The Process of Building a New Construction Home
Building a new home is an extremely exciting time! The process of planning the build and customizations seem to go really fast and the actual build feels like forever!
During the planning of your new home, there’s a lot of things to keep in mind. While these things may differ in the order that you do them they generally go this way.
Finding the Area
When looking for an area you’ll want to understand what your lifestyle is going to look like for the next chunk of your life is going to looks like that you’ll spend in the home.
Are you going to start a family or stay single? Are you wanting stores to always be open? Do you need to be close to a city or are you in love with the country?
These are really important questions to ask. If you can, drive around different cities that are building and ask yourself if you could see yourself there for the next few years!
Planning on raising a family? Here are a few important things to look at:
- School ratings, class sizes, demographics of the school
- Local Medical Services. Pediatricians, Obstetrics, Hospitals
- Local recreation activities. Sports, outdoor activities, indoor activities
- City demographics. Is this a city where a lot of people are starting families or does it seem more like a single person city?
Finding a builder
Look at the builders in the area you are considering. Do you have any friends that have built recently and can get an opinion on their experience?
For us, picking a builder came down to the area, their floor plans, and recent building experience. It has also been very predictable when we can hear back from our builder, they are reputable and many people have been satisfied with their homes.
Finding the right community for you
Once you know your area and have a few builders in mind you’ll want to research the different communities. These are often schools, religious communities, and HOAs
Would you feel comfortable with sending your children to those schools? While driving around the potential neighborhood do you see people and children that you want your kids to be around? Take a deeper look into these things than you did before while looking at areas as you are closer to finding your potential home.
If religion is important to you, you should see how close the local church you want to attend is. Is the congregation skewed in anyway that you would not be comfortable with? Are the congregants inviting? These are the people you’ll be spending time with for at least a few years of your life.
Finally theres the HOAs. Many new construction communities will have an HOA. Without going into the pros and cons of HOAs, things you’ll need to look for are fees and benefits of the particular HOAs. They are generally less than $50 per month, but will vary depending on the cost of living and amenities. It’s not uncommon to see a pool, clubhouse, and snow removal (if applicable to the area).
Picking a floor plan
When choosing how you are wanting to live your life a floor plan is essential. This also will effect your decision on area, community, and builder.
A quick list of things to ask yourself:
- How many stories would you want and how would that effect your day to day?
- Do you need a master bedroom on the main floor?
- How many bedrooms and bathrooms?
- Where is the kitchen in relation to a main gathering area?
- Are the bedrooms and bathrooms too close or too far away?
- How many ‘hang out spots’ are there?
- Does this plan have an office or can I turn an area into an office if needed?
Picking your lot
Looking at lots is extremely exciting! You are past the first part of the building process and are determining where exactly in the world your dream home is going to be.
While there is a lot of crossover between choosing a lot and a community there are some specifics that are only about the lot. Things to consider include where the sun rises and sets, is your floor plan next to the same floor plan (some builders won’t allow this), where the main road is in relation to the lot.
Choosing your structural changes
So you have a community, floor plan, and lot! Structural changes include the changes that are generally not cosmetic and are difficult or impossible to change after the build is complete.
The changes that are generally impossible to complete after the build is complete include vaulted ceilings in some rooms, a large island in the kitchen, or an outside entrance to the basement.
Some other structural changes to think about include stair railings, a finished or partially finished basement, smurf tube, and any electrical that is not standard.
Choosing your design
Choosing your design is one of the most fun parts of this whole process! You get to choose exactly how you want your house to look. What counter tops, paint colors, cabinet colors and so much more.
If you are going to for a clean white look (what we chose to go for) you might see that choosing some colors might not look as good as others. Be sure to look for colors that mesh well and won’t make your walls or home look yellow.
As for the outside of your home the builder usually has a set of color options for the neighborhood. If you want to paint your home neon green, then it’s important to understand if the homes around you will also be neon colors.
Signing the Contract
Once all of your choices are pick and you know where and how your home will be built, it is time to sign your contract! While you might want to sign right away and get things moving as fast as possible be sure to comb through the contract.
A few things to note in your contract are the exact changes, structural and design, are correct! This is where the builder will pull from to put things in your home.
Another item of importance is the numbers on the contract. If you were able to secure any credits or benefits with the builder, validate that they are shown on the contract. These benefits could include not using a realtor or using their preferred lender.
Finally, on the contract note what the contingencies are for natural disasters or events that would cause them to not be able to finish the home. Also, it’s not uncommon to have a non-refundable deposit on the home that should count towards the purchase price of the home.
Waiting as Patiently as possible
Now that everything is signed and planned out, the waiting begins. During this time they’ll be digging out the foundation, pouring the concrete, and doing the basics to get your home ready for you!
Meanwhile, you can be planning out how you want your home to be decorated. This could also mean shopping the sales for furniture or planning out appliances that do not come in the home.
Some builders will encourage you to drive by and look at the progress they are making. You can also occasionally check in with them to ask about progress.
Structural Walkthrough
In this phase of the home they will have everything framed and wired for you! You might want to do some research on the basic best practices of framing and wiring a home.
If you have a friend or a family member who is familiar or is in this industry you’ll likely be able to bring them along to double check everything.
If you’ve changed any electrical or added plugs in certain places now is the time to validate this. This walkthrough is the bare bones of the home there usually aren’t any cosmetics added to the home except for maybe the counter tops. Now is the time to be picky!
Final Walkthrough
After all the dry wall, paint, counter tops, and other finishes are completed you’ll walkthrough your finished product! If there is anything wrong say it now as this is your last chance before they wrap up.
Allot a fair amount of time to look at all the finishes and validate that they were done to how your contract specified.
If everything looks great then you are one set closer to getting in your home!
Setting up your finances
Like I stated previously builders often have a preferred lender and will offer you benefits for using them. For us, using the preferred lender gave us discounts on upgrades, free landscaping, and helps us save on closing costs.
It will be good to keep/improve your credit as much as possible during building so you can get the best rates the lender offers. Right now at the end of 2020 rates are hovering around 3% or lower for buyers with better credit.
Be aware of PMI, different loan types and if you are going to include two people on the loan (you might get a better loan if you only have one of the loan and two on the title)
Moving In!!!
Once you have the keys you are ready to move in! If your home doesn’t come with some appliances then you might want to buy them so they can be delivered before you move into the home. This could include a fridge, deep freezer, and/or a washer dryer.
Maintenance
Going forward with your home, remember what the contract stated about warranties and be very open with your builder if something needs to be put under the warranty! File a claim as fast as possible to have it repaired and still be covered under the warranty!
Exciting times!
Did I miss anything this basics walkthrough of the process? Let me know in the comments be sure to check out my other posts on the individual topics and happy building!