Lots of people dream about it—buying a piece of land and building a custom home just for them. A place that fits their unique needs, works for their family, and looks exactly how they want it to look.
However, for those who have never gone through the building process—or even if you have—it can feel pretty overwhelming. There are countless moving pieces, numerous parties to engage with, and so many details to manage that it can be hard to know where to begin!
Want to build a house? Start here!
Don’t worry, I’m here to help you navigate through the process, step by step. Let’s get started!
First, keep in mind that this process can span anywhere from six months to several years, depending on how quickly you want to get your house built. There are other factors that are out of your control; things like scheduling designers and getting the plans right can add time to the design phase, while scheduling subcontractors, seeking regulatory approval, and lead times during construction can add to the construction timeline.
So, make sure to bookmark this page so that you can refer back to it whenever you need to.
If you’re new to the process, it’s helpful to have an understanding of what the process is and to get a sense of the big picture. Below is a diagram that illustrates the major steps that need to happen to get you into your new home. Many of these things can happen simultaneously, while other steps will depend on the step beforehand. Keep in mind, home building is not usually a linear process and every one is unique.
Now, let’s get into more detail. One of the first steps that you can start today, yes right now, is to start to brainstorm and set goals for your project.
The first thing you’ll want to do is establish a clear vision of your dream home. Start by asking yourself some key questions: What size home are you looking for? How many bedrooms and bathrooms do you need? Do you have a specific architectural style that you prefer? What are your goals for your new home? Consider your lifestyle and future needs as well. It’s important to have a solid understanding of what you want before moving forward.
- Assess Needs & Lifestyle: Reflect on how you live daily. Do you need a home office, extra bedrooms for a growing family, or a dining area that can host guests?
- Create a Wish vs Want List: List features, spaces, and amenities that are non-negotiable and those that are flexible. You may need to cut things out if things get expensive so set priorities.
- Establish Goals: Envision how you want your home to reflect your lifestyle, values, and future plans. Consider writing a “project brief” or “mission statement”. Is this a home you plan to grow old in? Or will you end up selling it in five years?
- Define a program: This is essentially a list of the rooms you want in your house and roughly how big they. Here’s an article that explains how in more detail. If you’re struggling, an architect or designer can help you with this step.
- Start to gather information and inspiration. Check out Ways to Develop a Vision for Your New Home for ideas and sources.
This step should happen simultaneously with building a budget and finding land since both tasks may inform a more realistic vision.
As you develop a clear vision for your future home, the next step is to create an overall project budget. It’s not just about how much it costs to build the house; there are many costs to consider: buying property, preparing it to be built on, the professionals you may have to hire along the way, etc.
Some things to consider:
- How much money do you have in savings and how much of that savings are you willing to put towards the project?
- Think about your safety net. Understand that home building almost always costs more than you think it will regardless of how much you research or get input from professionals. Think about your contingency.
- Whatever you can’t pay for upfront will have to be financed. What will the bank approve? Determine your financing options.
- If you own your land outright, that can often be used as collateral for your construction loan.
Creating a budget poses a challenge: understanding the cost of the house you wish to build is essential, but accurate estimates are only possible with a design in hand. Having detailed drawings enables you to obtain quotes from contractors, yet this requires an initial investment for those plans. There’s a possibility that the construction costs for your design could exceed your budget.
Another method you can do in the meantime is research the market. Find new houses that have just been built in the area to give yourself a sense of what it may cost.
Steps to take:
Once the construction is complete, the construction loan may be converted into a traditional mortgage, or you may choose to refinance the loan altogether. This allows you to transition from the construction phase to the long-term financing of your home.
If you need help documenting the costs associated with construction and want to keep track of a budget throughout the process, I’ve created a spreadsheet that’s available to purchase for a nominal price.
Here are some other articles you might find useful:
This is where it starts to feel real! Now it’s time to find and purchase a piece of property. I always recommend owning the property before you have construction drawings made so that the house plans can respond to the unique features of the site. If you already have your dream plans, they can always be adapted. Here are the steps to take:
Site Evaluation
The more information you know before you buy, the better. Although a piece of property might look perfect, there are many reasons why it might not be – you need to be sure the land is buildable. Land with surveys, testing, and septic designs eliminates some of the guesswork. You may choose to perform tests before buying which could save you money in the long run if it fails.
