Can't comment on US financing.

But I'd laugh if you gave me a four-month timeline to find an architect, have plans completed and permitted; and then have a builder ready to start your new build immediately afterwards with delivery in six months.

Well, the builders I've spoken with have given a 5-6 month timeline for building (and that's what it took to build our current home).

Is 4 months sufficient? Who knows? If not, then I guess we'll stay in temporary housing longer!

Lot loans are tough to come by. We did a balloon mortgage on ours. We had three years to either pay it off or roll it into another type of loan. Payments were based on a 30 year schedule.

I am with worthy. We have been at it 13 months. Bought the lot outright, hired Architect, plans being finalized now the to engineering and finalize building contract. If we start in Feb, I will be very happy. If you can do it in 4 months, write a book y'all will make a million in no time lol.

When it comes to finding and selecting an architect, finding and selecting a builder, designing your home, getting bids, getting a building permit and any other required permits, starting and completing construction your schedule appears naïve and unrealistic. You can have it quick or you can have quality, but you can't have both.

When it comes to obtaining permits, double any schedule you can think of. You may be in a hurry, but your jurisdiction is not.

Good luck on your journey--exciting times ahead!

I'm sorry but I had to chuckle when I read what you wrote.

We put a down payment to hold our lot in March of 2015 and started designing our house. In January of 2016, we finally sent the plans to permitting because it took that long to get the plans worked out and then get the final bids.

Then in February, we decided we weren't happy with what we had, needed a bit more land and room in the house (we're on a city lot) and talked the builder into selling us half a lot next to us. That then entailed redesigning the house to work with the new lot and changing the things that we weren't happy with. We went back into permitting on June 5th, expecting the permits to be issued within about 6-8 weeks. We just got the permits approved 2 weeks ago. So not 6-8 weeks but 4 1/2 months. Over double the time we thought.

Also from doing construction in the past (reno's) if the builder tells you 6 months, do yourself a HUGE favor and double the timeframe. A house built in 6 months is not one I'd feel safe living in.

After looking into multiple options, we chose to use a home equity loan to finance our lot since we own our current home.

Use the equity in your home to secure your lot, like lakeerieamber suggests. When you sell your house, finish paying off your lot. You'll be in a good position to secure a construction loan w/none of the funds having to contribute to the purchase of the lot and the the purchase price (and depending on how much time has passed and where you live, perhaps a little appreciation) of the lot will count towards your down payment on your construction loan. Your timeline is aggressive, as others have pointed out, and probably not realistic, but it depends where you live (permits here take no time at all to get, but weather can hamper build progress. We bought our lot in Aug '14; two builders and 3 sets of house plans later we broke ground 19 months later and are preparing to move in. Take your time, find the right builder for you and enjoy the journey! Try not to second guess yourself and when you make a decision move onto the next one. It's your house and at the end of the day it's only your opinion/satisfaction that matters! Best of luck; look forward to following your journey on this board, bethohio3.

6 months is a realistic timeline for a tract home that the builder has built hundreds of times. If you're going to an architect, you're talking custom, and custom homes take a lot longer. You might consider getting an architect involved before you buy land, as they should be able to guide you on purchasing a lot that will have the best orientation for your climate. My last house in FL would have been much better across the street. They can also advise you on the 'buidability' of the lot, as some pieces of land can be a real challenge ($$$).

We also used a HELOC to purchase our land but we also had the equity in our previous home that the land would be paid off as soon as we sold.

I don't disagree with others that say 4 months is too short to hire and architect and 6 months to build a house, but that wasn't our experience.

We began builder shopping in March of this year, hired a builder by April, he gave us hundreds of plans to look at created by a local artchitect, we picked one that was the general idea of what we wanted, worked out the changes we wanted and had a draftsman make the changes. Yes, it would have been great to hire an architect but we purchased a lot that was high on our budget and wanted to build a house we could afford. To be clear, I am not saying an architect isn't worth the money or don't hire one; we chose not to and it has worked out fine.

We broke ground June 1st and the house will be finished next week. So, I don't think your timeline is unrealistic for building. FWIW our house isn't huge 1850 sq ft so your timeline could be different with a bigger size.

