Description
Book SynopsisTable of ContentsIntroduction 1
Part 1: Getting Started with Custom-Home Building 5
Chapter 1: The Custom-Home Process in a Nutshell 7
Chapter 2: Preparing for the Process 21
Chapter 3: The Land Grab: Selecting the Perfect Site 39
Chapter 4: Defining Your House Style 61
Part 2: Assembling Your Team 81
Chapter 5: Architects and Design: Time Spent Is Money Saved 83
Chapter 6: Engineers and City Folk: Approval Bureaucracy Made Somewhat Easy 109
Chapter 7: All the King’s Men: The Contractor and Their Cohorts 125
Part 3: All You Need Is Dough: Financing Your Custom Home 141
Chapter 8: Cash Is King: Borrowing to Your Advantage 143
Chapter 9: Knowledge Is Power: What You Don’t Know about Construction Loans Can Hurt You 157
Chapter 10: Qualifying: It’s the Bank’s Way or the Highway 179
Chapter 11: Show Me the Money: Flowing Cash through the Project 203
Part 4: Hammers and Nails: Overseeing the Construction Process 219
Chapter 12: Excavation and Foundation: Getting a Solid Start 221
Chapter 13: Framing and Rough: So Much Goes behind Those Walls! 237
Chapter 14: Heading for the Finish: The Devil’s in the Details 261
Part 5: All the After Stuff 287
Chapter 15: Making a House a Home: Moving In, Furnishing, and Using Smart Tech 289
Chapter 16: Taking It Outside: The Art of Landscaping and Hardscaping 297
Chapter 17: Making Your Nest Egg Financially Sound 313
Part 6: The Part of Tens 321
Chapter 18: Ten Common Custom-Home Mistakes and How to Avoid ’Em 323
Chapter 19: Ten Great Ways to Lower Construction Costs 329
Chapter 20: Ten Common Stuck-in-the-Middle Problems and Their Fixes 337
Chapter 21: Ten Ways to Build Sustainably 345
Chapter 22: Ten Helpful Custom-Home Resources 353
Index 359
