Lifestyle Design Homes, a custom home builder based in Estero, Florida, has published a guide to how long a custom home takes to build in Southwest Florida, and to the decisions that keep a schedule on track.

The company puts a typical custom home at 9 to 12 months from the first meeting to move-in. About 3 to 4 months go to pre-construction, which covers design, engineering, selections and the permit. Construction takes 6 to 8 months from the day the permit is issued. Inside pre-construction, the company plans 2 to 3 weeks for the floor plan, 6 to 8 weeks for engineering and architectural development, and 4 to 6 weeks for a complete permit application in Collier or Lee County. Because design and construction sit in the same company, several of those phases run at the same time.

According to the guide, delays come from six sources, roughly in this order: permitting and third-party approvals, homeowner decisions or changes made after their deadline, material procurement, significant scope changes once construction is under way, weather, and unforeseen site conditions. Two of the top four are decisions the homeowner controls.

The guide uses two of the company's own projects to show the range. A home in Lehigh Acres was completed in about 4 months from breaking ground to handing over the keys, because the design was defined before construction, the selections were made early, and the project ran without major changes. A custom home of about 6,000 square feet in Pelican Bay, Naples, took about 9 months, with a far more customized design.

Clients follow the schedule through Buildertrend and typically receive updates every two weeks.

"A client shouldn't have to constantly chase their builder to understand what's happening with their home," said Derrick Henderson, President of Lifestyle Design Homes.

The guide also explains why many published timelines run 12 to 24 months, what flood elevation and wind engineering add to a Southwest Florida schedule, and how a home that is already permitted can be finished in 6 to 8 months.

The full guide is available at https://lifestyledesignhomes.com/how-long-to-build-a-custom-home-florida/

About Lifestyle Design Homes

Lifestyle Design Homes is a custom home builder based in Estero, Florida, building in Naples, Estero, Bonita Springs, Fort Myers, Cape Coral and Marco Island. The company handles design and construction in house and is the residential division of Lifestyle Development Group. More at https://lifestyledesignhomes.com/