Completion time for Custom Home

[SCHUNTINFANATIC]

What is the average length of time in today’s market one should expect a 2800sq ft home to be completed, start to finish? Our contractor told us 8-12 months when we signed the contract and should’ve had a deadline in the contract but we really didn’t think about it at the time. We are about to hit month 13 of actual work and there was a month before that where nothing was done. There was a month from the day I gave him 10% cash to start until the footings were dug. Signed the contract in March of 2021. It’s like we can’t get a full weeks work out of them to get this thing finished and it’s one excuse after another why the subs aren’t showing up. I’m about to come unglued about it, honestly. But what good would it do?

[trkykilr]

We just started one at the farm. Not quite that big. Hell, it took us almost 3 months to get Clarendon County to give us a permit. We have already run into shortages of brick and mortar. I’m glad it isn’t my primary residence.

[ziggy]

is this the same gc you started a thread about last year that was doing such shitty work?

yes you should've put in a completion date into the contract before signing, but you already know that. supply chain is still fucked so all building material is hard to get right now and any subcontractors worth their salt are still booked months out from now.

not sure what your payment terms are, but withholding money is your only option to get gc to complete.

[SCHUNTINFANATIC]

is this the same gc you started a thread about last year that was doing such shitty work?

yes you should've put in a completion date into the contract before signing, but you already know that. supply chain is still fucked so all building material is hard to get right now and any subcontractors worth their salt are still booked months out from now.

not sure what your payment terms are, but withholding money is your only option to get gc to complete.

Yes, we had a come to Jesus meeting during the framing and all the issues were handled and we continued on. We have been pretty please with how it has gone since then other than it taking so long. The house looks great and we have been able to work with him and get some things we didn’t plan on the beginning that he is covering the cost of. But I don’t like being told we will be done in 2 weeks and nothing happens in those 2 weeks except for a few small things. This is a small contractor and currently has 5 houses going. One of his other customers started subbing his stuff out himself in January because he saw how mine was going.

[turbo]

Don't come unglued. You're in the short rows now.

There's no excuse to take a year. None.

[mhogancu]

I purchased another house a year ago with a rent back agreement to the old owners, letting them rent until their new build in dunes west was done.

The target date for the completion was mid January. They are still renting from us today and have 2 more weeks before they can get the CO from mount pleasant.

[DJP]

We just finished one. 18 months from the day the grader showed up.
I was stressed like you about the 12 month mark.
What I experienced was that anything standard.....like a standard window or garage door, was not bad to get. Once you start custom work the wait times went up exponentially. 30 weeks for a custom color garage door. 25 weeks for a custom window. The custom engineered beams my neighbor bought took over a month. We had a stone shortage, then we had to wait on the masons. Don't even get me started on appliances.
Same guy built plenty of homes in 12 months in the past. This one was 18 months.

[BCR3]

Honestly I'm thinking a barndominium might be the way to go.

[banded_mallard]

Honestly I'm thinking a barndominium might be the way to go.

That’s the way I want to go but haven’t been down the financing road yet. I have heard financing can be hard to get. If anyone can shed some light, I would appreciate a pm. Don’t want to mess up the man’s thread.

[charlie horse]

What are you down to? Hardware? Trim out electrical and plumbing?

[SCHUNTINFANATIC]

What are you down to? Hardware? Trim out electrical and plumbing?

We are at about 75% on the electrical fixtures being installed and working, interior needs final coat of paint on everything, all door hardware, back porch railing, crawl space encapsulation and dehumidifier needs installing, attic fan still needs installing, shoe mold around island and cabinets in laundry room, crawl space swell needs to be built by brick masons, 24 cedar columns on the exterior need to be stained/sealed along with front door, 3 drawers in kitchen have the wrong fronts installed on them and he prob hasn’t even ordered the right ones, master shower glass was to be installed last week and is still MIA. A few more small things. I feel like it’s a solid weeks worth of work but nobody showed up Friday to do anything and nobody is there again today.

[Remy]

A good contractor should still be able to build a custom house in 6-8 months. The only reason it should go longer is if the house is truly higher end custom work that has a lot of speciality products. Sounds like your guy is a small time builder who doesn't have the resources to get it done in this market.

[charlie horse]

A good contractor should still be able to build a custom house in 6-8 months. The only reason it should go longer is if the house is truly higher end custom work that has a lot of speciality products. Sounds like your guy is a small time builder who doesn't have the resources to get it done in this market.

You can barely get windows in 6 months.

[Remy]

You can barely get windows in 6 months.

Depends on the windows. Standard vinyl windows can be had in 2-4 months right now. I ordered mine in March and just got them in.

[FishSticker]

Depends on the windows. Standard vinyl windows can be had in 2-4 months right now. I ordered mine in March and just got them in.

Those won't be found in a custom build.

[Remy]

Those won't be found in a custom build.

Most custom homes under say $450k will have vinyl windows. Maybe not in a $750k house, but a custom build don't have to be high end.

[Highstrung]

I think it was around 18 months on mine, from the okay let's start.. but I had to build a road in, clear and grade and junk. There's a house next to my lake house that's waited like Charlie has said six or seven months for windows.

Charlie, I saw on the internets you're remodeling B's house. Tell stinkcrack I said what's up.

[Longbeard Exterminator]

We signed a contract back around Thanksgiving..... in January we were about two weeks away from signing the construction loan when the price went up another 40k per my contractor...... so we bit the bullet and backed out. Still waiting and still renting. Good luck to all that are currently building in these times SUCK......

[Remy]

We signed a contract back around Thanksgiving..... in January we were about two weeks away from signing the construction loan when the price went up another 40k per my contractor...... so we bit the bullet and backed out. Still waiting and still renting. Good luck to all that are currently building in these times SUCK......

You're gonna spend more than the $40k in rent and increased interest on the construction loan.

I locked my rate in February. If I were to lock it today, my payment would be $600 more a month. Let that sink in.

[ziggy]

You're gonna spend more than the $40k in rent and increased interest on the construction loan.

I locked my rate in February. If I were to lock it today, my payment would be $600 more a month. Let that sink in.

what's the interest rates for construction loans? in line with mortgage rates?