14 months from contract signed to pool/landscaping completed. The pool was a late add and probably cost us 6 weeks. House is right at 4000 sq feet - two story on slab, stucco and stone, standing seam roof.

3 months before that to get plan developed with architect.

It took a very long time for us to settle on a house plan. Not sure of the time frame on that but it was a very very long time. We bought our lot in August, had it cleared in October and permits, dirtwork and construction actually began in November. We moved in the following November (last year) to a not quite finished house. So, a year for construction plus a little for lot prep and a bunch for floor plan selection/design. We did a lot of the work ourselves. A lot of it. That is why we are still not finished.

Just off the top of my head I would say 8 months. But then again, our builder only really counts the time to build from framing on. To give you some perspective, our builder only builds one home at a time. So he was on site full time once framing begins. He is also a cabinet maker and has his own woodworking shop. So all the woodwork in the home (trim, cabinetry, shoe mould, etc. and finishing work he does in his shop). Our home is 4100 square feet (including the finished area over the garage) on just over a half acre lot. We have a large two car garage (with a bay for a golf cart). We also had to have additional fill brought into our lot in order to finish landscaping because it had too much moisture in soil to allow plants to grow.

In June 2014 the lot was cleared. The crawl space foundation was dug out and cement poured mid-July. Then we had to wait a month for the concrete to cure. In mid-September the framing began. Interior walls were closed up in mid-January 2015. Even though the certificate of occupancy was obtained on April 8th of this year there was still a lot to do. We moved into the home officially on April 20th with most of our cabinets still without doors and no screens on our porch. And we are still dealing with punch list items. We are done with the electricians finally. And soon will be done with the painter. Painter just left today to finish interior touch ups, but will be back in the morning to finish painting the porch. We still need work tomorrow on our sprinkler system. And then there are some other smaller issues that will need to be addressed.

Zoe52: sounds like your builder is THE ideal builder! Only one job at a time! I hear of GC/ builders who juggle many projects and disappear weeks at a time because they have another job to do. Your house sounds really awesome. The time frame sounds not too bad either. We are looking at minimum 4-6 months just to get the permits!

Began Oct 15 of 2014. We were told we would be in by May 2015. Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha. A a big belly laugh too!

We hope it will be finished by Mid July (of this year). We have sold our house and need to be out by Aug. 1. I guess 9 months isn't really that bad if we can set a fire under the builder and let him know we need to move in before Aug. 1 or he is going to have house guests.

"sounds like your builder is THE ideal builder"

Yes but for that service you pay a premium for sure!!

The first time around we bought the lot in May, built with one of the big builders in the area and were moved in January 15th the year after.
This time we signed a contract with a custom builder in the beginning of June. His plan is to show it in the fall Parade of Homes, so it needs to be finished October 1st.
Move in date is set for the last week of October. It'll be interesting to see if they can get it done ;) If the rain ever stops.

@shadeshill - That is about our timeline as well. We signed the contact with our builder in May and he expects to close on 30 Sep. I hope he can hold to that schedule...

Edit - I should have mentioned that we started the negotiations on the land last Aug and have been making decisions on the house for a good part of that time.

Very neat, Chris. Looking forward to hearing about the progress!
@jdez you have a point, we've been plotting and planning since we moved into this house 'next house we will do xxxx' but more seriously working on a floorplan since January.
We love our current house, even with strange light switch locations and a lack of a good dog mud room, we've just outgrown it.

Three years (actually about 8 if you include planning!) but our house is 95% DIY. We spent a full year observing the land so that we could orient the house for the best light and views. Designing (also DIY with a LOT of GW help) evolved over about 5 years. Permits took 15 minutes. Because of our unusual circumstances, probably none of that is relevant, but because our house is fully custom, and on acreage, I would guess it would have been a full year to have a builder do it. By comparison, we have friends that are putting a very nice modular on a suburban lot in 4 months flat.

From interviewing architects to the current state (almost done) 27 months. That is our experience so far.

Time in the middle finding the builder added 4-5 months which could be pared down with a different process or more experienced clients. Additional 3 months during the construction documents phase where the architect disappeared without an explanation is probably unique as well (hopefully). For the true custom home I am not so sure you can get it below 18 months.

13 months - was told 6 months if weather was good. Funny though - it really wasn't the weather that held it up but a lot of miscommunications.

We are at 11 months since our first contact with our architect and are just getting permits pulled and hope to break ground by end of June and be in by the end of the year. Though, sometime early 2016 is probably more likely.

We're scheduled to close on our land 6/25 (fingers crossed there is no hiccup) so we'll see - truthfully I have no idea what we're in for time wise, especially since we'll be somewhere in between mushcreek's almost total DIY and an owner build GC. My husband has been in construction for 30 years but he can't do it all on his own. We're in a new state and he doesn't have the contacts here yet for crew - should be interesting.

DLM2000: good luck to you!

