in. Inevitably there are bumps in the road, unexpected twists and turns and just about all of them cost more money. I also had a very helpful, conscientious and creative builder working on my home. The blessing was his insight and good ideas. The curse was that his good ideas seemed to always cost me more money. I still wouldn't change a single thing we did.

If you are like me and are expecting to do a fair bit of the work yourself, you are likely aware that there will be dirt, mud, snow, dust and then even more dust during the process. There were times when I assumed there would never be a time I would live in the home without sawdust on the floor. It is a bit overwhelming. But I was the only one building in the area and as soon as we were done, the noise and dust stopped. If you are building a home in an area that is currently under lots of new construction, it is important to realize it will be dirty, dusty and noisy for a while. It might make sense to get a feel for how long this is going to go on before moving in.

The privilege of building your very own home is something I hope everyone gets to enjoy someday. There's lots of planning, countless decisions and a fair bit of stress involved for sure. But every sleepless night and fretful decision was well worth it. If you are a bit tentative to jump in on a whole house, maybe try a tree-house for your kids first! It's a similar process without all the stress!