Karen Evans Halm, COO of Spektra Global, a Ghanaian design-build firm, has urged prospective home owners to engage professional architects from the idea stage of their building projects in order to reduce risks and improve project design.

She was speaking on the topic, ‘Project Planning: the journey to owning your home’ at the just ended GHL Bank Housing Fair which was under the theme: ‘It’s good to be home’.

Mrs. Halm stated that owning a home satisfies our shelter needs, which is one of the basic necessities of life, however, “building or buying a house is also an investment that should last a lifetime therefore every home owner needs a project roadmap discussed with an expert for maximum investment returns”. She added.

The project roadmap, she explained, involves planning, which is a key component prior to the commencement of any building project. “The journey to building your dream home starts with a plan of what you want; it is important to create vision boards, put ideas on paper, gather data and assess the financial cost”.

“It is important to enlist the help of a qualified Architect to help you navigate all these”, she added.

Mrs. Halm also urged prospective home owners at the seminar to go through the legal and right procedures when acquiring a land or property. “It is crucial to acquire lands from rightful owners, ascertain the land’s demarcated use, verify documents of the Lands Registry at the Lands Commissions, examine indentures, and complete land acquisition processes by transferring ownership of the land to the buyer and, most importantly, for our Ghanaian setting, physically protect the boundaries of the acquired land”, she said.

Speaking at the event, Head of Corporate Communications at GHL Bank, Mr Kwamena Egyir said the housing fair, which has been in existence for ten years stemmed out of the need to address the housing concerns of their customers and Ghanaians as a whole.

“The joy of addressing the needs of customers is paramount to us and since building or purchasing a house is both time and resource constraining for people, GHL Bank decided to engage the topmost professionals to respond to the needs of the participants of the seminar”. He said.

Mrs. Halm gave exclusive thirty-minute on site consultation to patrons on their building projects in addition to an e-booklet titled Budgeting Guide in Home Building. The guide spells out the key elements in assessing building project cost as well as some techniques to keep a project within budget.

One participant had this to say: “There are a lot of things I hitherto didn’t understand about my building project. However, the architect’s perspective shared at the seminar has enlightened me greatly so now my journey to property acquisition is going to be smooth and hassle free”.