Everything You Need to Know About
Custom Home Building
Building Your
Dream Home 101
Building a Custom Home with all the amenities that you have always
wanted can be an anxiety producing proposition or it can be organized in
such a way that the "glitches" can be kept to a minimum.
We work
through the entire process with you from selecting the lot to handing over
the keys to your finished new home. Here are the steps that we
will go through:
The first order of
business is to obtain financing. Once you have all the financing in
place so that you know what size loan you qualify for, what your payments
will be, and how the payments to the contractor(s) for work in progress
are paid, you will be able to make educated decisions about costs.
You will know why there are separate loans for land acquisition and for
construction and what a 'take-out' loan is.
Now we start looking for a home site. Are you interested in
acreage or a suburban sized lot in a gated community? Is foothill
living with septic tanks and wells instead of sewers and city water
something that you have considered? Once you have chosen the
lifestyle and location of the community for your new home we will begin
looking for the home site.
Each possible home site will need to be examined for easy access. Are
roads already in or do you have to develop and maintain a private road?
Will heavy
equipment have any problems getting to the site? What is the best
orientation for a building with respect to the sun? Are there any
CC&Rs or zoning requirements that restrict use of the lot? What
easements are on the property that may restrict its use?
Investigating these issues before we write an offer will save time, money,
and agony. The general contractor that we have chosen will be a
great resource in getting these questions answered for us.
Also in the contract with the general contractor, we will specify that
the materials used will provide the most efficient energy use and we will
spell out what the cost of change orders will be during construction.
Will landscaping be included? Making all these decisions before the
contract is drawn up with your general contractor will save time and
money.
Designing the home is one of the most important aspects of the
process. Who designs the home--can you use 'stock plans' or draw
plans yourself, or do you need an architect? You will need to spend
time doing your "homework". You can visit production subdivisions to
get ideas, read books, watch videos, talk to other people who have built
custom homes, order and study magazines with home plans, and talk to
architects. You will need to keep in mind the elements that will
make the resale of the home possible also.
Fitting the finished product to your budget is also something to keep
in mind. A general contractor can give you an idea of cost per square foot
(depending on the quality of materials and extras that you want.)
After decisions have been made on the design, the next step is for the
contractor to get permits. The cost of the permits will be included
in the contract with the general contractor.
We will go over the timing of the project and what inspections will
need take place.
We will make sure
that your insurance carrier adds coverage for the workers on your job site
along with the possibility of worker's compensation, liability and
builder's risk insurance, if needed. There may be a need for natural
disaster insurance during construction. You wouldn't want to lose
your investment because of a brush fire.
We will discuss what liens are, what they accomplish, and how do you
protect yourself from them?
Keeping the process under control requires checklists. Using and
customizing home-building checklists and scheduling tools to keep
the sequence of events organized helps to maintain control of the
construction decisions.
The best part happens now -- your new home is complete and you move in.
We will work together to make your dream home a reality with as few
problems as possible.
Building Your
Dream Home 101
