We held a very well attended Construction Lunch and Learn last month which led to a few ideas. If people are interested in coming to our office to learn more about construction of a new home, maybe they would be interested in a Live Facebook event too! So, we went live with Tom and Sara to answer some of the same questions, along with questions from the audience. You can watch that video here!

But, maybe you don’t have time to watch the video, or just don’t feel like it! We took things one step further and wrote out some answers to our most frequently asked questions as well. Now you’re armed with good information! But, as usual, if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to call our office at 317-468-2330 or email us!

So, grab your lunch and read on!

More About Joyner Homes and Where Do We Build?

You can learn more about us here! Our company was founded in 2006 by Tom & Sara Joyner. We build smart, well-designed, character rich homes in Hancock, Shelby, and Henry Counties.

We build in a few specific communities in Greenfield. Our Summerset community is located on the east side of Greenfield and is a low maintenance patio home community.

We also build in a couple of single family neighborhoods. McKenzie Glen, which is also on the east side of Greenfield, and then Stone Ridge, which is just outside of Greenfield to the west.

Finally, we’ll also build on your lot, just about anywhere where you can bring your own builder.

Do We Build in the Winter?

Yes! We will build homes through all four seasons of the year! (We do live in Indiana you know!)

When we start in the winter, we just have to do a few things differently, most of which has to do with the concrete. We need it to be warm enough to be able to do masonry work or concrete work so that it doesn’t freeze and has a chance to cure. And, depending on how cold the weather is, there are more and more things that we have to do for concrete. Sometimes it’s just putting straw over the top of the concrete to help insulate it. We also may have to add chemicals to the concrete and sometimes we even have to thaw the ground out that we’re going to be building on. But, we know all the right things to do and we watch the weather very closely, and it doesn’t change anything about the quality of your home.

Now, it does cost a little bit more on some of those items, but what we found over the years, is that it’s still better overall to start in the winter than to wait until spring. Once spring hits, our contractors get super busy and that means the bids come in higher! Late Fall/Early Winter is a great time to get the contractors’ attention when all of that work slows a little bit for them. You may have a little bit of winter cost, but you’ll have a higher price increase going into the spring.

What Should be Considered When Looking for Land? What Can Drive Up Costs?

First of all, in Hancock County, there is a land ordinance which requires a minimum of 10 acres for a home site. Now, there is an option to get a variance or to make a minor subdivision in order to have a smaller property, but that takes a little more work on the front-end of the process. So, looking for that 10 acre parcel would be a good start.

One of the things to know about building out on your own land is that there are just a lot more cost variables that might come into play. For instance, the soil conditions may be unknown. That can affect the structure of the home as well as drainage and/or septic system design.

When you build on your own lot, compared to a  subdivision, other costs may include site clearing, bringing in fill dirt, or seed and straw on a larger area of ground. Additionally, you will need consider drainage issues including driveway culverts, utility extension fees, septic well, propane tanks. There are many different things that can drive up cost, but as a rule of thumb, we estimate that building on acreage versus a subdivision probably adds $25,000 to $50,000 to the cost of building. We tell our customers to save a little wiggle room in their budget for an on-your-lot home, because there will likely be some surprises like these items.

In contrast, when we build in a subdivision, we know what we’re working with. That lot has been engineered, we know what utilities are coming into it, where we can connect to them, and other items that may be unknown on a lot in the county. That takes a lot of the guess work out of the equation.

If you’re shopping for land and have a few tracts in mind, let us help! We can look at the piece of land and pretty quickly estimate the costs of the issues we’ve listed. We can also help with things like house placement on the land, which can help reduce costs too.

Stay tuned for Part 2!