About Custom Home Builders and Their Processes

The best house foundation for Florida’s tropical climate is a reinforced concrete slab, designed to withstand shifts in the soil, moisture, flooding and hurricanes. Custom home builders, like our team at Lee Wetherington Homes, carefully engineer each foundation – and we use our tailored design and building process, known as the “Wetherington Way,” to ensure our buyers have an experience that endures a lifetime.

People can afford custom homes with custom home builders because of a variety of factors in today’s market – one being by way of a construction loan, which covers costs at various milestones throughout the building process. Homebuyers with good credit may also qualify for lower interest rates, and they might have a considerable amount of money saved or significant equity in their existing home that has increased in value over the past several years. When you partner with a custom home builder, like Lee Wetherington Homes, your home is not only curated to your budget but also to the singular lifestyle you desire.

Technically, you can design your home without an architect. However, it’s highly recommended that you have an architect, specifically in-house with the builder you partner with, to draw up construction documents for floorplans, the roof and other aspects of your custom home. Lee Wetherington Homes, like many custom home builders, has an experienced architect on our team who assists in designing a masterpiece to your specifications – and this is included in your costs as a homebuyer with us. Among award-winning custom home builders, our tailored approach creates consistency across each build.

A $500,000 budget may be enough to build a home or townhome. However, it’s not enough to design and build a fully custom home. Custom homes are more expensive, potentially ranging from $500 to over $1,000 per square foot. Among award-winning custom home builders in Sarasota and Manatee counties, we focus on creating homes that evoke an experience and are a solid investment.

Typically, custom home builders take roughly 18 to 20 months to build a house from the start of the journey to its completion – or 12 to 14 months from permitting. Among award-winning custom home builders in Sarasota, Lee Wetherington Homes’ “Wetherington Way” design and building process details every phase included in creating masterpieces for homebuyers.

Yes, many custom home builders, including Lee Wetherington Homes, pay Realtors® a commission for sales. Custom home builders typically approach this as a business expense – and they value partnerships with agents that ensure a smooth homebuying process. As for Lee Wetherington Homes, we pay the expenses for Realtors®. As a homebuyer with us, it doesn’t cost you more or less to use or not use one.

Building a custom home can be a truly tailored experience, giving you the ability to completely personalize design styles and features to your lifestyle. While custom home builders can provide an individualized experience, creating these homes comes with higher costs and, in some instances, a longer timeline for completion.

When you’re considering costs associated with hiring custom home builders, you’ll likely make an upfront deposit of $100,000 for the home and $100,000 if you decide to also purchase a homesite. The remaining payments are usually disbursed from a homebuyer-funded escrow account or through a construction-to-permit loan. At Lee Wetherington Homes, our masterpieces are priced at market value based on aspects such as the floorplan you design, and materials, color palettes and innovative features you’ve selected.

Typically, custom home builders require a deposit before beginning the construction process. The decided amount is commonly known as “earnest money,” covering costs like permitting, securing materials and project scheduling. Earnest amounts vary but are usually a percentage of the total cost of the home, agreed upon upfront between custom home builders and buyers.

When it comes to creating a house with custom home builders – or any builder – framing is typically the most expensive part of the process because of the engineering involved and materials, like wood, that are used. Other aspects of custom home building can also be costly, ranging from laying the foundation to labor and the design selections that are incorporated in a masterpiece all your own.

The cheapest houses to build are typically tiny homes, or prefab or manufactured homes, which are partially constructed offsite. While partnering with custom home builders is more expensive to pursue, the return on investment is worth it as these creations are meticulously crafted and individualized to homebuyers’ wants and needs. Among award-winning custom home builders in Sarasota and Manatee counties, Lee Wetherington Homes takes pride in our over four decades-long reputation of building art that lasts a lifetime.

Building a pool in Florida can cost upwards of $150,000 when you’re creating a custom home. In fact, Florida leads the nation with over 1.5 million households that have incorporated a pool. Custom home builders, like our team at Lee Wetherington Homes, integrate pools seamlessly into outdoor living designs – and one of the first phases of construction with us includes the design of your pool.

To build a house, homebuyers typically secure a construction loan, requiring credit approval, a down payment and agreements with a builder. It’s best to research lenders and come prepared with documentation, including detailed plans and cost estimates. Custom home builders in Sarasota can walk customers through financing options, and many have preferred lenders.

Good custom home builders have strong reputations not only in the community but in their industry, a track record of detailed craftsmanship and many positive reviews from homebuyers. Among custom home builders in Sarasota and Manatee counties, our team at Lee Wetherington Homes has an over 40-year legacy of delivering excellence and the “American dream” to discerning homebuyers – and our firm has a history of giving back to organizations across the region, so they can share in our success.