- Hire Land Surveyor: They map property boundaries, wetlands, and topography, and can help identify any legal restrictions. Basic surveys sometimes part of the sales agreement for the land. Surveyors can also help with zoning laws and include things like setbacks on their drawing. Some of your other consultants will need the survey to create their designs.
- Soil Testing: Analyze soil composition for foundation requirements(if needed) and perc tests for septic systems.
- Environmental Assessments: Identify any environmental issues that need addressing like wetlands, protected species or, contamination from a prior use.
- Public Utilities: Make sure you know what’s available for public sewer, water, gas, and electricity.
- If you’ve hired an architect or builder already, bring them on a site walk before purchasing. They may have some valuable insight.
Building a house requires a village; a team of professionals, family, and friends that can help you through the various parts of your build. Some projects require more help than others depending on your abilities and the complexity of the home. To give you an idea, here’s a list of all the parties that may be involved.
The most critical decision you’ll make at this point is whether to hire a general contractor, design-build team, or self-build (meaning you’re the contractor).
A general contractor manages the construction process and hires all the sub-contractors based on a design that you give to them. Asking for bids from several GCs allows you to compare cost estimates.
A design/builder is a single point of contact that handles the design and construction of your home.
There are a lot of pros and cons to each. We’ve laid them out in this article.
Even with construction experience, being an owner/builder is challenging and time-consuming. Make sure you do research and know what you’re in for beforehand. One major mistake or oversight (or a few minor ones) could add up to the cost of a GC, not to mention the headaches and time spent along the way.
Next Steps:
- Assemble your design team: Find an architect who resonates with your aesthetic and functional preferences. Determine what other design professionals you need for your project and bring them on board.
- Create a list of general contractors you plan to reach out to when the drawings are complete.
- If you’re going the design/build route: Find, research, interview, and hire a design/build team.
- If you’re going the owner/builder route: Assemble a list and research potential sub-contractors for all of the work you plan to hire out.
- If you haven’t already done so, start any land development work you plan to do before construction starts.
- You should be wrapping up your vision at this point to share with the team.
- Make sure to update your budget as you get more detailed and accurate information.
Here are a few more topics that might be of interest to you:
Now is the time to work with your designer or architect to create drawings and specifications for your home. They will create detailed drawings that incorporate your preferences while adhering to local building codes. Be sure to communicate your needs clearly to ensure your design aligns with your lifestyle. The clearer you communicate your vision, the more likely the designer will achieve it.
The role that the designer plays can vary widely, depending on what you are looking for.
- They can develop simple drawings at a low cost, perhaps based on sketches you’ve already made to minimize their design time. The drawings will have enough detail to convey the idea, but it will require the contractor to “fill in the gaps” of work not indicated on the drawings.
- Or the designer can be involved from beginning to end, helping you evaluate land choices, develop your spatial needs, fully detail things like kitchen cabinets and built-ins, complete the drawings, and review the work while it’s under construction.
- Or anything in between. Just make sure that it’s clearly defined in the contract.
The design process should be iterative where you can see and approve the design at several milestones, or phases, along the way. There are typically three design phases: schematic design, design development, and construction documents. Your agreement with your designer should indicate what is and isn’t included in their work.
Once the design and drawings are in a good place, other designers can use them to do their work. Once the drawings are finished (or close to it) you can use them to get pricing estimates and seek regulatory approvals.
- Make sure to share the hard work that you’ve put together in the “create a vision” step.
- Share any existing information you have (like the survey, test reports, etc.) It’s better to give more information then to accidentally leave something out.
- Make sure your designer is aware of any HOA, neighborhood, or historic design requirements.
- Work with your designer to determine if other engineers or consultants are needed. Bring them on board as soon as possible!
We have a series of design guides for the typical rooms of your home:
If you’ve chosen to hire a general contractor and have a complete set of drawings, you can start the bidding process. This involves providing builders with the construction documents, and they will provide you with an estimate for completing the work. You’ll also want to use this time to interview them to make sure they are the right fit for your project. You’ll want to know about their schedule, the terms of their contract, and whether you get along personally.
