Building a custom home in the Poconos is an exciting undertaking. And if you’re like most homeowners building a new home—once things get started, you can’t wait to move in.
We understand that excitement and we’re always happy that our clients are eager to move into their new homes. But we’ve been around the block a time or two when it comes to building custom homes and we’ve seen how disappointing it is when the move-in date gets pushed back due to delays. Nobody likes to see that happen.
Fortunately there are some things you can do to avoid delays in the building of your Poconos home. We want to share a few ideas with you that can help get you into your new dream home on schedule.
Know Your Plan
We offer more than two dozen floor plans for the homes we build (and you can review them here). We also work with Donald Gardner Architects where you can choose from hundreds of plans, or we can use a plan you found elsewhere that you wish to pursue. Of course, any of these plans can be customized to your specifications (including things such as room size, window placement, garage door location, higher ceilings, etc.). It’s important that you be familiar with the plan (and modifications) you choose. Making changes to your plans after construction begins can cause significant increases in the cost—and those changes can also cause delays due to re-drawing, additional materials, and increased labor. So make sure you go over your final plans with your builder so that you have a clear idea of what’s happening.
Order Your Finishes Ahead of Time
If you’re ordering things such as cabinets, countertops, sinks, or special moldings, and even hardware, make sure that those things are ordered far enough in advance that they are on site and ready for installation at the proper time. You don’t want builders sitting around and waiting for these items to show up. This is particularly important if some of the items you specify are custom made items that can’t simply be pulled from inventory. So as you’re selecting cabinets and flooring, make sure you ask the manufacturer how long it will take for them to deliver—and coordinate that delivery with your builder.
Make Yourself Available to Your Builder
Sometimes builders can run into situations where they need your input before they can proceed. That doesn’t mean you have to be “on call, 24/7/365,” but responding quickly to your builder’s questions can really help keep your home construction on schedule.
Avoid Significant Changes
This goes back to our first point. Sometimes changes are the right thing to do and you just need to make them and live with the consequences (costs and delays). But we’d strongly recommend a serious conversation with your builder before asking for significant changes. One place where we’ve run into this repeatedly is on the size of a home that’s under construction. It can be hard for a homeowner to accurately gauge the size of a home that’s in process. Often, an unfinished home looks smaller to the homeowner than it actually is. Before insisting that your builder add 800 square feet, talk things through. It could end up saving you a lot of time and money—without having to sacrifice what you really want.
Our goal is to get you into your dream home as early as possible, without compromising quality, safety, or your budget. Doing your part makes that a lot more likely to happen.
