Building a House, Contractors, Lessons Learned
If it’s your first time to build a house, and you hired a friend to be your contractor because you trusted him, you’ll probably discover that later down the road, you’ve already exceeded your agreed budget, and that your house is still a long way off from being completed.
Yes, live and learn. Here are some lessons I learned which I hope will help you have a more enjoyable time building your house…
1. Your friend is not your contractor or contratista. Your contractor is not your friend. Dispel all those silly notions of “he will take care of me because he is my friend.” The truth is, that contractor is a business person.
2. Don’t let your contractor prepare the plans for you. Hire an independent third-party. Budget around P40k for architectural plans.
3. A third-party will be responsible for computing your Bill of Materials. Do not show that cost estimate to your contractor.
4. Don’t fall for the: “We’ll build it for you for only P10,000 per square meter!” This is misleading, because different parts of the house will have different costings per square meter.
5. Building a two-storey house? Budget around P18,000 to P20,000 per square meter. Set aside 15% of the total cost for items you may have missed.
Will add tips in future, so that future homeowners may benefit and enjoy a stress-free build your dream house project. 