Things to consider:
- Reaching out to several general contractors is a good way to compare costs and feel confident in what you’re spending.
- The better the drawings, the better their estimates. This means more up-front costs for better drawings. Simple drawings can still lead to a successful project, it just means that the contractor will have to use more allowances or assumptions to fill in the gaps.
- Don’t expect an estimate overnight. It typically takes a couple of weeks to turn around a decent estimate.
- Some general contractors may charge a fee. A good estimate takes time and if they are busy, they may want to ensure you’re not wasting theirs.
Once estimates come in, they should be vetted to make sure that they are apples-to-apples, meaning they include the same amount of work and quality of product used. Ask what they are carrying for allowances vs what they can price accurately from the drawings.
If you are an owner/builder, you’ll be reaching out to each individual trade, vetting their estimates, and eventually hiring them.
Permits and Approvals
Getting your construction drawings approved is a crucial step in bringing your new home to life. Some of this will be done by the contractor, some will need to be done by you. Depending on where you live, you may need to obtain:
- Demolition Permit: If existing structures are to be removed.
- Building Permit: Issued by your local government to ensure compliance with building codes and regulations.
- Zoning Approval: When needed, usually for things like variances.
- Neighborhood Approvals: With an HOA or a historic district, for example.
Check with your local building department to make sure you know what’s needed. Also, make sure that it’s clear in your contract with your GC who is responsible for costs and submissions.
If you’re subject to zoning approvals, historic districts, or neighborhood meetings, a local architect can assist you if you feel you need the help.
Tip: Make sure to meet with these organizations beforehand to understand what they require of you. Find out how long their approval process takes so you can schedule accordingly.
Now is when you can start to see your vision come to life! Construction starts with land development, excavating for foundations, through framing, up until paint is on the walls. There are too many steps to list here, but I have another post that describes the overall construction process.
Here are some general tips:
- Make sure you (or the GC) have all approvals required.
- Start with a schedule: make sure it’s clear what the order of operations and critical paths are. This is the GC’s responsibility if you’ve hired one.
- Inspections will happen during construction. Although it seems like a hassle, they are there to ensure you’re meeting code requirements and that your home is safe. My tip: they are better as your friend than as your enemy. Be polite and proactive if you think there is an issue. Make sure inspections are accounted for on the schedule.
- Make sure to visit the project regularly. These visits are a balance of asking questions/catching issues and not nitpicking/giving space to the workers. It’s better to bring issues up to the GC than the tradesmen – this is the GC’s job.
You’re almost there! There are a lot of things that need to happen in this phase, but none of them as exciting as watching your home come together. Nevertheless, this phase is just as important. Here are the major steps:
- Punch List: You will do a final walk-through with your builder to document all of the minor tasks or repairs that need to be made. This list is called the “punch list”. It usually includes things like paint tough-ups, re-aligning a door, or adjusting a cabinet drawer.
- Final Inspections: Your home will undergo a final inspection to ensure it complies with building codes. When approved, you will be issued a Certificate of Occupancy – the document that states that you can legally live in your home.
- Substantial Completion: This is the milestone where you are legally able to live in your home and the work is complete except for the work identified in the punch list. This is also when the contractor is due all of their payments minus the cost of the punch list work. Substantial completion also marks the beginning of the warranty period.
- Document Handover: The contractor will hand over warranty information and operation manuals. Your contractor may walk you through how to operate essential home systems, like the electrical panel, heating and cooling controls, and emergency shut-offs.
- Final Payment: When all invoices and retainers are paid, ensure that you receive all lien waivers to protect you from future claims against your property.
- Secure Homeowner’s Insurance: Protect your investment.
- Set Up Utilities & Services: Activate electricity, water, internet, etc.
- Move-In: Your home should have had its final cleaning (check your contract) and now you’re ready to move in.
I hope this overview, along with the extra links, has given you some helpful insights into the home building process. Doing your research, assembling a great team of experts, and keeping communication open and clear are all key factors that can really make your project a success.
Remember, I have a budget spreadsheet and home building checklist available to purchase. Please consider it if you’ve found this material helpful.
Image Source: Photo by Avel Chuklanov on Unsplash