At a certain point, your dreams about building a custom home start to sink in and become a reality. Once you’ve set your mind on building one, your first question is likely to be how long you’ll have to wait to be living in your home. According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2018 Survey of Construction, the average time to build a custom home is 7.7 months. That is counting from when the builder applies for permits until the final walkthrough of the home.
However, this is an average take from construction companies across the country. It hardly tells you what you need to know about how long the process of building your specific custom home will take. Here is what you need to know about how the timeline may shape up.
How Long Does It Take to Build a Home?
Building your home is a long process. It is even longer if you consider all of the steps that you have to take before your builder puts a shovel in the ground. Here is a general outline of what you can expect:
Selecting your builder
Initial consultation
Selecting and purchasing the site
Initial designs and alterations
Permit and approval process
Preparing the site
Pouring the foundation
Framing
Major systems, insulation, etc.
Drywall
Interior finishes
Exterior finishes
Final walkthrough
The order of these items may change. For example, you may choose and purchase a site before you select your builder. However, you’ll still need to work through each item. Two years or more may span the time from when you first contact the builder until the final walkthrough. However many, many factors can shorten and lengthen the process.
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Factors That Affect Planning
Many factors can affect the planning stage of your custom home build. While some are in your control, we strongly advise against rushing this process. The most important thing about building a custom home is to be happy with the final result. If you rush the planning process, you may end up making some decisions that you’re not happy with. That said, there shouldn’t be unnecessary delays in the process either.
Here are some factors that can affect the planning process:
How long it takes you to choose a builder
Your builder’s availability
How clear you are about what you want in your custom home
Your personal decision-making process
Your financial situation
How clear you are about where you want to build your custom home
Lot availability in the area you want to build
How long the real estate transaction process takes
How long your county/state’s permit process takes
Factors that Affect the Build Time
Once your lot is purchased, and your plans are finalized, you can start the build process. As we mentioned above, this takes an average of 7.7 months. However, there are many factors that can change this timeline. Here are the major factors that can affect your build time:
The season: If you finish your design process just when winter begins, you will have quite the wait to be able to build. In some areas, the break for winter is very short, so you’re in luck. In California, we’re lucky that much of the year is seasonable for building. That said, many builders will try to plan for their client’s design process to end near the end of winter so that building can begin once the weather is ideal in spring.
Your builder’s availability: If your builder is busy, you may have a bit of a wait until your project can begin. A builder should be transparent about their schedule from the start. It may be worthwhile to wait for a quality builder, even if they won’t be able to start for months if it means you’ll get the kind of home you want.
Material availability: It’s natural to be set on some of the most unique materials for your custom home. Afterall, that perfect personalization is one of the best benefits of having a custom home. Still, your builder may need to procure some of the most unusual materials, like wood recycled from other buildings, unusual cabinet materials, and rare exterior stones.
Material delivery: Your builder will plan out the delivery of your materials carefully so that they arrive before they are needed. That said, sometimes suppliers have delays, things get lost, or the wrong item is delivered. These delays may add a bit of time to your build. Usually, you can also continue on with more readily available materials if you’d rather just complete the build.
Foundation choice: The foundation is a time-consuming element of the build. It needs to be poured and cured before anything else can happen. Your choice of foundation, and the size of your home, can add time to this process.
Other design choices: Many design choices can add time to the build. Your builder will go over these choices with you when you’re finalizing the design.
Weather: Ultimately, nature may interfere and pause the build of your home. Builders do their best to plan carefully around the weather, but it isn’t always predictable.
How Long Will It Take to Build My Home?
Building a home is a long process, and rushing certain parts is not a wise idea. Still, any quality builder should be able to give you a reasonable estimate for the project that you have in mind. In the end, you want specific advice about the build project you’re undertaking, and only your builder can give you that information.
That said, if your builder projects a very long-time frame or a very short time frame, that may be a cause to worry. Ask your builder about their rationale for short and long builds. Sometimes there are things that can be done to speed up a build without affecting the overall quality of the home. In contrast, sometimes very short builds are underestimates by less experienced builders. Before you sign something, be sure you have an idea of the timeline for your build and what will happen if your builder takes longer than projected.