At Sharp Homes, we build new custom homes every day; however, we realize this can seem like a daunting process for home buyers. We’ve outlined our approach to the new home construction to help answer some of your questions about our custom home-building process.

As one of Wichita’s premier Wichita home builders, we promise to provide you with a smooth, professional experience every step of the way. If at any time you have questions or need more time, please let us know and we’ll do everything we can to help.


1. Consultation

In the consultation stage, the goal is for you to select a builder for your new home. Building a new home is one of the biggest investments you will make, so it’s important to make sure the process will be smooth and the result will meet your expectations.

We recommend meeting with your top two or three choices so you can decide which home builder best fits your style, price range and comfort. It’s also a good idea to view their existing homes, models and floor plans. This will allow you to check their quality, standard finishes and design features, and the typical neighborhood they build in. If you’re going to be working with a realtor for your new home purchase, consider asking them to join you at your builder meetings to get their insight.

Sharp Homes’ consultations typically last 30 minutes to an hour, and we are happy to meet with you as often as necessary to ensure your questions and concerns are fully addressed.

2. Select a Floor Plan

During the floor plan selection phase, our job is to put your dreams and ideas into a plan on paper. With the popularity of sites like Houzz and Pinterest, it’s easy to find creative home features and finishes you love. The difficult part is narrowing those boards and scrapbooks full of ideas down to the ones you want to incorporate into your new home.

There are a multitude of ways to come up with your ideal floor plan, and no matter where you start, always remember that it’s your home! At Sharp Homes, we have an array of existing floor plans for you to choose from. You may choose to build them as-is, or you can work with our in-house architect to modify a plan to suit your specific tastes and needs. We can work with you to combine plans or ideas into a custom layout, or even create a house floor plan completely from scratch.

The process of deciding on a floor plan may take a week or two, and it often starts well in advance of choosing a builder.


3. Design Development

During the design development phase, your custom floor plan will be refined and finalized. The goal of this stage is to end up with a final floor plan, pricing sheet and lot location that will be used to prepare a building contract. We’ll also start to look at placing your house on a lot, as well as the home’s orientation on the site.

You will work with Craig, owner and president of Sharp Homes, as well as our design team. With a full-time architect/designer on staff, we’re able to respond quickly to requests for modifications to existing floor plans.

The design development process may include in-person meetings and emails. There will be pricing discussions as we dig deeper into your anticipated materials and finishes, allowances, upgrades and optional features.

Finalizing your home design typically takes a few weeks. It’s important to note that, while we like to have your floor plans as solid as possible after this step, we realize that there may be some changes during the construction process. We have a simple change order process to handle these expected adjustments if and when they come up. However, our thorough design and development process helps minimize the impact of these changes on your home’s cost or timeline.

4. Contract Negotiations

As you might expect, the goal of the contract negotiation stage is to sign a building contract and set a construction start date for your home. This is a big step in the construction of your new home, so congratulations!

Once you feel comfortable with your home plans and confident in your builder, it’s time to sign a contract so construction can begin. If you’re already working with a lender, we’ll coordinate with them on the required paperwork for your financing. Or, we can connect you with our recommended lender. Alternatively, we have the unique ability to finance your construction loan directly through Sharp Homes if needed.

Reviewing the contract and signing the documents typically takes less than an hour.


5. Permits, Plot Plans, and Patience

This can be one of the toughest stages for homeowners, because it involves a lot of paperwork and activity happening behind the scenes. Having signed the contract and celebrated the start of a new chapter, it can be difficult waiting for the dirt to move.

After your building contract is signed, we’ll begin working on getting a plot plan drawn for your lot, pulling permits with the appropriate governing body, and working with your lender on appraisals. We’ll keep you informed about the status of your dig date; in the meantime, you’ll be able to start meeting with vendors and touring our Design Center. This is the ideal time to choose your large items like paint colors, windows, doors, brick and stone. You’ll also meet with your superintendent to review your plans.

6. Making Selections

This stage typically takes three to four weeks. It can be an anxious time for the new homeowner when progress isn’t easy to see, but it’s a necessary part of the process and well worth the wait.

While you’re waiting for that first scoop of earth to move, our staff will meet with you to go over our Selection Guide. The guide will walk you step-by-step through the timeline of choosing the materials and finishes for your new home. In it, you’ll find our suggestions for vendors that we’ve worked with and we trust to provide you with the highest quality products and services, although we’re willing to work with the vendor of your choice.

The selection process happens over a few weeks, and the guide includes the milestone dates that decisions should be made by in order to keep your project moving on schedule.


7. Construction Starts

Now the fun begins! This is the culmination of all of the work from the previous few weeks. With the paperwork behind us, we’re ready to start the construction of your new home. We’ll guide you through each phase of the building process, and our team will be available to answer any questions you may have and address any alterations you request.

You’ll have walk-throughs of your home at various stages during construction to review the progress and make decisions. For example, you’ll meet with our trim carpenter and electrician to review each room of your house and point out the exact features you’d like to have, such as wiring for a wall-mounted TV.

On average, our home building process takes 4-5 months for a typical home. This may seem fast compared to other builders, considering the national average time to build a house is 7-8 months. With our dedicated subcontractors and up-to-date scheduling, we can keep your home construction moving forward. As long as selections are completed on or before the designated milestone dates, there should be few – if any – work days during which we are not making progress on your home.

8. Move-in / Construction Complete

Congratulations! Your new home is now complete. After a few months of planning, paperwork and construction, your dream home is finished and ready for you to move in. The construction phase wraps up with a final walk-through to make sure every detail is resolved. You’ll also have a review of your final pricing with any overages or credits. Then, you’ll have a closing and receive the keys to your brand-new custom home!

As you settle in, it will be important to keep a list of any warranty issues you may find. Every Sharp home is backed by a 1-year warranty provided by an impartial third-party vendor. After the first month in your home, and again toward the end of the first year, the warranty provider will contact you to review your list and schedule any necessary repairs.


Final Thoughts

This is a general overview of the new home construction process with Sharp Homes in Wichita. Our entire team is fully dedicated to making your home build a comfortable experience for you. We’ve been a family-owned company for more than 50 years, and we work together to make your dream home a reality. Should you have any questions, we’ll be here from start to finish. It is our honor to work for you on such an important and worthwhile investment.

Ready to Get Started?

Call Sharp Homes at 316-775-2129 or fill out the form to begin building your new home or go over any questions you may have. We’ve also put together a list of frequently asked questions to address additional details of the home building process. We look forward to meeting you!

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