Hi TS,

I am planning to build a house on family-owned land. I know there's not much details but...

1) Is RM300k to RM350k enough to build a modern design 2-storey bungalow large enough to house a family with 4 kids?

2) What would be the cheapest way to legally build this house in terms of choosing the cheapest process? My thoughts are:

i) Engage an architecture firm to design a house up to Bill of Quantity (BoQ) stage (on a side-note: is this ethical? and if I am upfront about it what would the architecture firm think?)
ii) Tender out the BoQ to 3 contractors

3) What is the average timeline I am looking at from engaging an architectural firm to receiving the house keys? Is it 1.5 to 2 years?

4) Let's say right now it's only us as a couple with no kids. So to reduce construction cost we decide to partially build our home first, with the idea to complete the other sections/rooms at a later stage as we get more financially stable and/or more kids. Is this advisable, if yes, what way would you recommend the 1st phase of the bungalow to be built? My friend said it is more economical to expand horizontally rather than vertically in the future.