What I Wish I Knew Before Building...

No matter what, a construction loan is a PROCESS to get

The process of getting this construction loan was nothing short of horrendous. I went in at the end of May with what I thought was all the paperwork I needed, but boy, I wrong. Each bank will have specific paper work and forms they want you and your builder to fill out. They need very up to date bank statements, pay stubs, W2s and any other loan statements you may have. So when one thing takes too long to file or get to the bank, be prepared to send statements and paystubs again, and again. I finally had my loan funded and approved in September.

Not every bank offers construction loans. I shopped around for the lowest down payment rate. Since I was building on my own, I needed a down payment that was achievable for just me. I ended up going with the bank with the lowest down payment rate, but they were awful to work with. Even though some of the local banks required a little bit higher down payment rate, I wish I had gone with a more local bank. They can be a lot more flexible and easier to work with.

Construction loans take time. A lot of time. Patience becomes a virtue when it comes to construction loans.

Get an estimated time frame, and then double it for an actual time frame

My builder originally told me it would take three months to build. That was quite an understatement. Granted, we were building through the winter, through the pandemic and through multiple personal crises, but it took a total of ten months until I could move in and things still had to be finished after that. Everyone I know that has built, has said building took way longer than they were told. So, whatever time frame you are told, double it, at least. That way you will be mentally prepared for how much longer it will actually take.

Include Landscaping in Your Loan Price

Come the end of your build, you're left with a beautiful home on a pile of dirt. I did not think to add landscaping into my loan. In the grand scheme of things, $5,000 added to your thirty year loan is nothing. But $5,000 out of pocket after paying for a down payment and different items throughout the build is ROUGH. If I could go back, I would have included some funds in my overall loan so I could have finished out the build with some landscaping that didn't have to come directly out of my pocket.

Keep a retainer amount until the builder completes EVERYTHING

My parents told me to hold on to $5,000 worth of payment at the end of the build until everything was finished. I SO wish I had listened. I'm sitting here a year and a half after moving in and I still don't have a second coat of paint on my house (it's on the agenda for this spring - thank goodness!) I started feeling bad because my builder claimed he needed to pay all of the subcontractors with that last amount of cash, so I gave him that final payment for that reason. But, I should not have paid him until all of his work was done. Because even if you really trust your builder, there is no incentive to get the rest finished once that final payment is made.

Be flexible, but firm in what you want

Things always change during a build. Things come up that you wouldn't have thought of or expected. Things cost more or certain things have to move to a different location. For example, the entire positioning of my house had to change from the original plan because of the amount of excavation that would be needed and the additional cost it would have added. But, now I get the most amazing morning and afternoon sun that I wouldn't have necessarily gotten if it was in the original location. Originally, I wanted a very small bathroom in my loft so the loft could be open as possible. I came to my house to find a huge already framed and plumbed in bathroom that was NOT at all what I had envisioned. Now, I love my large bathroom upstairs! So there are certain things that you have to come to terms with for all sorts of different reasons. Some good, some bad. The electrician put my electrical panel in the middle of my living room instead of in a closet or somewhere discreet, then they said it would be $2,000 to move it. Ugh. I did not have an additional $2,000 to move that, so I had to get creative and figured out how to hide it. That being said, when you are set on something or aren't happy with it, voice that!

I told my builder in the beginning that I wanted black framed windows. So when he called and said he got a quote for white vinyl, I almost had a heart attack. Turns out, he also didn't budget for black framed windows in the original quote either. I was then quoted almost double the price from what we had budgeted. But, that was something I wasn't willing to compromise on. I am SO in love with my windows and I am so glad I didn't compromise on that. So be flexible with some things, but absolutely stick to your guns on others.