Linwood Homes

When we were going for construction financing, we needed to have complete drawings and plans from the builder. We decided to go with Linwood Homes and selected a design which we liked. We elongated the design, added a couple of bedrooms and washrooms and got the drawings made for submission to the bank.

When banks give you money for construction, they give you the money in traunches. In our case the traunches were:

1) Land draw (50% of the value of your land, which must be owned free and clear)

2) Rough-in (foundation, framing, windows, sheathing, house wrap, electrical / plumbing rough-in)

3) Drywall (heating, exterior siding, drywall installed)

4) Complete (all flooring, doors, trims, paint, landscaping, occupancy permit obtained)

Banks only pay for the money you have already spent, so make sure you work out the entire cash flow schedule before you embark on your construction financing. They also hold back 10%, which is to be held back from contractors for a 45 day period after the end of the contract.

It took a lot of juggling, but we made the budget work.