Category: New Construction
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.
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.
Building Your Custom Home – Lot Considerations
Building a custom home can be a fun and exciting process, and one of the first things you’ll decide is where you are going to build the home. Typically, by the time clients come to us, they already have a specific lot in mind. It is at this point that they want to know if the lot is buildable.
Introducing Willow Bend Farm Community
Our 2014 Parade of Homes entry is located in beautiful Willow Bend Farm.
Willow Bend Farm is an artfully planned neighborhood community and is cloistered in the beauty of trees and rolling meadows of West Lampeter Township, just minutes from downtown Lancaster. Metzler Home Builders, Inc. and the Charlan Group, the award winning builder/developer team, have transformed this choice, serene Lancaster County location into a neighborhood for community living while preserving and enhancing the natural beauty and park-like setting.
This beautiful community features a mix of single family homes, semi-detached duplex units, and studio series townhomes. There are many plans to choose from, or you can hand pick your own lot and build a custom plan to fit your needs.
Four acres of open space, cobblestone curb and lighted streets along with two miles of walking path make this neighborhood a must see!
Currently, our Sheffield III Model is open for touring as part of the Lancaster Parade of Homes. This 2,460 square foot Craftsman-style home is attractive inside and out. The Parade is free to the public and open now through Sunday – weekdays 5-8 pm; weekends 12-6pm. Stop in and see the charmingly private Willow Bend Farm Community for yourself.
To learn more about the homes currently on the market or to schedule an appointment, visit www.willowbendfarmhomes.com.
2014 Parade of Homes Sneak Peak
This month, Metzler Home Builders will showcase our Sheffield III Model in the 2014 Parade of Homes (Entry #7). This lovely home is located in the beautiful Willow Bend Farm community in West Lampeter Township.
The 2,460-square-foot plan boasts an open-concept first level with hardwood floors throughout the main living area. As you enter the home, a beautiful great room with a coffered ceiling and a custom-stone-surround fireplace greet you. The spacious kitchen and dining area includes a large island, custom range hood, plentiful pantry, and the windows allow a generous amount of natural light to stream through. A mudroom with a corner storage unit serves as a transition area and entrance to the private, backside first-floor master suite.
This two-story home offers three spacious bedrooms on the second floor, as well as a large low-maintenance deck in the back. Four acres of wooded area border the property, which also includes a private walking path. It is a gorgeous location!
Parade of Homes begins this weekend! Be sure to visit this attractive craftsman-style home for yourself during the 2014 Parade of Homes, June 14-22 at 307 Weatherfield Place, Lancaster, PA 17603.
See our Parade of Home entry here (this link has expired) or get more details about the Willow Bend Farm community here.
The Benefits of Building Your New Home
The National Association of Home Builders has proclaimed June as National Homeownership Month, and to kick-off this month-long event, we wanted to provide you with some obvious – and not so obvious – benefits of building or buying a new home.
The Obvious Benefits
There are many obvious benefits of building a new home instead of purchasing an existing one. Here are a few:
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The science of building a home has improved greatly over the years. Today, new homes are built with a higher energy efficiency rating than older homes – even those that aren’t all that old.
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Home technology is incredible. Every year, new technologies are being incorporated into homes – from the ability to monitor your home from your mobile device to behind the walls features that improve how we live within the home.
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Floor plans have become more open – and attractive – in new homes.
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New homes come with warranties. In addition to the builder warranty, there are warranties on many of the products within the home. Together, this gives home buyers a peace of mind that you don’t get by purchasing an existing home.
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The ability to select your appliances, flooring, paint colors, cabinetry, exterior finishes … and more make building a new home very attractive.
The Not-So-Obvious Benefits
There are a many not-so-obvious benefits of buying a new home that customers have shared with us. Here are a few of our favorites:
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When you build a home in a newer community, like Willow Bend Farm in Lampeter Township, you get the benefit of meeting others who are new to the neighborhood, too. Often it is these connections that form strong bonds of friendships for decades to come.
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Many desirable amenities are built into new neighborhoods. For instance, Willow Bend Farm has wooded areas with walking trails, sidewalks, a community building and is located close to several golf courses. Many other neighborhoods across Lancaster County boast similar niceties that older neighborhoods don’t have.
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There are many advantages of being a first-owner of a home. Everything is clean, and you don’t have to worry about stripping tired wallpaper from the dining room or repainting to suite your tastes. Outside, you can enhance the landscape by planning flowerbeds and gardens the way you envision.
If you are considering buying a home, we invite you to attend the BIA’s Parade of Homes where we’ll have one of our Willow Bend Farm homes on display. The Parade runs June 14-22, weekdays from 5-8pm and weekends from 12-6pm. It is free to attend.
Visit the Parade of Homes website to see all the details on our home in Willow Bend Farms.
Is now a good time to build a home?
“NOW…is a great time to build” – Dan Metzler, President of Metzler Home Builders.
We have already seen some positive signs in the home building industry in the early weeks of 2012. Many in the industry could be described as “cautiously optimistic” regarding this slow recovery in new home construction. There are some definite signs of increased activity, and with that comes reason to believe that some of the best advantages of building a new home now could be changing in the near future. Here are 4 reasons that NOW is a great time to build.
- Interest Rates – Rates for a 30 year fixed mortgage are currently around 4.0%, and for a 15 year fixed are under 3.5%. Interest rates seem to keep drop-
ping lower and lower…but eventually they will come back up. If you are waiting to see if they drop even lower, you are better off taking advantage of these historically low rates now and eliminating the risk of waiting too long. - Cost of Construction Labor & Materials – The prices we are seeing from sub-contractors and suppliers are extremely competitive. Many contractors are willing to bid their services very competitively so they can keep their crews busy. The cost of building materials has been low also, but we are starting to see price increases. As our industry continues to recover (which we are already seeing signs in early 2012) the pricing on labor and materials will gradually creep up. Now is a great time to build your dream home and take advantage of these competitive prices in labor & materials that are sure to increase.
- Quality of Contractors – Builders and sub-contractors who have made it through the recession must be doing something right. A recession will weed out those businesses that are not providing a quality product or service no matter what the industry; the construction industry is no different. You can be assured, now more than ever, that most contractors out there are providing a quality product at a fair price, and have been for a long time.
- Building New vs. Buying Existing – You might be aware that in our current real estate market, you can purchase an existing home for noticeably cheaper than a new home with similar features and comparable size. Is this the only factor that matters when comparing building a new home to buying an existing one? As a builder of new custom homes we might be a little biased, but here are a few things to consider.
*New homes are more energy efficient; they will save you money by using less energy, sometimes significantly less than older existing homes.
*A new custom home will be exactly what you want! You may find an existing house that has most of what you are looking for, but you will still have to make some changes to get things exactly the way you want it. You can save the money of renovating or updating, and put it toward building your new home.
*New homes have warranties. Even if the builder does not provide a warranty, many products have homeowner warranties. At Metzler Home Builders, we provide a full 1 year warranty and service your home at your convenience for things that may come up during that first year and beyond.
These are just a few things to consider if you are considering building in the near future but are unsure of the best timing. NOW, really is a great time to build!