This is a question that only you can answer. Most people just plunge into the process of building without assessing whether they are ready at this point in their life to undertake a project of this magnitude. However, I believe that building a custom home can and should be enjoyable. I also believe there is a greater chance that the experience will be positive and satisfying if you can definitively say, “Yes, I am ready.” To help you, just answer the following 15 questions. There are no right or wrong answers. Be honest with yourself, and then you decide.

1. Do I (we) comfortably make decisions and stick with them? 
          Yes      No
2. Can I (we) remain calm and rational when something unexpected goes wrong?
          Yes     No
3. Can I (we) give up control when I know someone else has more knowledge and      experience than I do? 
          Yes      No
4. Do I (we) know what I (we) want in a house?
          Yes      No
5. Am I (are we) realistic about my (our) budget?
          Yes     No
6. Am I (are we) realistic about what I want in a house based on my (our) budget?  
          Yes     No
7. Are my (our) family relations strong and stable enough to deal with the added stress of building a home?
          Yes     No
8. Do I work well with other people?
         Yes     No
9. Do I (we) have enough money in reserve to weather some unexpected financial expenses and still be  comfortable with completing and paying for the house?
         Yes     No
10. Do I (we) have the time over the next year or two to devote to working on having a custom home built?
         Yes     No
11. Do I resolve differences of opinion with my spouse easily so that undue strain is not placed on the relationship?
         Yes     No
12. Will I (we) be happy with a house that is well built, an excellent product and exemplifies high industry standards, but is not perfect? 
         Yes     No
13. Do I need to have complete control of projects most of the time?
         Yes    No
14. Am I in a hurry to have this house built? 
         Yes     No
15. Do I expect perfection? 
         Yes     No

If you answered “yes” to the first 12 questions and “no” to the last 3, then you are definitely ready to build.  You may be ready to build even if you had different answers on 3 or 4 questions. But if you differed on 5 or more then consider waiting to build. Or you may just want to buy an already existing home.