For most consumers, higher price entails a higher quality product. Admit it or not, if you are not knowledgeable about the specifications of a product you are buying, you just depend on its pricing rather than doing your own research. However, this practice might not give you the best value for your budget. As consumers, we should always take into account that a variety of products are available in the market not only as alternatives but for a different purpose as well. Like in the field of construction, there are a lot of factors affecting the high cost of building materials and each type of construction material has a particular purpose to satisfy. Hence, if you are building a house or starting to plan the construction of your real estate investment, it is better if you have an understanding of the factors affecting the construction materials to be utilized for your project. Not only that it gives the best value in your money, but it will also help you communicate and fulfill your desires on your dream real estate project.
Construction is a complex field to understand so we hire experts that can help us on planning and establishing the best property investment that we could have. However, how can we need communicate our preferences so that our project will be successful and caters our needs. You might just be an investor but sometimes the fundamental information is often overlooked even by experts. By having a background knowledge about construction materials or in the construction activity in general is a better scenario. Along with the expertise of your hired professional, your money will attain its best value and all your preferences will be satisfied. With this, we believe that to be a better real estate investor, you must know the factors affecting construction materials especially in the aspect of pricing, quantity, and appropriateness in the project. Ignorance is bliss but when it comes to finances, it is better to be wise to attain the best value on our spendings.
Factors Affecting the High Cost of Building Materials
Understanding the specifications of construction materials is the first step towards evaluating the value or worthiness of what you are paying for. It also gives you an idea of what to expect on the overall quality of your project. However, every industry has jargons which make it hard for average people to understand. That’s why experts are hired. Nevertheless, understanding the basics of construction activity will guide you on the plans of the contractor and also give you an advantage on providing better information regarding your expectations with your property. So, here are the factors which are affecting the high cost of building materials.
- Strength of the Material
Perhaps, the most important among all the factors affecting the high cost of building materials. For better understanding, let’s say that your building or property needs a steel or a different metallic material for it to be established. The steel and other metals have what we call a grading system that dictates its strength. In a layman’s point of view, the higher the grade, the higher its strength and of course, cost. However, the strength of a construction material should not be confused with durability. A strength of a material focuses on the stresses it should withstand such as compression, tension, and shear but practicality wise, not all establishments need the highest grade of steel to be long lasting. That is why you have to be knowledgeable enough to raise these concerns to your hired professional so that negotiations can happen and if possible, compromises may be done to at least lower down the construction costs without sacrificing the quality of the establishment.
- Life or Durability of the Material
There are different alternatives to choose when it comes to building materials. For example, the walling of your property can be constructed with different alternatives like plywood, fiber cement board or others. These kinds of walling have different durability and specifications which makes one a better choice over the other. For instance, fiber cement boards are considered termite resistant unlike plywood but its installation is costlier than the latter choice. However, the long-term maintenance cost are considered lower for the fiber cement board because wood materials are prone to the possibility of termite infestation. Nevertheless, each has its own pros and cons and again, with the expertise of your hired professional, decision and compromises for the construction project may be done appropriately.
- Climate
Currently, building materials have a lot of innovation to make it more resistant to natural phenomena like climate change or sudden weather changes. Weather is the most common reason why the establishments depreciate or deteriorate quickly. With this, if you want it to last more even after withstanding the storms, too much exposure from the heat of the sun and other natural phenomena, you must choose weather resistant materials. However, the more type of resistance it offers, the higher is its price.
- Overhead Costs of Selling the Building Materials
Aside from the overall quality and specification of the materials, we must also account for the overhead costs accrued by the retailer of the said materials. Basically, one factor which inflates the overhead costs is the delivery of the material. Some materials are needed to be imported from far places making its retail price higher to cover the costs of importation. Another factor is the handling and storage fees, some materials are needed to be handled with special care and some takes a lot of storage space in the warehouse. With this, the higher costs of handling and storage serve also as a compromise for materials that cannot be purchased and sold at the moment because of choosing to sell another material over the other. Simply, it can be considered as an opportunity costs for materials that are chosen not to be sold by the retailer.
- Required Skills and Labor for Setting up the Materials
Constructing an establishment is more than just hammering nails, tightening screws, or cutting woods and metals. Sometimes special techniques are needed in installing construction materials or if none, it just takes more time to set up. So, on a bigger perspective, if you want to compute the overall spendings you would incur in choosing a material, you must consider the installation fee as well. It might be durable, weatherproof or its strength is of high grade yet the installation fees are not worth for the main purpose of the project.
- Sustainability
The production of construction materials is one of the contributing factors in the carbon emission issue of our planet. Knowing that each of us is considered a caretaker of our planet, we should be mindful of the products we use for Earth to be livable for the next generation and prevent the drastic destruction of our home planet. Arguably, the material which contributes the greatest carbon emission among all the construction materials is cement or concrete. If possible, it is better to use wood or metal or a combination so that carbon emissions will be lessened. With proper care, wood and metal are recyclable and reusable so if you want to do renovations or alteration on the layout of the building or property, you can try salvaging what can still be reused for your next project.
- Aesthetic Appeal
Art is expensive. Everyone knows that. The better the design, the higher is its price. This is most likely evident when you are choosing the flooring of your property. Ceramic tiles, granite, wood, marble, and stone are among the common flooring choices but the pricing changes depending on its design. Same goes with the roofing choice. Thus, aside from the quality and other specifications, the aesthetic appeal is the other factor affecting the high cost of building materials. So, if you are willing to sacrifice a bit of aesthetic, this is the aspect that can be easily adjusted to incur lower costs of constructing your property.
Understanding the Costing of Building Materials
Even you are a professional or not, you must have an understanding of how the pricing of construction material works. Having the basic knowledge provides you a way to save on the overall construction cost of your property. For sure you do not want to end up spending on something that you do not need, right? For instance, you do not need the highest grade of steel for your home, or the most expensive marble for your flooring as your home is not a royal palace. To simply put, you want to get the best value for your long-term property without overspending in its construction. If possible, you want to incur less maintenance costs to sustain your property.
With this, if you are looking to invest in residential properties, Bria Homes is one of the newest leading real estate developers in the Philippines. It offers various models of house and lots and condominiums which are affordable in price yet constructed with high quality. Furthermore, it caters different financing methods like Pag-IBIG loan and bank housing loan. So, what are you waiting for? Check out the latest offers of Bria from their website. You may also contact them in their social media account for your other queries.
