A custom home can typically take 6 to 18 months to build. This includes lot preparation, full home construction and landscape completion. Custom homes take longer than DR Horton style production builders because each lot is individual, plans are typically not repetitive and take longer to build and customized features require more planning and attention.
We take care to provide a full turn key estimate for your home construction. However, there are some items that may add to your original estimate including: HOA review board requested changes that are made after the contract is signed, upgrades chosen during the selections process or potentially builders risk insurance if not included as part of your project. Check your builder to see if this type of insurance is covered.
You can customize any of our floor plans. We can also build your provided building plan if you’ve already purchased or have them drawn. We can also help you design a plan from scratch by working with one of our partnering home designers.
Upgrades to your home will fall into two categories: Items that are important to you and your family specifically and items that will be great for resale. The best upgrades are ones that fit both categories. The top areas to spend money on tend to be the kitchen, master bathroom and outdoor living. Some upgrades will not ultimately return the dollar amount that was spent on them. This includes items such as swimming pools or high dollar premium selections. However, certain types of upgrades may allow maximum return on investment such as universal design features (due to a larger pool of candidates that would have interest) or landscaping features.
You do not need to own land first to begin talking to us about building with Carolina Bays. We have a real estate wing that can help you to identify lots or land that would fit your needs size wise, geographically and style wise. In the price estimating process we will take the potential lot and community requirements into account for the proposal.
Warranties include the following: workmanship, products and structural items. Workmanship is related to the labor performed on your house. Product warranties are specific to the product installed and are related to the product failure – not improper installation. Product warranties are everything from windows, to appliances to flooring. Structural items typically have a longer type frame and are for items such as significant foundation issues, sagging roof systems or cracking from insufficient beams.
HOA (homeowner’s associations) usually have specific rules for the way that landscaping, home exteriors, home sizes and home styles look. These types of communities also will review the building plans in advance and sometimes may require modifications for acceptance to begin construction. For this reason, HOA communities may have a slower time frame to get their construction started (due to extra approvals required above and beyond regular permitting).
You can have your home built while living out of state. Carolina Bays Homes is a Myrtle Beach homebuilder and we often have customers that live out of town throughout the entire construction process. With as little as 3 to 5 visits to town, the customers can get their entire home built with no other presence on site.
The foundation chosen for along the coast will factor several things. In non-flood zones some customers prefer a monolithic foundation due to the structural nature of a single pour, less steps required to get in the house and the lower maintenance (compared to a crawl space). If height above grade is needed for a flood zone, you will send crawl spaces, raised stem wall block slabs or piling/pier foundations. In high wave action areas (such as along the ocean front) pilings driven deep into the Earth are required for structure and height.
