Buying Your New Home

Getting Started:

To get started, our customers must first select the lot which they prefer and a home plan (though the home plan can be as little as a type of plan and required square footage).

Budget and Design Agreement:

We recommend that customers establish a budget from the outset, so that they can evaluate the pros and cons of different items in terms of the overall cost.  The lot is a large cost and can have a significant impact on the total cost. Lot premiums are applied for building a “walk out” or “view out” rear elevation.  Based on the lot and plan selected, we collect $2,500 and enter into a “design agreement”.  The $2,500 gets applied to the purchase price at the time of contract and covers our expenses of designing and planning the home.  We go back and forth as much as necessary to define the floor plan and exterior elevations, and we go through customer selections to identify any up-grade items and related costs.  We then enter a contract which specifies the final price of the lot and home, at which time we typically collect a 20% down payment.

Mortgages and the Building Process:

Most, though not all, Customers finance their homes with a mortgage.  We work with several local lenders who provide combined construction and permanent loans.  Customers obtaining mortgages can get “prequalified” very quickly and can know in advance how much money they have to work with.  As soon as we have plans and selections finalized, we submit for a building permit, that usually takes about 10 days, and then we start.  We start homes year ‘round.  We pay our subcontractors every 30 days, based on whatever work was accomplished in the prior month.  We go as far as we can building the house with the down payment, that usually means we get the house framed up and requires about 60 days.  We then “close” with the customer’s Bank, at which time the lot gets transferred into the customer’s name.  After that, we usually take  3 or 4 more “draws”, from the Bank as the construction progresses.  The customer pays “interest only”, on the amount which is drawn from time to time.  This usually amounts to $2,000, over and above the cost of the house itself.  When the construction is complete, the customer moves in and the mortgage loan begins to amortize, like any other mortgage loan.

Cash Buyers:

Some of our customers are “cash buyers” and don’t use a Bank.  Either way, we use a local title company to collect and distribute funds to subcontractors and suppliers, so that there is never a question regarding possible unpaid subcontractors and “liens”.


Our warranty extends for one year from issuance of Certificate of Occupancy or Temporary Certificate of Occupancy; however, we pass on manufactures warranties for most of the components in the home, some of which, like windows and roof shingles, are good for decades.