Home Building Checklist

Directory:

checklist 1: can you afford the home construction project checklist 2: what kind of house checklist 3: finding your building lot and location checklist 4: define your home construction specifications checklist 5: find a contractor / negotiate the contract checklist 6: arrange financing checklist 7: start your home building project checklist 8: inspect your home construction checklist 9: close on your home construction checklist 9: decorate your project checklist 10: moving in email this page to a friend   Home Building reference booklet           help you find what you need: link to our site map

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Home construction financing is a little more complicated than buying an existing home.

Besides getting approved for financing, you will need a slush fund for non-budgeted expenses such as cost overruns, missed deadlines, and construction upgrades.

Understand the numbers before your begin:
see our Step 1 planning guide

We have collected resource information to help:

• Select Home Style:
  Two-story or split-level. English Tudor or Southern Colonial:
  view home styles
  
  
• View House Plans:
  Perhaps there is an existing plan that meets your design? Or ask an architect to tweak or customize a plan.
  search our house plans center
  
  
• Sketch Your Rooms:
  Assemble the rooms you would like and sketch the room adjacencies. see our Step 2 planning guide

We have resource information the notes location issues:
search location and neighborhood issues

Some home owners find and secure their lot prior to bidding their construction project. Often they use the lot as their down payment when seeking home construction financing.

Other home owners will look for a lot after they finalize their design based on contractor bids. They have a better idea what lot will work best for their home design.

You need to be as detailed as possible. The construction specs defines how your home will be constructed and designed. You will also spec sheet to bid the project and obtain construction financing.

Basically, the construction specification plan details the number of rooms, type windows and doors, type flooring, type trimming, type heating and cooling, etc.

We can help with our step-by-step construction specification sheet and supporting web sites for every room in your plan.

FREE download.
Use it to note ideas for your construction plan:
construction specification planning

After you finish the specifications plan, complete these next important tasks:

1. Take your spec plan and have it reviewed by an architect or other home designer.
   
   They will revise an existing house plan to fit your construction specs or custom design a house plan based upon your design.
   
   search professional architects
   
   
2. Take the architectural plan and submit a bid request from building contractors.
   
   You will need your construction specs to detail your request.
   
   Make sure to work with a network of contractors that have been prescreened.
   
   search building contractors
   
   
3. Understand how to negotiate your contract with a contractor —
   
   make sure you protect your interests
   
   contract negotiations

Once you receive an acceptable bid from a contractor, you may now finalize your home construction financing needs from a lender. The lender may approve your request for financing based on your specification plan, contractor bid, and qualifying ratios.

There are two parts to construction financing:

1. construction line
2. residential mortgage

We have more information:
link to our financing center for home construction financing

We have more information on qualifications at our Step 5:
see our Step 5 planning guide

Now for the excitement:

• project start
• project management
• change management
• problem resolution management
• cost management
• financial management

Understand what's needed:
see our home construction project planning guid

As your construction move through building phases, get each phase of the project inspected before making payment.

Once payment leaves your hand, you lose control of getting things done right.

Information about inspections:
go to construction inspections