Dream Houses

American dream homes are somewhat of a national fascination. With shows like Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, MTV's Cribs, and all of the celebrity gossip shows, we can't get enough images of the good life. In reality, however, most of us realize that it is a lot of work to get set up with a dream house. Dream houses do not come cheap, and just saving up to buy one can be a matter of years of work. Still, with perseverance and a lot of luck, anyone can one day own the house of his or her dreams.

When I was a kid, I assumed that everyone built their own dream houses. After all, I had a very vivid image of the house of my dreams in my head. It only made sense that one day, I would move to an unoccupied area and put it up. As I got older, I realized that buying a house was a lot more common. With the number of perfectly built houses already available, many people assume that building your own home is not worth all of the work and expense.

There is something to be said for buying dream houses. The housing market is so volatile right now that, with a little luck and a few connections, you can get a really good deal on a home. Most people are willing to relocate to where the best housing and job opportunities are, so finding the house of your dreams is easy if you are willing to travel far afield.

A few years ago, however, I realized that building your own home can make a lot of sense if you really have a vision. I work as a web developer, so I can be basically anywhere and do my work over the Internet. As such, I discovered that it made a lot more sense for me to think of cheap places to build dream houses than to buy an inflated one in an already crowded housing market. I have been scouting property in Nova Scotia, Maine, and a number of other places, looking for the perfect piece of real estate to buy. It can be a bit more expensive to hire contractors to build dream houses in remote parts of the country, but the land is so much cheaper that it more than balances out. I can not wait to find the perfect spot to build the house of my dreams.