Stanleyridge: may I ask why it took so long for architect and permits? I am just beginning the process and I am told our town is a nightmare when it comes to permits.... I want to be fully prepared.

Hi Stellaalto, all of our time so far has really been design with the architect and structural engineering. Hoping that the permitting isn't bad as did a preliminary run of the plans by the county already and they seemed ok with everything at fist glance. The biggest impact for us was that we hired our architect from out of state and a fair amount of time was spent getting licensing approval from the state of Colorado for our architect. So, a pretty unusual step that wouldn't affect nearly anyone else. But we are thrilled with the results achieved with our architect and I wouldn't change our decision.

Bought our lot in January 2014 and began working with architect in March. We should finish in August. So, 17 months.

8 months - 2 months for house plans to be drawn up, 6 months for construction. Septic tank system was the only permit required. 1800 sq ft - retirement home.

A little over seven months from the time construction began. I began talking to the builder in February of this year.

Two years from the planning stage to move in date. 9 months for actual construction. Good luck. It is a long process and time consuming, but worth it.

from the time the "dirtwork" began to move in, not quite 10 months

As someone who has gutted several existing homes and constructed large additions on them (which essentially entails the same amount of work as a new build, if not more), I consider myself very quick: 5-6 months from the permit issuance date to the move-in date. Doing only one project at a time certainly helps maintain the pace of work.

But from architectural drawings to permits? In my city (Toronto), I advise my clients to set aside at least six months for that (zoning review, plan review, committee of adjustment, variances etc. - it all takes time!)

From the day the basement was dug, to the day of the final walk-through....92 days! But we had an Amish builder whose crews worked from 6 am to 6 pm 6 days a week. You will find that the actual building is the fast part. From the time we bought our land, worked with our architect, found our builder, got the permits, had the driveway put in, and picked out all the stuff needed to build a house = 5 yrs.

Oh, well if you count time from buying the land...25 years from then to final inspection! Make a clearing, build a driveway, wait a few years to pay that off, save some more $$. Build a septic system, save some more $$. Have a well drilled... build a garage... build a tiny cabin to sleep in on weekends... It was pay-as-you-go until a couple of years ago. Then from first architect contact to move in was still five years. A one-year delay was on purpose, to avoid borrowing money any longer than necessary. Then we had the foundation done one fall and let it sit over the winter, so framing could begin when the soil dried some in the spring. Then one thing and another, and we didn't mind slowing down the cash flow from time to time. But there were years where we'd just move our stakes around out in the clearing and imagine which rooms went where...

One year to get all the permits. Broke ground for foundation last september, we're hoping to be in by Sept 1. They're getting ready to dry wall today or tomorrow.

I am so jealous of all of you! We broke ground in Aug 2014. Best case for a move in date will be Oct 2015!!! 14 months!

That's our timeline, too. Every time we say, "Well, there's nothing they can mess up now," we get schooled. My husband started to say that the other day, and I nearly slugged him. It's like saying Beetlejuice!

There are lots of houses going up all around us and they seem to be starting after us and finishing way ahead of us! It is maddening!!! The mistakes sometimes just leave us speechless.

We spent two years trying to find an existing house in the area where we wanted to live. In 1999 we bought one of the first houses we'd seen, thinking we could remodel it. We bought it for it's location -- good thing, because we soon saw that we'd be ahead to tear down the 1950's ranch and build all new.

We moved into our 2900 sq ft single-floor home in October 2001. (Then we moved out again a month later so the wood floors could be re-done; builder paid.)

There was the 'architect' who was unlicensed. There was the stop work order from the city AFTER we had both the teardown permit and the building permit. (Illegal, but it would take at least two years for a lawsuit to come to trial.) There was the College of Fools, the all volunteer Building Review Board, who had time on their hands and enjoyed fussing over our already-approved house plans -- when they got around to meeting. (More illegal meddling.)

The actual construction took about nine months.

Just remembering the *completely arbitrary and illegal* delays is painful. I lost 30 pounds and had to delay a surgery until I regained ten.

We do love our home, but we sure had to fight for it!

We first talked to the builder about buying one of the lots the end of March of this year. We put down a refundable deposit and started working to create a custom house from my ideas. We finally have the plans and now he sends it out to his subs for bids. I'm told that will be 4 weeks from this week. If the price comes in low enough (HAH!) we would then have to get our loan to build. I've been told that takes 45 days (which in FL probably means 60 days if lucky). Once that is done, then builder needs to get permits. We are told that's 30-40 days. (Not a chance in our town. More like double or maybe even triple.) Our builder told us 6 months to build but this is FL so we are expecting it to be a year.

According to this article https://interlineconstructions.com.au/custom-homes/custom-home-timeframe/ Custom homes can take between 6-12 months. Kristin Brookfield from the HIA says a typical contract for a single-storey home is between 18 and 26 weeks, depending on the size of the house.