Hello! If you are looking for a blog about the process of building a custom home, you found it! Full disclosure, this is the first new build I have ever been involved with from start to finish. I am going to take you on this journey as we experiencing it. It doesn’t mean I am entirely correct on the process, but I am going to tell you what we have done and what has worked or not worked for us. Who is this we I speak of? My husband (Todd) and I. He owns Klecka Builders, LLC. Together we are a design-build company, however we work under our individual business names. We work on projects without each other as well, so it’s best (easiest) for us to work under our respective names.
Ok, so let’s start at the beginning. Our clients are repeat clients. Originally they were looking for a home that Todd would remodel. It was nice because we were able to look at some homes they were thinking about buying, before they purchased. So Todd was able to give them approximate estimates before putting in an offer. Since the real estate market is so inflated, by the time they purchased a home and underwent renovations, it would cost as much or more than it would to build. Ultimately this is what they decided so that they could have everything they needed/wanted in a home. Stay tuned because my husband wasn’t the original builder on this project!
I’m going to give you steps 1-5 in the order we did things, but explain in the order everything should have been done.
Step 1: Buy the property
Step 2: Find the plans
Step 3: Hire an interior designer
Step 4: Hire the builder
Step 5: Have architect revise plans
Now for the order we should have done things:
Step 1-Buy the property. We got this step right! Our clients found a beautiful piece of land on Hamlin Lake, just north of Ludington, Mi. This is almost an hour and a half away from where we live, so the Realtor recommended a local builder. We started working with him, but the numbers just didn’t work. As the designer I had the estimate from said builder. I was talking through it with Todd and he saw ways to cut the costs. So even though it’s a hike up there, Todd put together his pricing and the numbers worked. Congrats Todd, you are building a house!
This whole process started just over a year ago. It was drawn out for a few reasons. It does take time but a year was a bit extreme. And knowing what I know now, we did things out of order. Hiring the builder is not step 2. It is almost impossible for a builder to give accurate estimates when they don’t know what they are building. Fortunately for Todd, he was able to see my designs so he knew the details. If you tell a builder you want a 2,000 sq foot house, there’s no way for him to say, ok it will be $x per foot. It all depends on the level of quality, detail, ceiling height, etc. You can have builder grade or luxury or everything in-between in a 2,000 sq foot house! I will say though, if you work with a big builder, they have their numbers dialed it. However, you will also pay big builder prices. They have more overhead, and more experience. So yes they should be paid a higher amount. But if you are patient and want the best quality for a more affordable price, stick with the smaller builders!
Step 2: Find house plans as similar as possible to what you want. We got this one right too. They did find the plans, but we ended up going with a smaller layout once the original builder gave them his quote so it did it’s job. We were able to narrow down the style of the home, the needed bedroom and bathroom counts, as well as the function of the space plan. When they found the smaller plan we were able to adjust it so that it functioned better for them.
Step 3: This and the following steps are a chicken and egg situation.The interior designer needs the builders allowances to know what to specify. The builder needs the architects plans to know what they are building to get accurate quotes. The architect needs to know the design features from the designer so they know what to draw. If you can find a design-build firm steps 3-5 will all work together, making it more efficient and easier for everyone. But, if you want to work with individuals, I recommend hiring an architect for step 3. They will revise the plan you found, based on what you need and want. I will go into more detail in the next blog post, where you will be able see the original layout for this project. I do have a minor in Architecture so I was able to work on the space plan of the home (which actually is one of my favorite parts of the job). But it costs less and speeds up the process to have an architect draw 2D plans than to have an interior designer design everything first. Not that a designer is expensive, but if an architect has the plans ready, a builder can get accurate quotes from their suppliers. So if you find out that house is over budget and you need to start over with a smaller layout or house with less architectural details, you didn’t just pay your designer money to design something you can’t afford to build.
Step 4: Interview and/or hire builder. At this point you can start your search for the perfect builder. Find one that is willing to work with an interior designer. There are builders that understand that a designer is an asset. We take A LOT of the work off his shoulders. Also be sure they understand your designer will make some changes. And this is a good thing.
Step 5: Hire interior designer. Thats right, I put myself as step 5 even though I actually started this project as step 3! You’ll want to connect me with your builder immediately. Because I will assess more about your needs/likes/wants I will make recommendations on changes on the way things flow as well as how they look, he will need to know this pretty quickly. He will let me know the allowances for your finishes so I know what products to specify. For instance if you want hardwood floors but his figures cover LVT, I need to know this.
Step 6: The bank/credit union. Now it’s time to figure out the financing. I am going to backtrack a little here. During your search for property, you should have come up with what you can afford. Get some prequalified numbers. You definitely don’t want to get to this step thinking you can get a loan for $800,000 only to find out you are approved for $500,000. For new construction projects a bank will not look at hard numbers with out the architects plans or the builders numbers. They need to make sure the home you plan to build is worth the amount you are asking to finance. The builder will also need to go through a risk management process if they aren’t already on the credit union’s list of approved builders. I can’t comment on specific credit unions numbers, but I do know they require a certain percentage down and you need to show that you have it in the bank before they will approve you.
Ok that’s enough for now! My next post will show details on the layout. Then we will get into the process that happens after the loan closes and the physical building process really begins!
