Building Your Custom Home – Permits & Financing
Over the last few months, we’ve provided an overview of the process of building your custom home. You can find past articles in this series on our blog.
Once your plans are finalized, it is time to apply for building permits and also to secure your construction loan financing.
Permits.
As your builder, we will always handle securing the building permit, but there are other permits that are usually needed before we can do so, such as permits for sewer or septic and the driveway.
There are also situations where a stormwater management permit may be required, and the process to acquire this particular permit can take some time. In this case, if you aren’t already working with an engineering professional, we can refer one to help you through this process.
If your home is being built on a lot where more than one acre of ground will be disturbed (this includes the home, driveway, septic system and stormwater management), we’ll need to submit an additional permit with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit program controls water pollution by regulating point sources that discharge pollutants into waters. When this is the case, an engineering professional must submit drawings to be reviewed and approved, and this process can take months to complete.
No matter how quick or drawn-out the permitting process is, we’ll guide you through it. While securing additional permits can often be a process that is longer than you’d like, especially since you are excited to be building your custom home, the good news is that once we have all the other permits, applying and receiving a building permit typically only takes a few weeks. Then we can get started on moving dirt, setting the foundation and framing your house.
Financing.
If you don’t already have a lender, we can help you get connected with one of our preferred lenders for financing the construction of your home. Our lenders offer a wealth of knowledge and can help our customers through the construction loan process – from understanding how it works to communicating what documents are needed to secure the loan. Your lender should be familiar with the construction loan process to make it as streamlined as possible for you.
Building your home requires a different type of loan, a construction loan, than selecting one of our homes that is already built. To get a construction loan, your lender will need the signed contract, specs and plans in order to begin, and the approval process generally takes six weeks.
With a construction loan, you secure a loan for the cost of the house, and from there, a payment schedule (called draws) is established. This means that while the house is under construction, there are set milestones when we receive payment (typically four times). The advantage to you is that while your home is under construction, you pay interest only on the amount that is drawn down – not on the full mortgage amount. When the house is complete, you settle on the entire loan, as you would on any other mortgage.
While both the permitting and financing processes for building a custom home are becoming a bit more challenging, we have the expertise and resources to help you through them to get your project started with the least amount of frustration and delays.
At Metzler Home Builders, we build homes of all sizes and styles for all budgets. Learn more about our custom home building services.
9 Tips to Make Your Home More Attractive to Buyers
If you are thinking about selling your home (perhaps to build a custom home), it is important to look at it with a fresh perspective. When preparing to sell your house, the goal should be to make it as attractive to potential buyers as you can – so that your home sells quickly and for the most profit.
Is twice-a-year maintenance on my furnace necessary?
To keep your furnace, heat pump or air conditioner operating at peak efficiency, JK Mechanical recommends a twice-a-year tune up. Your equipment should be serviced once during the heating season and once during the cooling season. When your system is clean, it doesn’t work as hard, which means you pay less in your monthly utility bills.
Your September Home Maintenance Checklist
Can you feel the crispness in the air? It is early autumn; school is back in session and many of us get the urge to organize and be more productive around the house (in between football games and great tailgating parties, of course).
Project Spotlight: A Place to Retire
After inheriting a 1970’s ranch home, Greg and Janice were not only faced with the task of cleaning out the home, but they also needed to determine what should happen with the property. After much thought, they realized this home provided an excellent opportunity for them to move from their three story row home to one floor living in a detached home. The only thing that stood in their way was tackling a whole house renovation.
September is National Preparedness Month: Are You Ready
NOTE: This home tip is provided by Mike Diehl, Electrical Department Manager at JK Mechanical
September is notorious for bring severe weather to our area, so it is important to have a game plan in place in case of an emergency helps to ensure your family is safe and secure during a weather event. In addition to preparing an emergency kit, you can also protect your home, food and water from prolonged power outages with an automatic standby generator.
Planning a Great Football Tailgate… At Home
Kitchen Remodeling: Getting the Kitchen You Want
Time and again, one of the best renovation bangs for your buck is a kitchen remodel (see the 2014 Cost v. Value Report). Whether you are looking to remodel your entire kitchen or just give it a face-lift, upgrading your kitchen is one of the most noticeable – and pleasurable – changes you can make to your home.
However, before you get started, do your homework. A kitchen has many features and functions, and there are thousands of options. You can easily become overwhelmed with the vast array of choices, so do not rush into any spur-of-the-moment purchases or decisions. This is not a room to “piece together” without the full vision in place.
Building Your Home: The Custom Design Process
Over the years, we’ve heard clients tell us that designing their “dream home” has been one of the most rewarding experiences of their lives. Not only is custom home design a fun process, but it is eye-opening as well. You get to see what a truly custom home looks like for you.
What does custom home really mean?
Our home design process, being truly custom, is perhaps a different experience than what you are familiar with. Often the term “custom home” is used loosely to describe how customers can make minor changes to the floor plan or select their own fixtures and finishes. This is not what we mean.
Our process is holistic, which means it truly reflects your needs and wants in a home and your personality. This is why when a client wants us to design and build a custom home for them, we suggest one of three approaches:
You relay the style and amenities you want in a home, and from there, we’ll review existing floor plans that are similar to what you are looking for. If one matches, there may only need to be minor changes to the design.
You may look at an inventory of designs and pick out elements from a few different designs you like. From there, we’ll merge those ideas together into a new design.
You may have a design of your own – either from a catalog or a sketch you did. We will work with those ideas and turn them into working plans for your custom home.
After we meet with you and you’ve decided to proceed, we’ll draw a preliminary set of plans, which includes floor plans and some basic elevations of the home. This serves as a starting point, and from there, we’ll continue to revise the drawing to get them right.
Once the preliminary drawings are set, we’ll begin to create a full set of working plans. These plans have much more detailed and are provided to subcontractors so they can bid on the project. They are also submitted to the township for building permit approval.
No matter how the idea begins – whether it is based on an existing plan or something within your mind – we give you the liberty to design a home specific to your needs and budget. Learn more about our custom home building services.