Carolina Home Systems of Asheville, Western North Carolina's Premiere Modular/Engineered System Builder ~ The Process

The Home Building Process

Carolina Home Systems is proud of our ability to customize plans and we have created a building process that is designed to take careful thoughtful steps so our customers get the home they desire.

The first step usually involves a visit to our model home. There you can see for yourself our quality and can see closely our various plans, building features and components. Here you can meet us personally and hopefully learn of our dedication and professionalism.

The second step is a visit to your home site so we can advise you in appropriate and cost savings plan choices. The topography in Western North Carolina is a challenge to all builders and site preparation costs can be reduced and the setting more aesthetically created if we get involved early. (This process also assures us all that we can get our building system to your lot. You will be surprised how capable our equipment is and how resourceful our people can be in getting homes to difficult sites)

Often we advise people to be clear on their budget early. We have several lenders that have come to know us well over the years and have created loans for the advantage of our customers. (Reduced fees, flexible draws, etc.) Thus we encourage people to call a lender early and get pre-qualified and clear on how the money works. This allows you to come in to the plan creation process with confidence so you can build your home with the knowledge you will work within your budget without taking unnecessary financial risks.

The next step is often a great deal of fun for our customers; Our plan creation process. This consists of 1 to 2 meetings that often take several hours to make changes to the plans and give accurate prices for changes and custom features. This is done in a “wish list” type format so you can decide over time what you want to include or exclude in your home. The plans are then formatted and done with great detail. These plans are then sent off to the factory for the creation of a full set of blue print plans.

The costs of these blue prints is included in your price but an upfront fee of $1,500.00 is required to pay the engineering department at the factory to create the blue print plans. We work hard to reduce the upfront costs to you. At this point in the process you should have a good idea if you want to proceed with us. We do not require a contract at this time and even prefer that the plans come back for your review at their leisure before entering into a contract. This prevents change order fees.

All of the above mentioned steps usually take 3 to 6 weeks depending on how quickly the customer wants to move and home prepared they are to make decisions.

When you are ready to proceed with building we usually create a contract, close the loan, do a “Request to Produce” to the factory and begin the site preparation. The site preparation and foundation work is somewhat weather dependent but we can often accomplish this in 2 to 4 weeks after loan closing. We are proud to offer a "superior wall" foundation," or solid concrete wall basement foundation, which is not only much faster to complete but also much stronger and better insulated and waterproofed than conventional block basement foundations. Crawl spaces are still more economically done with block.

Usually about the time the foundation is completed the house is completed at the factory and is ready to set on the foundation. If the customer has chosen our “Turnkey” method the house is usually completed in 6 to 8 weeks depending on the amount of site work the job requires. If the owner has chosen the Owner Completion or Builder Assisted method of building then that too depends on the site work and what aspects you are doing yourself. This “owner completion” method has been chosen by many of our customers for the potential for significant cost savings and the ability for the owner to control the process. Also, the economics of the local economy has many choosing this method to save money. Our local real estate market is fairly expensive considering the average earnings.

The bottom line is you can be in your home in 3 to 5 months depending on how quickly you are prepared to make decisions and move forward. The planning and loan closing stages are often as long as the building process but this assures that you will be pleased with the final home with few surprises and very satisfied endings. This final point is why many of our customers return with friends and family members for us to build their home. Please view our testimonials and contact us with more questions.

Sincerely,

Bill Barbour
Carolina Home Systems
(828)252-6465

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