Quite unexpectedly, the answer to this question is, “it depends.” In a 2016 survey; the Census Bureau found that the average completion time of a single-family home was six months. However, many factors play into the number, including climate, floor plan, home-style, environment, city, and even contractor.
Construction Style
Homes come in either prefabricated, template, or custom. Prefabricated homes can be trailers and the like. These take the least amount of time and can even be instant if you are bringing a pre-built trailer to the site. However, most homes are a form of template home.
A template home is when a developer buys a large patch of land and builds the same three-floor plans across hundreds of homes. They might have different colors and windows, but they are all the same. These can take a few months to six months as the process speeds up after the first few houses. Think of a production line.
Lastly, custom homes take the longest. Due to their unique nature, they require more planning and time than other, basic homes. However, that is what makes them appealing. In general, you can expect a construction time of 10 months to 16 months for a custom home.
Region
The place where your home is built will also affect the time it takes for the house to be built. The chart below expands on this by region in the USA.
- Mid-Atlantic Region: 9.5 months
- Mountainous Regions: Six months
- Metropolitan Area: Seven months
- Rural Area: Nine months
- All Regions and Metro Areas Combined : Six months
City & State
Due to different laws and zoning requirements, building a home in San Francisco, California will take months longer than building a home in the rural parts of Southern Florida. You should look into local laws, permits, and regulations to make sure that you are planning for the time that will be needed by the government to give approvals when needed.
Unplanned Events
The final factor that will affect construction time to a large degree is unplanned events and changes. Should a ten or one-hundred-year rain event happen, you can delay in the completion of your project. The same will be the case if you ask for a change in windows, rooms, or other features. Keep in mind that the larger change you ask for, the longer it will take.
If you are in Southern Florida and are looking for a custom home, then we can help. We are a design + build firm specializing in luxury custom homes. We can either take a look at your floor plans and give an estimate or design a home from the ground up with plans and a timeline. Contact us today!
