Building Your Home: A Construction Timeline
For many homeowners, building can be preferable to buying a pre-existing home. When you build, your home is move-in ready and tailored specifically to you and your family. There are no lingering thoughts about what needs to be renovated in the next few years and very little compromise.
When you’re considering building your house, the question at the top of your mind might be, “how long until we can move in?”, which is pretty much the same thing as saying “how long will it take to build my custom house?”.
The average completion time for the building process of a single-family home is only around 6 months to 1 year. This can vary depending on the full scope of the project and whether it’s a spec home or a true custom home. Every project is unique, so our team will go over all expected start and completion dates for all the phases of your build well in advance.
At White Wolf Homes, we will be completely transparent with you about when you can expect to start enjoying your brand-new space.
What Influences the Average Time to Build a House?
Authorization Processes
Once all the authorizations are complete and the building permit is in place, your build will be ready to go ahead. It can take a month or so to receive all approved paperwork, longer if there are any easements, property line disputes, or zoning issues. When you’re building within a housing development already on the go, this is typically a quick process. Since everything’s already been approved for the area, your parcel is documented and there are no grey areas when it comes to property lines or zoning.
Custom Builder Experience and Crew Reliability
As the owner of White Wolf Homes, Kyle is a 2nd generation developer. With decades of experience and over 15 years running a business, he knows firsthand how to complete large projects on time and on budget. With our streamlined processes and fantastic crew of subcontractors, we work tirelessly to ensure you’re settled into your new home as soon as possible.
Changes to the House Design Plans
You’ll probably want to make some changes to the house design plans, which is fine, but too much tweaking and rehashing can put a serious dent in the completion timeline. For best results and to have your home ready for you on time, we recommend choosing exactly what you want during the design process. Once that’s done, you can sleep on your choices and decide whether you truly do want more customization and whether you’ll be happy to wait another few weeks for those extra design features.
The Style of the House
When your home is designed with an existing layout (a spec home), it’s likely to be finished more quickly. Any unique structure choices that require additional engineering or custom materials can add extra hours to your build.
The Building Lot
Homes built on a piece of land with hills or a rock face can take longer to build. This is because it takes more time and effort to drill into the landscape, set a foundation and work in a trickier terrain. That said, we love a challenge. Plus, a few extra weeks of construction is well worth a gorgeous custom home perched atop a stunning lookout. Location is a huge part of what will make your custom home so special. If you haven't chosen a piece of land yet, feel free to ask us what we recommend for the style and type of home you want.
Extras and Specialty Materials
Is anything going to be imported? A shipping delay can potentially set a project back by weeks, which is why we prefer to work with local suppliers. This ensures your product is readily available and has a short distance to travel. A good custom home builder knows to expect these types of additions and changes, so we'll do whatever else we can do while waiting for the materials to arrive to keep the building process on track.
Weather Conditions
Here in Victoria and the South Coast of Vancouver Island, it can get pretty wet. The White Wolf team knows how to work around this to keep your project on track, but heavy West Coast rainstorms can put a damper on a project, particularly at the foundation and framing stages. Snow and other bad weather can sometimes set a project back, but it’s rare. Once the roof is on, weather can’t stop progress!
Follow These Tips for a Quicker Custom Home Build
Have your Mortgage or Construction Loan Pre-Approved
When you know exactly what your budget is, you know exactly what you can afford. This helps answer questions down the road, like “can we do granite countertops, or should we stick with a high-end laminate?”, or “can we afford the additional materials and labour costs needed to add a half bath?” In short, have all financing ready to go at the design phase for a pain-free building process.
Decide Early on What You’d Like
Before your design meeting, it helps to have a solid idea of what you want for your home. Nailing down the material choices, style of home, how many rooms and more can help to reduce the number of design sessions needed. This can help cut down on time spent going back and forth over design details, so the crew can get to building your house. Have fun deciding how you want your home to look and feel. We have a design questionnaire that helps you think through this process. Our designers and construction team will match (and exceed!) your vision to create the house you’ve always wanted.
Trust in Our Team
As experienced custom home builders, we know that placing your home and your dreams in someone else’s hands can be a nerve-wracking experience! We completely understand. At White Wolf Homes, we want you to feel completely confident in our capabilities and in love with your home’s design. We want to have the most positive, respectful relationship possible, so you can go about your days while we pour the foundation, build the frame and create your brand-new home. Trusting that we have your best interests at heart will help the building process go smoothly. Of course, gaining trust requires regular communication, so please ask all the questions you have, big and small, before and during your build.
Are you ready to take the step towards your own custom home in Victoria? It will be a home made just for you, that no one else has ever lived in before. Backed by our new construction warranty and the assurance of our experienced team, your White Wolf home will be designed to match your lifestyle and your vision. Whether you need to move in asap or have a little more time, we’ll ensure the end result is everything you’ve ever dreamed of. To get started, view our current projects and floorplans, then call (250) 888-8209 or contact us via web form to schedule your initial consultation. Let’s Build Your Home Together.