Scotty Vaughn says that if he had a quarter for each time he was asked the same three questions, he’d just may be able to retire. Since launching his Alabama home construction business in 2007, he’s found that people looking to build a new home have three pressing questions.
- When can you start?
- How much is it per square foot?
- How long will it take?
“There’s an honest answer to each of these questions,” Vaughn says. “The answer is that we will be ready to start at the exact time you are ready to begin, and the price per square foot is going to depend completely on what you are building and the materials you have chosen to build with.”
Vaughn, President and CEO of Vaughn Construction Company and an Independent Dealer with Honest Abe Log Homes through his Southern Log Cabins dealership, says that when building a new home, adequate planning and open communication with the contractor is vital to the success of the entire project and satisfaction with the final home.
“We hear from people all the time who have yet to buy property or who are in the early design stages with floor plans,” he said. “That is the right time to engage with your contractor because they can help you find cost savings and anticipate design and materials concerns that you may not realize can hold your project up or make it cost more with no real benefit.”
However, Vaughn points out that until a prospective homeowner has land to build on and finalized blueprints, those three pressing questions cannot be accurately answered.
“Most contractors will help guide their clients through the land selection and floor plan design or customization and can also help clients select all the materials down to the light fixtures, flooring and paint colors along with the exterior materials choices and roofing,” Vaughn says. “It is when these choices are made that we can supply an accurate cost accounting for our clients so that there are no budget surprises. It also allows clients to immediately see the costs of design changes made during the planning process in comparison to what those changes would cost after construction starts.”
Through careful planning and frank conversations all of the three pressing questions – when? how much? how long? – will be answered because:
- Everyone understands the start date because the homeowner has made all the necessary design and materials choices and the contractor knows when those choices are made and materials are in the pipeline.
- The cost per square foot is locked in based on the design and materials used.
- The turnaround time from the point of breaking ground to moving in is locked down.
