“Home is where the heart is.”
Hendersonville, Nashville and surrounding areas are right in the middle of one of the most vibrant home markets in the country. However, despite great market conditions, finding the right home can be a struggle. Whether you are looking at existing homes or considering a custom build, there are many decisions that have to be made. To help our readers navigate the housing maze, we asked builder Hannah Custom Homes to help us understand some of the issues involved with building a new home.
Founded in 2005 by Dusty Hannah together with his sister, Misty Pyle, and her husband, Jeff, Hannah Custom Homes builds custom-designed homes ranging from 3,000 square feet and up in size. They offer a wide variety of home designs, including traditional and European styles. Along with their design expertise, Hannah has a proven construction process that helps ensure their customers get exactly what they want in their new homes.
Three of their recent construction projects showcase their design and construction expertise. The first home is a traditional-style 5,000-plus-square-foot home built on 27 Gatlinburg-like acres in the heart of Hendersonville. Among its many amenities, the home offers one room that provides a lookout view of land. Other features include beautiful custom wood beams, a theater room and a custom kitchen with a built-in hidden-paneled fridge.
The second home is a French Country/European-style home located on a large lot in Goodlettsville. The home offers a custom kitchen, master bath and a beautiful estate exterior. The home features modern smart-home technology that provides the latest in interior connectivity.
The final home is a modern Craftsman basement home located in the Pennington Bend area of Nashville. This home’s exterior is based on an exquisite blend of stone and brick topped off by a beautiful roof constructed of shingles and metal. It also offers a three-story round turret on the back of the house, as well as a two-story living room that has a unique see-through fireplace with a view to the outdoors.
At Hannah, every new project begins with an in-depth interview to gain insight into the style, layout and features the customer desires. Following the discovery process, the Hannah design team takes the customer’s wishes and translates them into a custom home design. Once the design is approved, they follow a streamlined construction process to ensure that every customer has an enjoyable build experience.
Let’s start with a few of the questions that customers typically ask builders.
Q: How long will it take to build my home?
A: Every home build time is different depending on the details of the home. However, our average home build times range from seven months for 3,000 square feet to eight months for 4,000 square feet.
Q: What is the cost per square foot?
A: The actual costs vary with every home, depending upon style, materials and features. Each of our homes is unique based on the aesthetics and plans chosen by the customer, and each is priced accordingly.
Q: Where do I get my house plans?
A: For new plans, we assist our customers in having their plans drawn by local architects or draftsmen. Alternatively, stock plans can also be purchased from many sources, including numerous online home design vendors.
Q: What are the proper steps to take before building a custom home?
A: First, customers need to work with the builder to establish a tentative construction budget. Once the budget has been determined, then financing can be arranged with local lenders as needed. The initial financing will consist of a construction loan which will be later replaced by a permanent home loan once the build is complete.
Next, customers need to locate a suitable parcel of land for the construction site. We usually assist our customers with this process at a very early stage to help them select land that is appropriate for their project. Customers should never finalize their house plans until they have confirmed that their desired land is suitable for building.
Once the plans have been finalized and the land has been selected, we work with our customers to refine the original construction budget as needed to make the numbers as accurate as possible. Our process involves frequent meetings with our customers to avoid any surprises during the construction phase.
Once the final budget has been approved, construction can begin.
Q: What should customers look for when purchasing land?
A: If seeking a lot in an existing subdivision, they need to check with the local homeowners’ association to determine if there are any restrictive covenants that could result in construction and/or post-construction problems.
If a customer desires land located outside of a subdivision, then there are several things they need to consider. First, they need to determine if desired utilities (e.g., gas, electricity, sewer/septic, broadband) are available. Second, they need to have the land evaluated to determine how much site preparation needs to be done before construction can begin. The site preparation component can prove to be very costly, particularly in areas with heavy rock concentrations or unlevel topography.
Hannah Custom Homes
100 Commerce Drive, Suite A, Hendersonville, 615.822.8042, HannahCustomHomes.com