How it works
Eight steps, and what can go wrong at each one
Most builder websites show you the pretty steps and stop there. Here are all eight of ours, with durations, the failure modes, and how each one is priced — because that’s the part you actually need before you sign anything.
01 — Step
1–2 weeks
Feasibility study
Forty checks on the ground you want to build on: zoning, flood mapping, soils, utilities, access, title, covenants. Our own inventory starts from real parcels of record — the exact property lines from the county auditor, with FEMA flood, USDA soils, and USGS elevation already attached — so the study begins from public facts, not a brochure. You get the same full scored report on your own land too.
What can go wrong — and how we price it
A check fails — a perc test, a flood line, a landlocked easement. That’s the study doing its job: you find out for the cost of a report, not a foundation. On our inventory the study is already done; on your land the fee is credited at contract.
02 — Step
2–4 weeks
Land contract
We confirm availability with the owner and negotiate the parcel — our inventory is identified from public records, so nothing is presumed for sale until we’ve talked to the seller — or you bring land you already own. Purchase funds sit in escrow with a licensed title company, contingent on clean title and the feasibility findings.
What can go wrong — and how we price it
Title surprises: liens, heirs, unrecorded easements. The contract carries explicit contingencies, so if title can’t be cured, your escrow comes back. We never close over a known defect.
03 — Step
2–3 weeks
Design lock
Your configuration becomes a stamped drawing set. The configurator range collapses to a single contract price covering plan, options, and the site-work scope from the study.
What can go wrong — and how we price it
Scope creep by allowance — the classic builder trick of low “allowances” that balloon later. We don’t use teaser allowances: every finish in the contract is a real product at a real price. Change your mind later and it’s a written change order, priced before work.
04 — Step
3–9 weeks, by metro
Permits
We submit the full set to the county or municipality and manage review comments. Our published per-metro windows are what the permit desks actually run, not what we wish they ran.
What can go wrong — and how we price it
Review cycles stall — a stormwater comment, a resubmittal. On finished and partial land, permitting overlaps site prep so stalls rarely move move-in day. On raw land it’s sequential, which is why raw timelines carry the widest stated range.
05 — Step
2–10 weeks, by land state
Site work
Clearing, grading, drive, well or water tap, septic or sewer connection, power. On a finished lot this is days; on raw land it’s the bulk of the pre-build calendar.
What can go wrong — and how we price it
The ground disagrees with the borings — rock in the drive cut, a septic field that needs redesign. Site work is the widest cost band in the contract and we price it as a stated range with its confidence label, per land state, before you sign.
06 — Step
6–8 months
Build
Foundation, framing, mechanicals, drywall, finish — five milestones, each closed by an independent draw inspection before the lender releases funds. You see every inspection report in your build tracker.
What can go wrong — and how we price it
Weather and material lead times. The schedule carries a named buffer, long-lead items are ordered at design lock, and you get a weekly update that says what happened — including the weeks nothing did, and why.
07 — Step
2–4 weeks
Punch list & certificate of occupancy
A joint walkthrough builds the punch list; we clear it, the municipality issues the certificate of occupancy, and the loan converts to your permanent mortgage. Keys change hands.
What can go wrong — and how we price it
Punch items linger past closing. Ours can’t: a holdback stays unreleased until the list is signed off by you, not by us.
08 — Step
Ongoing
10-year warranty
Ten years structural, two years on mechanical systems, one year fit-and-finish. Warranty requests go through the same tracker as your build — same team, same accountability.
What can go wrong — and how we price it
Builders who vanish after closing. Warranty service is priced into every contract and staffed in every metro we operate — it’s the reason we only operate where we have a bench.
The gate before step one
Forty checks before we call a lot buildable
The feasibility study is the whole company in miniature: a scored, human-readable report where every deduction has a reason attached. Eight of the forty, to give you the flavor: