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Posted by Melissa Lynn Galland on Jul 20, 2017 8:00:00 AM
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One of the key concerns that we hear from people who are considering building a custom home revolves around the budget and timeline. When you’re building a home from scratch for the first time, how can you keep on budget and on time? Some customers fear that the process is so complex they’re sure to spend more than they want and take much longer than they intended.


It’s true that building a new home may feel a bit daunting at first. But rest assured that tens of thousands of people in the Pacific Northwest have successfully navigated the process. Today, nearly a quarter of all homes built in the U.S. each year are custom—proof that you are definitely not alone in your quest for the perfect custom home.


If you’re concerned about staying on budget and on time, learning a bit more about the custom homebuilding process can help ease your fears. Let’s take a closer look at how the budget and timeline work and how the right builder helps keep you on track with each.

Budget Basics

Of course, budgeting for a custom home works differently from paying for a prebuilt one. Your budget for your custom home will include the following:


  • The purchase price of the land (if you don’t already own it)
  • The cost to build the home itself
  • The cost to develop the site
  • Your closing costs

If you’re working with a trustworthy, reputable homebuilder, your budget should not change over the course of the build, with the exception of rare site-related costs. Once your contract is signed, you should be locked in to that amount.


Working with Adair Homes gives you the opportunity to actually save money on your preset budget by handling some of the site-development tasks yourself. This includes items like paving a temporary driveway or clearing the site. By taking care of these types of to-dos on your own, you’ll spend less of your overall budget, which leaves wiggle room for the occasional delay or unexpected cost.

The Homebuilding Timeline

The custom homebuilding process, on average, takes about eight to twelve months from start to finish. And while crafting a custom home is a lot of work, breaking it down into manageable steps can help you stay on time and not feel overwhelmed.


While buying a prebuilt home is a shorter and, often, more hectic process, building a custom home takes some time and a bit of patience. However, you want to be sure to stick to your overall timeline or costs may start adding up. Also, remember that many steps in the building process depend on previous steps. For example, your builder can’t finalize your contract until you’ve decided on a final floor plan and features such as flooring and countertops. A delay in one step can have a ripple effect on the entire timeline.


Understanding the typical timeline, and the steps involved, can help you plan ahead, which will help make the process more efficient and cost-effective. The Adair Homes Homebuilding Process Timeline can help you visualize all the steps required to build a custom home. It also provides a good overview of your role in the process. Although the construction crew will handle the actual build, the homeowner must take the lead on tasks such as site development, permitting and decisions on floor plans, and finishes. By committing to making decisions in a timely manner and keeping your tasks on schedule, you help ensure that the construction team can also meet its timeline goals.


Throughout the building process, you might encounter the occasional delay that is outside of your control—for example, if you have long periods of rain or severe weather, trouble with lining up tradespeople or delays in the permitting process. This is why you don’t want to get behind in the first place—because you never know what additional minor delays might be piled on. If you stay on schedule from the beginning, you’ll be able to weather other occasional delays with a lot less stress and expense.

The Role of Your Builder

Of course, the tasks of staying on budget and time don’t fall to you alone. Once your contract is drawn up and finalized, you shouldn’t experience any price increases from your builder, and the construction team should be doing their best to build within the estimated timeframe. However, be sure to remember that weather and the availability of tradespeople may impact timelines.


If you are looking to build a custom home, be sure to carefully consider your builder options. Look for a company that specializes in custom homes and has plenty of happy customers who have already completed the process. You’ll want a builder that will help guide you through the process, step by step, to ensure that you can easily stay on budget and time as you work your way down this exciting path.


Adair Homes has built nearly 20,000 custom homes in our nearly 50-year history, many for customers who have never built a custom home before. At every stage of the process, our team is here to help keep you on budget and on time and to ensure you get the home of your dreams. Visit our website to hear from just a few of the happy homeowners who have successfully built a custom home with Adair.

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