Building your dream home should be an exciting process. We enjoy building homes and we try to pass that excitement on to our customers. Even if you’ve built a custom home before, it is easy to get overwhelmed and lost along the way. This is a brief summary of our process. In your homeowner’s manual we will provide a much more thorough procedures list to guide you through the construction process, but this will get you started.
Planning
Pull out all of those ideas and wishes you’ve been storing away for that next home. Make a wish list; room by room and floor by floor. We need to decide on the size and specifications of your home with questions like:
- Where do you want to build? The size and shape of a lot, as well as the restrictions of a community are important factors in designing a house.
- What size home do you want? Square footage alone does not dictate price. The amenities, materials and location you choose are just as critical to price.
- How many bedrooms would you like?
- How many bathrooms?
- Single floor or two?
- Master on the first floor or second floor?
- Living room or great room design? In a great room we ditch the formal living room and make the kitchen/family room into the gathering area of the home.
- What size garage? Oversized for a truck or storage?
- Additional rooms? Media, game, billiard, craft, wine storage, library, study, exercise, accessible storage.
- Accessibility issues? Do you need wheel chair access to all or part of the home?
- Elevator? For accessibility or convenience.
- In which areas do you want the most space? Where do you live most often in the home?
- What style of home? Country farmhouse, Italian Villa, etc.
We will discuss every aspect of the home in detail to fit your needs. We will provide you with our standard specifications and give you the opportunity to customize any detail to make the home yours.
Budgeting - “How much will my home cost?”
No matter how large the home, all of our customers have a budget. Our job is to get you the most house within your budget.
The cost of your home is determined by four main things - location, size, complexity of design and amenities. The key is to find the right balance of all four to fit your budget. We will work with you to identify your priorities, design the home and make selections to fit your budget.
Lot Purchase
Your lot is a major factor in determining the size and layout of your home. It is important to select and hold the lot as early in the process as possible so as not to lose it to someone else.
Design
Either working with Gray Family Homes and our designer, or with your own designer, we’ll design a home plan that fits your lot, your budget and your needs. We will review the design and calculate an estimate for building your home.
Selections
Finalize the design of the home and many of the selections in the home. Most selections are finalized prior to construction to maintain the pace of construction. We streamline this process as much as possible to allow you to make selections within your budget with as little stress as possible. You can meet with our sub-contractors and visit design centers, however most of our customers prefer to make a few important selections and let us use those to create design boards for you to approve for the remaining details.
Contract Signing
Using your design, your selections and allowances, we will establish a price for building your home. Sign the contract, agreeing to the price, specifications and terms and we will begin building your new home.
Financing
Construction financing is very similar to buying a completed home. You will secure a construction permanent loan from your bank or lending institution. The bank approves the amount stated in the contract for building your home. As construction progresses, Gray Family Homes will submit a draw request to your bank for payment. The bank will send an inspector to insure that the work is actually completed before the bank will release the amount requested. The bank wires payment directly to our account. We then use the payment to pay our subcontractors for completed work. The draws should proceed without any responsibility from you, the homeowner. After completion of the home, the construction loan becomes your permanent mortgage on the house.
Permitting
Plans are now finalized and sent to the county permitting office. Permitting can take weeks or even months. At this time we will also submit plans and exterior selections to the community’s design review board. We will spend this waiting time finalizing selections for the rest of your home.
Construction Commencement
Once permits are approved, the building begins. In your homeowners’ manual we’ll provide a detailed list of the building process so that you can follow the progress of your home. By making selections early, we’re able to build relatively quickly. For safety reasons, we encourage you to visit the job site after construction hours or with a Gray Family Homes representative. We will also have scheduled construction walks to get your approval and to make minor changes at various stages of completion.
Construction Communication
Constant communication is imperative for a successful project. We want the home we deliver to meet and exceed your expectations and to do that we must know your expectations. If something looks out of place on a walk-thru, let us know immediately. A minor change today could be much more challenging tomorrow.
Completion/Punch Out
There are always punch out items and blemishes that need repairing. We will provide stickers (dots) to stick to anything that needs attention. You can take your time walking through the home and leave the dots for us to correct. Our people will collect the dots as they correct each item, leaving you with a dot-free house. We encourage you to hire a home inspector. The inspector will be thorough, put his findings into a neat little report and give you the peace of mind that you had a non-biased professional opinion.
Closing
Closing is when we settle all remaining payments and turn possession of the home over to you. On or near the day of closing we will have an orientation walk through the home to discuss the operation, care and maintenance of all of the features in your new home.
Move In
Welcome home! We will provide utility contact information so that you can schedule to have electric, gas, trash collection, telephone and cable service before you move in. We will have temporary power and water connected to the house and we will wait a few days after closing to have our temporary power disconnected.
30 Day Warranty Request
During the first month in the home you will find things that you did not see during punch out. It is just the nature of living in a new home. You are now spending more time in the home than anyone else so you are sure to notice things that aren’t obvious on first glance. Make a list and submit it as your 30 Day Warranty Request. We will come in all at once to knock out any item covered by warranty on the list.
Year-End Warranty Request
The year-end warranty request is for non-cosmetic warranty work. Minor cosmetic blemishes and regular homeowner maintenance items are not usually warranty work. If you aren’t sure, put it on the list and we’ll address it.
