Building a new construction house is an exciting experience that allows you to build your dream house from scratch. But the process can also be daunting and overwhelming, especially if you don’t know where to begin. With so many decisions to make — selecting a plot of land, choosing the right materials and finishes and assembling your team — it’s essential to come prepared.
Whether you’re a first-time homebuilder or have some experience under your belt, here’s what you can expect when bringing your vision to life.
— Do your research and set a budget.
— Know your design style.
— Find land with utility access.
— Contact your local building department.
— Hire the right experts.
— Start the design process.
— Get financing.
— How long does it take from start to finish?
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Do Your Research and Set a Budget
Before any work can begin, you need to do your research. Figure out exactly what you want, set a budget and learn the building process. “You’ve got to self-educate,” says Robert De Torres, vice president of construction and facilities at construction company Tobin Inc. in Florida. “Start by researching the cost to build and the process.”
There are several resources online to help you before jumping in. De Torres recommends checking out the National Association of Home Builders and finding your local chapter for advice and information about the home building process.
Next, De Torres says you should set a budget before talking to a builder or architect. “What can you live with? What are you looking to spend? What do you have financed or are able to finance? And then add 20% to what you think you’re going to spend,” De Torres adds. “Because that’s probably typical of what most homeowners run into — like they want extras or all of a sudden they want this and that, and their scope changes.”
Know Your Design Style
Before an architect can design your custom home, you need to know your design style. “You should know that before you even talk to the architect because you’re going to pick your architect based on your design style,” De Torres says.
A 2021 survey conducted by the New Home Trends Institute by John Burns Real Estate Consulting asked designers and architects what styles will dominate over the next several years. Contemporary design topped the list, followed by farmhouse, craftsman and midcentury modern.
There are too many design styles to list, so De Torres suggests scrolling through websites like Pinterest to help pinpoint your design style. Knowing your preferred style can also help you when picking out lighting, fixtures and other elements for each room of the house.
Find Land With Utility Access
When you’re looking to buy a plot of land to build your home, the best way is to work with a real estate agent who specializes in land sales and new home construction.
Ari Rastegar, CEO of the Rastegar Property Company in Austin, Texas, recommends working with a local real estate agent or Realtor. “First, you need to know the area that you want. A local realtor will have access to the lots that are available online on the MLS,” Rastegar explains. “The right local broker might even have some off-market opportunities that other people in the market wouldn’t have access to.”
Unless you want to purchase and develop raw land yourself, there are masterplan developments that sell individual lots. “Usually, there are masterplan developments that developers like myself would have,” Rastegar says. “We might be able to offer individual lots for sale within the community where they can come in and purchase a lot with a Realtor or directly from the developer. I highly recommend that if you can buy from the developer directly, you’re going to get a better price point.”
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Contact Your Local Building Department
You’ll need to contact the building department in your local municipality, which will be able to tell you if there are any restrictions when it comes to building on the property, zoning and what permits you need. “They’re going to give you all of the ins and outs of what you can and can’t do on the property,” De Torres says.
Your local municipality will also be the authority to contact for building permits. Before submitting a request, De Torres says you’ll need a survey of the property. The architect you hire will also need a survey of your property before drawing up plans and the contractor will need to know where your property begins and ends before they start construction.
“Everything starts with general building permits,” De Torres says. “Under the building permit, there’s going to be a demo permit, a mechanical permit and electrical plumbing, landscaping, irrigation and possibly a zoning permit. But that all falls under the master permit.”
The building permit is the main permit you’ll need, but the contractor and his or her team will pull the rest of the sub-trade permits, De Torres adds.
Getting all of your permits together takes time. Although it depends on the city, it could take three to six months. “I don’t see 30-day turnarounds even existing anymore,” De Torres says.
Hire the Right Experts
The next step is to assemble your team, namely the architect and contractor. De Torres recommends finding a reputable local architect who is familiar with the rules and regulations in your area. When searching for architects, review their work on their websites and search through social media to see the type of work they produce.
“Make sure it jives with what you want. If you want midcentury modern, you want to find an architect that does midcentury modern,” De Torres says. “You also want to check references from other homeowners.”
Ask your local building department for names of local architects that they’ve worked with. While they aren’t allowed to recommend specific people, De Torres says they can give names of ones you can call. He recommends interviewing at least two.
Picking out a contractor follows the same process, but be sure to find someone you can trust. “A major remodel is an extremely personal and intimate process. You want someone that you trust that you wouldn’t mind having your kid around,” De Torres says. “You need to trust them and make sure they’re reliable and that you’re comfortable with them.”
During the vetting process, check that they’re properly licensed and insured. Every state has a licensing resource you can find online. For instance, Florida has the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, where you can look up contractors, check licenses and insurance and review any complaints made against a company.
There are other professionals you may have to hire directly. For example, De Torres suggests hiring a millwork contractor if you want custom woodwork. This is the person you would want to hire if you want custom work on your home’s interior, such as kitchen cabinetry, molding, shelving and trim. “It usually makes sense to hire that out on your own. You can go through the contractor, but that’s kind of what I would hire out on my own,” he adds.
Start the Design Process
Once you have the architect and contractor, you’ll start the preliminary design process, which is mainly sketches and concept drawings. “I would 100% recommend that the contractor be involved in the design process,” De Torres urges. “Architects are generally great. They do beautiful work. But what I find is that sometimes they don’t design things to be built the most efficient way and that’s where involving the contractor helps in the process.”
The design phase generally takes around two months on its own, but it could be longer depending on how many changes you want to make and the amount of back and forth.
Once you have your design, the contractor can walk you through the true cost of everything and where you could run into problems.
“They’ll give you the slate of issues and it can be completely overwhelming beyond belief, more so than you can ever imagine. When you’re picking out doorknobs all the way down to the lining on the left corridor of the right room. I mean, you can go so far down the rabbit hole,” Rastegar says.
Rastegar and De Torres both suggest hiring an interior designer to help match everything while balancing costs.
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Get Financing
Unless you plan to pay for everything in cash, you need to finance the construction of the house. “Construction loans for custom houses are very hard to come by,” Rastegar says. “You need to have a very large down payment, usually 30% to 35% of the actual cost to build the house.”
Once the house is built, you need a certificate of occupancy to refinance the loan with permanent financing. Contact your local building or zoning inspection office for more information on how to get a certificate of occupancy in your municipality and what documentation you’ll need to provide.
Building a custom home requires a large chunk of change to get started, but Rastegar says if you build it in the right area, you can see a substantial amount of equity almost immediately.
“A lot of times in the growing market, certainly in the Sunbelt region like the Phoenix, Dallas, San Antonio, Raleigh, Tampa and Nashville markets, the house will be worth a lot more than you paid to build it,” Rastegar explains. “And when you procure the construction loan, there’s a lot of equity that can be garnered and created by building custom homes in the right area.”
How Long Does it Take From Start to Finish?
The construction timeline is different for every project, but it will take at least a couple of years before you can think about moving in. If you’re moving at a quick pace with no significant setbacks, Rastegar says it can take two and a half years from design to construction completion.
“A lot of people will tell you it’s 18 months, but it’s just not. You’re talking about all the things that go into approving the loan and the rain and the delays and, you know, all the other stuff that comes along with it,” Rastegar says.
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The Guide for Building a New Construction House originally appeared on usnews.com
