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With so many people working from home due to COVID-19 restrictions, many of our day-to-day interactions with clients has shifted online, but we continue to work closely with clients to move their projects forward - through design, budgeting, and even construction while leveraging online tools. Curious about what that process might look like? We've pulled together an overview of what you can expect when you build a home remotely - from finding land through design and construction.

Working with a Realtor Remotely to Find Land to Build Your Home

How have COVID-19 restrictions impacted the real estate market? How will it impact you as you look for the right parcel of land for building your custom home? Jan Hibbs of Coldwell Banker Gundaker talks about how she works with our clients to help them find land - and how she recommends approaching the search for land in partnership with a Realtor during this time.

 

Working with a Construction Lender to Finance Your New Home Build Remotely

With fluctuating markets and changing guidelines in almost every sector, you might think that financing a custom home may be difficult during this time of uncertainty, but after speaking with Jeff Berger of Groundwork Mortgage, we found out that while they've shifted many of their online meetings onto remote platforms such as Zoom, it is still business as usual for their team. Learn more about construction lending options in the video below:

 

Working Remotely With Your Home Builder

Even when you're working remotely, it's still possible to fully collaborate and develop your project. In fact, we've long worked out-of-town clients who are relocating - managing their process almost fully online. For years, we've worked to make the custom home building process easier for our clients - and as part of that, we've utilized Co-Construct - an online construction management tool where clients can track their project progress, ask questions of our team, and make selections. As we've shifted into this new normal, already having this system in place has made it easy for our existing clients to keep their projects moving forward smoothly.

In the quick video below, Kim Hibbs talks about how process of collaboration may have changed under recent restrictions, but how we're still able to work with clients to design, budget, permit and plan for their upcoming build.

A few great remote design tools that we recommend to help you develop and communicate your vision to your builder and selections team include:

    • Dream Home Design Worksheet - Prioritize your wants, needs, and nice to have design items and develop a true vision for your dream home.

 

    • Houzz - Develop photo albums, find inspiration, and research pricing to develop your vision.

 

    • Sherwin Williams Colorsnap Visualizer Tool - Experiment with paint colors using this incredible AI-powered tool by Sherwin Williams. Upload pictures of your current home and furniture to see how certain paint colors will compliment or clash with your color scheme.

 

 

    • Formica Online Design Tool - Formica's online design center allows users to experiment with various laminate patterns on the surface of their home - to see how a pattern might look on their backsplash, island, or countertops.

 

    • Flooring Visualizer Tool - Snap a picture, pick a flooring product, and visualize your space with Lumber Liquidator's online design tool.

 

 

Working Remotely With Your Architect During Design

For clients that are just beginning to design and budget their custom home, working with an architect in a fully remote capacity may seem like a big shift, but in this conversation we recently had with Architect Jeff Day, we learned that his team is keeping their projects moving forward. Watch the short video below to learn how you can work with an architect to design your space during this downtime. (Note: There is a brief audio connection issue around 0:45-1:15. Keep watching!)

During this time, even though there are many things on hold, many of our clients are opting to fully design, budget and permit their home now, so that they are first in line for construction when normal daily activities resume. If you have questions about the home building process, or want to connect with our team to talk about your future home construction project, please don't hesitate to reach out. Call us at (314) 392-9631 or click here to contact us online.