So NL it sounds like your home is not a custom home but one the builder has built before

6 months is a realistic timeline for a tract home that the builder has
built hundreds of times. If you're going to an architect, you're talking
custom, and custom homes take a lot longer.

I was going to say much the same thing: If you go to a development where the builder offers lots, your choice of 6-8 plans, and your choice of finishes ... yes, you'll be finished in 6 months. That builder has already laid much of the groundwork for you: he's had the land surveyed, begun the permit process, chosen plans appropriate for the neighborhood -- thus, that type of house can be built very quickly -- and that's a perfectly valid choice.

However, since you mention finding an architect, you imply that you're building a custom house -- that you won't accomplish in 6 months.

cpartist: you are partially correct; we took an existing plan but changed it significantly; no different than finding a plan online and making changes to it.

I get that building sometimes takes a while. And every area is different. The last 2 custom homes I built took about 4 months and I feel safe in both. One has a poured wall basement with brick, the other is on pilings with vinyl. The vinyl/piling house was stopped by Hurricane Sandy for a little while so it took the full 4 months. Actual work days - 60 or so.

Build a house in a week - that is likely a problem. 4 months - give me a break.

Some jurisdictions approve plans in 24 hours. My suburb took about 2 weeks. Realize that not every jurisdiction takes their sweet time. Some inspections are next day every time.

Maybe I live in LaLa land. But more than 6 months sounds like poor planning, changes during construction, or subs not available. I realize that is the norm on here but I just don't get it. People should state location of course because building in CA is going to take a lot longer than TX.

Of course, I agree that the schedule is aggressive. I look back and it took 11 months once we had decided on a lot to move in.

I personally would allow for a longer design time. The design of a house takes as long as it takes, it is similar to asking someone what is the appropriate time to date before marriage. You can set timeliness on the other phases if you like, but a strict design timeliness may pressure you into accepting a design that is not quite right.

As someone mentioned, tract homes take 3-6 months to build and there is no real design process. Custom homes can take a couple years start to finish. We bought out lot in July of 2014 and we are hopefully going to be done building next month. We designed from scratch with an architect. It's fun at first but sucks at the end. I just want to move in already.

Rmverb our house is far from a tract home and it took 6 months. Also, building permits and my construction loan requires a 12month start of construction to finish timeline - my guess is that is not a regional requirement.

cpartist:
you are partially correct; we took an existing plan but changed it
significantly; no different than finding a plan online and making
changes to it.

Disagree. If you choose one of the half-dozen plans offered by the builder, he's already created that house a couple times -- and he's faster when he builds yours. He already knows that the spot near the chimney is tough, and he tells his workers how to handle it. He's already ordered enough bathtubs for his planned houses, so he isn't delayed by a slow order. He contracts with the plumber to work on four houses in one week, and the plumber shows up as promised because four houses is a big payday.

Putting aside the origin of the plan, a number of things make a builder-development house go faster than an individual's house.

We built a new home in a development of custom homes and this was the process they used for getting our own financing and managing the construction.

- We purchased the lot in April using a lot loan from our credit union. I believe the terms were 10 years, interest only, at a standard interest rate.

- Then we started working with the architect and builder, who was one of the "approved" builders for that development. That meant he already know all the restrictions, requirements, etc. for building in that development (masonry construction %, minimum square footage, setbacks, etc.).

- We spent about two months, off and on, working with the architect on the 1/8" scale plan, and then finally on the 1/4" scale plan. It was a custom build, so the only major constraints were the lot size, covenants and restrictions, and our budget. The builder used a checklist with dollar allowances for appliances, floor surfaces, special features.

- Based on the 1/4" plans and the options we selected, we got a final price for the construction and submitted a construction loan package in late June for the total cost (construction plus lot purchase). This loan had to be approved by the bank and we had to fully qualify at the time of approval (no dependency on selling our old home, getting more income or down payment, etc.). I think the loan terms were based on 30 year amortization, but we were allowed to pay interest-only during the construction.

