The Emotional Ride of Building a New Home
You signed up for a new build, and now your brain is busy imagining what it’ll feel like to walk into your finished home for the very first time. But suuuuurrrrrrprise — you didn’t just buy a house… you also climbed onto a rollercoaster.
If you love rollercoasters, great! This one is full of twists, turns, and big highs. It’ll be over before you know it. You might even want to hop back in line and ride again! If thrill rides aren’t your thing, some moments may feel like the longest slow climb of your life. But don’t worry — everyone steps off this ride smiling.
The emotional ride of building a new home is a real one.
Let’s walk through the ups and downs you might feel during the different phases. Since our process is a little different — we complete most of the design and selections before you sign your sales agreement — your emotional journey might not match what you’ve heard from friends who’ve built with other builders.
Of course, everyone experiences things differently. You might feel some of these, all of these, or none at all. We’re not telling you how to feel, but this is what you can expect along the way.
Buckle Up…
- 😊 Initial Meetings & Picking Your Builder – Big Excitement
You’ve dreamed about this home for years, and now you’re actually doing it! Excitement with a little overwhelm might be felt as you interview builders and weigh your options. But, there’s something empowering about choosing the team that will help bring your vision to life. You get to pick the builder whose style, communication, and pricing align with you. Pretty awesome, right?
- 🤨 Budget & Preliminary Pricing – The “Hmm… okay” Phase
Excitement is still high, but now we’re talking real numbers – and that’s when the emotions can dip a little. For some people, their confidence might stay strong because the budget aligns with the dream. For others, this is where reality taps you on the shoulder and whispers, “Hey… maybe we can’t have everything on the Pinterest board.”It’s normal. It’s part of the process. And it’s manageable.
- 😄 Design Phase – Floorplan & Early Selections – Peak Joy
This is the caffeine-fueled high of the entire experience! Seeing your floorplan in 3D, watching your ideas turn into something real, and getting your first glimpse of how everything fits together… it’s pure magic. Your imagination is no longer doing all the heavy lifting — now you can see your home coming to life. You might even fall asleep with a smile on your face as you think about what it will be like to drift off in your dream home. Except, soon it won’t be a dream – it will be your reality.
- 😔 Price Check-Up – A Small Dip (Totally Normal)
Here’s where emotions take a tiny slide downward. A price check-up might reveal that you’ve gone a bit over budget in a few areas… or it might confirm you’re right on track. Either way, try to embrace this step — it exists to protect you from unpleasant surprises later. Think of it like checking your gas tank before a road trip. It’s much better to know where you are at, now than to find out on the highway in the middle of nowhere.
- 😵💫 Mid-Project Slump – A Little Stress, A Lot Overwhelmed
At this point in the journey, you’ve probably entered the “my brain is mush” stage. You’ve met with suppliers, looked at what feels like 10,000 products, compared finishes you never even knew existed, and now you have quotes to approve and decisions to finalize. It’s a lot — this is the emotional ride of building a new home, and you’re right in the thick of it. Decision fatigue is totally normal here. If you’re the indecisive type, this phase might come with a meltdown or two (we’ve seen them, we don’t judge). If choices are your happy place, you might actually thrive here — some homeowners genuinely love this stage. Either way, it’s the midpoint of the rollercoaster, and it’s okay if you’re feeling a bit wobbly.
- 😬 Final Pricing & Sales Agreement – A Solid Wave of Anxiety
Oooof! This is where everything becomes official. Numbers are finalized, paperwork is signed, and the real commitment kicks in. But since you’ve been working with Lexis, you’ve already made the majority of the key decisions and have been getting transparent pricing updates along the way. Our price confidence program means you know the cost before you sign on the dotted line — so there’s far less chance of that steep drop-off moment.Still, even the most confident homeowners feel a flutter of nerves here. Think of it like sending the wedding invitations: for real, it’s happening. No backing out now… and that can be both thrilling and terrifying. Totally normal.
- 😀 Construction – Excitement With a Side of “Wow, This Is Real”
The moment construction begins, your energy usually perks right back up. Seeing the crew on-site, watching dirt move, and spotting the first signs of your future home rising from the ground is incredibly energizing. This is where all your earlier decisions start taking physical shape. For many homeowners, this is an emotional second wind.
- 😁 Framing – Big Visual Progress, Big Emotions
Framing day is magical. Walls go up, room shapes appear, and suddenly you’re walking through spaces you’ve only ever seen on paper. It’s one of the most exhilarating stages because the transformation is so fast and dramatic. This is often the moment homeowners say, “Okay… now I can really see it.”
- 🥴 Rough-Ins – A Slight Dip in Excitement
The important behind-the-scenes work: plumbing, electrical, HVAC, and insulation. Critical? Absolutely. Visually exciting? Not so much. This phase can feel slower, more technical, and a bit tedious — and there are often a lot of decisions to make in a short amount of time, which can add to the overwhelm. Things like electrical walk-throughs aren’t always as exciting as picking flooring or paint colours, and many homeowners experience an emotional dip here.
- 🙃 Home Stretch – Impatience, Exhaustion, and “Are We There Yet?”
As you move into the final weeks, emotions tend to swirl together. Final paint and finishing touches are happening. It’s sooo close, but still feels so far away. You’re excited, you’re exhausted, you’re imagining where your furniture will go — and you’re counting down the days. Everything is real now, and the wait feels endless. This is totally normal. It’s like being on the last hour of a long road trip. You know you’re close, but somehow that last hour feels the longest.
- 🤩 Possession Day – PURE, NEVER-ENDING EXCITEMENT
And then… it’s here. The absolute peak moment. Possession day is one giant burst of joy. You finally step into the home you dreamed about, designed, waited for, and emotionally rode a rollercoaster to reach. This is the high point of the entire journey — and it’s a thrill that sticks with you for years.
Building a home isn’t just a project — it’s an emotional adventure. You’ll have highs that make you feel like you’re flying, lows that make you question everything, and moments where you’re convinced your brain has officially left the chat. The key to surviving the emotional ride of building a new home is to communicate often and trust your builder to get you to the finish line. Through every twist, turn, loop, and slow climb, you’re getting closer to the place where all of this becomes worth it: walking in your new front door.
Once you step foot inside the home you’ve been dreaming of, you might just say, “Okay… yeah, I’d do that ride again.”
