The custom home building process is a beautiful thing. After all, in virtually no other industry can you build a space that you’ll use for years and years to come.
Knowing how to approach the custom home building process can ensure not just a smooth and seamless build, but decades of effortless happiness for years to come.
Given that building a custom home involves many steps, each of which needs to be planned and executed to the “T”, we thought we’d make your life a little easier by outlining some of the key phases of custom home building to ensure a more streamlined and efficient build.
Jazz Construction here: we’ve built 1,500-square-foot, 2,500-square-foot, and even 3,500-square-foot custom luxury and modular homes in the New Jersey area. If there’s anything we discovered, it’s that most custom home builds follow five distinct phases.
In this article, we’ll unpack those five phases, some of which may occur at the same time throughout the build.
By familiarizing yourself with these five stages, you’ll be set up for a more successful build and can enjoy move-in day that much more.
Let’s learn all about the five phases — and their accompanying steps — of the custom home building process.
The 5 phases of the custom home building process
| 1. Phase one: Ideation and conceptualizing (Coming up with your dream home) 2. Phase two: Acquiring a plot of land (Finding where you want to build your home) 3. Phase three: Designing your home (Programming, developing, and creating drawings) 4. Phase four: Construction (Building the home in all its glory) 5. Phase five: Final walk-throughs (The finishing touches, a punch list, and move-in day) |
1. The ideation process: brainstorming ideas for your dream home
Every custom home starts with a concept, a vision for the future. That day when you wake up and realize you’re ready to build a custom home is what phase one is all about.
Three steps exist in the custom home build ideation process:
- The idea development process
- Hiring a team to design and build your idea
- Determining the costs of fleshing out the vision of the home
Let’s take a look at each of these steps in greater detail in the sections below.
Developing new ideas
Whether you’re coming up with a new design for a room or planning out the entire structure of the house, the amount of time you invest in developing ideas for your home depends on you.
You might spend days, weeks, months, or years gathering ideas for your custom home.
Assembling a team
To create a custom home, you’ll want a dream team of highly qualified, expert individuals. Your team will likely include architects, builders, and designers.
Regardless of who’s included on your team, you’ll want to make sure you assemble your building team before embarking on design.
During this step, you may even choose several home-building consultants to ensure everything meets your standards.
Is the plan feasible from a cost perspective?
The elephant in the room here may well be the cost of the project. You can speak with an accountant, lender, or bank about the feasibility of your project.
Alas, even the best-laid plans aren’t foolproof.
We recommend creating an emergency spending fund worth 10-20% of the total cost of the build. Creating a contingency fund allows you to cover any unexpected change orders or costs that could be factored into the home construction process.
2. Acquire the site/ land for your new home
Once you’ve assembled your team and determined the cost of building your home, you’ll turn to the plot of land on which you’ll build. Site preparation is key when determining the financial feasibility and design possibilities of your new custom home.
Site preparation involves the following steps:
- Purchasing the new site
- Conceiving the configuration of your home
- Determining the cost of the new configuration.
Purchasing the new site
Before construction can begin, you’ll want to purchase the site for the new home.
You’ll want to work with your construction builder, real estate agent, and/or design-build team to purchase the plot of land where you’ll build your new home.
Conceive the configuration of your home
As part of any new construction project, you’ll need to determine the scope of the work. Part of determining the scope of work involves conceiving of the configuration of the new home.
You’ll want to research all the different elements of your project and bring them together to determine the size and configuration of your home.
Also involved in the configuration process are site analyses, aesthetic considerations, the quality of the building materials, exterior finishes, building codes, budgeting demands, and schedule limitations, among other considerations.
Is the configuration and site financially feasible?
Once the configuration of the building site and home has been laid out, we can turn to how much it costs. You can move full-speed ahead with financing options for your home.
During this step, you’ll explore the possibility of using home construction loans, taking out a mortgage, or converting a home construction loan to a mortgage. Either way, the financing of your site purchase and home construction takes place in this key phase.
Once you’ve determined prices, you’re ready for the design phase.
3. The design process
You’ve come up with an idea, secured funding for the build, and ensured a team is in place to make it happen. You can now move full speed ahead with the design of your home.
At this point, you can direct all of your focus on the fun part, designing your custom home. Take your time with the design phase.
We can’t emphasize this enough.
Countertops, cabinetry, lighting fixtures, tiles, exterior walls, and more: you want to take your time to really feel like you have a handle on all of these items. At this phase of the build, you can take the time to focus on the design to avoid headaches and maximize the quality of your new build.
4. The construction process
You’ve completed the design of your new home, you’ve acquired the permits needed to build your home, and you’re ready to build. The new home construction process is where all the action takes place.
In the construction phase, depending on the agreed upon schedule with your builder, your new build will last about 12-18 months. Construction is an exciting time, as you can watch your design go from a paper (or digital) design to a real-life structure.
During the construction phase, the majority of the design decisions and material selections have been made. You’ll want to continue making the remainder of your decisions in a timely fashion to help your builder remain on schedule from start to finish.
If you can ensure your custom home project is built on time from start to finish, you’ll be able to complete the finishing touches sooner.
5. Finishing touches
The final phase of the home-building process includes doing a final walk-through with you to ensure everything is completed per your specifications. But, before doing so, your New Jersey-based contractor will need to obtain a Certificate of Occupancy from municipal authorities.
A Certificate of Occupancy certifies that a building is compliant with applicable building codes, zoning laws, and local legislation. What’s more, it also indicates whether the property is ready for people to, well, occupy it.
Your custom home builder will educate you about this and other systems in your new home.
Also, your builder will ensure you’ve received all warranties for your home, making sure you understand what’s covered and for how long under each warranty.
Finally, if any part of the home needs fixing just after construction of your new home, you and your builder will iron out a process for contacting the builder and verifying that the item needing fixing can be completed.
As part of the finishing touches, your builder will keep open communication lines for any unforeseen circumstances that need touching up.
Otherwise, you’ll be handed the keys.
It’s time to breathe a huge sigh of relief. Your new home is ready for move-in!
Move-in time
Once you receive your Certificate of Occupancy and all exterior and interior finishes details have been addressed, you’re ready to move in.
This is the best part.
Soak up all the months of hard work you’ve completed. Take a walk throughout the house, and take it all in.
You’ve invested a ton of effort, and it’s time to enjoy your beautiful new home.
A Jazz moment: a message from our founder
Hi, I’m Ijaz “Jazz” Mirza, founder of Jazz Construction Group.
Building a home is a little bit like playing Jazz music: you have to invest in your craft and pay attention to every last little detail.
Every frill, every arpeggio, and every last solo is key to ensuring a beautiful song and performance.
Building a custom home is no different than Jazz music.
Custom home building means investing in quality craftsmanship and attention to detail, except that the song — the home — is made for you.
Every nook and cranny of your home is customized to match your style and vision. That’s music to my ears.
For a home that exceeds your expectations or for more home inspiration, contact us or visit our Instagram page today.
Final tip: Hire a reliable custom home builder with a track record of success
One last tip: before embarking on any of the five phases of construction mentioned above, you want to research and contract a quality custom home builder. We’re talking home builders with decades of experience in not just building, but also in real estate experience and other trade experience.
Hiring a well-rounded, hard-working, reliable custom home builder will ensure your build goes off without a hitch. And that’s key for any successful construction project.
If you live in the New Jersey area and are looking for a custom home builder with a track record of success and the builds to prove it, look no further.
Our residential construction specialists can finish builds in industry-leading times and with some of the finest materials and tried-and-true processes in the Garden State. To request a complimentary estimate of your next build, contact us today.
We look forward to building something amazing together!
Take a Virtual Video Tour of One of Our Gorgeous Custom Builds
