New to building? Start here.

Where do I start?

Your first step is a conversation. Fill in the short form on Start a project, email projects@davenresidential.com, or call (770) 233-7604. Amanda reads every inquiry and replies personally within 48 hours.

What to bring

Bring whatever you have, even if it is rough. None of this is required. If all you have is an idea, that is enough to start.

• Your land: the address or listing, and a survey if you have one. Or the areas you are considering.
• Your financing: your lender's name or a pre-approval letter, or simply what you hope to spend.
• Your ideas: plans, sketches, or photos of homes and rooms you like.
• Your must-haves: the rooms and features that matter most to you.
• Your timing: when you hope to start, and when you need to move in.
• Who decides: everyone who has to say yes.

What you can work through with Amanda

• Whether your project, your budget, and your timing fit together.
• Which pieces are already in place and which are still missing.
• How preconstruction works, what it costs, and what you have at the end of it.
• Who to talk to next, such as a lender or a realtor, if you need one.

That first conversation costs nothing.

Land

A custom home starts with a place to put it. The projects that go well tend to have the land owned or under contract before preconstruction begins.

When to involve us

Before you buy, if you can. Most land contracts include a due diligence period, a window to investigate the lot and walk away if something is wrong. Talk to us during that window and we can help you understand what the lot is likely to add to the cost of building. There is no charge for that conversation. Already own your land? Then you are ready for the next step.

What to look into before you buy

• Utilities: whether power reaches the lot, and whether water comes from a public line or a well.
• Sewer or septic: without a sewer line, the soil has to be suitable for a septic system. A soil test answers that.
• Slope and drainage: steep or wet ground adds cost to grading and the foundation.
• Access: a long or steep driveway can be a real cost on its own.
• Setbacks, easements, and covenants: rules about where the house can sit, how big it can be, and sometimes how it must look.
• Flood zone and zoning: whether any part of the lot is in a flood zone, and what the zoning allows.
• Trees and clearing: how much has to be cleared to fit the house, the driveway, and a septic field.
• A current survey: where the boundaries really are.

Any of these can change what it costs to build. Finding them before you close costs far less than finding them after. In preconstruction we walk your lot and look at each one, and anything likely to affect cost is flagged early.

If you need to buy land or sell your current home, our preferred realtor can help. Some lenders also offer lot loans to buy land before you build.

Paying for it

Most custom homes are paid for with a construction loan. It works differently from the mortgage on a house you buy ready-made.

• The bank does not pay out the whole amount at closing. It pays in stages, called draws, as the work is done.
• Before each draw, the lender usually checks the work in place.
• While the house is being built, you typically pay interest only on the amount drawn so far, so payments start small and grow.
• When the house is finished, the loan becomes, or is replaced by, a regular mortgage. Many lenders offer a construction-to-permanent loan that does both with one closing.
• If you already own your land, ask your lender how its value counts toward what you need to put down.

Your lender explains the details of its own loan. Our part is the paperwork that keeps it moving. We prepare your budget in the format your lender uses, put together each draw package, and collect lien waivers from our subcontractors. You own the land and you hold the financing. We never mark up, finance, or hold your money.

A good first step is a conversation with a lender about what you can borrow. Our preferred lender specializes in construction lending, and you are free to use any lender.

These are professionals we've worked with and recommend. You are welcome to choose your own lender and real estate agent. Daven Residential receives no referral fees or other compensation for these recommendations.

Plans and design

You do not need plans to start. Wherever you are, there is a path.

If you already have plans

We price them with real trades and check them against your lot and your budget. Where cost can come out without hurting the house, we show you the options and what each one changes. If your plans need engineering or other licensed review, we coordinate with those professionals.

If you have inspiration

Bring it: photos, saved pins, a house you drove past, a floor plan you found online. In preconstruction we turn it into a written list of the rooms, sizes, and priorities that matter most to you, and then into floor plans and exterior elevations developed far enough to price with real trades.

If you have not started

Start with how you live, not with drawings. Which rooms do you use every day? What do you wish your current home had? We work through those questions with you to write the list of rooms and priorities, and the plans are developed from it. One round of plan revisions is included, and more are available if you want them.

If your project needs an architect, engineer, or other licensed professional, we coordinate with them.

What it will cost

The honest answer to "what will my house cost" is that nobody knows until real trades have priced your plans. That is what preconstruction is for.

Over about six to eight weeks we write a scope of work for each trade, collect prices from our subcontractors, and build a line-item budget with allowances for your selections and a recommended contingency. It ends with a meeting to walk through what we found and an honest recommendation on whether and how to proceed.

Our own fees are published:

• Preconstruction is a flat fee from $6,500 to $18,500, based on the expected construction cost. Half of it is credited toward construction if you sign a construction agreement with us within 180 days of receiving your preconstruction work.
• Construction is a fee of 10% to 14% of the construction cost, with a $55,000 minimum. No markup on any cost.

See every fee and what it covers

How long it takes

Preconstruction takes about six to eight weeks. It produces a milestone schedule for your house, from permit through completion, so you can plan around real dates instead of a guess.

What does Daven handle, and what will I need to do?

What we handle

Charles Davenport is the licensed general contractor and runs the field, supervising the work and the subcontractors on site. Amanda Davenport manages the plans, the budget, the subcontracts, the draws, and the paperwork. Together we plan, buy, coordinate, supervise, document, and close out your project.

• Building permits.
• Bids and subcontracts with every trade, all open for you to see.
• The budget, with reporting on budget against actual cost through the build.
• Draw packages for your lender, and lien waivers from our subcontractors.
• A selection schedule showing when each choice needs to be made.
• Written change orders, with the cost and schedule effect, before any change happens.

What you decide and do

• Hold the land and the loan.
• Make your selections, like cabinets, tile, and fixtures, by the dates on your selection schedule.
• Review each payment request and approve it before anything is paid.
• Approve any change in writing before it happens.
• Keep everyone who has to say yes part of the decisions.

How we work together

Four rules shape every project.

1. Your land, your financing, your house.

   You own the land and you hold the financing. Your construction loan pays for your house, and we never mark up, finance, or hold your money.

2. The books are open.

   You see every subcontractor bid, every invoice, and every line of the budget. We charge a fee for planning and running the project, and we add no markup to any cost that passes through us.

3. You approve before we pay.

   Invoices come to us, we review them against the budget and the work in place, and we send you a payment request for the exact approved amount. Nothing gets paid that you have not seen.

4. Changes are written down before they happen.

   Nothing is added to your project without a written change order showing the cost and the schedule effect. Surprises at the end of a build are almost always the result of decisions nobody wrote down at the time.

Are you ready?

The projects that go well for everyone tend to share a few things.

• You control the land or have it under contract.
• Financing is approved or clearly obtainable.
• Your budget and the house you want are in the same range.
• Everyone who has to say yes is in the conversation.
• The schedule you have in mind is a real one.

If most of that is true, a preconstruction agreement is the sensible next step. If some of it is not yet true, tell us anyway. Working out which piece is missing is usually a short conversation, and it costs nothing.

The minimum fee applies to every project. On homes under roughly $460,000 it makes up a larger share of the cost, so smaller homes work best when the build is simple and quick. We will tell you early whether yours fits. We do not take small remodels.