Perhaps you’ve been thinking about building a home in the Poconos for some time. And maybe you’ve had your eye on a spring move-in date so that you can take advantage of all the spring and summer activities in the region when the weather is great for being outdoors.  If that’s what you’ve had in your sights, now is the time to start planning.

Springtime may seem like it’s a long way off, but in the world of custom homebuilding, there are a lot of things that have to get worked out before your home is ready for you to move in. While homeowners often pay attention to the amount of money they spend on a new home, it’s easy to overlook the amount of time required to complete a home. Here are a few of the big time-consuming activities you’ll want to plan for.

Design

While we offer a number of great floor plans for you to consider, it’s pretty rare that someone will simply pick a plan and have their builder begin. You’ll want to allow time to consider several plans before deciding on one that’s right for you. Then you’ll want to discuss potential changes to the plans with your builder before construction begins. That will save you a lot of aggravation and money later!

Estimating

If you’re building a custom home, your builder isn’t going to work off of a pricing template. He or she will need some time to make sure that the estimate you receive accurately reflects what you’re going to get.

Options and Changes

Before you sign a contract, you’ll most likely go through the pricing and plans of your home and make some final changes. A big part of the appeal of building a custom home is that you can make changes to an existing floor plan. While this doesn’t have to be a long, drawn out process, you need to allow some time to make sure that you and your builder are on the same page.

Construction

Every custom home is different. The size of the home plays a role and so does the amount of customization. That means there’s not one specific number you can use to estimate how long it will take to build your home. Pre-fabricated or template style homes can be built in six to eight weeks. Custom homes take a little longer.

And don’t forget that you’ll need to work on getting your financing in order as well. Generally speaking, it’s a good idea to get your mortgage loan approved up front. It saves time (and aggravation) later.

Springtime may seem like it’s a long way off, but if you want to be ready to enjoy it in a new home, you need to start thinking now.