- Once the loan was approved and construction started, all changes were handled through change orders. There were no verbal changes accepted. In some cases the changes were documented by annotating the blueprints, such as selecting specific wall switch locations, changing the direction of door swings, etc. After we picked out appliances and fixtures they documented the selections and adjusted the estimates based on actual cost. If there was a cost adjustment upward we had to write a check before the change order was approved, since our approved loan was capped at the original amount.

- We signed the build contract in July and they competed the house 1 April. It was a custom house, but the features were very typical of what was constructed by our builder. There were a few glitches that slowed construction, but I think it was a typical build time for our builder.

Bruce

Agree with Bcarlson here. Ours has gone almost exactly as you described. However we bought our lot October 2012 through a lot loan at a local credit union. We paid off the lot and then began the process (architect and builder) after we sold our house in April. Construction loan went through this past august. We broke ground in September and are currently completely framed, roofed with windows and doors. This is a custom build and I am expecting to be in by March but I'll be realistic enough to think April is more likely. No major holdups but some days it seems like not much is happening.

To the OP I don't think your timeline is impossible but venture into the journey cautiously optimistic. Best of luck :)

Monday night update:
On almost the spur of the moment, we hopped in our car Saturday night and drove 5 hours so we could look at a newly listed lot on Sunday. We put in an offer and are waiting to hear.

We hadn't even started the loan process and we've been asked for a pre-approval letter. Fortunately, my husband can reach our home server remotely so was able to pull off our tax records. I filled out forms and submitted them late today so we should be able to get a pre-approval letter tomorrow.

We've been considering another lot which "would work"--but this one we're excited about. We also met the owner who liked us a lot :-)

So, I'm trying not to obsess about it--but still hoping we get the lot.

On timing, I'll stay optimistic, but we'll plan for a less timely build.

Our current house was built in 6 months--and I definitely feel safe there :-). We're able to make fairly quick decisions, so I don't expect a lot of back-and-forth "changed my mind" time. On the other hand, we don't control other people's timing!

Like everyone else, we'll see what happens--and if we're wrong, well, there are worse things :-)

Best of luck to you. If it's right for you, I hope you get it.

Fingers crossed for you!

Waiting...waiting. We did get the requested pre-approval letter from the lender this afternoon and sent it to our agent to send to the seller's agent.

When we were in Chicago a few weeks ago we looked at about a dozen lots and felt we were left with two "maybe but we're not really sure" and the rest were absolute no. (That doesn't count the ones we ruled out from Google Earth and Flood maps)

When we went to this one, we were both excited: we could build a house here--this is a neighborhood we'd like to live in, we want to be here". So, we're hoping it works.

Funny thing about life: things that are meant to be will be. Enjoy your building journey...

Update--they've asked for two changes in the contract and then will sign it. Both of them are easy for us to do (3 weeks instead of 4 to resolve contingencies and closing after the first of the year) Since the only contingencies are a soil test and financing, that isn't a problem.

So, it looks as if we get to start the next step soon...finding an architect.

My extended family, by the way, is thrilled--the more we're here and the sooner the better!

Congratulations! Isn't it funny how when it's right, you just know it

Some things are just meant to be. We decided Thanksgiving weekend 2014 we'd buy a lot and build in a few years. Found a lot two weeks later, decided we'd build now rather than later. Went to a local bank and got a loan for the land. Found plans that were almost perfect for us, had them modified slightly in less than a month. Went back to the same bank, they rolled the land loan into a construction loan and we decided to GC ourselves. Our city approved the permits in 20 minutes. Broke ground on March 6th 2015. The stars and planets aligned, we had good weather and no major issues. Even when we had two subs that flaked, we found replacements almost the same day. Finished basically on budget (except for some upgrades we chose to do along the way). Got our final occupancy permit and moved on Oct 23rd 2015. The house is beautiful, solidly built, passed all the inspections, and appraised for 25% over what it cost us to build. So it can happen. And every day when I walk into my house, I say a little prayer that it happened to me :)

It took a few more days than I I'd hoped/expected but we now have a fully executed contract. (And have ordered the soil boring test)

The only "unknown" is really still the closing date but we're not in an extreme hurry about that.

Well, the other unknown is if we hire an attorney for closing--we never have before, but we've never purchased a lot before or a property in Illinois.